Saint Jeremiah I Patriarch of Constantinople

Jeremiah I was Ecumenical Patriarch from 1522-1546, with one interruption in the year 1526. He was from Zitsa in Epirus, and was elected Metropolitan of Sofia before 1513. He had a limited education, but was very popular and had great administrative skills.

He was elected Ecumenical Patriarch by the Holy Synod with the support of the ruler Constantine Kounoupis on December 31, 1522, paying 500 coins of Frankish mintage as a gift to the Sultan, and 3,500 florins as an annual debt.

Around April or May 1524, while on a tour of Cyprus, Egypt, Palestine and Mount Sinai, Ioannikios of Sozopoleos ascended the throne in an irregular way. With the help of the Patriarchs of Antioch and of Alexandria, Jeremiah succeeded in overturning the coup, and Ioannikios was deposed by two Synods; one at Jerusalem, and another at Constantinople. Jeremiah was officially reinstated on September 24, 1525 by the berat (decree) of Sultan Suleiman I and was received enthusiastically by the clergy and the people of Constantinople, henceforth gaining great influence.

Around 1536, the former Stavronikita Keli1 which belonged to Koutloumousiou Monastery since 1287, and then, until 1533, to Philotheou Monastery, was assigned to him by the Holy Community and was elevated as Stavronikita Monastery, thus becoming the twentieth monastery of Mount Athos.

At the invitation of the Holy Community, Patriarch Jeremiah was personally involved in the reconstruction of the Monastery, of which he became a benefactor, and which he declared to be stavropegial in 1544.

During his tenure as Patriarch he managed to save many churches which were threatened with destruction by the Turks, arguing that Constantinople had surrendered and was not captured. Also, in 1537, he succeeded in publishing a decree of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, which stopped the conversion of churches in Constantinople into mosques, a decision which was not confirmed by his successors.

During Saint Jeremiah's time, the embatoikion was established; that is to say, Hierarchs had to give a monetary gift to the Patriarchate for its financial support at the time of their election. In October 1538, he donated part of his property to the Patriarchate.

Jeremiah was Patriarch until 1546, when he became ill. He abdicated his throne, and was tonsured into the Great Schema with the name John. He reposed in Vratsa, Tyrnovo Province, Wallachia, on January 13, 1546.

On January 10, 2023 the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to include Patriarch Jeremiah I in the Hagiologion of the Orthodox Church.


1 Κελί: the cell of a monk, or a monastic establishment consisting of a building with a chapel, and some land around it, usually inhabited by three monks.