Demetrius I (Patriarch)

Demetrius I (also Dimitrios I , real name Dimitrios Papadopoulos ; born September 8, 1914 in Tarabya on the Bosporus near Istanbul ; † October 2, 1991 in Istanbul) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and Honorary Head of the from July 16, 1972 until his death Orthodox Christianity.

After studying theology at the Chalki seminary , he was ordained a priest in 1942 and was archimandrite and pastor of the Greek Orthodox community in the Iranian capital Tehran from 1945 to 1950. As a pastor of the diaspora in predominantly Muslim countries, he was particularly popular with the faithful. Ordained bishop in 1964, he became Metropolitan of the islands of Imbros and Tenedos and a member of the Holy Synod of Constantinople in February 1972 . After the death of Patriarch Athinagoras , the Turkish government vetoed the election of Metropolitan Meliton of Chalkedon (previously from Helioupolis), who was considered the deceased's preferred candidate. Thereupon the Holy Synod elected Metropolitan Dimitrios as Ecumenical Patriarch and 269th successor of the Apostle Andrew in July 1972 .

In the 19 years of his pontificate, Dimitrios I continued to discreetly but consistently pursued the pan-orthodox and ecumenical objectives set by his predecessor Athinagoras. In 1979 he received Pope John Paul II in Phanar and agreed with him to set up the mixed commission for the theological dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Church with the common task of gradually dismantling all historical, dogmatic and ritual obstacles to reunification. The cautious approach of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Catholic Church and the Pope was made more difficult by the problem of the Byzantine Rite churches united with Rome , because the extension of the papal legal primacy to parts of the Eastern Church according to the Orthodox understanding is not compatible with the principle of equality. In 1987 the Ecumenical Patriarch made a historic visit to John Paul II in 1987 in Rome ( Vatican City ). However, the Uniate conflict led to the suspension of theological talks with Rome in 1990.

The collapse of the communist system of rule in Eastern Europe fostered cooperation between the Orthodox member churches and contributed to strengthening the primacy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Dimitrios I visited the Moscow Patriarchate as well as the Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Georgian and campaigned for the convening of a pan-Orthodox council. In the World Council of Churches in Geneva he emerged with various ecumenical initiatives. In 1989 Dimitrios issued an appeal to the whole Christian world for the preservation of creation (see also Wikipedia article Creation Time ).

In July 1990, Dimitrios paid an official visit to the United States. He was received in Congress and the White House with all protocol honors reserved for a head of state, and held a peace service at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. He was also welcomed as head of world orthodoxy at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. From there he sent a message of greeting to the Islamic world.

Despite its conciliation, relations with the Turkish state were difficult, which is only willing to recognize the patriarchy as a religious institution of the Greek minority living on Turkish territory. At a meeting with President Turgut Özal in March 1990, Dimitrios emphasized that the existence of the Christian minority was threatened. Islamist and ultra-nationalist fanatics repeatedly besieged the Patriarchal Palace in Phanar , which burned down in 1940 and could only be rebuilt in the late 1980s. They wanted to force Dimitrios to convict Greece for allegedly discriminating against Muslims. The blockade of the patriarchate on the Golden Horn in autumn 1991, which the Turkish authorities tolerated, also affected Dimitrios' health. After a serious heart attack, he died in the American hospital in Istanbul. He was buried at the side of his predecessor Athenagoras in the Marian Monastery of Balikli at the gates of Istanbul. His closest collaborator, Metropolitan Dimitris Archondonis, the youngest member of the Holy Synod at the age of 51, was elected Bartholomew I as his successor.

Web links

• Article at orthodoxwiki (Engl.)

predecessor	Office	successor
Athenagoras I.	Patriarch of Constantinople Opel 1972 - 1991	Bartholomew I.