Pachomius II Patestos of Constantinople

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Pachomius II Patestos of Constantinople (Greek: Παχώμιος Β΄ Πατέστος) was the Patriarch of the Church of Constantinople from 1584 to 1585.

Life

Little is known of the early life of Patr. Pachomius. The date of his birth on the island of Lesbos is unknown. He was well educated and served as a teacher of philosophy and mathematics for Sultan Mehmed III. After he had entered the Holy Orders he became the priest of the Patriarchal Church in Constantinople about the year 1580. A few years later, in 1583/1584, he bought his election as the Metropolitan of Kayseri (Caesarea) in central Anatolia with the support of his brother who was a wealthy merchant. However, Patriarch Jeremias II Tranos, who had the right to confirm his appointment as metropolitan, refused to confirm and consecrate him.

Then in 1584, Pachomius led a group of Greek hierarchs who tried to overthrow Jeremias, accusing him of having supported a Greek uprising against the Ottoman Empire, to have baptized a Muslim, and to have been in correspondence with the Rome. Jeremias II was then arrested, beaten, and tried three times. The first charge was proven false, but the last resulted in his deposition on February 22, 1584. Sultan Mehmed III then appointed Pachomius to the see of Constantinople. The appointment was due not only to Pachomius' personal relationship with the Sultan, but also to a promise to increase the annual tax paid by the Church to the Ottoman state.

During his patriarchate, Pachomius held a council in Constantinople, that included the participation of Patr. Sophronius IV of Jerusalem, that condemned the Gregorian calendar and exiled the former Patr. Jeremias II, who the council charged had not opposed the new calendar strong enough.

Intrigues continued as some bishops tried to overthrow Pachomius by offering Sultan Murad III a bribe of 40,000 florins. The friends of Pachomius, however, gave the Sultan the same amount and kept Pachomius in office.

Pachomius was unpopular with most of the Orthodox faithful, considering him a usurper, so that when he was due to pay the increased annual gift he had promised to the Sultan, his attempt to collect it from the Orthodox faithful was unsuccessful. Pachomius, then, resorted to selling church properties to obtain money. But, he again failed to collect the promised amount. He also failed to address the ongoing polemic launched against him by Jeremias II's deacon, Nikephoros, who considered Pachomius' election illegal. Pachomius was finally deposed by a council of hierarchs on February 26/27, 1585, a synodal decision that the Sultan did not oppose. Pachomius was succeeded by Theoleptus II, who had joined with Pachomius in overthrowing Jeremias the year before.

A year later Pachomius was acquitted of the charges and was sent to collect donations in Egypt and Cyprus. During these travels Pachomius was charged with immoral behavior and was forced to returned to Constantinople. In his work in Constantinople he continued to pose problems and was finally exiled in Wallachia, where he died.

Succession box:
Pachomius II Patestos of Constantinople
Preceded by:
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Metropolitan of Kayseri
1583-1584
Succeeded by:
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Preceded by:
Jeremias II (Tranos)
Patriarch of Constantinople
1584-1585
Succeeded by:
Theoleptus II
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