Patriarch of Constantinople
This article is on the office of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. For information on the institutional church itself, see Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.The
Patriarch of Constantinople is the
Ecumenical Patriarch, ranking as the "
first among equals" -
primus inter pares in Latin - in the
Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the
One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. He has also been historically known as the "
Greek Patriarch".
In this capacity he is first in honor among all the Orthodox bishops, presides in person or through a delegate over any council of Orthodox primates and/or bishops in which he takes part and serves as primary spokesman for the
communion, especially in
ecumenical contacts with other Christian denominations, but has no direct jurisdiction over the other
patriarchs or the other
autocephalous Orthodox churches. However he alone among his fellow-primates enjoys the right of convening extraordinary synods consisting of them and/or their delegates to deal with ad hoc situations and has also convened well-attended Pan-Orthodox Synods in the last forty years.
In addition to being the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, he is the direct administrative superior of diocese and archdioceses serving millions of Greek, Ukrainian, Carpatho-Russian, and Albanian Orthodox in North and South America, and Western Europe (where his flock consists mainly of the Greek, Slavic and other Balkanic diaspora), Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and Korea, as well as portions of modern Greece.
His actual position is
Patriarch of the
Orthodox Church of Constantinople, one of the fourteen autocephalous and two autonomous churches and the most senior (though not oldest) of the four orthodox ancient primatial sees among the five patriarchal Christian centers comprising the ancient
Pentarchy of the undivided Church. In his role as head of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, he also holds the title
Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome.
He should not be confused with the
Latin Patriarch of Constantinople, an office that is now extinct(see Latin Patriarch of Constantinople)and created after the Latin capture of Constantinople in 1204, during the Fourth Crusade and which became effectively redundant after the city was recaptured by the Byzantine Greeks, half a century later. His official title is "His Most Sublime All-Holiness the Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Oecumenical Patriarch".
The Ecumenical Patriarch has a unique role among Orthodox bishops, though it is not without its controversy. He bears the title
primus inter pares ("first among equals"), which indicates his seniority among all Orthodox bishops. This primacy, expressed in canonical literature as
presveia ("prerogatives"), grants to the Ecumenical Patriarch the right to preside at pan-Orthodox synods.
Additionally, the canonical literature of the Orthodox Church grants to the Ecumenical Patriarch the right to hear appeals in cases of dispute between bishops, though whether these canonical rights are limited only to his own patriarchate or are universal throughout the Orthodox Church is currently the subject of debate, especially between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the
Moscow Patriarchate.
Historically, the Ecumenical Patriarch has heard such appeals and sometimes was invited to intervene in other churches' disputes and difficulties. Even as early as the time of St.
John Chrysostom (5th century), Constantinople was instrumental in the deposition of multiple bishops outside its traditional jurisdiction. This still occurs today, as when in 2006 the patriarchate was invited to assist in declaring the archbishop of the
Cypriot Orthodox Church incompetent due to suffering from Alzheimer's disease.[
1] Additionally, in 2005, the Ecumenical Patriarchate convoked a pan-Orthodox synod to express the Orthodox world's confirmation of the deposition of the Patriarch of Jerusalem.[
2] In 2006, the patriarchate was invited to hear the appeal of a Russian Orthodox bishop in the United Kingdom in a dispute with his superior in Moscow, though the result of that appeal and the right to make it were both rejected by the latter[
3].
The Ecumenical Patriarch has no direct jurisdiction outside the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted to him in Orthodox canonical literature, but his primary function in terms of the whole Orthodox Church is one dealing with relations between autocephalous and autonomous churches. That is, his primary function is one of Church unity.
This unique role often sees the Ecumenical Patriarch referred to as the "spiritual leader" of the Orthodox Church in some sources, though this is not an official title of the patriarch nor is it usually used in scholarly sources on the patriarchate. Such a title is not incorrect if it refers to this unique role, but it sometimes leads to a belief that the office is thus the equivalent of an Orthodox papacy, an impression sometimes given from unqualified references in the press.
The (arch)bishopric of Constantinople has had a continuous history since the founding of the city in 330 AD by
Constantine the Great. As
Constantine the Great had made
Byzantium "New Rome" in
330, it was thought appropriate that its bishop, once a suffragan of
Heracleaand traditionally a successor of St Andrew the Apostle the First-Called the founder of the respective church, should become second only to the Bishop of Old
Rome. Soon after the transfer of the Roman capital, the bishopric was elevated to an archbishopric.
["Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople", Encyclopædia Britannica 2005 Deluxe Edition CD-ROM.] For many decades Roman
popes opposed this ambition, not because anyone thought of disputing their first place, but because it was claimed that they were unwilling to change the old order of the
hierarchy. In
381, however, the
Second Council of Constantinople]] declared that: "The Bishop of Constantinople shall have the primacy of honour after the Bishop of Rome, because it is the New Rome" (can. iii).
Pope Damasus I refused to confirm this
canon, a very unusual and
controversial step, as
Ecumenical Councils were considered binding on all Christian churches. Nonetheless, the prestige of the office continued to grow not only because of the obvious patronage of the
Byzantine Emperor but because of its overwhelming physical and geographical importance. The Roman popes eventually acknowledged it and there were protests from that quarter when an attempt was made at the "Robber" Council to place Constantinople in the fourth spot and not the second.
The
Council of Chalcedon in
451 established
Constantinople as a
patriarchate with
jurisdiction over
Asia Minor i.e. the large super provinces of Asiane and the Pontus, and that of
Thrace as well as over the so-called barbaric territories, read non-converted areas outside the defined areas of the Western Patriarchate (Old Rome) and the other three patriarchates, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem , gave it appellate jurisdiction extraterritorially over canon law decisions by the other patriarchs and granted it honours equal to those belonging to the first Christian see, Old Rome, in terms of primacy,Old Rome retaining however its seniority (can. xxviii).
Pope Leo I refused to accept this canon, claiming it was invalid since it was made in the absence of his
legates, again a controversial position. However the equal primacy, barring seniority, became a "de facto" situation even for Old Rome and a "de jure" situation in the rest of the undivided Christian Church. In the
6th century, the official title became that of "Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and Oecumenical Patriarch".
The current Patriarch (since 1991) is
Bartholomew I who has become better-known than any of his predecessors in modern times as a result of his numerous pastoral and other visits to numerous countries in all five continents and his setting up of a permanent bureau at the EU headquarters in addition to enhancing the long-established Patriarchal Centre in Chambesy, Switzerland qne qlwo his ecological pursuits which have won him the epithet of "the Green Patriarch".
When the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, the last Patriarch prior to the conquest had ceased to function.The office of Patriarch was eventually bestowed in 1454 to an illustrious Byzantine scholar/monk who was well-known for his opposition to union with the Latin West
George Scholarius who took the name of Gennadius II by the conquering Islamic Ottoman ruler, Sultan
Mehmed II, who wished to establish his dynasty as the direct heirs of the Eastern Roman Emperors, and who adopted the imperial title
Kayser-i-Rûm "Caesar of the Romans", one of his subsidiary titles but a most significant one. The Patriarch was designated
ethnarch of the
(Rum), which included all Orthodox Christians under Ottoman rule, regardless of their nationality in the modern sense. This role was carried out by ethnic Greeks at their great peril, in the midst of enormous difficulties and traps and inevitably with mixed success. Several incumbents of the patriarchal throne were summarily executed by the Ottoman authorities, most notably Patriarch Gregory V on Easter Monday 1821 as partial retribution for the outbreak of the last and only successful Greek Revolution against Ottoman oppression
In the 19th century, the rising tide of nationalism and secularsim among the Balkan Christian nations led to the establishment of several
autocephalous national churches, generally under autonomous Patriarchs or Archbishops, leaving the Ecumenical Patriarch only direct control over the Christians of
Turkey, parts of Greece and the archdioceses in America, Asia, Africa and Oceania where growing Greek and other migrant communities have gradually constituted a significant orthodox diaspora.
|
Flag of the Ecumenical Patriarch which is commonly in use in Mount Athos. |
The Oecumenical Patriarch is also officially the "Spiritual Leader" and only bishop of the "Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain", also styled the "Athonite Republic" on
Mount Athos, making him the Head of that Autonomous State, which itself is part of Greece under international law.
The modern
Turkish state still requires the Patriarch to be a Turkish citizen (though nearly all Orthodox now live outside the Turkish republic) but allows the Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops to elect the Patriarch ef>
. Since the establishment of modern Turkey, therefore, the position of the Oecumenical Patriarch has been filled by ethnic
Greeks, who must be
Turkish citizens by birth.
Human rights groups, EU governments, and the U.S. government, have long protested against conditions placed by the government of Turkey on the Oecumenical Patriarch[
4]. For example, the Oecumenical status accorded him within Eastern Orthodoxy, and recognized by the Ottoman governments, has on occasion been a source of controversy within the
Republic of Turkey, which under its laws regarding religious minorities officially recognizes him as only the "Patriarch of Fener" (
Fener is the district in Istanbul where his headquarters are located). Expropriation of Church property and the closing of the Orthodox
Theological School of Halki are also cited by human rights groups. However in 2004 Patriarch Bartholomew succeeded, after eighty years, to alter the composition of the twelve-member Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops in Constantinople so that it can include six bishops from outside Turkey. He has also been convening bienially in Constantinople convocations of all bishops in his jurisdiction.
*
Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate*
Autocephaly*
List of Patriarchs of Constantinople*
Patriarch*
Ecumenical Patriarchate*
Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe*
Episcopal Vicariate of Great Britain and Ireland*
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople* http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/texts/byzpatcp.html
* http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35489.htm
*
Lowenstein International Human Rights Center (Yale Law School) on Rights problems at the Patriarchate*
United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe report on the Patriarchate*
WorldStatesmen- Religious Organisations*
Catholic Encyclopedia on John Faster and Ecumencial Patriarch
