Raphael II of Constantinople (, ''Rafail''; died after 1607) 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 ...

from 1603 to 1607.

Life

Raphael was Bishop of

Mithymna Mithymna () (, also sometimes spelled ''Methymna'') is a town and former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality of West Lesbos, of which it is a municip ...

when, in March 1603, he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. During his patriarchate, he addressed the regulation of many ecclesiastical matters and issued a number of standard provisions. The clashes with the previous Patriarch

Neophytus II of Constantinople Neophytus II of Constantinople (; died after 1612) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople twice, in 1602–1603 and in 1607–1612. An Athenian, he served as Archbishopric of Athens from 1597 until 3 February 1602, when he was elected as Ec ...

caused many problems in the Church, to the point that Cyril I of Constantinople, in a letter to the Bishop of Heraclea Dionysius II, wrote that "''... Raphael ruled the Patriarchate as a tyrant for more than four years ...''". Raphael II showed interest in a possible union with the

Western Church Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic C ...

and he began a secret correspondence with the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. He remained Patriarch until October 1607, when he was forcibly deposed by

Sultan Ahmed I Ahmed I ( '; ; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth, Ottoman rulers would no ...

and suffered a violent death in exile.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raphael 02 Of Constantinople, Patriarch 17th-century ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople 17th-century Greek clergy