Why was Gregory I reluctant to become pope in 590?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

St. Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (the Great) depicted in a stained glass window at St. Michael & All Angels Church in Brinkworth, Wiltshire, England.

Gregory I was reluctant to become pope in 590 because of a lifelong conflict between his personal desire for monastic life and the public duty to serve others in the "pollution" of worldly affairs.1

Having renounced secular life in 574, Gregory had established a monastery dedicated to St. Andrew on his family property. He preferred the contemplative purity of this religious life over the administrative and political burdens of the papacy, which he was eventually compelled to accept following the death of Pope Pelagius II during a plague that was ravaging Rome.1