Gregory (2)

Gregory patriarch of Constantinople, was born at Calavrita (Arcadia) about 1740. He studied in the schools of Dimitzana, (Morea), Athos, Patmos, and Smyrna; entered the Church, and, after being successively ordained deacon and priest, was, while yet quite a young man, appointed metropolian of Smyrna. Most of the churches of the diocese were in ruins, and the Turks opposed their restoration, yet he succeeded in fitting some for divine worship, and endeared himself greatly to the Greek population by his zeal and virtues. In 1795 he was appointed patriarch of Constantinople. When the expedition of Napoleon I against Egypt.took place, the Turks accused Gregory of favoring the French, and deposed him. He withdrew to a convent on Mount Athos, where he busied himself not only in writing religious books, but in learning the art of printing. Being soon after reappointed patriarch, he established a printing-office in the episcopal palace. His duties were interrupted by the political revolutions of 1808, when he was deposed on a charge of favoring Russia. He had finally been reappointed a third time patriarch, when the invasion of the Danubian provinces by Ypsilanti in 1821 led to the rising of the Greeks. Constantinople was their t supposed aim, and it was rumored that the Greeks of that city would rise, murder the sultan, and restore the throne of Constantine. The Turkish soldiery were daily killing the Greeks in the streets of Constantinople, and the patriarch's palace was pointed at as the arsenal where Christians kept their ammunition. The position of the Greek clergy, in view of this revolution, which announced itself as a religious one, became daily more critical. Gregory, following the traditions of his Church, which had always enjoined obedience to the temporal powers, excommunicated the leaders of the insurrection. He was entrusted with the custody of the Morousi family, the head of which had been killed and an insurgent. The priest to whose charge Gregory committed them allowed them to escape, and from that moment Gregory foresaw the fate which awaited helm. Pressed to fly by his friends, he refused to leave his post, and on Easter celebrated public worship with all the splendor and solemnity habitual on that occasion among Eastern Christmas He was arrested on leaving the church, throws into prison, and a few hours later hanged, in front of the church as an originator of the insurrection. The chief members of the snyod shared his fate, or were thrown into prison. After remaining on the gallows for three days the body of the patriarch was thrown into the sea by the Jews, but was taken out, put on board of a vessel, and sent to Odessa, where it was buried wih greatpomp, June 28. He compiled a Greek Lexicon, of which, however, only two volumes have appeared (Constantinople, 1819). See Constantin OEconomos, Orsaison funebre du. patriarche Gregoire; Pouqueville, Hist. de la Regeneration de la Grece. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 21:880 sq.