Raphael II of Constantinople

Raphael II of Constantinople (Greek: Ραφαήλ, Rafail; died after 1607) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1603 to 1607.^[1]

Raphael II of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
Installed	March 1603
Term ended	October 1607
Predecessor	Matthew II of Constantinople
Successor	Neophytus II of Constantinople
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Mithymna
Personal details
Died	After 1607
Denomination	Eastern Orthodoxy

Life

Raphael was Bishop of Mithymna when, in March 1603, he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.^[2] During his patriarchate, he addressed the regulation of many ecclesiastical matters and issued a number of standard provisions. The clashes with the previous Patriarch Neophytus II of Constantinople caused many problems in the Church, to the point that Cyril I of Constantinople, in a letter to the Bishop of Heraclea Dionysius II, wrote that "... Raphael ruled the Patriarchate as a tyrant for more than four years ...".

Raphael II showed interest in a possible union with the Western Church and he began a secret correspondence with the Pope.^[3] He remained Patriarch until October 1607, when he was forcibly deposed by Sultan Ahmed I and suffered a violent death in exile.