Parthenius I of Constantinople, (? – 8 September 1646) was the

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

of the

Church of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

from 1639 to 1644. Parthenius was patriarch during a period of frequent changes of the occupant of the

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

of Constantinople under the

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its hei ...

. He only served one period.

Dispute with Nicephorus

In a dispute with Patriarch Nicephorus of Alexandria, Parthenius sided with the

hierarch An ordinary (from Latin ''ordinarius'') is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws. Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ...

s of the

Church of Sinai The Church of Sinai is a Greek Orthodox autonomous church whose territory consists of St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt, along with several dependencies. There is a dispute as to whether the church is fully autocepha ...

by granting them permission to perform religious services in Cairo when Nicephorus was visiting

Moldovlachia The names of Moldavia and Moldova originate from the historical state of Moldavia, which at its greatest extent included eastern Romania (Western Moldavia), Moldova, and parts of south-western and western Ukraine. Etymology In Lithuanian language M ...

. After Nicephorus was back in Alexandria, his protests made Parthenius revoke his permission. Still, the tensions over this issue continued between the two Churches.

Synods

In the year 1641, Parthenius summoned a

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

at Constantinople, at which eight prelates and four dignitaries of the church were present. In this synod, the term ''

Transubstantiation Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of th ...

'' is said to have been authorised. In the next year, Parthenius organized the more important

Synod of Iași The Synod of Jassy or Synod of Iași (also referred to as the Council of Jassy or the Council of Iași), was convened in Iași in Moldavia (present-day Romania) between 15 September and 27 October 1642 by the List of Ecumenical Patriarchs of Const ...

.Councils of Constantinople and Jassy
/ref> The purpose of this assembly was to counter certain

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 ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

doctrinal errors which had infiltrated Orthodox theology and to offer a comprehensive Orthodox statement on the truth of faith.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parthenius 01 of Constantinople 17th-century Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople 17th-century Greek clergy People from Ioannina Metropolitans of Anchialos Bishops of Adrianople 1646 deaths