157. HIEROTHEUS, formerly titular Bishop of Mount Tabor, and the successor designate of the Patriarchal Throne of Jerusalem, commonly known as such under the title of & Aiúdoxos. On the death however of Athanasius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in 1844, the Great Church of Constantinople, under the Patriarch Herman, sought to impose conditions and restrictions on the new patriarch of Jerusalem for the aggrandisement of the Church of Constantinople. Hierotheus resisted the usurpation, and maintained the liberties of the See of Jerusalem. On this account he incurred the displeasure of the Great Church, which instigated the Ottoman Porte not to confirm the appointment. A ready and effectual pretext was found in the fact that Hierotheus had been sent to Russia to collect alms and offerings for the Church of Jerusalem, and had, during his sojourn there, ingratiated himself with influential members of that Church, and become biassed with Russian proclivities. He was not allowed to assume the Patriarchal throne of Jerusalem, to which Cyril, then Bishop of Lydda, was elected. But shortly after this, on the death of Methodius, Patriarch of Antioch, he was elected to that See, and the Government made no objection. During his occupancy of the Patriarchal Throne he has been engaged, like his predecessors, in unavailing attempts to resist the encroachments of the Roman Propaganda, on one side, and of the Protestant Missionaries on the other. He took an active part in the proceedings of the General Synod of Constantinople in 1872, and subscribed the excommunication of the Bulgarians, on the ground of nationalism. By this act he incurred the displeasure of the Bishops and Clergy of his Patriarchate, who assembled in Synod at Beyrout and voted his deposition. the "immediate predecessor of the present patriarch Hierotheus," whose biographical notice I supply from my own knowledge. See Holy City, Vol. II. pp. 544-547. G. W. APPENDIX. I. [I am indebted to my most revered friend Gregory, the very learned Metropolitan of Chios, for the following authentic records relating to the Patriarchal Throne of Antioch during the latter half of the 18th Century, extracted, for the most part, from the Archives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and obligingly communicated to me for the illustration of this Volume. G. W.] By reading the following Ecclesiastical memoirs extracted from the Archives of the Great Church of Christ (i.e. Constantinople) you will obtain information concerning the encroachments of the Papists in the East, especially in the parts subject to the Patriarchal See of Antioch; the History of which you are publishing. "The very holy Apostolic See of the Church of Antioch remaining without a Pastor, its ruler the venerable Kyr Philemon having departed to the better life, the Christians of that region and those living here in the capital-men entitled to consideration, and well acquainted with those parts, fearing lest some one favourable to the Latins should come in ;—as the like was about to happen at another time, in our own days, when a double-named individual Seraphim or Cyril (one and the same man differently named) from among the well known Latinizers, thrust himself in by the help of money, got possession of the See and became the cause of a thousand evils and unspeakable destruction, expended and emptied the treasures accumulated from former ages and for the adornment of this Patriarchal See; also whatever sacred offerings and gifts there were he used for his misplaced desires and aims, and above all persecuted Orthodoxy and exalted and strengthened the cause of the heterodox and did besides many things which it were grievous to relate :—Having then foreseen such and the like events, those of that fold and we ourselves, entrusted with the general, care and forethought for all the Churches; on account too of the Patriarchal Epistle, addressed to us by the late Kyr Philemon; who having fallen dangerously ill, and being unable to rise and to be cured of his disease, foreseeing the future and knowing the instability of man's nature, as a good steward, and governor of his flock, wrote to us with all details and with religious zeal, though in great apprehension lest some one of the Arabs should come in and strive to extinguish the bright flame of Orthodoxy. He therefore named as his successor our Great Protosyncellus of the Apostolic and Ecumenical See, having chosen and appointed him as successor in preference to any other person residing either there or here in the capital. Moved by these claims and arguments our Great Church of Constantinople, in order to meet the probable evils (those, that is, resulting from the Papacy), thought to secure and promote the welfare of the Orthodox fold of Antioch by the wise zeal and firm hand of an orthodoxly-ruling Primate of that spiritual fold. Therefore according to the ancient order1 of this Apostolic and Ecumenical See, after the death of either of the other Patriarchs, to receive and take upon itself the charge of Ephorus and Epistates of his successorship; moreover as general Overseer and Ephorus of all the Holy Churches of Christ, as Head of the whole body, bound to care for all its members and to watch over the common interest of all 2-exercising this right the See of Constantinople, in consideration of the written opinion of the late Kyr Philemon, expressing his own desire with regard to our Great Protosyncellus Kyr Daniel, has decided to vote in accord and brotherly agreement with him: the most blessed Patriarch of Jerusalem Kyr Ephrem, our beloved brother and fellow-minister in the Holy Ghost, holding the same opinion, as did likewise the sacred assembly of Bishops present. First of all then this very Reverend Great Protosyncellus Kyr Daniel, already consecrated Metropolitan of Damascus, is declared worthy of succession to the See of Antioch; next to him, according to lawful order, we name the former Bishop of Brailov (in Wallachia) Kyr Zacharias, and thirdly the Bishop of Chios Kyr Nicephorus, whose names have been entered in this sacred act of the Great Church of Christ. In the year of Salvation 1767. August 6th. + SAMUEL, Patriarch of Constantinople." 1 According, that is, to the order in force since the capture of Constantinople, by which the Ecumenical See took upon itself the task of Epistates and Epoptes of the welfare of the other Patriarchal Churches, particularly in matters of succession by consent or demand of the Patriarchs and the Orthodox Christians subjected to them this interference of the Ecumenical Patriarch in the matters of the other independent Churches was not an act of love of dominion, but of brotherly love required by the circumstances of the times. For, on account of the tyranny of the conquerors, and the unceasing attacks and conspiracies of the Papists, a greater concentration of power was requisite. Therefore this act (I repeat it) was no violation of the canons, but a temporary measure of conciliation and the fruit of Christian charity. (Remark made by ourselves.) 2 This is a somewhat exaggerated expression. |