Gregory V of Constantinople

Gregory V of Constantinople
Gregory V of Constantinople
	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	1797 – 1798; 1806 – 1808; 1818 – 1821
Predecessor	Gerasimus III of Constantinople, Callinicus V of Constantinople, Cyril VI of Constantinople
Successor	Neophytus VII of Constantinople, Callinicus V of Constantinople, Eugenius II of Constantinople

Saint Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople
Saint Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople
	Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople shortly before his execution, as depicted by Nikiphoros Lytras
Ecumenical Patriarch, Hieromartyr
Born	1746; Dimitsana, Ottoman Empire
Died	22 April 1821; Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Venerated in	Orthodox Church
Major shrine	Athens
Feast	10 April
Controversy	elected in 1797 but deported to Mount Athos, Ottoman Empire in 1798, reelected 1806 and exiled to Prince Islands then Mount Athos in 1810, reelected 1818

Gregory V (Greek: Γρηγόριος Ε΄, born Γεώργιος Αγγελόπουλος, Georgios Angelopoulos), (1746 – 22 April 1821) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1797 to 1798, from 1806 to 1808 and from 1818 to 1821. He was responsible for much restoration work to the Patriarchal Cathedral of St George, which had been badly damaged by fire in 1738.

At the onset of the Greek War of Independence, as Ethnarch of the Orthodox Millet, or court of law, Gregory V was blamed by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II for his inability to suppress the Greek uprising. This was in spite of the fact that Gregory had condemned the Greek revolutionary activities in order to protect the Greeks of Constantinople from such reprisals by the Ottoman Turks. After the Greek rebels scored several successes against the Ottoman forces in the Peloponnese, these reprisals came.

During Holy Week in April 1821, Gregory was taken out of the Patriarchal Cathedral on 22 April 1821 (10 April Old Style), Easter Sunday, directly after celebrating the solemn Easter Liturgy, Gregory was accosted by the Ottomans. He was taken out of the cathedral, still in full Patriarchal vestments, and hanged, being left for two days on the main gate of the Patriarchate compound, all by order of the Sultan.[1] This was followed by a massacre of the Greek population of Constantinople.

The Patriarch's body was eventually interred in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. He is commemorated by the Greek Orthodox Church as an Ethnomartyr (Greek: Εθνομάρτυρας). In his memory, the Saint Peter Gate, once the main gate of the Patriarchate compound, was welded shut in 1821 and has remained shut ever since.

Influence

The brutal execution of Gregory V, especially on the day of Easter Sunday, shocked and infuriated the Greeks, and Orthodox Russia. It also caused protests in the rest of Europe and reinforced the movement of Philhellenism. There are references that during the Greek War of Independence, many revolutionaries engraved on their swords the name of Gregory, seeking revenge.

Dionysios Solomos, in his Hymn to Liberty, which became later the Greek national anthem, also mentions the hanging of the Patriarch in some stanzas.

Greek-Jewish animosity

According to several accounts, after Gregory's death his body, along with those of other executed prelates, was turned over to the city's Jews, who dragged it through the streets and threw it into the sea. (The accounts differ on whether the Jews who did this were forced or volunteered, but the tale spread widely.)[1][2] This led to several bloody reprisal attacks in southern Greece by the Greek rebels, who regarded the Jews as collaborators of the Turks. This in turn led to the Jews joining the Turks in attacks on Christians in some locations in northern Greece, which fuelled a new wave of anti-Jewish attacks in the south.[2] During the night, the patriarch's corpse was recovered by Greek sailors, who brought it to Odessa.[1] After the funeral, some Greek sailors attacked Jewish shops which had remained open during the ceremony.[3]

In Russia, in Odessa local Greeks committed the first Russian pogrom killing 14 Jews.

Gallery

The Saint Peter's Gate at the Patriarchate. Gregory V was hanged here. Since then the Gate was never opened again.
Painting by Peter von Hess depicting the casting of the corpse of Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople into the Bosphorus.
Statue of Grigorios (University of Athens) by Georgios Fytalis
The shrine of Patriarch Grigorios (Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens)

References

Adrian Fortescue (2001). The Orthodox Eastern Church. Gorgias Press LLC. p. 341. ISBN 0-9715986-1-4.
Katherine Elizabeth Fleming (2008). Greece--a Jewish History. Princeton University Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-691-10272-6.
Alexander Orbach (1980). New Voices of Russian Jewry: A Study of the Russian-Jewish Press of Odessa in the Era of the Great Reforms, 1860-1871. BRILL. pp. 16–17. ISBN 90-04-06175-4.

External links

Gregory V

Eastern Orthodox Church titles
Preceded by Gerasimus III Callinicus V Cyril VI	Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1797–1798 1806–1808 1818–1821	Succeeded by Neophytus VII Callinicus V Eugenius II

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[Fortescue341-1] Adrian Fortescue (2001). The Orthodox Eastern Church. Gorgias Press LLC. p. 341. ISBN 0-9715986-1-4.

[Fleming-2] Katherine Elizabeth Fleming (2008). Greece--a Jewish History. Princeton University Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-691-10272-6.

[Orbach1980-3] Alexander Orbach (1980). New Voices of Russian Jewry: A Study of the Russian-Jewish Press of Odessa in the Era of the Great Reforms, 1860-1871. BRILL. pp. 16–17. ISBN 90-04-06175-4.

Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Heraclea/Byzantium Roman period (38-330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople Roman period (330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople Byzantine period (451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople Ottoman period (1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople Turkish period (since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal