Gregory V of Constantinople

Gregory V was a prominent leader of the Orthodox Church who served as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople for three separate periods in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He was born Georgios Angelopoulos in Dimitsana, a town in the Peloponnese region of Greece, in 1746. He received his education in Athens, Smyrna, and Patmos, where he studied theology and philosophy. He became a monk at the monastery of Strophades and took the name Gregory. He was ordained a deacon and a priest by Procopius, the Metropolitan of Smyrna, who later became the Patriarch of Constantinople. Gregory succeeded Procopius as the Metropolitan of Smyrna in 1785. In 1797, he was elected as the Ecumenical Patriarch for the first time, but he was deposed and exiled to Mount Athos in 1798 by the Ottoman authorities. He was recalled to the patriarchal throne in 1806, but he was again expelled in 1810, first to the Prince Islands and then to Mount Athos. He returned to Constantinople for the third time in 1818. Gregory V was known for his efforts to restore the Patriarchal Cathedral of St George, which had been damaged by fire in 1738. He also supported the Greek cause for independence from the Ottoman Empire, and he became a member of the Filiki Eteria, a secret society that planned the uprising. However, he also tried to protect the Greek population of Constantinople from the wrath of the Sultan by condemning the revolutionary activities of Alexander Ypsilantis, who started the revolt in Romania. Gregory V was unable to prevent the brutal reprisals that followed the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821. On April 22, 1821, the day of Pascha, he was arrested by the Ottoman soldiers while celebrating the divine liturgy. He was hanged on the main gate of the Patriarchate compound in his full liturgical vestments, by order of Sultan Mahmud II. His body was left for two days on the gate, and then dragged through the streets and thrown into the sea. His remains were later recovered by Greek sailors and brought to Odessa, where they were buried. In 1871, his relics were transferred to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, where they are venerated to this day. Gregory V is commemorated by the Greek Orthodox Church as an Ethnomartyr, a martyr for the nation. He is also remembered for his courage, piety, and leadership. His feast day is April 10.