Gabriel III (Greek: Γαβριήλ; died 25 October 1707) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1702 to 1707.

Gabriel III
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
ChurchChurch of Constantinople
Appointed29 August 1702
Term ended25 October 1707
PredecessorCallinicus II
SuccessorNeophytus V
Previous post(s)Metropolitan of Chalcedon
Personal details
Bornunknown
Smyrna (İzmir)
Died25 October 1707
Constantinople

Life

edit

Gabriel was born in the town of Smyrna (now İzmir) to parents coming from the island of Andros and in 1688 he became Metropolitan of Chalcedon.[1] He was elected Patriarch of Constantinople on 29 August 1702 and reigned till his death.[2] His reign had no particular troubles and was serene.

In 1704, Gabriel formally condemned the edition of the New Testament into Modern Greek translated by Seraphim of Mytilene and edited in London in 1703 by the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.[3]: 269  On 5 March 1705, he issued an order forbidding the Greek students to study in London due to improper behaviours.[4] In 1706, he issued a letter to condemning the Latin doctrines.[3]: 257 

He also intervened in the affairs of the autonomous Church of Cyprus, deposing Germanos II of Cyprus after complaints of the local population. The Melkite Metropolitan of Aleppo Athanasius Dabbas was so elected in Istanbul as regent (proedros) Archbishop of Cyprus at end 1705. In February 1707, after Athanasius' return to Constantinople, Gabriel censored as non-canonical the consecration of the new archbishop Jacob II, who nevertheless reigned until 1718.[5]

With regards to his birth-town Smyrna, in 1706 he founded there a school where the scholar Adamantios Rysios taught.[6] Gabriel died in Constantinople on 25 October 1707 and was buried at the monastery of Kamariotissa on the island of Halki.[2]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate. Wildside Press LLC. p. 40,181. ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6.
  2. ^ a b Moustakas Konstantinos. "Gabriel III of Constantinople". Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b Doll, Peter (2006). Anglicanism and Orthodoxy. Frankfurt Am Main: Lang. p. 257,269,437. ISBN 978-3-03910-580-9.
  4. ^ Runciman, Steven (1985). The Great Church in captivity. Cambridge University Press. p. 303. ISBN 978-0-521-31310-0.
  5. ^ Hill, George (2010). A History of Cyprus, vol 4. City: Cambridge Univ Pr. pp. 342–3. ISBN 978-1-108-02065-7.
  6. ^ "Γαβριὴλ Γ´". Ecumenical Patriarchate. Retrieved 23 June 2011.(in Greek)