Jeremias III of Constantinople
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Jeremias III ( el, Ιερεμίας Γ΄, (c. 1650/1660 – 1735) was
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 ...
two times, in 1716–1726 and 1732–1733.


Life

Jeremias was born between 1650 and 1660 in the island of
Patmos Patmos ( el, Πάτμος, ) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where John of Patmos received the visions found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written. One of the northern ...
, where he was ordained
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 Chur ...
. He served as a priest in Halki and then in the Diocese of Caesarea in Cappadocia. When his Metropolitan
Cyprianus ''Cyprianus'' is a name given in Scandinavian traditions of folk magic to the "black book" ("''Svarteboken"''): a grimoire or manuscript collection of spell (magic), spells; and by extension to the magical tradition that these spells form a part o ...
became Patriarch of Constantinople in 1707, he succeeded him as Metropolitan of Cesarea. Jeremiah was elected Patriarch for the first time on 23 March 1716. His first patriarchate was long compared to the usual length of his office in that centuries, and Jeremias succeeded to cope with two attempts of deposition, probably sprung from his support to the
Russian Tsardom The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I in ...
: on 1 January 1718 the Metropolitan of Pruoza, Cyril, was elected Patriarch in his place, but Jeremias returned on the throne next 17 January, and in 1720 he was arrested and his rival, the previous Patriarch Cyril IV, reigned from 10 to 22 January, when Jeremias was re-installed. Jeremiah was finally deposed on 19 November 1726 after his clashes with the ruler of Moldova Grigore II Ghica concerning his refusal to grant divorce to Ghica's brother, and he was exiled to
Mount Sinai Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...
. In 1732 Jeremiah returned from exile and on 15 September 1732 he was appointed Patriarch for the second time, but after only a few months, in March 1733, he had to leave the throne because he suffered of hemiplegia, and he retired in Great Lavra Monastery on Mount Athos, where he died in 1735.


Patriarchate

Asked by the Tsar Peter I of Russia about the validity of the
Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
s celebrated by
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
s, on 31 August 1718 Jeremias confirmed that, as his predecessor Cyprianus stated about the
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
baptism, it is not necessary to re-baptize the Protestants who joined the Orthodox Church, the
Chrismation Chrismation consists of the sacrament or mystery in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the Assyrian Church of the East initiation rites. The sacrament is more commonly known in the West as conf ...
being enough. In 1720 he got permission from the Sultan to rebuild a new, larger and brighter Orthodox Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George, destroyed by fire some years before, at the headquarters of the Patriarchate at the
Fener Fener (; Greek: Φανάρι, ''Phanári''; in English also: Phanar) is a quarter midway up the Golden Horn in the district of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey. Its name is a Turkish transliteration of the word "phanarion" (Medieval Greek: Φανάρι ...
. He also reorganized the Monastery of the Transfiguration on the
Princes' Islands The Princes' Islands ( tr, Prens Adaları; the word "princes" is plural, because the name means "Islands of the Princes", el, Πριγκηπονήσια, ''Pringiponisia''), officially just Adalar ( en, Islands); alternatively the Princes' Arch ...
, which was enriched with a collection of valuable pictures that had been donated by Peter I of Russia. In December 1723 Jeremias approved the suppression, made in 1721 by Peter I of Russia, of
Patriarchate of Moscow , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
and its replacement with the Most Holy Synod. After that the Melkites of Damascus elected the pro-Westerner Cyril VI Tanas as the new
Patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...
, Jeremias declared Cyril's election to be invalid, excommunicated him, and appointed the young monk Sylvester as new Patriarch. Jeremias consecrated Sylvester as bishop in
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
on October 8, 1724.on September 27 according to the
Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...
These events split the Melkite Church between the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and the
Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch ( el, Ελληνορθόδοξο Πατριαρχείο Αντιοχείας), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East ( ar ...
. Jeremias imposed austerity at the expense of the Patriarchate, thus managing to reduce debt and improve its financial situation.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeremias 03 of Constantinople, Patriarch 1735 deaths 1650s births People from Patmos 18th-century Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople