CONSTANTINOPLE, ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE OF

The history of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople begins in 324, when the Emperor Constantine I decided to move the seat of governmental administration from Italy to the eastern region of his empire and chose the small town of Byzantium along the Bosporus. Ecclesiastically, Byzantium then was a suffragan of the Exarchate of Heraclea, the capital of Thrace. There is little historical evidence to substantiate the claim that Constantinople had been founded by Saint Andrew, brother of Saint Peter. Most historians today trace this claim back to the apocryphal work of Pseudo-Dorotheus of Tyre, written about 525 in an attempt to place Constantinople on an equal footing with Rome. The bishops of Byzantium gradually withdrew from the jurisdiction of the Arian bishops who controlled the See of Heraclea until finally, with encouragement from the emperors, they succeeded in canon 3 of the Council of constantinople i (381) to have the bishop of Constantinople granted "precedence of honor after the bishop of Rome because Constantinople is the New Rome."

Jurisdictional Development. With its independence juridically proclaimed, the Church of Constantinople began to assert its jurisdiction in the affairs of the Churches of Ephesus and of caesarea in cappadocia, on grounds of their position in relation to the imperial court. At the court the bishop of the capital was prevailed upon by the emperor to act as his intermediary in dealing with nearby ecclesiastical provinces. This intervention was gradually extended to territories controlled by the ancient patriarchates of antioch and alexandria and caused jurisdictional troubles among these three patriarchates.

5th Century. In the 5th century ecclesiastical politics rather than zeal for dogmatic truth often caused these churches to take opposite sides. In the Council of ephe sus (431), Nestorius Patriarch of Constantinople, was condemned through pressure exerted by Saint cyril of alexandria; and 20 years later, in the Council of chal cedon (451), Constantinople was able to deal a lethal blow to the Patriarchate of Alexandria by securing the condemnation of the Monophysite doctrine held by Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria. In the same council Anatolius of Constantinople succeeded in having the juridical encroachments from 381 to 451 of his patriarchate officially recognized in canon 28, which gave Constantinople jurisdiction over the Dioceses of Thrace, Asia, and Pontus and the right to consecrate bishops for the provinces occupied by the "barbarians."

Antioch, weakened by the two condemned heresies of nestorianism and monophysitism, was dismembered even further when, in 451, Jerusalem was made a patriarchate with 57 dioceses that once belonged to the Antiochene Church. The Church of Alexandria subsequently began to disintegrate slowly through the persecutions inflicted upon its adherents to the Monophysite doctrine by the Byzantine emperor and later by the Muslim Arabs. Thus more and more the patriarch of Constantinople extended his ecclesiastical jurisdiction to coincide with the civil power of the emperor. The emperor turned many of his problems over to the patriarch, who developed in the imperial court a permanent synod (synodos endemousa ). Centralization led the patriarchs of Constantinople to call themselves the Ecumenical Patriarchs.

Ecumenical Patriarch. When Patriarch John IV the Faster in 588 used this title both Pope pelagius ii and Pope gregory i protested. Historians point out that "ecumenical" in this title did not mean an infringement on the claims of the Pope of Rome to universal jurisdiction; rather it was only an appellation that recognized the reality that the patriarch of Constantinople had jurisdiction throughout the whole of the Byzantine Empire. The Patriarchs of Constantinople have continued to use this title to this day.

Patriarchate under the Turks. The city of Constantinople was sacked by the Turks on May 29, 1453. Under the Muslim sultans the patriarchs of Constantinople were moved from their elegant palace and occupied the small quarters, the Phanar along the Golden Horn. hagia sophia became a mosque, later a museum.

Ethnarch under Muslims. Ironically, however, the patriarch began to enjoy more power than he had under the Byzantine emperors, for the sultans drew no distinction between religion and civil state. Christianity was recognized as a separate religious faith, of a rank inferior to Islam, and was organized as an independent political unit with its own administrator. The ecumenical patriarch was chosen as the civil head for all Greeks, becoming the ethnarch, or millet-bashi. This arrangement continued until 1923 in Turkey.

The millet system had two significant effects on the patriarchate. Faced by a majority of Muslims who imposed heavy taxes and discrimination in all areas of life, the Greek Orthodox organized their political life around their Church, with the result that Church and nation, Orthodoxy and Hellenism became synonymous. A new patriarch received the berat from the sultan, but for this honor he had to pay a heavy tax that was collected by the sale of bishoprics and the imposition of heavy levies on the people. Out of 160 patriarchs who held the See of Constantinople between the 15th century and the collapse of Ottoman rule, 105 were driven from their thrones; 27 abdicated; and six died violently by hanging, poisoning, or drowning, whereas only 21 died natural deaths still in office.

Jurisdictional Losses. Amid these internal disturbances the patriarch of Constantinople suffered a great loss in his jurisdiction over other Orthodox churches. The principle of philetism, which sanctioned the organization of a separate church for each nationality, was enforced to establish separate patriarchates among Orthodox churches that originally depended on the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Thus Russia erected its own patriarchate (Moscow) in 1589, Serbia in 1830, Romania in 1856, and Bulgaria in 1870; and the Greeks outside the Ottoman Empire set up their own autocephalous synodal Church in 1833. The patriarch of Constantinople was helpless to protest the severing of the bonds of dependence as new nations sought to apply the principle that originally had created the glories of Constantinople. Nevertheless, the Ecumenical Patriarch retains the primacy of honor among the ancient patriarchs of the Christian East. He is formally styled the Archbishop of Constantinople/New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch.

Present-day Organization. During Ottoman rule, the Ecumenical Patriarchate was governed according to the Constitution approved (1860–62) by Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz, through a synod under the presidency of the patriarch and a mixed council of clergy and laity for temporal affairs. The patriarch was elected by an assembly of the synod, made up of 12 metropolitans and 70 lay delegates. A list is presented to the Turkish state, and those candidates are eliminated who are unacceptable to the government. From the approved candidates three are chosen. The final choice is granted to the metropolitans, who gather in the patriarchal chapel to elect the new patriarch.

The Holy Synod. The Holy Synod, properly speaking, ceased to exist in 1923, when it became impossible for the metropolitans from outside Turkey to meet annually. A permanent synod, composed of the resident prelates of Istanbul and other metropolitans possessing Turkish citizenship, has been substituted. This synod is the official organ of authority for the patriarchate, managing spiritual affairs such as the nomination of the metropolitan members of the synod, electing new bishops, overseeing the monasteries, including Mount athos, and looking after the spiritual life of churches within the patriarchate's jurisdiction.

Bibliography: g. every, The Byzantine Patriarchate (2d ed. London 1962). g. hofmann, Griechische Patriarchen und römische Päpste (Orientalia christiana, v.13.2, 20.1, 25.2, 33.1, 36.2; Rome 1928–34). j. pargoire, L'Église byzantine de 527 à 847 (Paris 1905). r. roberson, The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey (6th ed. Rome 1999).

[g. a. maloney/eds.]