Seraphim II of Constantinople

Seraphim II of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
Installed	22 July 1757
Term ended	26 March 1761
Predecessor	Callinicus IV of Constantinople
Successor	Joannicius III of Constantinople
Previous post(s)	Metropolitan of Philippoupolis
Personal details
Born	Delvinë, Albania
Died	7 December 1779[1] Mhar Monastery

Seraphim II of Constantinople (Greek: Σεραφεὶμ; died 7 December 1779[1]) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1757 until 1761.

Life

Seraphim II was born in Delvinë, located in modern-day southern Albania in the late 17th century.[2] He was an Albanian.[3] Before he was elected as Patriarch of Constantinople on 22 July 1757 he was Metropolitan of Philippoupolis.[1]

As Patriarch in 1759 Seraphim II introduces the feast of Saint Andrew on 30 November,[4] and in 1760 he gave the first permission to Kosmas the Aetolian to begin missionary tours in the villages of Thrace.[5]

In 1759 Seraphim II invited Eugenios Voulgaris to head the reforms in the patriarchal academy and during his tenure in the academy influenced by Seraphim's pro-Russian ideals, Voulgaris contributed to the reapproachment of the Russian Empire with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[6][7] As a consequence Seraphim II was deposed on 26 March 1761 and exiled on Mount Athos,[1] and he was replaced by the Ottoman authorities with Patriarch Joannicius III of Constantinople. On Mount Athos, he rebuilt an old Monastic house and dedicated it to Saint Andrew. This house would eventually become the Skete of Saint Andrew.[8]

On the field of politics, he supported the Russian Empire during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) and the establishment of an Orthodox pro-Russian state in the Balkans. In 1769 he urged the Greek population to rebel against the Turks.[2] After the failure of the revolution, in 1776 he moved to Ukraine, where he died on 7 December 1779.[1] He was buried in the Mhar Monastery.

Notes and references

1. Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate. Wildside Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6.
2. "Σεραφεὶμ Β´". Ecumenical Patriarchate. Retrieved 19 June 2011. (in Greek)
3. Vakalopoulos, Evangelos (1973). History of Macedonia, 1354–1833. Institute for Balkan Studies. pp. 370–371. The Patriarch Seraphim II, the Albanian, was enormously impressed by Kosmas the Aetolian when he made his acquaintance. He gladly conferred upon him the right to preach, deeming him a man capable of offering services of the highest value to the Christian flock which was continually exposed to hostile blasts
4. Μ.Γ.Βαρβούνη (2006). Το Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο, εκδόσεις Χελάνδιον. Athens. p. 117. ISBN 960-87087-5-3. (in Greek)
5. Nomikos, Michael (2000). Witnesses for Christ - Orthodox Christian neomartyrs of the Ottoman period, 1437–1860. Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. p. 200. ISBN 0-88141-196-5.
6. Demaras, Konstantinos (1972). A history of modern Greek literature. SUNY Press. p. 136. ISBN 0-87395-071-2.
7. Angold, Michael (2006). Eastern Christianity. Cambridge University Press. p. 204. ISBN 0-521-81113-9.
8. A brief history of Saint Andrew's Skete

Eastern Orthodox Church titles
Preceded by Callinicus IV	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1757 – 1761	Succeeded by Joannicius III

v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal