His All Holiness Neophytus VII
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Church	Church of Constantinople
Diocese	Constantinople
See	Ecumenical Patriarchate
Installed	12 May 1789, 30 December 1798
Term ended	12 April 1794, 29 June 1801
Predecessor	Procopius, Gregory V
Successor	Gerasimus III, Callinicus V
Personal details
Born	unknown Smyrna
Died	after 1801
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox Church
Occupation	Ecumenical Patriarch

Neophytus VII or Neophytos VII^[1] (Greek: Νεόφυτος; died after 1801) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople during the periods 1789–1794 and 1798–1801.

Biography

Neophytus was born in Smyrna. He studied in the Evangelical School of Smyrna, where he was classmates with Nicodemus the Hagiorite and Adamantios Korais. He was an especially educated man and was against the simplification of religious texts,^[2] as he thought that something like that would lead to their vulgarisation.^[3]

He served as great archdeacon of the Patriarchate and in May 1771 he was elected metropolitan bishop of Maroneia. On May 1789 he succeeded Patriarch Procopius on the Ecumenical Throne, with some concerns about how canonical his election was. Even though his reign is considered worthy, he had to resign on 1 March 1794 and retired to Heybeliada and later to Rhodes, Patmos and Mount Athos. He was reelected Patriarch in 1798, but on 17 June 1801 he resigned again and was exiled to Mount Athos.

During his reign, the philosophy teacher Christodoulos Pamplekis, was excommunicated, while the Great School of the Nation was reconstituted and many schools were founded. With a canonical arrangement he condemned pantheism, while a synodic decision condemned the book "Περί συνεχούς μεταλήψεως", written by the former metropolitan bishop of Corinth, Macarius. He re-founded after 413 years the Metropolis of Corfu and blessed, with the permission of the Sublime Porte, the new flag of the United States of the Ionian Islands in the Church of St. George. During his lifetime, and after many discussions, the translation and publication the Canon of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Demotic Greek was finally approved. Consequently, Christopher's "Κανονικόν" and Nicodemus the Hagiorite's "Πηδάλιον" were published,^[4] the latter also publishing "Μέγα Ευχολόγιον" in Istanbul. With his permission, John Nesteutes's Canon was also published by the Patriarchal Press.

Sources

Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο
Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού
Καρύδης, Σπύρος Χρ (2009). "Η χειρόγραφη εκδοχή της εγκυκλίου του πρώην Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Νεοφύτου Ζ' (1802) για τις προσθήκες στην α' έκδοση του Πηδαλίου". Ο Ερανιστής. 27. Όμιλος Μελέτης του Ελληνικού Διαφωτισμού: 259–262. doi:10.12681/er.94.

References

External links

Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople

Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal