Cyril VI ( el, Κύριλλος ΣΤ΄),

lay name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of registration of the birth and which then ap ...

Konstantinos Serpetzoglou (Κωνσταντίνος Σερπεντζόγλου) was the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

between the years 1813 and 1818. He was born in 1769 in

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

, where he finished school. He was a smart and good student. He was put under the protection of the local

metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the b ...

(and later

Ecumenical Patriarch The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

) Callinicus V, who ordained him

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in 1791 and hired him as a secretary. In 1801, when Cyril was elected Patriarch, he appointed him great archdeacon of the Patriarchate. From that position he was especially occupied with the reorganisation of the

Great School of the Nation Phanar Greek Orthodox College or Phanar Roman Orthodox Lyceum ( tr, Özel Fener Rum Lisesi), known in Greek as the Great School of the Nation and Patriarchal Academy of Constantinople ( el, Μεγάλη του Γένους Σχολή, ''Megáli t ...

, which was then moved to Kuruçeşme. In September 1803 he was elected Metropolitan bishop of

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

, serving as such for seven years. There, he worked hard for the establishment of schools, the funding of impecunious students, the distribution of books and the general education. In 1810 he was moved to the Metropolis of Edirne. On 4 March 1813, after the resignation of Jeremias IV of Constantinople, he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch. As Ecumenical Patriarch, past the special interest he showed for the development of education, he founded a music school, and published many books, mainly religious. He fixed the economical problems of the Patriarchate and reopened the Patriarchal Press and the Great School of the Nation. It is speculated that he was an advisor of

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends ( el, Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία ''or'' ) was a secret organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek ...

. Moreover, it is thought that the Sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...

made him resign, which happened on 13 December 1818. After his resignation he retired to Edirne. When the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

broke out, his name was included in the decree of the Sultan where the command to execute 30 priests and

kodjabashis The kodjabashis ( el, κοτζαμπάσηδες, kotzabasides; singular κοτζάμπασης, ''kotzabasis''; sh, kodžobaša, kodžabaša; from tr, kocabaṣı, hocabaṣı) were local Christian notables in parts of the Ottoman Balkans, most ...

of Edirne was given. He was executed by hanging in the gate of the Metropolis and his body stayed hanging for three days (the first time the rope broke and the Ottomans considered it a superstition) and was later thrown in the

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,Pythio Pythio (Greek: Πύθιο, tr, Kuleliburgaz), sometimes referred to as Pythion, is a village and community in the eastern part of Didymoteicho municipality, Evros regional unit, Greece. It is 16 km east of the centre of Didymoteicho, on th ...

, next to the Maritsa river. He was recognised as a saint in 1993 by the Holy Synod of the

Church of Greece The Church of Greece ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Ἑλλάδος, Ekklēsía tē̂s Helládos, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its ...

and he is honored on April 18 or carried on Thomas Sunday. He was canonized by The Ecumenical Patriarchate on February 11 2022.

References

Sources

Ecumenical Patriarchate

Anexartitos Serron
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyril 06 1769 births 1821 deaths Eastern Orthodox saints Bishops of Adrianople 19th-century Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople People from Edirne 19th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire People executed by the Ottoman Empire by hanging Persecution of Christians in the Ottoman Empire Persecution of Eastern Orthodox Christians Eastern Orthodox bishops of Iconium Christian saints killed by Muslims Burials in Greece