Kallinikos V of Constantinople

1. Introduction

Kallinikos V1 was born in Moudania (Mudanya); he was archdeacon of the Diocese of Nicomedia, while in 1779 he became archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In October of the following year he was ordained metropolitan of Adrianople, and he remained at that post until September 1792, when he was transferred to the Diocese of Nicaea.2 He was elected to the throne of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on June 17th, 1801; earlier in that same day the Patriarch Neophytos VII had resigned.3 Mathas claims that though Kallinikos was “self-indulgent and indolent and slothful and lackadaisical in church matters, he was however educated, he lacked greed and was beneficent”.4

2. Kallinikos V’s first tenure (1801-1806)

Kallinikos’ first tenure lasted until 1806 and is of interest because it is connected with the political balances and the conditions of that period. Koumas mentions that “the faction of Makarios, the new Metropolitan of Ephesus, whose leader was the later prince Alexanderos Soutsos, promoted for the position of the Patriarch Kallinikos IV of Nicaea.5 This man who was famed for many things, was helped by the circumstances and his mildness and thrived. For as Dimitrios Mourouzis of the Phanariots was -so to speak- a monarch, he [the Patriarch] could do nothing else but carry out his will exactly”.6 An important undertaking of Kallinikos was the erection of the building in Kuruçesme, where the "Megali tou Genous Scholi" (Great School of the Nation) was housed. Koumas, moreover, implies that the building’s erection to an extent resulted from the favour shown to the Constantinople Patriarch by the Sultan Selim III,7while Mathas makes the same allusion.

During the tenure of Kallinikos three canonical edicts were issued. His most important actions were the following: in June 1803, the Exarchy of Geromirion was merged with the bishopric of Vella and formed one bishopric under the bishop of Ioannina; in July of the same year, the bishopric of Petra in Crete was united with the village Kainourio, which was already declared a stauropegion; in August 1803 took place the validation of the cenobitic regime of the Russian monastery of St Panteleimon and the recognition of the hieromonk Savvas as its abbot. In April 1804, the Exarchy of Tripolitsa was merged with the bishopric of Amyclae, while in April 1805 was ratified the annexation of the monastery of St George Koudounas in Pringipos (Büyükada) island by the monastery of Holy Lavra in the Peloponnese.8

The rise of the influence of the pro-French faction among the Phanariots had as result the weakening of the strength of the Ypsilantis and the Mourouzis families, who leaned towards Russia. As an immediate effect of this Kallinikos lost the support of the faction, thanks to the help of which he had climbed to the throne.9 In this way, on September 22nd 1806, he was forced to resign, the official excuse being his advanced age, which impeded him, on account of his frequent illnesses, to continue to fulfil his duties with competency. After this, he retired to Diplokionion (Βeşiktas) in the Bosphorus.

3. His second tenure (1808-1809)

Kallinikos’ second tenure was rather brief; it started on September 10th,1808 –after Gregorios’ V resignation– and lasted until April 23rd, 1809. Koumas as well as Mathas claim that after Mahmud II became Sultan, Kallinikos approached the Grand Vizier Mustafa Bayraktar and promised a significant amount of money to become Patriarch again.10 Kallinikos was thus elected Ecumenical Patriarch again. Among his most important actions of his second tenure we should mention the establishment of a hospital in Prousa (Bursa), the aim of which was mainly the treatment of those afflicted by the plague.11

The manner in which Kallinikos became Ecumenical Patriarch for the second time had caused the ire of the Synod, as it constituted a violation of its right to elect and replace the Patriarch, a privilege granted approx. 50 years before, during Samouel’s tenure. Koumas and Mathas agree that, following these developments, the Synod sought the opportunity to depose Kallinikos. Koumas mentions also that this was the reason why the Synod favoured Gregorios V and, instead of banishing him, allowed him to remain on the nearby island of Chalki.(Heybeliada).12 The opportunity presented itself after the violent death of Mustafa Bayraktar; on April 23rd, 1809, the Synod decided to remove Kallinikos from the Ecumenical Throne: “by the high judgement and decision of the Synod he [Kallinikos] was removed from the Ecumenical Throne […] due to his old age and his frequent illnesses he was sent to Kadiköy of Chalkedon”.13 Ieremias IV, metropolitan of Mytilene, was elected Patriarch in his place. Kallinikos retired, most likely in Diplokionion again, where he passed away and was buried there, the date of his death being unknown.



1. One bibliographical problem concerning this Patriarch is that in some works he is mentioned as Kallinikos IV and in others as Kallinikos V. The reason is the following: on November 19th, 1726, after the removal of Ieremias III, Kallinikos of Heracleia was elected patriarch. However, Kallinikos died of a heart attack just after he heard the news of his election. On the next day Paisios of Nicomedia was elected patriarch in his place. Θεολογία 4 (1926), p. 181, note 3.
Those who do not include the unfortunate priest in the patriarchal catalogues refer to Kallinikos V as Kallinikos IV. However, since Kallinikos of 1726 was elected, he should be listed in the patriarchal catalogues. Therefore, the subject of this entry will be referred to as Kallinikos V.

2. Γεδεών, Μ., Πατριαρχικοί Πίνακες. Ειδήσεις ιστορικαί, βιογραφικαί περί των Πατριαρχών Κωνσταντινουπόλεως από Ανδρέου του Πρωτοκλήτου μέχρις Ιωακείμ Γ΄ του από Θεσσαλονίκης 36-1884 (Istanbul 1885-1890), p. 679.

3. Μητροπολίτου Σάρδεων και Πισιδίας Γερμανού, Συμβολή εις τους Πατριαρχικούς καταλόγους Κωνσταντινουπόλεως από της Αλώσεως και εξής (Istanbul 1935), p. 147.

4. Μάθας, Ζ., Κατάλογος Ιστορικός των πρώτων Επισκόπων και των εφεξής Πατριαρχών της εν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Αγίας και Μεγάλης του Χριστού Εκκλησίας (Nafplio 1837), p. 270.

5. See note 1. Obviously Koumas does not include the infortunate Kallinikos of 1726 in the patriarchal catalogues.

6. Κούμας, Κ., Ιστορία των ανθρωπίνων πράξεων, τόμ. ΙΒ (Vienna 1832), p. 509.

7. Κούμας, Κ., Ιστορία των ανθρωπίνων πράξεων, τόμ. ΙΒ΄ (Vienna 1832), p. 509; Μάθας, Ζ., Κατάλογος Ιστορικός των πρώτων Επισκόπων και των εφεξής Πατριαρχών της εν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Αγίας και Μεγάλης του Χριστού Εκκλησίας (Nafplio 1837),  p. 271.

8. Γεδεών, Μ., Πατριαρχικοί Πίνακες. Ειδήσεις ιστορικαί, βιογραφικαί περί των Πατριαρχών Κωνσταντινουπόλεως από Ανδρέου του Πρωτοκλήτου μέχρις Ιωακείμ Γ΄ του από Θεσσαλονίκης 36-1884 (Istanbul 1885-1890), p. 679-680.

9. Κούμας, Κ., Ιστορία των ανθρωπίνων πράξεων, τόμ. ΙΒ΄ (Vienna 1832), p. 509; Μάθας, Ζ., Κατάλογος Ιστορικός των πρώτων Επισκόπων και των εφεξής Πατριαρχών της εν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Αγίας και Μεγάλης του Χριστού Εκκλησίας (Nafplio 1837),  p. 271.

10. Κούμας, Κ., Ιστορία των ανθρωπίνων πράξεων, τόμ. ΙΒ΄ (Vienna 1832), p.  271; Μάθας, Ζ., Κατάλογος Ιστορικός των πρώτων Επισκόπων και των εφεξής Πατριαρχών της εν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Αγίας και Μεγάλης του Χριστού Εκκλησίας (Nafplio 1837),  p. 274.

11. Γεδεών, Μ., Πατριαρχικοί Πίνακες. Ειδήσεις ιστορικαί, βιογραφικαί περί των Πατριαρχών Κωνσταντινουπόλεως από Ανδρέου του Πρωτοκλήτου μέχρις Ιωακείμ Γ΄ του από Θεσσαλονίκης 36-1884 (Istanbul 1885-1890), p. 680.

12. Κούμας, Κ., Ιστορία των ανθρωπίνων πράξεων, τόμ. ΙΒ΄ (Vienna 1832), p.  511; Μάθας, Ζ., Κατάλογος Ιστορικός των πρώτων Επισκόπων και των εφεξής Πατριαρχών της εν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Αγίας και Μεγάλης του Χριστού Εκκλησίας (Nafplio 1837),  p. 275.

13. Μητροπολίτου Σάρδεων και Πισιδίας Γερμανού, Συμβολή εις τους Πατριαρχικούς καταλόγους Κωνσταντινουπόλεως από της Αλώσεως και εξής (Istanbul 1935), p. 147-148.