Meletius IV of Constantinople (;

secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth ...

''Emmanuel Metaxakis'', ; 21 September 1871 – 28 July 1935), was primate of the

Church of Greece The Church of Greece (, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its canonical territory is confined to the borders of Greece prior to th ...

from 1918 to 1920 as Meletius III, after which he was

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 ...

as Meletius IV from 1921 to 1923 and

Greek Patriarch of Alexandria The Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria has the title Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa. The term "Greek" is a religious identifier and not an ethnic one; while many of these patriarchs were ethnic Greeks, some were Hellenized Egy ...

as Meletius II from 1926 to 1935. He is the only man in the history of 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 ...

to serve successively as the senior bishop of three autocephalous churches.

Life

Early life

Emmanuel Metaxakis was born in

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 ...

, in the commune of Christos, now part of the

Ierapetra Ierapetra (; ancient name: ) is a Greece, Greek city and municipality located on the southeast coast of Crete. History The town of Ierapetra (in the local dialect: Γεράπετρο ''Gerapetro'') is located on the southeast coast of Crete, sit ...

municipality. His father was a

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed, to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist ...

, and his maternal uncle was the village

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. From 1889 to 1891, Emmanuel studied at the Patriarchal School of the

Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, or Holy Community of the All-Holy Sepulchre, is an Eastern Orthodox monastic fraternity guarding the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other Christian holy places in the Holy Land. It was founded in its pres ...

. In 1891, he became the

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen (, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, or an archpriest in the Coptic Orthodox Church, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of ...

of the Monastery of

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, and the Archbishop of

Mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( ; ; ), sometimes spelled Mount Thabor, is a large hill of biblical significance in Lower Galilee, Northern District (Israel), northern Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bi ...

, Spyridon, ordained him a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

with the name of Meletius. He resumed his studies at the Theological School of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross at

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, when the school opened in 1893. He graduated in 1893 ''

primi ordinis Italian meal structure is typical of the Mediterranean Basin, European Mediterranean region and differs from that of Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe, although it still often consists of breakfast (''colazione''), lunch (''pranzo''), and s ...

''. In 1903, he was appointed Chancellor of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and administered the reorganisation of the patriarchal printing office and the editing of the periodical ''New Zion'' in 1904. He founded new schools and reorganized the existing ones, while he succeeded in granting diplomas to graduates of the Theological School of Jerusalem as well, though he did not ordain any priests. He confronted the ''Duchovnaye Missia'' (''Spiritual Mission'') a

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n organisation which practiced antihellenic

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

; founded the Practical School in Joppa; and increased the circulation of academic books. In 1907 he took part, as representative of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, in a meeting with the representative of the throne of the

, Basil, the

Metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

of Anchialos, and the Patriarch of Alexandria, Photius, concerning issues with the

Archbishop of Cyprus The Archbishop of Cyprus (officially the Archbishop of Erdek, Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus) is the head of the Church of Cyprus. The incumbent Archbishop is George of Cyprus (archbishop of Cyprus), George of Cyprus since 2023. History Acco ...

. The ruling which at last decided the issue was based on a document which had been drafted by Metaxakis and which had been published in the Gazette of the Cypriot government. They published that document along with various dialogues that he that time with the Patriarch Photius of Alexandria in two publications of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, ''Ekklisiastikos Faros'' (, "Ecclesiastical Lighthouse") and ''Pantainos'' ().

Metropolitan of Kition

In 1910, he was elected Metropolitan of

Kition Kition (Ancient Greek: , ; Latin: ; Egyptian: ; Phoenician: , , or , ;) was an ancient Phoenician and Greek city-kingdom on the southern coast of Cyprus (in present-day Larnaca), one of the Ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus. Name The name of the ...

in the

Church of Cyprus The Church of Cyprus () is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches; ...

. He organized the Statutory Charter of the Church of Cyprus and founded the periodical ''Ekklesiastikos Kirix'' ("Ecclesiastical Herald"), which he continued to publish later on in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and in

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. He established the Pancypriot Seminary in October of 1910, and the Commercial High School of

Larnaca Larnaca, also spelled Larnaka, is a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus and the capital of the Larnaca District, district of the same name. With a district population of 155.000 in 2021, it is the third largest city in the country after Nicosi ...

. In 1912–1913 he travelled to Athens where he collaborated with

Ion Dragoumis Ion Dragoumis (; 14 September 1878 – 31 July 1920) was a Greek diplomat, philosopher, writer and revolutionary. Biography Born in Athens, Dragoumis was the son of Stephanos Dragoumis who was foreign minister under Charilaos Trikoupis. The Dr ...

and a commission of the

Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is a government department of Greece, headed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The ministry has its headquarters in Athens. The incumbent minister is Giorgos Gerapetritis in the Second Cabin ...

to explore fundraising for issues which had arisen with the return of territories under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria while drafting a report on the return. Ιn articles in ''Ekklisiastiki Kirika'' in 1914 he would be opposed in every proposal put forward by the metropolitans of the newly-returned territories, for reasons of ethnic politics: they feared the diminution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in which he fulfilled the role of

ethnarch Ethnarch (pronounced , also ethnarches, ) is a term that refers generally to political leadership over a common ethnic group or homogeneous kingdom. The word is derived from the Greek language, Greek words (''Ethnic group, ethnos'', "tribe/nation ...

Leadership of autocephalous churches

He was

of the

in Athens (1918–1920) as Meletius III, after which he was elected

under the name Meletius IV from 1921 to 1923. He served as

under the episcopal name Meletius II from 1926 to 1935. A known supporter of Greek prime minister

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

, he served as bishop in Cyprus, until he was elected

Archbishop of Athens The Archbishopric of Athens () is a Greek Orthodox archiepiscopal see based in the city of Athens, Greece. It is the senior see of Greece, and the seat of the autocephalous Church of Greece. Its incumbent (since 2008) is Ieronymos II of Athens. ...

following the abdication of

Constantine I of Greece Constantine I (, Romanization, romanized: ''Konstantínos I''; – 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and again from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army dur ...

, replacing Archbishop Theocletus I, a known royalist. Two years later, King Constantine I was restored to the throne, Archbishop Meletius was ousted, and former archbishop Theocletus I was reinstated. In 1921 during the

Occupation of Constantinople The occupation of Istanbul () or occupation of Constantinople (12 November 1918 – 4 October 1923), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, by British, French, Italian, and Greek forces, took place in accordance with the Armistice of Mudros, w ...

he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. He resigned in 1923 following the defeat of the

Hellenic army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

in the Greco-Turkish War in 1919–1922. Some years later he was elected Pope and

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 ...

. He died in 1935.

Notes

References

External links

Ecumenical Patriarch Meletius IV of Constantinople

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meletius 03 04 02 Metaxakis 1871 births 1935 deaths 20th-century Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Alexandria People of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) 20th-century ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople Bishops of Athens Greek Freemasons Greek expatriate bishops People from Ierapetra