The Great Church of Christ was the cathedral church of the Patriarchate before Hagia Sophia was completed in 360. In 330 AD, the
Roman Emperor Constantine the Great moved his residence to the city, renaming it
Nova Roma (), or "New Rome". Thenceforth, the importance of the church there grew, along with the influence of its bishop. Prior to the moving of the imperial capital, the bishop of Byzantium had been under the authority of the
metropolitan of
Heraclea, but from the 4th century on, he grew to become independent in his own right and even to exercise authority throughout what is now
Greece,
Asia Minor,
Pontus, and
Thrace. With the development of the hierarchical structure of the Church, the bishop of Constantinople came to be styled as
exarch (a position superior to metropolitan). Constantinople was recognized as the fourth
patriarchate at the
First Council of Constantinople in 381, after
Antioch,
Alexandria, and
Rome. The patriarch was usually appointed by Antioch. Because of the importance of the position of Constantinople's church at the center of the Roman Empire, affairs involving the various churches outside Constantinople's direct authority came to be discussed in the capital, particularly where the intervention of the emperor was desired. The patriarch naturally became a liaison between the emperor and bishops traveling to the capital, thus establishing the position of the patriarch as one involving the unity of the whole Church, particularly in the East. In turn, the affairs of the Constantinopolitan church were overseen not just by the patriarch, but also by
synods held including visiting bishops. This pan-Orthodox synod came to be referred to as the (, "
resident synod"). The resident synod not only governed the business of the patriarchate but also examined questions pertinent to the whole Church as well as the eastern half of the old empire. The patriarch thus came to have the title of
Ecumenical, which referenced not a universal episcopacy over other bishops but rather the position of the patriarch as at the center of the , the "household" of the empire. As the Roman Empire stabilized and grew, so did the influence of the patriarchate at its capital. This influence came to be enshrined in Orthodox
canon law, to such an extent that it was elevated even beyond more ancient patriarchates: Canon 3 of the
First Council of Constantinople (381) stated that the bishop of that city "shall have primacy of honor after the Bishop of Rome because Constantinople is the New Rome." was the patriarchal cathedral until 1453. In its disputed 28th Canon, the
Council of Chalcedon in 451 recognized an expansion of the boundaries of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and of its authority over bishops of dioceses "among the barbarians", which has been variously interpreted as referring either to areas outside the Byzantine Empire or to non-Greeks. The council resulted in a schism with the Patriarchate of Alexandria. In any case, for almost a thousand years the Patriarch of Constantinople presided over the church in the
Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire and its missionary activity that brought the Christian faith in its Byzantine form to many peoples north of the imperial borders. The cathedral church of Constantinople,
Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), was the center of religious life in the eastern Christian world. The Ecumenical Patriarchate came to be called the "Great Church of Christ" and it was the touchstone and reference point for ecclesiastical affairs in the East, whether in terms of church government, relations with the state, or liturgical matters.
Prerogatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate In history and in canonical literature (i.e. the Church's canons and traditional commentaries on them), the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been granted certain prerogatives () that other autocephalous Orthodox churches do not have. Not all of these prerogatives are today universally acknowledged, though all do have precedents in history and canonical references. The following is a (non-exhaustive) list of these prerogatives and their reference points: • Equal prerogatives to Old Rome (Canon 28 of the
Fourth Ecumenical Council, Canon 36 of the
Quinisext Council); • The right to hear appeals, if invited, regarding disputes between clergy (Canons 9 and 17 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council); • The right to ordain bishops for areas outside defined canonical boundaries (Canon 28 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council); • The right to establish
stavropegial monasteries even in the territories of other patriarchates (the
Epanagoge, commentaries of
Matthew Blastares and
Theodore Balsamon)
Iconoclast controversy In the eighth and ninth centuries the
iconoclast movement caused serious political unrest throughout the Empire. The emperor
Leo III issued a decree in 726 against images and ordered the destruction of an image of Christ over one of the doors of the
Chalke, an act which was fiercely resisted by the citizens.
Constantine V convoked a
church council in 754, which condemned the worship of images, after which many treasures were broken, burned, or painted over with depictions of trees, birds or animals: one source refers to the
church of the Holy Virgin at Blachernae as having been transformed into a "fruit store and aviary". Following the death of his son Leo IV in 780, the empress Irene restored the veneration of images through the agency of the
Second Council of Nicaea in 787. The iconoclast controversy returned in the early 9th century, only to be resolved once more in 843 during the regency of Empress Theodora, who restored the icons.
Great Schism of 1054 , from the mid-10th century, is one of the most important monuments of Middle
Byzantine architecture and
Byzantine art. The relations between the papacy and the Byzantine court were generally cordial in the years leading up to 1054. The emperor
Constantine IX and
Pope Leo IX maintained alliances through the mediation of the Lombard
catepan of Italy,
Argyrus, who had spent years in Constantinople, originally as a political prisoner. In 1053, Patriarch
Michael I Cerularius ordered a letter to be written to John, the
Bishop of Trani, in which he strongly criticized what he viewed as "Judaistic" practices of the Western Church, specifically the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist. In addition, the letter addressed other theological and cultural issues, particularly questioning the
supremacy claimed by the Pope in Rome and criticizing the addition of the
Filioque clause to the
Nicene Creed by the Western Church. John sent the letter to all Western bishops, including the pope. It was translated into Latin by
Humbert of Mourmoutiers, the
cardinal-bishop of Silva Candida, who delivered it to the pope. A formal response was prepared addressing each accusation and defending papal supremacy. Although Michael attempted to moderate the debate and prevent escalation,
Humbert of Mourmoutiers and the papal representatives made no concessions and traveled with legatine authority to Constantinople to resolve the questions. Humbert,
Frederick of Lorraine, and Peter,
Archbishop of Amalfi, arrived in April 1054 and were met with a hostile reception; they left their written response with Michael, who refused to recognize their authority. When Pope Leo IX died on April 19, 1054, the legates’ authority technically ended, but they continued their mission. In response to Michael's refusal to address the concerns, the legates entered the
Hagia Sophia during the Divine Liturgy and placed a bull of excommunication on the altar. The events of 1054 are generally cited as the beginning of the East–West Schism. The bull excommunicated only Cerularius, Leo of Achrida, and their adherents. The schism developed gradually as other Eastern patriarchs aligned with Michael, influenced in part by Emperor
Michael VI Stratiotikos. Some have questioned the legal authority of the bull, as Pope Leo IX had died before its issuance. The legates departed for Rome shortly after issuing the bull, leaving Constantinople in near-riot conditions. The patriarch retained popular support, and to assuage anger, the bull was burned; only the legates were
anathematised, with no indication of excommunicating the entire Western Church. Among the reasons cited in the bull was the alleged deletion of the Filioque clause from the Nicene Creed by the Eastern Church. In fact, the Eastern Church had not deleted anything; it was the Western Church that had added this phrase. The issue of the Filioque and papal supremacy were central to the disagreements highlighted by Michael I and remain key points in understanding the theological and institutional tensions between East and West. As Bishop
Kallistos Ware writes, "Even after 1054 friendly relations between East and West continued. The two parts of Christendom were not yet conscious of a great gulf of separation between them. […] The dispute remained something of which ordinary Christians in East and West were largely unaware." Subsequent popes and patriarchs attempted reconciliation, though historical and political factors gradually widened the separation.
Fall of Constantinople in 1204 and the exile in Nicaea in Greece The
Fourth Crusade in exchange for promised funds attempted to help the deposed emperor
Alexius IV regain his throne. After taking Constantinople, returning Alexius IV to the throne, the revolt against and murder of Alexius IV left the Crusaders without payment. On 12 April 1204, the crusaders inflicted a severe sacking on Constantinople for three days, during which many ancient and medieval Roman and Greek works were either stolen or destroyed. Despite their oaths and the threat of excommunication, the Crusaders ruthlessly and systematically violated the city's holy sanctuaries, destroying, defiling, or stealing all they could lay hands on; nothing was spared. It was said that the total amount looted from Constantinople was about 900,000 silver marks. The Venetians received 150,000 silver marks that was their due, while the Crusaders received 50,000 silver marks. A further 100,000 silver marks were divided evenly up between the Crusaders and Venetians. The remaining 500,000 silver marks were secretly kept back by many Crusader knights.
Niketas Choniates gives a vivid account of the sack of Constantinople by the Frankish and Venetian Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade: Meanwhile, the
Latin Empire of Constantinople was established, and Byzantine refugees founded their own successor states, the most notable of these being the
Empire of Nicaea under
Theodore Lascaris (a relative of
Alexius III), the
Empire of Trebizond, and the
Despotate of Epirus. The new seat of the patriarchate was established in the city of
Nicaea until in 1261, when Constantinople was reconquered by the Byzantine Emperor
Michael VIII Palaiologos.
Fall of Constantinople in 1453 and Ottoman period with
Sultan Mehmed II , the first seat of the Patriarchate in the Ottoman age In accordance with the traditional custom at the time, Sultan
Mehmed II allowed his troops and his entourage three full days of unbridled pillage and looting in the city shortly after it was captured. Once the three days passed, he would then claim its remaining contents for himself. However, by the end of the first day, he proclaimed that the looting should cease as he felt profound sadness when he toured the looted and enslaved city. Shortly after the defence of the
Walls of Constantinople collapsed and the Ottoman troops entered the city victoriously, the pillagers and looters made their way to the Hagia Sophia and battered down its doors before storming in. Being trapped in the church, the many congregants and yet more refugees inside became spoils-of-war to be divided amongst the triumphant invaders. The building was desecrated and looted, with the helpless occupants who sought shelter within the church being enslaved. According to Barbaro, "all through the day the Turks made a great slaughter of Christians through the city". According to historian
Philip Mansel, widespread persecution of the city's civilian inhabitants took place, resulting in thousands of murders and rapes, and 30,000 civilians being enslaved or forcibly deported.
George Sphrantzes says that people of both genders were raped inside
Hagia Sophia. remained hanged in full robes for three days at its
architrave, because he was blamed by
Mahmud II for his inability to suppress the
Greek War of Independence. The Gate has not been opened since. After
Constantinople was overrun by the
Ottoman Turks in 1453, the patriarchate came to care more directly for all the Orthodox living in the
Ottoman Empire.
Mehmed II appointed
Gennadius II of Constantinople as the patriarch in 1454 and designated him as the spiritual leader as well as the
ethnarch or, in Turkish,
millet of all the Orthodox Christians in the Empire, regardless of ethnic origin; not only Greeks but also
Bulgarians,
Serbs,
Albanians,
Wallachians,
Moldavians,
Croatis,
Syrians, orthodox
Arabs,
Georgians and
Lazs came under the spiritual, administrative, fiscal, cultural and legal Some of the other patriarchs came at various points to live permanently in Constantinople and function as part of the local church government. This situation, according to some of the Orientalists and historians, shows the
Pax Ottomana (or
Pax Ottomanica, literally "the Ottoman Peace"). The
Russian Orthodox Church, which for centuries had been a diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
declared its independence in 1448 shortly before Constantinople fell owing to its protest over the
Council of Florence, in which representatives of the patriarchate had signed onto union with
Rome, trading doctrinal concessions for military aid against the encroaching Ottomans. The military aid never came and those concessions were subsequently repudiated by the patriarchate but, from 1448, the Russian church came to function independently as a council of Russian bishops elected their own metropolitan. After the fall of Constantinople to
Mehmed II of the
Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453, Moscow became the only independent Orthodox power and its leaders soon began to advance the claim that Moscow was the successor to the Byzantine Empire, calling it the "
third Rome". In 1589, 141 years later, Constantinople came to recognize Russia's independence and led the
Eastern Orthodox Church in declaring
Russia also to be a patriarchate, numbering Moscow's bishop as fifth in rank behind the ancient patriarchates. The
Russian Orthodox Church became the largest of the
Eastern Orthodox churches in the world. As Ottoman rule weakened, various parts of the Orthodox Church that had been under the direct influence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate came to be independent. These churches at first usually declared their independence without universal approval, which came after Constantinople gave its blessing. The rate at which these new
autocephalous ("self-headed") churches came into being increased in the 19th century, particularly with the independence of Greece. In 1833, the
Church of Greece declared its autocephaly, which was subsequently recognized by the patriarchate in 1850. In 1865, the
Romanian Orthodox Church, against the protests of Constantinople, declared its independence, which was acknowledged in 1885. A year before Greece's autocephaly was self-proclaimed, the
Serbian Orthodox Church was named autocephalous by the local secular government but Constantinople refused recognition until 1879. In 1860 the
Bulgarians seceded from the Ecumenical Patriarchate; in 1870 the Bulgarian church was politically recognized as autonomous under the name
Bulgarian Exarchate by the Sultan's firman, but it was not until 1945 that it was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In 1922, the
Albanian Orthodox Church declared its autocephaly, being granted recognition of it in 1937. In addition to these churches, whose territory had been agreed upon by all as within Constantinople's jurisdiction, several other disputed areas' Eastern Orthodox churches have had recognition by the Ecumenical Patriarchate as either
autocephalous or
autonomous, including the
Finnish Orthodox Church and
Estonian Orthodox Church in 1923, the
Polish Orthodox Church in 1924, and the
Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church in 1998. The majority of these disputes are a result of the expansion of the
Russian Empire, which often included a subjugation of the Orthodox churches in conquered lands to the Moscow Patriarchate. Due to this, the Moscow Patriarchate often disputes the ecumenical patriarch's role as prime representative and spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, citing that it represents the numerically largest Orthodox community.
Ecclesiastical buildings in Ottoman cities As a ruling institution, the Ottoman Empire brought regulations on how the cities would be built (quality reassurances) and how the architecture (structural integrity, social needs, etc.) should be shaped. Special restrictions were imposed concerning the construction, renovation, size and usage of bells in churches. For example, in a town a church should not be larger in size than the largest mosque. Many churches were converted into mosques (among them the
Hagia Sophia and
Chora Church in
Constantinople, and the
Rotunda and
Hagios Demetrios in
Thessaloniki) or served for other uses (e.g.
Hagia Irene in Constantinople, which became an armory for the Janissaries, and the
Gül Mosque [Hagia Theodosia or Christ Euergetes], also in Constantinople, which after the Conquest served for a while as a naval dockyard). Such rules, however, although very strict in the beginning, with time and the increasing importance in the Ottoman Empire of the
Rum millet were increasingly disregarded, so that in the 19th century in Istanbul there was a veritable building boom of Orthodox churches, many among them having high bell towers and brick domes, both of which had previously been strictly prohibited.
Patriarchate under the secular Republic of Turkey , located in the Fener district of Istanbul. The facade dates from the mid-19th century and shows a neoclassical influence. at the top of the Hill of Hope Since 1586 the Ecumenical Patriarchate has had its headquarters in the
Church of St George in the
Fener (Phanar) district of Istanbul. The current territory of the patriarchate is significantly reduced from what it was during the early Ottoman period, when its authority extended over much of the Orthodox population of the empire. Its canonical territory currently includes most of modern
Turkey, northern Greece and
Mount Athos, the
Dodecanese and
Crete. By its interpretation of Canon 28 of Chalcedon, Constantinople also claims jurisdiction over all areas outside the canonically defined territories of other Orthodox churches, which includes the entire
Western Hemisphere,
Oceania, the
United Kingdom,
Western Europe,
Northeast Asia, and
Southeast Asia. This claim is disputed by other autocephalous churches with dioceses in those areas, as well as the Turkish government. The Orthodox presence in Turkey itself is small; however the majority of Orthodox in
North America (about two-thirds) are under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, primarily in the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The patriarchate also enjoys an even greater majority in the
United Kingdom. Furthermore, the Albanian,
Rusyn and Ukrainian jurisdictions in America are also part of the patriarchate. Most of the patriarchate's funding does not come directly from its member churches but rather from the government of Greece, due to an arrangement whereby the patriarchate had transferred property it had owned to Greece. In exchange, the employees, including the clergy, of the patriarchate are remunerated by the Greek government. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America provides substantial support through an annual contribution, known as the
logia, and its institutions, including the American-based Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society and the
Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, usually important laymen who make large donations for the upkeep of the patriarchate. In turn, they are granted honorary titles which once belonged to members of the patriarchal staff in centuries past. The patriarchate acts in the capacity of being an intermediary and facilitator between the Orthodox churches and also in relations with other Christians and religions. This role sometimes brings the patriarchate into conflict with other Orthodox churches, as its role in the church is debated. The question centers around whether the Ecumenical Patriarchate is simply the most honored among the Orthodox churches or whether it has any real authority or prerogatives () that differ from the other autocephalous churches. This dispute is often between Constantinople and Moscow, the largest Orthodox church in terms of population, especially as expressed in
the Third Rome theory which places Moscow in the place of Constantinople as the center of world Orthodoxy. Such disputes sometimes result in temporary breaks in
full communion, though usually not for very long. The relationship between Constantinople and the
Ottoman Empire was frequently bitter due in no small part to the privileged legal and social position accorded to
Islam. Turkish law requires that the patriarch be a Turkish citizen by birth, which all patriarchs have been since 1923, all
ethnic Greeks from the decreasing
Greek minority of Turkey, which is causing a shortage of priests and consequently potential candidates for the post of ecumenical patriarch. The closing of the Orthodox
Theological School of Halki is also a difficulty faced by the Patriarchate. In 2024, after the protests from Turkey, the signature of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been removed from the statement of the
June 2024 Ukraine peace summit. ==Administration and structure==