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The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

Discover the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the first see of the Orthodox Christian world. Learn about its history, its relationship to the Byzantine emperor, and its role in the modern world.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the first see of the Orthodox Christian world, has been a central institution in the religious and political life of the Eastern Mediterranean for more than seventeen centuries. Founded by the Apostle Andrew, according to tradition, and established as the seat of the bishop of Constantinople in the fourth century, the patriarchate has been the spiritual and political center of the Orthodox Christian world since the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great. The patriarchate has survived the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman period, and the modern Turkish state, and it remains a major institution in the Orthodox Christian world today.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has had a complex and often troubled history, marked by periods of imperial favor and persecution, by schisms and reconciliations, and by the development of a sophisticated legal and theological tradition. The patriarchate has been the subject of intense scholarly study, and it remains a major element of the Orthodox Christian tradition. The study of the patriarchate is, in this sense, the study of one of the most important and most enduring institutions in the history of the Christian church.

The Origins

The Apostolic Foundation

According to the Byzantine tradition, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was founded by the Apostle Andrew, the brother of the Apostle Peter, who is said to have traveled to the region of the Bosphorus and to have established the first Christian community there. The tradition, which is more legendary than historical, gave the patriarchate a special authority, since Andrew was the first-called of the apostles and the founder of the church in the region. The tradition was also used to establish the relationship between the patriarchate of Constantinople and the patriarchate of Rome, since Andrew was the brother of Peter, the founder of the Roman church.

The historical foundation of the patriarchate is more prosaic. The first Christian community in the region of the Bosphorus was established in the second or third century, and the bishop of Byzantium, the predecessor of the patriarch of Constantinople, was a relatively obscure figure in the early Christian church. The position of the bishop of Byzantium was transformed in the fourth century, when Emperor Constantine I refounded the city as Constantinople in 330, and made it the new capital of the Roman Empire.

The Second Ecumenical Council

The status of the bishop of Constantinople was further enhanced by the Second Ecumenical Council, held in Constantinople in 381. The council, which was convened by Emperor Theodosius I, declared that the bishop of Constantinople had primacy of honor after the bishop of Rome, since Constantinople was the New Rome, the capital of the empire. The decision of the council, which became known as Canon 28, was the foundation of the claim of the patriarch of Constantinople to be the first see of the Orthodox Christian world.

The decision of the Second Ecumenical Council was contested by the Roman pope, who argued that the primacy of Rome was based on the Petrine succession, not on the political status of the city. The dispute between Rome and Constantinople, which had been simmering for centuries, eventually led to the Great Schism of 1054, which divided the Christian church into its Eastern and Western branches.

The Byzantine Period

The Patriarch and the Emperor

The relationship between the patriarch of Constantinople and the Byzantine emperor was a central element of the religious and political life of the Byzantine Empire. The emperor claimed the right to appoint the patriarch, and the patriarch was expected to support the imperial policy. Yet the patriarch also possessed a sacred authority, derived from the apostolic succession, that the emperor could not grant or revoke. The result was a complex and often tense relationship, marked by periods of cooperation and conflict.

The most important conflict between the patriarch and the emperor was the Iconoclast controversy, which divided the Byzantine church for more than a century. The Iconoclast emperors, beginning with Leo III in 726, banned the veneration of icons, and they appointed patriarchs who supported their position. The defenders of icons, including the monks of the studios and the great monasteries of Constantinople, opposed the imperial policy, and they were supported by some of the most important patriarchs of the period.

The resolution of the Iconoclast controversy in 843, the Triumph of Orthodoxy, was a major victory for the patriarchate, and it established the principle that the patriarch had the right to speak out on matters of doctrine, even when the emperor disagreed. The principle was reaffirmed in the later Byzantine period, and it has been a central element of the Orthodox Christian understanding of the relationship between church and state.

The Major Patriarchs

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has been led by more than 200 patriarchs over the centuries, and some of them have been major figures in the history of the Christian church. The most important of the early patriarchs include St. John Chrysostom, the great preacher who served as patriarch from 398 to 404 and who was one of the most influential theologians of the early Christian church; St. Gregory the Theologian, who served as patriarch for a brief period in the late fourth century; and St. Nicholas Mystikos, who served as patriarch in the early tenth century and who was a major figure in the religious and political life of the empire.

The most important of the medieval patriarchs include Michael Cerularius, who served as patriarch at the time of the Great Schism of 1054 and who was the principal figure in the dispute with Rome; and Photios, who served as patriarch in the late ninth century and who was one of the most learned scholars of the Byzantine world. The Photian Schism, which was the result of Photios’s dispute with the Roman pope, was a major event in the history of the East-West schism.

The Ottoman Period

The Greek Millet

The Ecumenical Patriarchate survived the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and the patriarch became the leader of the Greek Orthodox community of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman government recognized the patriarch as the head of the Rum millet, the Greek Orthodox community, and gave him authority over the religious, civil, and educational affairs of his community. The patriarch was, in effect, the ruler of a self-governing community within the Ottoman state, and he had the power to levy taxes, to maintain schools, and to administer justice.

The most powerful of the Ottoman-era patriarchs were the patriarchs of the Phanariot period, the period from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth century when the patriarch was chosen from the Phanariot families, the wealthy Greek families of the Fener district of Constantinople. The Phanariot patriarchs were major political figures, and they were often involved in the politics of the Ottoman Empire, especially in the relations with the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, which were governed by Greek princes from the Phanariot families.

The patriarchate of the Ottoman period was a major center of Greek culture and education. The patriarch maintained a school in Constantinople, the Great School of the Nation, which was the most important Greek educational institution in the Ottoman Empire. The patriarch also maintained the libraries of the patriarchate, which contained important collections of Byzantine and post-Byzantine manuscripts. The patriarch was, in this sense, a major patron of Greek learning, and he played an important role in the preservation of the Greek cultural heritage through the long Ottoman period.

The Greek War of Independence

The Greek War of Independence in 1821 was a major event in the history of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The patriarch at the time of the outbreak of the war, Gregory V, was hanged by the Ottoman authorities in April 1821, in retaliation for the support of the patriarchate for the Greek cause. The execution of the patriarch was a major event in the Greek national movement, and it has been a powerful symbol of the struggle of the Greek people for independence.

The patriarchate, however, was not extinguished by the execution of the patriarch. The patriarchate continued to function under a series of new patriarchs, and it survived the war and the establishment of the modern Greek state. The patriarchate became, in this sense, a major symbol of the continuity of the Greek Orthodox tradition through the long Ottoman period and into the modern world.

The Modern Period

The Patriarchate in the Turkish Republic

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has continued to function in the modern Turkish Republic, and it has been a major institution in the religious and political life of the country. The patriarch is based in the Fener district of Istanbul, in the building of the patriarchate, and he presides over the Orthodox Christian community of Turkey, the diaspora, and the Orthodox world in general.

The patriarchate of the modern period has faced a number of challenges, including the decline of the Greek community in Turkey, the dispute with the Russian Orthodox Church over the jurisdiction of the diaspora, and the dispute with the Turkish government over the rights of the patriarchate. The most serious of the disputes has been the issue of the Halki Seminary, the theological school of the patriarchate, which was closed by the Turkish government in 1971. The reopening of the seminary has been a major demand of the patriarchate and of the international community, but the dispute has not been resolved.

The patriarchate of the modern period has also been a major center of ecumenical dialogue, especially with the Roman Catholic Church and the other Orthodox churches. The patriarchate was a major participant in the lifting of the mutual excommunications of 1054 by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I in 1965, and it has been a major center of the ecumenical movement ever since. The patriarchate has also been a major center of the dialogue with the other Orthodox churches, especially in the context of the preparation of the great and holy council of the Orthodox churches, which was held in Crete in 2016.

The Diaspora

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has jurisdiction over a vast diaspora, including the Greek Orthodox communities of Western Europe, North America, South America, and Australia. The diaspora was established in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when large numbers of Greeks emigrated from the Ottoman Empire and the Greek state to the Americas and other parts of the world.

The diaspora has been a major source of growth for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the Greek Orthodox communities of the West have been major supporters of the patriarchate. The diaspora has also been a major source of tension with other Orthodox churches, especially the Russian Orthodox Church, which has disputed the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate over the Russian Orthodox diaspora in Western Europe and the Americas. The dispute has been a major issue in the relations between the two patriarchates, and it has not been fully resolved.

The Theological Authority

The First Among Equals

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is the “first among equals” of the Orthodox patriarchs, the head of the Orthodox Christian world. The patriarch is not, however, the equivalent of the Roman Catholic pope, since the Orthodox Church does not recognize the universal jurisdiction of any single bishop. The Ecumenical Patriarch has a primacy of honor, and he has the right to convene pan-Orthodox councils, to speak on behalf of the Orthodox world in ecumenical matters, and to mediate disputes between the other Orthodox churches. He does not, however, have the power to issue dogmatic definitions, to appoint bishops in other patriarchates, or to intervene in the internal affairs of the other Orthodox churches.

The position of the Ecumenical Patriarch as the first among equals of the Orthodox patriarchs has been the basis of the Orthodox Christian understanding of the relationship between the patriarchates. The Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous churches, each with its own head, and the Ecumenical Patriarch is the first in honor among these heads. The principle of autocephaly has been a central element of the Orthodox Christian tradition, and it has been the basis of the Orthodox Christian resistance to the claims of the Roman Catholic Church to universal jurisdiction.

The Synodical System

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is governed by a synodical system, in which the patriarch governs with the assistance of a synod of bishops. The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is made up of the patriarch and a number of senior bishops, and it is the supreme authority of the patriarchate in matters of doctrine, discipline, and administration. The synodical system has been a central element of the Orthodox Christian tradition, and it has been the basis of the Orthodox Christian resistance to the autocratic claims of the Roman Catholic Church.

The synodical system of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been the model for the synodical systems of the other Orthodox churches, including the Russian Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the other autocephalous churches. The synodical system has been a central element of the Orthodox Christian tradition, and it has been one of the most distinctive features of the Orthodox Christian understanding of the church.

Conclusion

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the most important and most enduring institutions in the history of the Christian church. Founded in the fourth century as the bishopric of the New Rome, the patriarchate has been the spiritual and political center of the Orthodox Christian world for more than seventeen centuries. The patriarchate has survived the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman period, and the modern Turkish state, and it remains a major institution in the Orthodox Christian world today. The patriarchate has been the subject of intense scholarly study, and it remains a major element of the Orthodox Christian tradition. The study of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is, in this sense, the study of one of the most important and most enduring institutions in the history of the Christian church, and it is essential for understanding the Orthodox Christian tradition as a whole.

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