Meletius I of Constantinople (; 1549 – 12 September 1601) served as

patriarch of Alexandria The Patriarch of Alexandria is the archbishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Historically, this office has included the designation "pope" (etymologically "Father", like "Abbot"). The Alexandrian episcopate was revered as one of the three major epi ...

between 1590 and 1601. Simultaneously from 1597 to 1598 he served also as locum tenens of 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 ...

. He is honoured as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, with his feast day held on 13 September.
Άγιος Μελέτιος Πηγάς
', Ορθόδοξος Συναξαριστής.

Life

Meletius was born in Candia ( Heraklion) in the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, at the time capital of the Republic of Venice Kingdom of Candia in 1549, and he studied classical philology, philosophy and medicine in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. He became '' protosyncellus'' of the patriarch of Alexandria Silvester, at whose death he succeeded on 5 August 1590. Even if he supported the doctrine of transubstantiation, he was a fierce opponent of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and worked for the reunion of the Greek Church with the Coptic Church. In 1593, he participated in a synod in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

which confirmed the establishment of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'. Without resigning as Patriarch of Alexandria, he served as locum tenens of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople between December 1596 and February 1597, and Patriarch of Constantinople from 30 March 1597 to March 1598, when he resigned to go on dealing only with his Egyptian see. He died in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

on 12 September 1601.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meletius 01, Pegas 16th-century ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople 16th-century Greek clergy 16th-century patriarchs of Alexandria 16th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 17th-century Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Alexandria 1549 births 1601 deaths Clergy from Heraklion University of Padua alumni