Ignatius of Mariupol (1716 – 1786) was an 18th-century Greek bishop of Gothia and Caffa in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and later of

Mariupol Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russian i ...

, modern-day Ukraine. He is venerated as a saint by the

Orthodox Church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church * Oriental Orthodox Churches * Orthodox Presbyterian Church * Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand * State church of the Roman Empire * True Orthodox church See also * Orthodox (dis ...

Biography

He was born in 1716 in

Kythnos Kythnos ( el, Κύθνος), commonly called Thermia ( el, Θερμιά), is a Greek island and municipality in the Western Cyclades between Kea and Serifos. It is from the Athenian harbor of Piraeus. The municipality Kythnos is in area and has a ...

as Iakovos Kozadinos or Gozadinos and he was member of the Kozadinos or Gozzadinos (Gozzadini) family. Kozadinos were descendants of a noble family emerged in

Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...

during the Frankish rule. Although originally of Catholic rite, they became

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

in the course of the centuries. In fact, in

1613 Events January–June * January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary ...

Ignatius' ancestors built the church of Agios Savvas in Chora of Kythnos, where he himself was later baptized. As a young man Iakovos went to

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

and became a monk in the Monastery of Vatopedi, adopting the ecclesiastical name Ignatius. In 1771 he became the Bishop of Gothia and Caffa in

, where he offered his efforts for the spiritual revival of the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

and their Orthodox Christian faith. In 1778, he undertook the task of the exodus of the Orthodox Greeks and Armenians from Crimea, which was under the control of the

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

, and their settlement in the area of Azov, where Mariupol was built and where he settled with his congregation and served as bishop of the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. He died in Mariupol on 3/16 February 1786. Ignatius was declared a saint by the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church The history of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the history of Christianity, to the Apostolic Age, with mission trips along the Black Sea and a legend of Saint Andrew even ascending the hills of Kyiv. The first Ch ...

. In addition, by decree of the Greek Orthodox bishop of Syros, he is honored as a local saint in his place of birth. On October 1, 2016, part of his relics were transferred from Mariupol to Chora in Kythnos.{{Cite web , last=Μαρκουίζο , first=κ Αλέξανδρο , title=ΜΕΓΑΛΕΙΩΔΗ ΥΠΟΔΟΧΗ ΕΠΕΦΥΛΑΞΑΝ ΠΑΝΔΗΜΩΣ ΟΙ ΚΥΘΝΙΟΙ ΣΤΟΝ ΣΥΝΤΟΠΙΤΗ ΤΟΥΣ , url=https://www.imsyrou.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5056:megaleiodi-ypodoxi-epefylaksan-pandimos-oi-kythnioi-ston-syntopiti-tous-agio-ignatio-marioupoleos&catid=209&Itemid=861/ , access-date=2022-07-11 , website=Ιερά Μητρόπολη Σύρου , language=el-gr

Biography

References

Further reading