The pontificate of Deusdedit I was short, lasting only three years, but it was distinguished by a great manifestation of the corporal works of mercy. When an epidemic of skin disease resembling leprosy swept Rome following an earthquake in August of 618, Deusdedit personally assisted many of the victims, and encouraged his clergy to do likewise. It is said that on one occasion the pontiff was so stirred with compassion upon seeing a plague victim grossly disfigured by the repulsive sores of the disease that he kissed the sufferer upon the head, an act of charity that miraculously healed him.
