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91-668: John Chryssavgis (born 1 April 1958) is an Orthodox Christian theologian who serves as advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues . He is a clergyman of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. In January 2012, he received the title of Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew . In 2016, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary. In 2020, he

182-713: A continuous history since the founding of the city in AD 330 by Constantine the Great . After Constantine the Great had enlarged Byzantium to make it into a second capital city in 330, it was thought appropriate that its bishop, once a suffragan of the Exarch of Thrace and Macedonia, the Metropolitan of Heraclea , should be elevated to an archbishopric. For many decades the heads of the church of Rome opposed this ambition, due to their existing papal claims, and because they defended

273-605: A delegate—over any council of Orthodox primates or bishops in which he takes part and serves as primary spokesman for the Orthodox communion especially in ecumenical contacts with other Christian denominations. He has no direct jurisdiction over the other patriarchs or the other autocephalous Orthodox churches, but he, alone among his fellow primates, enjoys the right of convening extraordinary synods consisting of them or their delegates to deal with ad hoc situations and has also convened well-attended pan-Orthodox synods in

364-715: A movement which came into prominence in the mid-19th century, emphasized the common heritage and unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been ruled for centuries by other empires: the Byzantine Empire, Austria-Hungary , the Ottoman Empire , and Venice . Austro-Hungary envisioned its own political concept of Austro-Slavism , in opposition of Pan-Slavism that

455-685: A permanent bureau at the EU headquarters, in addition to enhancing the long-established Patriarchal Centre in Pregny-Chambésy , Switzerland, and also his ecological pursuits which have won him the epithet of "the Green Patriarch". When the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, the patriarchate ceased to function. The Patriarchate was restored by the conquering ruler, Sultan Mehmed II , who wished to establish his dynasty as

546-696: A second capital alongside Rome and named it Constantinople . The see's ecclesiastical status as the second of five patriarchates were developed by the Ecumenical Councils of Constantinople in 381 and Chalcedon in 451 . The Turkish government recognizes him as the spiritual leader of the Greek minority in Turkey, and refer to him as the Roman (literally Rûm ) Orthodox patriarch of Fener ( Turkish : Fener Rum Ortodoks Patriği ). The patriarch

637-530: A synodical system canonically , it is significantly distinguished from the hierarchically organized Catholic Church , whose doctrine is papal supremacy and whose head is the pope . His titles primus inter pares . 'first among equals', and "ecumenical patriarch" are of honor rather than authority, and in fact the ecumenical patriarch has no real authority over churches other than the Constantinopolitan. The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople

728-641: Is a large Slavic minority scattered across the Baltic states and Central Asia , and a substantial Slavic diaspora in the Americas , Western Europe , and Northern Europe . Early Slavs lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately from the 5th to the 10th century AD), and came to control large parts of Central , Eastern , and Southeast Europe between

819-547: Is also no evidence of Asian admixture. However, samples of Novosibirsk residents and Old Believers in Siberia have 5-10% Central Siberian ancestry despite being genetically close to European Slavs. The pagan Slavic populations were Christianized between the 7th and 12th centuries. Orthodox Christianity is predominant among East and South Slavs, while Catholicism is predominant among West Slavs and some western South Slavs . The religious borders are largely comparable to

910-811: Is also sometimes called the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople to distinguish it from the Armenian Patriarchate and the extinct Latin Patriarchate , which was created after the Latin capture of Constantinople in 1204, during the Fourth Crusade . The see of Byzantium, whose foundation was later ascribed to Andrew the Apostle, was originally a common bishopric. It gained importance when Emperor Constantine elevated Byzantium to

1001-408: Is defined as the last stage of the language preceding the geographical split of the historical Slavic languages . That language was uniform, and on the basis of borrowings from foreign languages and Slavic borrowings into other languages, it cannot be said to have any recognizable dialects, which suggests that there was, at one time, a relatively-small Proto-Slavic homeland . Slavic linguistic unity

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1092-401: Is home to 20 monasteries and numerous other monastic communities. The ecumenical patriarch has a unique role among Eastern Orthodox bishops, though it is not without its controversy. He is primus inter pares ("first among equals"), as he is senior among all Orthodox bishops. This primacy, expressed in canonical literature as presbeia ("prerogatives", literally: "seniorities"), grants to

1183-477: Is one of promoting and sustaining Church unity. This unique role often sees the ecumenical patriarch referred to as the "spiritual leader" of the Orthodox Church in some sources, though this is not an official title of the patriarch nor is it usually used in scholarly sources on the patriarchate. Such a title is acceptable if it refers to this unique role, but it sometimes leads to the mistaken belief that

1274-486: Is somewhat unusual, given such a wide dispersal of Slavic populations. Together they form the basis of the " East European " gene cluster , which also includes non-Slavic Hungarians and Aromanians . Only Northern Russians among East and West Slavs belong to a different, " Northern European " genetic cluster, along with Balts , Germanic and Baltic Finnic peoples (Northern Russian populations are very similar to Balts). The 2006 Y-DNA study results "suggest that

1365-602: Is the direct administrative superior of dioceses and archdioceses serving millions of Greek, Ukrainian, Rusyn and Albanian believers in North and South America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, South Korea, as well as parts of modern Greece which, for historical reasons, do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Church of Greece . His actual position is patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople , one of

1456-729: Is the most spoken Slavic language, and is the most spoken native language in Europe. The alphabets used for Slavic languages are usually connected to the dominant religion among the respective ethnic groups. Orthodox Christians use the Cyrillic alphabet while Catholics use the Latin alphabet ; the Bosniaks, who are Muslim, also use the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet in Serbia. Additionally, some Eastern Catholics and Western Catholics use

1547-700: The Sclaveni in Latin . The oldest documents written in Old Church Slavonic , dating from the 9th century, attest the autonym as Slověne ( Словѣне ). Those forms point back to a Slavic autonym , which can be reconstructed in Proto-Slavic as *Slověninъ , plural Slověne . The reconstructed autonym * Slověninъ is usually considered a derivation from slovo ("word"), originally denoting "people who speak (the same language)", meaning "people who understand one another", in contrast to

1638-721: The Boii ), Old Prussians , and the Pannonian Avars . The West Slavs came under the influence of the Western Roman Empire (Latin) and of the Catholic Church . East Slavs have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed and contacted with Finns , Balts and with the remnants of the people of the Goths . Their early Slavic component, Antes , mixed or absorbed Iranians , and later received influence from

1729-740: The Duchy of Bohemia , and the Kingdom of Poland . Beginning in the mid-19th century, a pan-Slavic movement has emphasized the common heritage and unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus of the movement was in the Balkans, whereas the Russian Empire was opposed to it. The Slavic languages belong to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family . Present-day Slavs are classified into three groups: Though

1820-458: The East–West Schism which began in the 11th century. Islam first arrived in the 7th century during the early Muslim conquests , and was gradually adopted by a number of Slavic ethnic groups through the centuries in the Balkans. Among Slavic populations who profess a religion, the majority of contemporary Christian Slavs are Orthodox, followed by Catholic. The majority of Muslim Slavs follow

1911-554: The Hanafi school of the Sunni branch of Islam. Religious delineations by nationality can be very sharp; usually in the Slavic ethnic groups, the vast majority of religious people share the same religion. Mainly Eastern Orthodoxy : Mainly Catholicism : Mainly Islam : Throughout their history, Slavs came into contact with non-Slavic groups. In the postulated homeland region (present-day Ukraine ), they had contacts with

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2002-559: The Hunger Plan , Germany's intentional starvation of the region, as well as the murders of 3.3. million Soviet prisoners of war . Germany's Heinrich Himmler also ordered his subordinate Ludolf-Hermann von Alvensleben to start repopulating Crimea , and hundreds of ethnic Germans were forcibly moved to cities and villages there. The Soviet Red Army took back their land from the Germans in 1944 . Stephen J. Lee estimates that, by

2093-691: The Khazars and Vikings . The East Slavs trace their national origins to the tribal unions of Kievan Rus' and Rus' Khaganate , beginning in the 10th century. They came particularly under the influence of the Byzantine Empire and of the Eastern Orthodox Church . South Slavs from most of the region have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed with the local Proto-Balkanic tribes ( Illyrian , Dacian , Thracian , Paeonian , Hellenic tribes ), and Celtic tribes (particularly

2184-734: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes . The first half of the 20th century in Russia and the Soviet Union was marked by a succession of wars, famines and other disasters, each accompanied by large-scale population losses. The two major famines were in 1921 to 1923 and 1932 to 1933 , which caused millions of deaths mostly around Ukraine and the Northern Caucasus . The latter resulted from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin 's collectivization of agriculture in Ukraine . During

2275-542: The Millet of Rum , which included all Orthodox Christians under Ottoman rule, regardless of their ethnicity in the modern sense. This role was carried out by ethnic Greeks at their great peril, in the midst of enormous difficulties and traps and inevitably with mixed success. Several patriarchs were summarily executed by the Ottoman authorities, most notably Gregory V , who was lynched on Easter Monday 1821 in revenge for

2366-882: The Peloponnese and Asia Minor being reported to have Slavic settlements. This southern movement has traditionally been seen as an invasive expansion. By the end of the 6th century, Slavs had settled the Eastern Alps regions . Pope Gregory I in 600 AD wrote to Maximus, the bishop of Salona (in Dalmatia ), expressing concern about the arrival of the Slavs: Latin: " Et quidem de Sclavorum gente, quae vobis valde imminet, et affligor vehementer et conturbor. Affligor in his quae jam in vobis patior; conturbor, quia per Istriae aditum jam ad Italiam intrare coeperunt. " English: "I am both distressed and disturbed about

2457-569: The Prague -type pottery associated with Slavs was not found anywhere south of the Danube where large numbers of Slavic-speaking people emerged in the early Middle Ages. Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on Byzantine borders in large numbers. Byzantine records note that Slav numbers were so great, that grass would not regrow where the Slavs had marched through . Military movements resulted in even

2548-482: The Roman world, Slavic -speaking tribes formed part of several successive multi-ethnic confederacies of Eurasia – such as the Sarmatian, Hun and Gothic empires. The Slavs emerged from obscurity when the westward movement of Germanic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries AD (thought to be in conjunction with the movement of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe: Huns , and later Avars and Bulgars ) started

2639-625: The Scordisci ), as well as with Romans (and the Romanized remnants of the former groups), and also with remnants of temporarily settled invading East Germanic, Asiatic or Caucasian tribes such as Gepids , Huns , Avars , Goths and Bulgars . The original inhabitants of present-day Slovenia and continental Croatia have origins in early Slavic tribes who mixed with Romans and romanized Celtic and Illyrian people as well as with Avars and Germanic peoples (Lombards and East Goths). The South Slavs (except

2730-631: The Slavs . Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and the Eastern Orthodox doctrine , the patriarchs are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue , charitable work, and the defense of Orthodox Christian traditions. Within the five apostolic sees of the Pentarchy , the ecumenical patriarch is regarded as the successor of Andrew the Apostle . The current holder of

2821-696: The University of Oxford in 1983. Chryssavgis read patristic theology at the University of Oxford . His work and writing have focused on medieval theology, as well as on the history of the Eastern Church. He holds degrees in theology and sacred music . His teaching has covered wide-ranging topics, such as theological, political, and social developments, themes and personalities of the Middle Ages , including cultural and religious relations and tensions between East and West. His interests have embraced

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2912-590: The Vandals to the Iberian Peninsula and even to North Africa . On the other hand, historian Florin Curta categorically dismisses the concept of "Slavs' migration" and opts instead for short-distance population movements that would explain the spread of Slavic languages . He argues - in favor of this view - that the proposed migration models are inconsistent with the archaeological findings, for example

3003-719: The great migration of the Slavs, who settled the lands abandoned by Germanic tribes who had fled from the Huns and their allies. Slavs, according to this account, moved westward into the country between the Oder and the Elbe - Saale line; southward into Bohemia , Moravia , much of present-day Austria , the Pannonian plain and the Balkans ; and northward along the upper Dnieper river. It has also been suggested that some Slavs migrated with

3094-537: The 'Petrine principle' by which all Patriarchates were derived from Saint Peter and were unwilling to violate the old order of the hierarchy for political reasons. In 381, the First Council of Constantinople declared that "The Bishop of Constantinople shall have the primacy of honour after the Bishop of Rome, because it is New Rome" (canon iii). The prestige of the office continued to grow not only because of

3185-456: The Balkans were Slavicized. Thracians and Illyrians mixed as ethnic groups in this period. A notable exception is Greece, where Slavs were Hellenized because Greeks were more numerous, especially with more Greeks returning to Greece in the 9th century and the influence of the church and administration, however, Slavicized regions within Macedonia , Thrace and Moesia Inferior also had

3276-746: The Cyrillic alphabet. Serbian and Montenegrin use both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. There is also a Latin script to write in Belarusian, called Łacinka and in Ukrainian, called Latynka . West Slavs originate from early Slavic tribes which settled in Central Europe after the East Germanic tribes had left this area during the migration period . They are noted as having mixed with Germanics , Hungarians , Celts (particularly

3367-414: The Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church . Historically, the ecumenical patriarch has heard such appeals and sometimes was invited to intervene in other churches' disputes and difficulties. Even as early as the fourth century, Constantinople was instrumental in the deposition of multiple bishops outside its traditional jurisdiction. This still occurs today, as when in 2006 the patriarchate

3458-405: The Egyptian Desert to the Sinaite Mountain ( Ashgate , UK, Winter 2004); and Light Through Darkness: Insights into Orthodox Spirituality ( Orbis Books , Summer 2004) He currently serves as theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues . He lives in Maine . Ecumenical Patriarch The patriarch's see , the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of

3549-492: The Iranian Sarmatians and the Germanic Goths . After their subsequent spread, the Slavs began assimilating non-Slavic peoples. For example, in the Northern Black Sea region, the Slavs assimilated the remnants of the Goths. In the Balkans, there were Paleo-Balkan peoples, such as Romanized and Hellenized ( Jireček Line ) Illyrians , Thracians and Dacians , as well as Greeks and Celtic Scordisci and Serdi . Because Slavs were so numerous, most indigenous populations of

3640-594: The Patriarchate, are also cited by human rights groups. However, in 2004 Patriarch Bartholomew, with the help of the Turkish government, succeeded, after eighty years, in altering the composition of the twelve-member Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops in Constantinople so that it can include six bishops from outside Turkey. He has also been convening biennially in Constantinople convocations of all bishops in his jurisdiction. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has suffered attacks from 1993 to 2004, including desecration of patriarchal cemeteries as well as assaults on

3731-416: The Phanar" or "Roman Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople" ( Turkish : Fener Rum Ortodoks Patriği ; Phanar is the neighbourhood in Istanbul where the patriarchate is located). According to Turkish law, still in force today, he is subject to the authority of the Republic of Turkey; however, Turkey allows the Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops to elect the patriarch. To be electable, Turkish law requires

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3822-455: The Religious Studies Program at Hellenic College until 2002. He established the Environment Office at the same School in 2001. He has also taught as professor of Patristics at the University of Balamand in Lebanon. In recent years, he has published several books and countless articles in international journals and encyclopaedias in the area of religion and ecology, social justice and peace, with forthcoming books including John Climacus: from

3913-600: The Sclaveni as having swamps and forests for their cities. Another 6th-century source refers to them living among nearly-impenetrable forests, rivers, lakes, and marshes. Menander Protector mentions Daurentius ( r.  c. 577 – 579 ) who slew an Avar envoy of Khagan Bayan I for asking the Slavs to accept the suzerainty of the Avars; Daurentius declined and is reported as saying: "Others do not conquer our land, we conquer theirs – so it shall always be for us as long as there are wars and weapons". According to eastern homeland theory, prior to becoming known to

4004-434: The Slavic expansion started from the territory of present-day Ukraine, thus supporting the hypothesis placing the earliest known homeland of Slavs in the basin of the middle Dnieper ". According to genetic studies until 2020, the distribution, variance and frequency of the Y-DNA haplogroups R1a and I2 and their subclades R-M558, R-M458 and I-CTS10228 among South Slavs correlate with the spread of Slavic languages during

4095-566: The Slavic word denoting " German people ", namely *němьcь , meaning "silent, mute people" (from Slavic *němъ " mute , mumbling"). The word slovo ("word") and the related slava ("glory, fame") and sluh ("hearing") originate from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱlew- ("be spoken of, glory"), cognate with Ancient Greek κλέος ( kléos "fame"), as in the name Pericles , Latin clueō ("be called"), and English loud . In medieval and early modern sources written in Latin, Slavs are most commonly referred to as Sclaveni or

4186-436: The Slavs, who are pressing hard on you. I am distressed because I sympathize with you; I am disturbed because they have already begun to arrive in Italy through the entry-point of Istria ." When Slav migrations ended, their first state organizations appeared, each headed by a prince with a treasury and a defense force. In the 7th century, the Frankish merchant Samo supported the Slavs against their Avar rulers and became

4277-679: The Slovenes and Croats) came under the cultural sphere of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), of the Ottoman Empire and of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Islam , while the Slovenes and the Croats were influenced by the Western Roman Empire (Latin) and thus by the Catholic Church in a similar fashion to that of the West Slavs. Consistent with the proximity of their languages, analyses of Y chromosomes , mDNA , and autosomal marker CCR5de132 shows that East Slavs and West Slavs are genetically very similar, but demonstrating significant differences from neighboring Finno-Ugric, Turkic , and North Caucasian peoples. Such genetic homogeneity

4368-470: The United Kingdom in a dispute with his superior in Moscow, though the result of that appeal – and the right to make it – were both rejected by the latter. The ecumenical patriarch has no direct jurisdiction outside the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted to him in Orthodox canonical literature, but his primary function regarding the whole Orthodox Church is one of dealing with relations between autocephalous and autonomous churches. That is, his primary role

4459-400: The absence of his legates . In the sixth century, the official title became that of "archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and ecumenical patriarch". The current patriarch (since 1991) is Bartholomew I who has become better-known than any of his predecessors in modern times as a result of his numerous pastoral and other visits to numerous countries in five continents and his setting up of

4550-409: The affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , were calling for national self-determination. During World War I , representatives of the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes set up organizations in the Allied countries to gain sympathy and recognition. In 1918, after World War I ended, the Slavs established such independent states as Czechoslovakia , the Second Polish Republic , and

4641-416: The archdioceses in North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania where growing Greek and other migrant communities have gradually constituted a significant orthodox diaspora. After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923, the Turkish state only recognises the patriarch as the spiritual leader of the Greek minority in Turkey , and officially refers to him as the "Greek Orthodox Patriarch of

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4732-412: The areas of spirituality , ecology, and liturgy . His research has specialised in the ascetic thought and practice of the early Church, especially from the desert tradition of Egypt (4th century) through the regions of Palestine (5th–6th centuries) and Sinai (7th century). After several months in silent retreat on Mount Athos , he worked with the Greek Orthodox Primate in Australia (1984–1994) and

4823-442: The candidates to be Turkish citizens. Since the establishment of modern Turkey, the position of the ecumenical patriarch has been filled by Turkish-born citizens of Greek ethnicity. As nearly all Greek Orthodox have left Turkey (see Population exchange between Greece and Turkey and Istanbul Pogrom ), this considerably narrows the field of candidates for succession. Human rights groups have long protested against conditions placed by

4914-435: The direct heirs of the Eastern Roman emperors, and who adopted the imperial title Kayser-i-Rûm "caesar of the Romans", one of his subsidiary titles but a significant one. In 1454 he bestowed the office upon an illustrious Byzantine scholar-monk who was well known for his opposition to union with the Latin West, Gennadius Scholarius , who became Patriarch Gennadius II. The patriarch was designated millet-başı ( ethnarch ) of

5005-407: The ecumenical patriarch the right to preside at pan-Orthodox synods . Additionally, the canonical literature of the Orthodox Church grants to the ecumenical patriarch the right to hear appeals in cases of dispute between bishops. However, whether these canonical rights are limited only to his own patriarchate or are universal throughout the Orthodox Church is the subject of debate, especially between

5096-412: The ecumenical patriarch, the only bishop who has jurisdiction over them. Athos, officially the "Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain” ( Ancient Greek : Αυτόνομη Μοναστικὴ Πολιτεία Ἁγίου Ὄρους ), is a self-governed polity within the Greek state subject to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its political aspect and to the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople as regards to its religious aspect and

5187-486: The ecumenical patriarch. After the protests from Turkey, the signature of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been removed from the statement of the June 2024 Ukraine peace summit . Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages . Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia ; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe , Eastern Europe , Southeastern Europe , and Northern Asia , though there

5278-617: The end of World War II in 1945, the Russian population was about 90 million fewer than it could have been otherwise. Also during World War II, fascist Italy sent tens of thousands of Slavs to concentration camps in mainland Italy, Libya , and the Balkans , because Italian leader Benito Mussolini also had a hatred of them. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed , and many former Soviet republics became independent countries. Currently, former Soviet states in Central Asia such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have very large minority Slavic populations, with most being Russians. Kazakhstan has

5369-443: The era of the emperor Justinian I ( r.  527–565 ), such as Procopius of Caesarea , Jordanes and Theophylact Simocatta , describe tribes of these names emerging from the area of the Carpathian Mountains , the lower Danube and the Black Sea to invade the Danubian provinces of the Eastern Empire . Jordanes, in his work Getica (written in 551 AD), describes the Veneti as a "populous nation" whose dwellings begin at

5460-403: The fourteen autocephalous and several autonomous churches and the most senior (though not oldest) of the four orthodox ancient primatial sees among the five patriarchal Christian centers comprising the ancient Pentarchy of the undivided Church. In his role as head of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, he is known as the "archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome ". The Ecumenical Patriarchate

5551-420: The function of the patriarchate, since clergy coming from abroad are not eligible to apply for residence and work permits. In its early days the Turkish state promoted a rival Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate , whose congregation, however, has remained limited. Expropriation of Church property and the conditions of state control imposed on the Orthodox Theological School of Halki that have led to its closure by

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5642-460: The largest Slavic minority population. Proto-Slavic , the supposed ancestor language of all Slavic languages, is a descendant of common Proto-Indo-European , via a Balto-Slavic stage in which it developed numerous lexical and morphophonological isoglosses with the Baltic languages . In the framework of the Kurgan hypothesis , "the Indo-Europeans who remained after the migrations [from the steppe] became speakers of Balto-Slavic". Proto-Slavic

5733-413: The last 40 years. His unique role often sees the ecumenical patriarch referred to as the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Church in some sources, though this is not an official title of the patriarch nor is it usually used in scholarly sources on the patriarchate. The Orthodox Church is entirely decentralized: it has no central authority, earthly head, or single bishop in a leadership role. Because it has

5824-667: The majority of Slavs are Christians , some groups, such as the Bosniaks, mostly identify as Muslims . Modern Slavic nations and ethnic groups are considerably diverse, both genetically and culturally, and relations between them may range from "ethnic solidarity to mutual feelings of hostility" — even within the individual groups. The oldest mention of the Slavic ethnonym is from the 6th century AD, when Procopius , writing in Byzantine Greek , used various forms such as Sklaboi ( Σκλάβοι ), Sklabēnoi ( Σκλαβηνοί ), Sklauenoi ( Σκλαυηνοί ), Sthlabenoi ( Σθλαβηνοί ), or Sklabinoi ( Σκλαβῖνοι ), and his contemporary Jordanes refers to

5915-415: The medieval Slavic expansion from Eastern Europe, most probably from the territory of present-day Ukraine and Southeastern Poland . According to a 2017 study, Slavic speakers like Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians have similar genetic components. Ukrainians and Belarusians have near-equal amounts of two "European components", which are commonly found in North Europe and Caucasus respectively. There

6006-400: The most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history. The ecumenical patriarchs in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages , they played a major role in the affairs of the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as in the politics of the Orthodox world, and in spreading Christianity among

6097-422: The obvious patronage of the Byzantine Emperor but because of its overwhelming geographical importance. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 established Constantinople as a patriarchate with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Asia Minor (the dioceses of Asiane and Pontus) and Thrace as well as over the barbaric territories, non-converted lands outside the defined area of the Western Patriarchate (Old Rome) and

6188-478: The office is Bartholomew I , the 270th bishop of that see. Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is first among equals , or first in honor among all Eastern Orthodox bishops, who presides in person—or through

6279-503: The office is thus the equivalent of an Orthodox pope. There is, however, no Orthodox notion equivalent to the papacy: the Orthodox churches operate in the synodical system, whereby ecclesiastical matters are settled by the competent synod of bishops, in which each bishop has one vote. The five patriarchs of the ancient Pentarchy (Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, in that order) are to be given seniority of honour, but have no actual power over other bishops other than

6370-406: The other three patriarchates, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, gave it appellate jurisdiction extraterritorially over canon law decisions by the other patriarchs and granted it honours equal to those belonging to the first Christian see, Rome, in terms of primacy, Rome retaining however its seniority (canon xxviii). Leo I refused to accept this canon, basing himself on the fact that it was made in

6461-411: The outbreak of the Greek Revolution . In the 19th century, the rising tide of nationalism and secularism among the Balkan Christian nations led to the establishment of several autocephalous national churches, generally under autonomous patriarchs or archbishops, leaving the ecumenical patriarch only direct control over the ethnically Greek-originated Orthodox Christians of Turkey, parts of Greece and

6552-470: The patriarch is a validly consecrated bishop in Roman ecclesiology, and there is merely an imperfect ecclesial communion between Constantinople and Rome, which exists nevertheless and which may be improved at some point in history. The Ecumenical Patriarch bears the name: "(name), by the grace of God Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch" The (arch)bishopric of Constantinople has had

6643-547: The power of the synod they are chairing (and in which they also wield one vote). In 2007, the patriarch gave his approval to the Ravenna Document , a Catholic–Orthodox document re-asserting that the bishop of Rome is indeed the prōtos ("first") of the Church, as in "first among equals", although future discussions are to be held on the concrete ecclesiological exercise of papal primacy. According to Lumen Gentium ,

6734-668: The ruler of the first known Slav state in Central Europe, Samo's Empire . This early Slavic polity probably did not outlive its founder and ruler, but it was the foundation for later West Slavic states on its territory. The oldest of them was Carantania ; others are the Principality of Nitra , the Moravian principality (see under Great Moravia ) and the Balaton Principality . The First Bulgarian Empire

6825-632: The secular government of Turkey on the ecumenical patriarch, a religious office. The same policy also applied to the institution of the Islamic Caliphate, which was abolished by Turkey. For example, the ecumenical status accorded him traditionally within Eastern Orthodoxy, and recognized previously by the Ottoman governments, has on occasion been a source of controversy within the Republic of Turkey. This policy results in problems in

6916-692: The shortened version Sclavi . Ancient Roman sources refer to the Early Slavic peoples as "Veneti" , who dwelt in a region of central Europe east of the Germanic tribe of Suebi and west of the Iranian Sarmatians in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, between the upper Vistula and Dnieper rivers. Slavs - called Antes and Sclaveni - first appear in Byzantine records in the early 6th century AD. Byzantine historiographers of

7007-593: The sixth and seventh centuries. Beginning in the 7th century, they were gradually Christianized . By the 12th century, they formed the core population of a number of medieval Christian states: East Slavs in the Kievan Rus' , South Slavs in the Bulgarian Empire , the Principality of Serbia , the Duchy of Croatia and the Banate of Bosnia , and West Slavs in the Principality of Nitra , Great Moravia ,

7098-1027: The sources of the Vistula and occupy "a great expanse of land". He also describes the Veneti as the ancestors of Antes and Slaveni, two early Slavic tribes, who appeared on the Byzantine frontier in the early-6th century. Procopius wrote in 545 that "the Sclaveni and the Antae actually had a single name in the remote past; for they were both called Sporoi in olden times". The name Sporoi derives from Greek σπείρω ("to sow "). He described them as barbarians, who lived under democracy and believed in one god, "the maker of lightning" ( Perun ), to whom they made sacrifice. They lived in scattered housing and constantly changed settlement. In war, they were mainly foot soldiers with shields, spears, bows, and little armour, which

7189-487: The start of World War II was to exterminate, expel, or enslave most or all West and East Slavs from their native lands, so as to make " living space " for German settlers. In early 1941, Germany began planning Generalplan Ost , the genocide of Slavs in Eastern Europe which was supposed to start after a major expansion of German concentration camps in occupied Poland and the fall of Stalin's regime. This plan

7280-668: The style, which has been used occasionally for other prelates since the middle of the fifth century, is nowhere officially defined but, according to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, the title has been criticized in the Catholic Church as incompatible with the claims of the Holy See . The monastic communities of Mount Athos are stauropegic and they are directly under the jurisdiction of

7371-428: The war, Nazi Germany used hundreds of thousands of people for slave labor in their concentration camps , the majority of whom were Jewish or Slavic. Both groups were a part of what Germans claimed to be a "vast racially subhuman surplus population" that they " intended to eliminate in time from their new empire ", their term for "racial subhumans" being Untermensch . Thus, one of Adolf Hitler 's ambitions at

7462-628: Was co-founder of St Andrew 's Theological College in Sydney, where he was Sub-Dean and taught Patristics and Church History (1986–1995). He was also Lecturer in the Divinity School (1986–1990) and the School of Studies in Religion (1990–1995) at the University of Sydney . In 1995, he moved to Boston , where he was appointed Professor of Theology at Holy Cross School of Theology and directed

7553-926: Was elected Honorary Professor of Theology in the Sydney College of Divinity. John Chryssavgis was born in Australia in 1958. He matriculated from the Scots College in Sydney in 1975 and received his degree in theology from the University of Athens in 1980. He received a diploma in Byzantine Music from the Greek Conservatory of Music in 1979 and was awarded a research scholarship to St. Vladimir 's Theological Seminary in 1982. He completed his doctoral studies in Patristics at

7644-446: Was founded in 681 as an alliance between the ruling Bulgars and the numerous Slavs in the area, and their South Slavic language, the Old Church Slavonic , became the main and official language of the empire in 864 AD. Bulgaria was instrumental in the spread of Slavic literacy and Christianity to the rest of the Slavic world. Duchy of Croatia was founded in 7th century and later became Kingdom of Croatia . Principality of Serbia

7735-854: Was founded in 8th, Duchy of Bohemia and Kievan Rus' both in the 9th century. The expansion of the Magyars into the Carpathian Basin and the Germanization of Austria gradually separated the South Slavs from the West and East Slavs . Later Slavic states, which formed in the following centuries included the Second Bulgarian Empire , the Kingdom of Poland , Banate of Bosnia , Duklja and Kingdom of Serbia which later grew into Serbian Empire . Pan-Slavism ,

7826-479: Was invited to assist in declaring the archbishop of the Church of Cyprus incompetent due to his having Alzheimer's disease . Additionally, in 2005, the Ecumenical Patriarchate convoked a pan-Orthodox synod to express the Orthodox world's confirmation of the deposition of Patriarch Irenaios of Jerusalem . In 2006, the patriarchate was invited to hear the appeal of a Russian Orthodox bishop in

7917-530: Was predominantly led by the Russian Empire . As of 1878, there were only three majority Slavic states in the world: the Russian Empire, Principality of Serbia and Principality of Montenegro . Bulgaria was effectively independent but was de jure vassal to the Ottoman Empire until official independence was declared in 1908. The Slavic peoples who were, for the most part, denied a voice in

8008-433: Was reserved mainly for chiefs and their inner circle of warriors. Their language is "barbarous" (that is, not Greek), and the two tribes are alike in appearance, being tall and robust, "while their bodies and hair are neither very fair or blond, nor indeed do they incline entirely to the dark type, but they are all slightly ruddy in color. And they live a hard life, giving no heed to bodily comforts..." Jordanes describes

8099-422: Was subject to the authority of the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, until the declaration of Turkish Republic in 1923. Today, according to Turkish law, he is subject to the authority of the state of Turkey and is required to be a citizen of Turkey to be patriarch. The patriarch of Constantinople has been dubbed the ecumenical patriarch since the sixth century. The exact significance of

8190-686: Was to be carried out gradually over 25 to 30 years. After an approximate 30 million Slavs would be killed through starvation and their major cities depopulated, the Germans were supposed to repopulate Eastern Europe. In June 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa , Hitler paused the plan to focus on the extermination of the Jews . However, some of the plan was nonetheless implemented. Millions of Slavs were murdered in Eastern Europe; this includes victims of

8281-486: Was to some extent visible as late as Old Church Slavonic (or Old Bulgarian ) manuscripts which, though based on local Slavic speech of Thessaloniki , could still serve the purpose of the first common Slavic literary language. Standardised Slavic languages that have official status in at least one country are: Belarusian , Bosnian , Bulgarian , Croatian , Czech , Macedonian , Montenegrin , Polish , Russian , Serbian , Slovak , Slovene , and Ukrainian . Russian

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