Jeremias I of Constantinople

Jeremias I of Constantinople (Greek: Ἰερεμίας; died 13 January 1546) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople two times, from 1522 to 1524 and from 1525 to 1546.^[1]

Saint Jeremias I of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch Jeremias I of Constantinople
Native name	Ιερεμίας Α΄
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	31 December 1522 – April / May 1524 24 September 1525 – 13 January 1546
Predecessor	Theoleptus I of Constantinople Joannicius I of Constantinople
Successor	Joannicius I of Constantinople Dionysius II of Constantinople
Previous post(s)	Archbishop of Sofia
Personal details
Born	Zitsa in Epirus
Died	13 January 1546 Vratsa, Bulgaria
Denomination	Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Sainthood
Feast day	13 January
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Title as Saint	Patriarch, Holy Hierarch
Canonized	10 January 2023 Istanbul, Turkey by Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

Life

Jeremias was a native of Zitsa in Epirus,^[2] and was raised without instruction.^[3] He became Archbishop of Sofia on or before 1513.^[4] On 31 December 1522 he became Patriarch of Constantinople.^[5]

Shortly after his election, he travelled to Cyprus, Egypt, Sinai and Palestine. During his stay in Jerusalem, the clergy and the notables of Constantinople deposed him on April or May 1524, and elected in his place the Metropolitan of Sozopolis, Joannicius I of Constantinople. Jeremias reacted and together with the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch whom he called to Jerusalem, he excommunicated Joannicius I.^[6] He was restored in Constantinople on 24 September 1525.^[1]

In 1537 Jeremias obtained an order from the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to stop the conversion of churches into mosques in Constantinople, but this decision was not confirmed by Suleiman's successors.^[7] Jeremias I died on 13 January 1546 in the town of Vratsa, while travelling to Wallachia.

On 10 January 2023 (N.S.), the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, under the presidency of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, formally added Patriarch Jeremias I to the calendar of Saints of the Orthodox Church, with an annual commemoration of 13 January.^[8]