Seraphim II of Constantinople

Seraphim II
Seraphim II
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
Installed	22 July 1757
Term ended	26 March 1761
Predecessor	Callinicus IV (III)
Successor	Joannicius III
Previous post(s)	Metropolitan of Philippoupolis
Personal details
Born	unknown; Delvinë, Albania
Died	7 December 1779; Mhar Monastery

Seraphim II Anina (Greek: Σεραφεὶμ; died 7 December 1779^[1]) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1757 until 1761.

Life

Seraphim II was born in Delvinë, located in modern-day southern Albania in the late 17th century.^[2] He was an Albanian.^[3] Before he was elected as Patriarch of Constantinople on 22 July 1757 he was Metropolitan of Philippoupolis.^[1]

As Patriarch in 1759 he introduces the feast of Saint Andrew on 30 November,^[4] and in 1760 he gave the first permission to Cosmas of Aetolia to begin missionary tours in the villages of Thrace.^[5]

In 1759 he invited Eugenios Voulgaris to head the reforms in the patriarchal academy and during his tenure in the academy influenced by Seraphim's pro-Russian ideals Voulgaris contributed to the reapproachment of the Russian Empire with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.^[6]^[7] As a consequence Seraphim II was deposed on 26 March 1761 and exiled on Mount Athos,^[1] and he was replaced by the Ottoman authorities with Joannicius III. On Mount Athos, he rebuilt an old Monastic house, and dedicated it to the Saint Andrew. This house would eventually become the Skete of Saint Andrew.^[8]

On the field of politics, he supported the Russian Empire during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 and the establishment of an Orthodox pro-Russian state in the Balkans. In 1769 he urged the Greek population to rebel against the Turks.^[2] After the failure of the revolution, in 1776 he moved to Ukraine, where he died on 7 December 1779.^[1] He was buried in the Mhar Monastery.

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate. Wildside Press LLC. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6.
^ ^a ^b "Σεραφεὶμ Β´". Ecumenical Patriarchate. Retrieved 19 June 2011.(in Greek)
^ Vakalopoulos, Evangelos (1973). History of Macedonia, 1354-1833. Institute for Balkan Studies. pp. 370–371. The Patriarch Seraphim II, the Albanian, was enormously impressed by Kosmas when he made his acquaintance. He gladly conferred upon him the right to preach, deeming him a man capable of offering services of the highest value to the Christian flock which was continually exposed to hostile blasts
^ Μ.Γ.Βαρβούνη (2006). Το Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο, εκδόσεις Χελάνδιον. Athens. p. 117. ISBN 960-87087-5-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)(in Greek)
^ Nomikos, Michael (2000). Witnesses for Christ: Orthodox Christian neomartyrs of the Ottoman period, 1437-1860. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. p. 200. ISBN 0-88141-196-5.
^ Demaras, Konstantinos (1972). A history of modern Greek literature. SUNY Press. p. 136. ISBN 0-87395-071-2.
^ Angold, Michael (2006). Eastern Christianity. Cambridge University Press. p. 204. ISBN 0-521-81113-9.
^ A brief history of Saint Andrew’s Skete