Bartholomew, Patriarch of Constantinople. Reference

Sacred Tradition tells that the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called in the year 38 ordained his disciple named Stachy as bishop of the city of Byzantion, on the site of which Constantinople was founded three centuries later. From these times, the church originates, at the head of which for many centuries there were patriarchs who bore the title of Ecumenical.

The right of primacy among equals

Among the primates of the fifteen autocephalous, that is, independent, local Orthodox churches that now exist, the Patriarch of Constantinople is considered “preeminent among equals”. This is its historical significance. The full title of the person holding such an important post is the Divine All Holiness Archbishop of Constantinople - New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch.

For the first time, the title of Ecumenical was awarded to the first Akaki. The legal basis for this was the decisions of the Fourth (Chalcedon) Ecumenical Council, held in 451 and securing the status of bishops of New Rome for the heads of the Church of Constantinople - the second most important after the primates of the Roman Church.

If at first such an establishment met with rather severe opposition in certain political and religious circles, then by the end of the next century the position of the patriarch was so strengthened that his actual role in solving state and church affairs became dominant. At the same time, his so magnificent and verbose title was finally established.

The patriarch is a victim of the iconoclasts

The history of the Byzantine Church knows many names of patriarchs who entered it forever and were canonized as saints. One of them is Saint Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople, who occupied the patriarchal see from 806 to 815.

The period of his reign was marked by a particularly fierce struggle waged by supporters of iconoclasm, a religious movement that rejected the veneration of icons and other sacred images. The situation was aggravated by the fact that among the followers of this trend there were many influential people and even several emperors.

The father of Patriarch Nicephorus, being the secretary of Emperor Constantine V, lost his post for promoting icon veneration and was exiled to Asia Minor, where he died in exile. Nicephorus himself, after the iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian was enthroned in 813, became a victim of his hatred of holy images and ended his days in 828 as a prisoner of one of the remote monasteries. For great services to the church, he was subsequently canonized. Today, Saint Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople is revered not only in his homeland, but throughout the Orthodox world.

Patriarch Photius - recognized father of the church

Continuing the story about the most prominent representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, one cannot fail to recall the outstanding Byzantine theologian Patriarch Photius, who led his flock from 857 to 867. After Gregory the Theologian, he is the third generally recognized father of the church, who once occupied the See of Constantinople.

The exact date of his birth is unknown. It is generally accepted that he was born in the first decade of the 9th century. His parents were extraordinarily rich and versatile educated people, but under the emperor Theophilus, a fierce iconoclast, they were subjected to repression and ended up in exile. There they died.

Struggle of Patriarch Photius with the Pope

After the accession to the throne of the next emperor, the infant Michael III, Photius begins his brilliant career - first as a teacher, and then in the administrative and religious field. In 858, he occupies the highest position in the city. However, this did not bring him a quiet life. From the very first days, Patriarch Photius of Constantinople found himself in the thick of the struggle between various political parties and religious movements.

To a large extent, the situation was aggravated by the confrontation with the Western Church, caused by disputes over jurisdiction over Southern Italy and Bulgaria. The initiator of the conflict was Patriarch Photius of Constantinople, who sharply criticized him, for which he was excommunicated by the pontiff from the church. Not wanting to remain in debt, Patriarch Photius also anathematized his opponent.

From anathema to canonization

Later, already during the reign of the next emperor, Vasily I, Photius became a victim of court intrigues. Supporters of the political parties that opposed him, as well as the previously deposed Patriarch Ignatius I, received influence at the court. As a result, Photius, who had so desperately entered the fight against the pope, was removed from the throne, excommunicated and died in exile.

Almost a thousand years later, in 1847, when Patriarch Anfim VI was the primate of the Church of Constantinople, the anathema was lifted from the rebellious patriarch, and, in view of the numerous miracles that took place at his grave, he himself was canonized. However, in Russia, for a number of reasons, this act was not recognized, which gave rise to discussions between representatives of the majority of churches in the Orthodox world.

Legal act unacceptable for Russia

It should be noted that the Roman Church for many centuries refused to recognize the honorary third place for the Church of Constantinople. The pope changed his decision only after the so-called union, an agreement on the unification of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, was signed at the Florence Cathedral in 1439.

This act provided for the supreme supremacy of the Pope, and, while the Eastern Church retained its own rites, its acceptance of Catholic dogma. It is quite natural that such an agreement, which runs counter to the requirements of the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church, was rejected by Moscow, and Metropolitan Isidor, who put his signature under it, was defrocked.

Christian Patriarchs in the Islamic State

It's been less than a decade and a half. The Byzantine Empire collapsed under the onslaught of Turkish troops. The Second Rome fell, giving way to Moscow. However, the Turks in this case showed religious tolerance, surprising for religious fanatics. Having built all the institutions of state power on the principles of Islam, they nevertheless allowed a very large Christian community to exist in the country.

Since that time, the Patriarchs of the Church of Constantinople, having completely lost their political influence, nevertheless remained the Christian religious leaders of their communities. Having retained a nominal second place, they, deprived of a material base and practically without means of subsistence, were forced to fight with extreme poverty. Until his establishment as a patriarchate in Russia, the Patriarch of Constantinople was the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and only generous donations from Moscow princes allowed him to somehow make ends meet.

In turn, the Patriarchs of Constantinople did not remain in debt. It was on the banks of the Bosporus that the title of the first Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible was consecrated, and Patriarch Jeremiah II blessed the first Moscow Patriarch Job as he ascended the chair. This was an important step in the development of the country, putting Russia on a par with other Orthodox states.

Unexpected ambition

For more than three centuries, the patriarchs of the Church of Constantinople played only the modest role of the heads of the Christian community located inside the powerful Ottoman Empire until it collapsed as a result of the First World War. Much has changed in the life of the state, and even its former capital, Constantinople, was renamed Istanbul in 1930.

On the ruins of the once mighty power, the Patriarchate of Constantinople immediately became more active. Since the mid-twenties of the last century, its leadership has been actively implementing the concept according to which the Patriarch of Constantinople should be endowed with real power and have the right not only to lead the religious life of the entire Orthodox diaspora, but also to take part in resolving the internal issues of other autocephalous churches. Such a position provoked sharp criticism in the Orthodox world and was called "Eastern papism".

Court appeals of the patriarch

The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923, legally formalized and established the border line of the newly formed state. He also fixed the title of the Patriarch of Constantinople as Ecumenical, but the government of the modern Turkish Republic refuses to recognize it. It gives consent only to the recognition of the patriarch as the head of the Orthodox community in Turkey.

In 2008, the Patriarch of Constantinople was forced to file a human rights lawsuit against the Turkish government, which illegally appropriated one of the Orthodox shelters on the island of Buyukada in the Sea of ​​Marmara. In July of the same year, after considering the case, the court fully satisfied his appeal, and, in addition, made a statement recognizing his legal status. It should be noted that this was the first time that the primate of the Church of Constantinople appealed to the European judicial authorities.

Legal document 2010

Another important legal document that largely determined the current status of the Patriarch of Constantinople was the resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in January 2010. This document prescribed the establishment of religious freedom for representatives of all non-Muslim minorities living in the territories of Turkey and Eastern Greece.

The same resolution called on the Turkish government to respect the title "Ecumenical", since the Patriarchs of Constantinople, whose list already numbers several hundred people, bore it on the basis of relevant legal norms.

The current primate of the Church of Constantinople

A bright and original personality is Bartholomew Patriarch of Constantinople, whose enthronement took place in October 1991. His worldly name is Dimitrios Archondonis. A Greek by nationality, he was born in 1940 on the Turkish island of Gokceada. Having received a general secondary education and graduated from the Chalkinsky theological school, Dimitrios, already in the rank of deacon, served as an officer in the Turkish army.

After demobilization, his ascent to the heights of theological knowledge begins. For five years, Archondonis has been studying at higher educational institutions in Italy, Switzerland and Germany, as a result of which he becomes a doctor of theology and a lecturer at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Polyglot at the patriarchal pulpit

The ability to assimilate knowledge from this person is simply phenomenal. For five years of study, he perfectly mastered German, French, English and Italian. Here we must also add his native Turkish and the language of theologians - Latin. Returning to Turkey, Dimitrios went through all the steps of the religious hierarchical ladder, until in 1991 he was elected primate of the Church of Constantinople.

"Green Patriarch"

In the field international activities His Holiness Bartholomew Patriarch of Constantinople became widely known as a fighter for the preservation natural environment. In this direction, he became the organizer of a number of international forums. It is also known that the patriarch is actively cooperating with a number of public environmental organizations. For this activity, His Holiness Bartholomew received an unofficial title - "Green Patriarch".

Patriarch Bartholomew has close friendly relations with the heads of the Russian Orthodox Church, whom he paid a visit to immediately after his enthronement in 1991. During the negotiations that took place then, the Primate of Constantinople spoke out in support of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in its conflict with the self-proclaimed and, from a canonical point of view, illegitimate Patriarch of Kyiv. Similar contacts continued in subsequent years.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople has always distinguished himself by his principles in resolving all important issues. A vivid example of this is his speech during the discussion that unfolded at the All-Russian Russian People's Council in 2004 on recognizing Moscow as the Third Rome, emphasizing its special religious and political significance. In his speech, the patriarch condemned this concept as untenable from a theological point of view and politically dangerous.

The decision of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to appoint two Americans of Ukrainian origin as his “exarchs” in Kyiv may lead to a split in the entire Orthodox world

The appointment by the Patriarch of Constantinople of his representatives-bishops in Ukraine - without the consent of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine - is nothing but an unprecedentedly brutal invasion of the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate. Such actions cannot go unanswered.

This is how Vladimir Legoyda, chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church, Society and the Media, commented on the decision taken in Istanbul. social network Facebook. Usually extremely diplomatic, Legoyda expressed only a fraction of the emotions of the Russians. Orthodox people, who are closely following the issues of "Ukrainian autocephalization", the process of which was launched by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople (in reality, Istanbul). But if yesterday it was about the “war of discussions”, today the Phanar (the Istanbul quarter, where the residence of the Patriarch of Constantinople is located) went on a real offensive.

According to many experts of the Tsargrad TV channel, including Archpriest of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, Archbishop Theodosius of Sebaste (Khanna) such actions are links in the chain of the anti-Russian policy of the United States of America, which largely controls the activities of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. To clarify the scale of the church tragedy that had happened (and we are talking about the beginning of a tragedy that has become much more difficult to prevent from today), Tsargrad turned to the leading expert in the Ukrainian church issue, professor at the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University, doctor of church history Vladislav Petrushko.

Professor of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University, Doctor of Church History Vladislav Petrushko. Photo: Tsargrad TV channel

Tsargrad: Vladislav Igorevich, how to assess what happened? What actually happened, what kind of characters were sent by Patriarch Bartholomew to Kyiv? Who are these “legates” or “nuncios” of the Constantinople “pope”?

Professor Vladislav Petrushko: It seems to me that we do not place accents quite correctly. What happened, on the one hand, is expected, since it is a logical continuation of the policy initiated by the Phanar. On the other hand, it was unexpected that so quickly, literally a week after the meeting of the two Patriarchs in Istanbul, a decision was made to appoint Phanariot "legates" to Ukraine. And although they try to present it in such a way that these two bishops are “only” representatives of the Patriarch of Constantinople, and not the heads of some new structure, new jurisdiction, we know very well from history the ability of the Greeks to juggle terms, words. Today it is "exarch" as a "legate", as a representative. And already tomorrow - the actual primate of the semi-autonomous "Church".

The appointed exarchs, or rather, the exarch and the deputy exarch, are two Ukrainian bishops of Constantinople jurisdiction. One is from the USA, the other is from Canada. And one, if I'm not mistaken, in the past was a Uniate (Greek Catholic), who converted to Orthodoxy in one of the Constantinople jurisdictions. It is clear that both come from Galicians, which means patented nationalists, but they should not even pay attention to this. And what happened at the last Synaxis (the bishops' meeting of the Patriarchate of Constantinople), and the statement of Patriarch Bartholomew on the results.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

In fact, there was a revolution. And not only canonical, but ecclesiological (ecclesiology is the doctrine of the Church, including its boundaries - ed.). For the first time, the creation of an eastern analogue of the papacy was declared so openly at an official event of the Church of Constantinople. It is stated that only the Patriarch of Constantinople is an arbiter and can interfere in the affairs of other Churches, resolve disputes, grant autocephaly, and so on. In fact, on the sly, what happened throughout the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st came to a logical result. And Ukraine is a kind of first "trial balloon" on which this "Eastern Papacy" will run in. That is, a new structure of the Orthodox world has been proclaimed, and now everything will depend on how the Local Orthodox Churches react to this.

C.: Thus, what happened can be compared with 1054, the “great schism” that divided the Eastern and Western Churches, Orthodox and Roman Catholics?

Professor Petrushko A: Yes, that's the first thing that comes to mind. But even in the 11th century, it began with much more innocent things than now, when we see that the Phanar raged, lost all adequacy and, in fact, puts an ultimatum to the entire Orthodox world. Either you recognize the "Pope" of Constantinople, or we go to you and do whatever we want in your canonical territories, including recognizing any schism, any non-canonical structure. Of course, this is already complete chaos, this is the real church "raiding". And this must be brought to a decisive end by all the Local Orthodox Churches.

In June 1924, the Patriarch had to face the danger associated with the policy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In the Orthodox world, the Patriarch of Constantinople is traditionally considered the first among equals, which, however, does not mean that he has any rights in relation to Local Orthodox Churches. In the early 1920s the policy of the patriarchs of Constantinople changed dramatically and began to diverge from the Orthodox tradition. This was especially pronounced during the years of the patriarchate of Meletios (Metaksakis) (1923-1924), who was a supporter of radical innovations in church life, akin to those introduced by the Russian renovationists. In addition, Patriarch Meletius openly interfered in the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, declaring non-canonically autocephalous parts of the Russian Church in Finland, Poland and Estonia.

Patriarch Meletius in May-July 1923 convened his "Pan-Orthodox Council", which was held in Constantinople. Hardly more than a dozen people gathered at this "Pan-Orthodox Council", none of whom officially represented any of the Patriarchates. "Cathedral" replaced Julian calendar Gregorian, he decided to change the paschal, forever established in the Orthodox Church by the decision of the First Ecumenical Council, allowed the clergy to cut their hair and abolished the mandatory wearing of cassocks; introduced non-canonical marriage and bigamy of priests, thereby upsetting the order and unity that prevailed in the autocephalous Orthodox Churches.

Patriarch Meletiy played into the hands of the fact that the Renovationist "Living Church" with a program of modernist reforms very similar to his own had gained a foothold in Russia. And, on the occasion of his election as Patriarch of Alexandria, the Living Church synod wrote to Meletius: Best wishes recalls the moral support that Your Beatitude gave us when you were still Patriarch of Constantinople, entering into communion with us as the sole legal ruling body of the Russian Orthodox Church". Moreover, his successors Gregory VII and Constantine VI remained in communion with the "Living Church "(communication was interrupted only in 1929), and Gregory even called for the resignation of Patriarch Tikhon.

Not satisfied with this, Gregory demanded "from the Russian archbishops Anastassy and Alexander, who were at that time in Constantinople, to stop speaking out against the Soviet regime, not to commemorate Patriarch Tikhon, and gave them advice to recognize the power of the Bolsheviks. Not having met with sympathy from their side, he appointed an investigation and banned them He appealed to the Serbian Patriarch Demetrius with a request to close the Russian Synod of Bishops in Sremski Karlovtsy, which was refused.

In the summer of 1924, the Evdokimovsky Synod, naturally with the support of the GPU, vigorously spread rumors in the press that the Ecumenical Patriarch had removed Patriarch Tikhon from the administration of the Russian Church (Izvestia, No. 124 of June 1, 1924) and even banned him from serving.

The plan of the GPU was to support the Renovationists as the core of the Russian Church through the mouth of the Ecumenical Patriarch, and to convince Patriarch Tikhon that it would be better for him to move away from the Patriarchate. The GPU used its resources to ensure that in the eyes of the Ecumenical Patriarch, it was the Renovationists who looked like the legitimate Church. However, it should be emphasized that, canonically, the Patriarch of Constantinople has only the primacy of honor over the Patriarch of Russia, but has no power over him. Moreover, canon 2 of the Second Ecumenical Council forbids a bishop to interfere in the affairs of another diocese. However, despite this, the GPU and the Renovationists still hoped to use the Patriarch of Constantinople to remove Patriarch Tikhon.

On April 17, 1924, at a meeting of the Synod in Constantinople, a decision was made to send a special mission to Russia to study the state of church affairs, and it follows from the message that the Patriarch understands the manifestations of Russian ecclesiasticism and reduces it to the Living Church. Simultaneously with the implementation of the plan for the introduction of the Krasnitsky GPU, a plan was carried out to discredit Patriarch Tikhon in the eyes of the Patriarch of Constantinople and incline him to the side of the "Living Church". On April 30, the composition of the commission was approved, and on May 6, in his speech before the Synod, Patriarch Gregory VII of Constantinople called on Patriarch Tikhon to voluntarily resign from the Patriarchate and immediately retired from the Church Administration. The Synod decided that the commission in its work "definitely relied on church currents loyal to the Government of the USSR" i.e. against the Renovationists, the Synod also spoke in favor of the abdication of the Patriarch and the abolition of the patriarchate in Russia. The work of the commission in the USSR, according to the plan of the GPU, was intended to support the renovationist movement and put additional pressure on the Patriarch during negotiations with Krasnitsky.

However, not all Local Orthodox Churches were inclined to support renovationism. So back in February 1924, a delegation of the Jerusalem Patriarchate visited Russia. Its members assessed the church situation in Russia objectively; the head of the delegation, Konstantin Grigoriadi, definitely spoke out in support of the legitimate head of the Church, Patriarch Tikhon, and for condemning all currents of renovationism.

It is interesting to note that all the documents cited above were deposited in the fund of the secretariat of E. Yaroslavsky, which indicates that the ARC was actively interested in the state of inter-Orthodox contacts. The ARC and the GPU were very interested in strengthening the international prestige of the Renovationists and in creating the appearance of their support from world Orthodoxy.

On June 6, in a letter from the representative of the Patriarch of Constantinople in Russia, Vasily Dimopoulo, the Patriarch received extracts from the minutes of the meetings of the Synod in Constantinople, which contained an appeal to him to renounce the Patriarchate. On June 18, as follows from the message of Metropolitans Peter and Seraphim, Patriarch Tikhon wrote a letter to Gregory VII, in which he pointed out the uncanonicity of Gregory VII’s interference in the affairs of the Russian Church, refused to renounce the Patriarchate, since “the latter will only be to please the schismatic Renovators,” the Patriarch wrote : "The people are not with schismatics, but with their legitimate and Orthodox Patriarch" and spoke out against the abolition of the patriarchate.

After this letter, Gregory VII broke off communication with Patriarch Tikhon and henceforth carried out all his contacts with the Evdokimov synod as with the supposedly legitimate governing body of the Russian Church. His example was followed, not without pressure exerted through Soviet foreign policy channels, by other Eastern Patriarchs. The Soviet authorities managed to achieve external isolation of the Patriarchal Church, which concealed an undoubted danger for universal Orthodoxy. In 1925, the convocation of a Pan-Orthodox Council in Constantinople was scheduled, which was preparing to become a renovationist false council. Evdokimovites were actively preparing for this cathedral.

On June 10, a pre-conciliar meeting was opened in Moscow, chaired by Evdokim, which made a decision to liquidate the institution of the patriarchate. According to the summary compiled by Tuchkov on the work of the department in 1924, "156 priests, 83 bishops and 84 laymen" were present at the congress. The same report indicated that 126 secret informants of the GPU were sent to the meeting, i.e. about 40% of the meeting.

The period of April - July 1924 was extremely difficult for the Patriarch. The GPU launched a powerful attack on the Patriarch, which was carried out along the following main lines: 1) mass arrests of the episcopate loyal to the Patriarch; 2) an attempt to introduce Krasnitsky into the Church Administration with the aim of splitting the Church and compromising the Patriarch; 3) the inclination of the Eastern Patriarchs to the side of renovationism, the achievement of the international isolation of the Patriarch; 4) a massive campaign to compromise the Patriarch in the press. However, Patriarch Tikhon managed to endure, to preserve the unity of the Church, and managed to largely destroy these plans.

Bishop PHOTIUS. The 70th Anniversary of the Pan-Orthodox Congress in Constantinople // Orthodox Life. No. 1. 1994. P. 42.
RGASPI. F.89. Op.4. D.89. L.12; Published: Russian Orthodox Church and the communist state. 1917-1941. Documents and photographic materials. M., 1996. S.189-190.
RGASPI. F.89. Op.4. D.89. L.13; Published: Russian Orthodox Church and the communist state. pp.190-191.
RGASPI. F.89. Op.4. D.89. L.14; Published: Russian Orthodox Church and the communist state. S.193 -194.
RGASPI. F.89. Op.4. D.89. L.17; Published: Russian Orthodox Church and the communist state. pp.195-196.
Investigation case of Patriarch Tikhon. Collection of documents based on the materials of the CA FSB. M., 2000. S. 773.
CA FSB D. N-1780. T.13. L.53; Published: Investigation case. P.377.
CA FSB. F.2. Op.4. D.372. L.201.

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Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has repeatedly visited Russia. But in 2018, Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople was severed. What is the Church of the New Rome - the Ecumenical Patriarchate?

A few words about the historical role of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and its position in the contemporary Orthodox world.

The historical role of the Patriarchate of Constantinople

The creation of a Christian community and an episcopal see in Constantinople (before 330 AD - Byzantium) dates back to apostolic times. It is inextricably linked with the activities of the holy apostles Andrew the First-Called and Stachy (the latter, according to legend, became the first bishop of the city, whose Εκκλησία continuously increased in the first three centuries of Christianity). However, the flourishing of the Church of Constantinople and its acquisition of world-historical significance are associated with the conversion to Christ of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great (305-337) and the creation by him shortly after the First Ecumenical (Nicene) Council (325) of the second capital of the Christianizing empire - New Rome, which later received the name of its sovereign founder.

A little more than 50 years later, at the Second Ecumenical Council (381), the bishop of New Rome received second place in diptychs among all the bishops of the Christian world, yielding since then in the primacy of honor only to the bishop of Ancient Rome (canon 3 of the aforementioned Council). It is worth noting that the Primate of the Church of Constantinople during the period of the Council was one of the greatest fathers and teachers of the Church - St. Gregory the Theologian.

Soon after the final division of the Roman Empire into the Western and Eastern parts in Constantinople, another equally angelic father and teacher of the Church shone with an unfading light - St. John Chrysostom, who occupied the chair of the archbishop in 397-404. In his writings, this ecumenical great teacher and hierarch outlined the true, enduring ideals of the life of Christian society and formed the unchanging foundations social activities Orthodox Church.

Unfortunately, in the first half of the 5th century, the Church of New Rome was desecrated by the Heretic Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius (428-431), who was overthrown and anathematized at the Third Ecumenical (Ephesus) Council (431). However, already the Fourth Ecumenical (Chalcedon) Council restored and expanded the rights and advantages of the Church of Constantinople. By its 28th canon, this Council formed the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which included the dioceses of Thrace, Asia and Pontus (that is, most of the territory of Asia Minor and the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula). In the middle of the 6th century, under the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Justinian the Great (527-565), the Fifth Ecumenical Council(553). At the end of the 6th century, under the outstanding canonist, St. John IV the Faster (582-595), the primates of Constantinople for the first time began to use the title "Ecumenical (Οικουμενικός) Patriarch" (at the same time, historically, their status as bishops of the capital of the Christian empire was considered the basis for such a title - ecumene).

In the 7th century, the see of Constantinople, through the efforts of the crafty enemy of our salvation, again became a source of heresy and church troubles. Patriarch Sergius I (610-638) became the founder of the heresy of Monothelitism, and his heretical successors staged a real persecution of the defenders of Orthodoxy - Saint Martin the Pope of Rome and Saint Maximus the Confessor, who were eventually martyred by heretics. By the grace of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681) convened in Constantinople under the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine IV Pogonates (668-685) destroyed the Monothelite heresy, condemned, excommunicated and anathematized Patriarch Sergius and all his followers (including the Patriarchs of Constantinople Pyrrhus and Paul II, as well as Pope Honorius I).

Saint Maxim the Confessor

Territories of the Patriarchate of Constantinople

In the 8th century, the patriarchal throne of Constantinople was occupied for a long time by supporters of the iconoclastic heresy, forcibly implanted by the emperors of the Isaurian dynasty. It was only through the efforts of the holy Patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople (784-806) that the Seventh Ecumenical Council was able to stop the heresy of iconoclasm and anathematize its founders, the Byzantine emperors Leo the Isaurian (717-741) and Constantine Copronymus (741-775). It is also worth noting that in the 8th century the western part of the Balkan Peninsula (dioceses of Illyricum) was included in the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In the 9th century, the most prominent patriarch of Constantinople was the "new Chrysostom", St. Photius the Great (858-867, 877-886). It was under him that the Orthodox Church for the first time condemned the most important errors of the heresy of papism: the doctrine of the descent of the Holy Spirit not only from the Father, but also from the Son (the doctrine of the “filioque”), which changes the Creed, and the doctrine of the sole primacy of the Roman pope in the Church and of primacy ( superiority) of the pope over church councils.

The time of the patriarchate of St. Photius was the time of the most active Orthodox Church mission in the entire history of Byzantium, which resulted not only in the baptism and conversion to Orthodoxy of the peoples of Bulgaria, the Serbian lands and the Great Moravian state (the latter covered the territories of modern Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary), but also the first ( the so-called "Askold's") the baptism of Russia (which took place shortly after 861) and the formation of the beginnings of the Russian Church. It was the representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople - the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles missionaries, enlighteners of the Slavs Cyril and Methodius - who defeated the so-called "trilingual heresy" (the supporter of which claimed that there were some "sacred" languages, in which only one should pray to God).

Finally, like St. John Chrysostom, St. Photius in his writings actively preached the social ideal of Orthodox Christian society (and even compiled for the empire a code of laws imbued with Christian values, the Epanagoge). It is not surprising that, like John Chrysostom, Saint Photius was persecuted. However, if the ideas of St. John Chrysostom, despite persecution during his lifetime, after his death were nevertheless officially recognized by the imperial authorities, then the ideas of St. Photius, which were disseminated during his lifetime, were rejected shortly after his death (thus, accepted shortly before the death of St. Epanagoge and not entered into force).

In the 10th century, the Asia Minor region of Isauria (924) was included in the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, after which the entire territory of Asia Minor (except Cilicia) entered the canonical jurisdiction of New Rome. At the same time, in 919-927, after the establishment of the patriarchate in Bulgaria, under the omophorion of the latter, almost the entire northern part of the Balkans (the modern territories of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, part of the territory of Romania, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina). However major event in the church history of the 10th century, without a doubt, was the second Baptism of Russia, carried out in 988 by the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir (978-1015). Representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople played a significant role in the formation of the Russian Church, which until 1448 was in the closest canonical connection with the Patriarchal See of Constantinople.

In 1054, with the separation of the Western (Roman) Church from the fullness of Orthodoxy, the Patriarch of Constantinople becomes the first in honor among all Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches. Simultaneously, with the beginning at the end of the XI century of the era crusades and temporary expulsion from their thrones of the Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem, the Bishop of New Rome begins to assimilate for himself an exceptional church status, striving to establish certain forms of canonical superiority of Constantinople over other autocephalous Churches and even to abolish some of them (in particular, the Bulgarian one). However, the fall in 1204 under the blows of the Crusaders of the capital of Byzantium and the forced relocation of the patriarchal residence to Nicaea (where the patriarchs resided from 1207 to 1261) prompted the Ecumenical Patriarchate to agree to the restoration of the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church and the granting of autocephaly to the Serbian Church.

The recapture of Constantinople from the crusaders (1261) did not, in fact, improve, but rather worsened, the real situation of the Church of Constantinople. Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259-1282) headed for union with Rome, with the help of anti-canonical measures, he handed over the reins of power in the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Uniates and perpetrated cruel persecution of supporters of Orthodoxy, unprecedented since the bloody iconoclastic repressions. In particular, with the sanction of the Uniate Patriarch John XI Vekka (1275 - 1282), there was an unparalleled defeat by the Byzantine Christian (!) Army of the monasteries of Mount Athos (during which a considerable number of Athos monks, refusing to accept the union, beamed in the feat of martyrdom). After the death of the anathematized Michael Palaiologos at the Blachernae Council of 1285, the Church of Constantinople unanimously condemned both the union and the dogma of the “filioque” (adopted 11 years earlier by the Western Church at the Council in Lyon).

In the middle of the 14th century, at the “Palamite Councils” held in Constantinople, the Orthodox dogmas on the difference between the essence and energy of the Godhead were officially confirmed, which are the pinnacles of truly Christian knowledge of God. It is to the Patriarchate of Constantinople that the entire Orthodox world owes the rooting in our Church of these saving pillars of the Orthodox Faith. However, soon after the triumphant establishment of Palamism, the flock of the Ecumenical Patriarchate again faced the danger of a union with heretics. Carried away by the addition of a foreign flock (at the end of the XIV century, the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church was again liquidated), the hierarchs of the Church of Constantinople at the same time exposed their own flock to great spiritual danger. The weakening imperial government of the Byzantine Empire, which was dying under the blows of the Ottomans, in the first half of the 15th century again tried to impose subordination to the Pope of Rome on the Orthodox Church. At the Ferrara-Florence Council (1438-1445), all the clergy and laity of the Patriarchate of Constantinople invited to its meetings (except for the unshakable fighter against the heresy of St. Mark of Ephesus) signed an act of union with Rome. Under these conditions, the Russian Orthodox Church, in pursuance of Canon 15 of the Holy Twofold Council, broke off its canonical connection with the Patriarchal See of Constantinople and became an autocephalous Local Church, independently electing its Primate.

Saint Mark of Ephesus

In 1453, after the fall of Constantinople and the end of the existence of the Byzantine Empire (which papal Rome never provided the help promised against the Ottomans), the Church of Constantinople, headed by the holy Patriarch Gennadius Scholarius (1453-1456, 1458, 1462, 1463-1464) she threw off the bonds of the union imposed by heretics. Moreover, soon after that, the Patriarch of Constantinople became the civil head (“millet-bashi”) of all Orthodox Christians living in the territory of the Ottoman Empire. According to the words of contemporaries of the events described, “The patriarch sat down like a Caesar on the throne of the Basils” (that is, the Byzantine emperors). From the beginning of the 16th century, other Eastern patriarchs (Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem), in accordance with Ottoman laws, fell into a subordinate position for four long centuries to persons occupying the Patriarchal Throne of Constantinople. Taking advantage of this kind of situation, many of the latter allowed tragic abuses of their power for the Church. Thus, Patriarch Cyril I Lucaris (1620-1623, 1623-1633, 1633-1634, 1634-1635, 1635-1638), as part of a polemic with papal Rome, tried to impose the Protestant doctrine on the Orthodox Church, and Patriarch Cyril V (1748-1751 , 1752-1757) by his decision changed the practice of accepting Roman Catholics into Orthodoxy, departing from the requirements established for this practice by the Council of 1484. In addition, in the middle of the 18th century, at the initiative of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Ottomans liquidated the Pech (Serbian) Patriarchate and the Orchid Autocephalous Archdiocese that provided care for the Macedonian flock (created back in the time of St. Justinian the Great).

However, one should not at all think that the life of the Primates of the Church of Constantinople - the ethnarchs of all Eastern Christians - was "truly royal" under Ottoman domination. For many of them, she was truly a confessor, and even a martyr. Appointed and dismissed at the arbitrariness of the sultan and his hangers-on, the patriarchs, not only by their position, but also by their lives, were responsible for the obedience of the oppressed, oppressed, robbed, humiliated and destroyed Orthodox population of the Ottoman Empire. So, after the start of the Greek uprising of 1821, on the orders of the Sultan's government, fanatics belonging to non-Christian Abrahamic religions, on Easter Day, 76-year-old elder Patriarch Gregory V (1797 - 1798, 1806 -1808, 1818 - 1821) were brutally murdered. , who became not only a holy martyr, but also a martyr for the people (εθνομάρτυς).

Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church

Oppressed by the Ottoman sultans (who also bore the title of “caliph of all Muslims”), the Church of Constantinople sought support primarily from the “Third Rome”, that is, from the Russian state and the Russian Church (it was the desire to gain such support that prompted the consent of Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople to establish in 1589 the Patriarchate in Russia). However, soon after the aforementioned martyrdom of Hieromartyr Gregory (Angelopoulos), the hierarchs of Constantinople made an attempt to rely on the Orthodox peoples of the Balkan Peninsula as well. It was at that time that the District Council Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs of 1848, the Orthodox people (whose representatives were integrated into higher authorities Church administration of all Eastern Patriarchates) was solemnly proclaimed the guardian of truth in the Church. At the same time, the Church of Greece liberated from the Ottoman yoke (the Greek Church) received autocephaly. However, already in the second half of the 19th century, the hierarchs of Constantinople refused to recognize the restoration of the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church (having come to terms with it only in the middle of the 20th century). Similar problems with recognition from Constantinople also experienced Orthodox Patriarchates Georgia and Romania. However, in fairness, it should be noted that the restoration of a single autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church at the end of the second decade of the last century did not meet with any objections from Constantinople.

A new, first in the 20th century, dramatic page in the history of the Church of Constantinople was associated with the stay on Her Patriarchal Throne of Meletios IV(Metaksakis), who occupied the chair of the Ecumenical Patriarch in 1921-1923. In 1922, he abolished the autonomy of the Greek Archdiocese in the United States, which provoked a division in both American and Greek Orthodoxy, and in 1923, by convening a "Pan-Orthodox Congress" (from representatives of only five Local Orthodox Churches), he led through this unforeseen the canonical structure of the Orthodox Church, the organ decided to change the liturgical style, which provoked church turmoil, which subsequently gave rise to the so-called. "Old Style" split. Finally, in the same year, he received schismatic anti-church groups in Estonia under the omophorion of Constantinople. But the most fatal mistake of Meletius IV there was support for the slogans of "militant Hellenism", that after Turkey's victory in the Greco-Turkish war of 1919-1922. and the conclusion of the Lausanne Peace Treaty of 1923 became one of the additional arguments for justifying the expulsion from the territory of Asia Minor of the almost two million Greek-speaking flock of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

As a result of all this, after the departure of Meletios from the see, almost a hundred thousand Orthodox Greek community of Constantinople (Istanbul) became almost the only support of the Ecumenical Patriarchal Throne on its canonical territory. However, the anti-Greek pogroms of the 1950s led to the fact that the Orthodox flock of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey, as a result of mass emigration to date, with a few exceptions, has been reduced to several thousand Greeks living in the Phanar quarter of Constantinople, as well as on the Princes' Islands in the Sea of ​​​​Marmara and on the islands of Imvros and Tenedos in the Turkish Aegean. Under these conditions, Patriarch Athenagoras I (1949-1972) turned for help and support to Western countries, on whose lands, mainly in the United States, the vast majority of the almost seven million (at that time) flock of the Church of Constantinople already lived. Among the measures taken to gain this support was the lifting of the anathemas imposed on the representatives of the Western Church who broke away from Orthodoxy in 1054 by Patriarch Michael I Kirularius (1033-1058). These measures (which, however, did not mean the abolition of conciliar decisions condemning the heretical errors of Western Christians), however, could not alleviate the situation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which was dealt a new blow by the decision taken by the Turkish authorities in 1971 to close the Theological Academy on the island of Halki. Shortly after the implementation by Turkey said decision Patriarch Athenagoras I died.

Primate of the Church of Constantinople - Patriarch Bartholomew

The current Primate of the Church of Constantinople, His Holiness Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, was born in 1940 on the island of Imvros, was consecrated bishop in 1973, and ascended the Patriarchal throne on November 2, 1991. The canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Constantinople during the period of its administration of the Church essentially did not change and still includes the territory of almost all of Asia Minor, Eastern Thrace, Crete (where the semi-autonomous Cretan Church exists under the omophorion of Constantinople), the Dodecanese Islands, Holy Mount Athos (also enjoying a certain church independence), as well as Finland (the small Orthodox Church of this country enjoys canonical autonomy). In addition, the Church of Constantinople also claims certain canonical rights in the field of administration of the so-called "new territories" - the dioceses of Northern Greece, annexed to the main territory of the country after the Balkan wars of 1912-1913. and transferred by Constantinople in 1928 to the control of the Greek Church. Such claims (as well as the claims of the Church of Constantinople to the canonical subordination of the entire Orthodox diaspora to it, which have no canonical grounds at all), of course, do not find the positive response expected by some Constantinople hierarchs from other Orthodox Local Churches. However, they can be understood based on the fact that the vast majority of the flock of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is precisely the flock of the diaspora (which, however, still constitutes a minority among the Orthodox diaspora as a whole). The latter also to a certain extent explains the breadth of the ecumenical activity of Patriarch Bartholomew I, who seeks to objectify new, non-trivial areas of inter-Christian and, more broadly, inter-religious dialogue in the rapidly globalizing modern world.

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople

The certificate was prepared by Balytnikov Vadim Vladimirovich

Some historical (including hagiographic and iconographic data) testify to the veneration of this emperor in Byzantium along with Constantine the Great, who was named after him.

Interestingly, it was this heretic patriarch who, with his “canonical answers” ​​(about the inadmissibility of Christians drinking koumiss, etc.), actually thwarted all the efforts of the Russian Church to carry out a Christian mission among the nomadic peoples of the Golden Horde.

As a result, almost all Orthodox episcopal sees in Turkey became titular, and the participation of the laity in the implementation of church administration at the level of the Patriarchate of Constantinople ceased.

Similarly, attempts to extend its ecclesiastical jurisdiction to a number of states (China, Ukraine, Estonia) that are currently part of the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate do not find support outside the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Reference: In September 2018, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew addressed the Synax with a statement about the interference of the Russian Church in the affairs of the Kyiv Metropolis. In response to this, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church at an extraordinary meeting decided: “1. Suspend the prayer commemoration of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the service. 2. Suspend concelebration with the hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. 3. Suspend the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in all episcopal assemblies, theological dialogues, multilateral commissions and other structures chaired or co-chaired by representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. 4. Accept the statement of the Holy Synod in connection with the anti-canonical actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine.” The Russian Orthodox Church has severed Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople.