Maximus V of Constantinople (; 26 October 1897 – 1 January 1972) served as the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

from 1946 until his resignation in 1948.

Biography

He was born Maximos Vaportzis in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, at

Sinop Sinop can refer to: * Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea ** Sinop Nuclear Power Plant, was planned in 2013, but cancelled in 2018 ** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port *** Russian ship ''Sinop'', Russian ships named after the ...

in Kastamonu Vilayet, on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coast. He was first educated, under the protection of metropolitan bishop Germanos Karavaggelis of Amaseia, at the

Theological School of Halki The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki ( and ), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki ( Turkish: Heybeliada), the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theol ...

, Ottoman Empire. In 1918, he was ordained a deacon. With this appointment, he also became teacher at the city school of Theira. He served as arch-deacon under Metropolitans Gregorios of Chalcedon and Joachim of Ephesus. In 1920, he became the archdeacon to the Ecumenical Patriarchate itself. In 1946, he became Patriarch of Constantinople. He was known for his "leftist opinions" and ties with the

Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus (), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the title of the Primate (bishop), primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is often preceded by the honorific "His Holiness". As the Ordinar ...

. He resigned in 1948, officially because of poor health; unofficially because Western powers did not approve his ties with the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-controlled Patriarch of Moscow. He was succeeded by the archbishop of America,

Athenagoras I of Constantinople Athenagoras I of Constantinople (), born Aristocles Matthaiou Spyrou (; 6 April 1886 (25 March) – 7 July 1972), was Greek Orthodox Archbishop of North and South America from 1930 to 1948 and the 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople ...

, and was given the title of Ephesus. He died in Switzerland on 1 January 1972.

Notes and references

1897 births Turkish people of Greek descent 1972 deaths People from Sinop, Turkey People from Kastamonu vilayet Pontic Greeks 20th-century ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople Theological School of Halki alumni Bishops of Chalcedon {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub