Patriarch Pachomius II of Constantinople
| Pachomius II | |
|---|---|
| Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople | |
| Church | Church of Constantinople |
| Installed | 22 February 1584 |
| Term ended | February 1585 |
| Predecessor | Jeremias II |
| Successor | Theoleptus II |
| Personal details | |
| Previous post | Metropolitan of Caesarea |
Pachomius II Patestos (Greek: Παχώμιος Β΄ Πατέστος) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1584 to 1585. He is sometimes considered an usurper.
16th-century Greek sources show an extended bias against Pachomius: he is labeled as "dissolute" by Pseudo-Dorotheos and Leontios Eustrakios stated that he "inflicted immeasurable grief upon the Christians".
Pachomius was native of Lesbos. He was a man of great education, a scholar, and he served as a teacher of philosophy and mathematics of Sultan Mehmed III. Around 1580 he became rector of the Patriarchal Church in Constantinople. On about 1583 or 1584, thanks to the support of his brother, who was a wealthy merchant, he bought his election to the Metropolitanate of Caesarea. However, Patriarch Jeremias II Tranos, who as Patriarch had the right to validate any Metropolitan's appointment, refused to confirm and consecrate him.
Pachomius led a group of Greek prelates who tried to overthrow Jeremias, accusing the latter of having supported a Greek uprising against the Ottoman Empire, to have baptized a Muslim and to be in correspondence with the Papacy. Jeremias II was arrested and beaten, and three trials followed: the first charge was proven false, but the last resulted in his deposition on 22 February 1584. With a personal decision Sultan Mehmed III appointed Pachomius as Patriarch of Constantinople. The appointment was due not only to Pachomius's personal relationship with the Sultan, but also to a promise to increase the annual tax paid by the Church to the Ottoman state.
During Pachomius' patriarchate, a synod was held in Constantinople with the participation of Patriarch Sophronius IV of Jerusalem, which condemned the Gregorian calendar and exiled the former Patriarch Jeremias II, whom it charged not to have been opposed enough to the new calendar.
...
Wikipedia