Old Rome, Not New Rome 1

This is version 3.0 (2011) of part 1 of "Why God Led Me to Rome Instead of Constantinople." May God bless you with ever-growing communion with Him and may He bless you and yours with everlasting life. May He make use of this sinner to win people over to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church by holiness of life and sound arguments from Sacred Scripture and Tradition and right reason. May God grant this sinner the strength to show, in these posts, that Catholicism, and not Eastern Orthodoxy, is the only true and saving faith, and that the Catholic Church is the bearer of the Four Marks of the Church. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Since the Eastern Orthodox Church does not have an infallible magisterium,{1} it has been unable to definitively solve issues such as the following{2}: the procession of the Holy Spirit; the nature of the primacy of the Pope; the validity of Catholic Baptism; the canon of Sacred Scripture; whether there is a real distinction in God between His essence and energy; the form of the Eucharist; the immediacy of retribution; Purgatory; and other issues.

Notes to Preface
{1} Fr. Martin Jugie, A.A. (†1954), Theologia dogmatica Christianorum orientalium ab Ecclesia Catholica dissidentium IV:525-529.
{2} Op. cit., 538-539.

A. Constantinople Not an Apostolic See

B. Heretical Patriarchs of Constantinople
Despite its share of saintly archbishops and patriarchs,{1} the see of Constantinople has been occupied by numerous heretics and even heresiarchs. Its three Arian occupants were Eusebius of Nicomedia (339-342),{2} Eudoxius of Antioch (360-370),{3} and Demophilus (370-380).{4} The semi-Arian heresiarch Macedonius (342-346, 351-360; †364){5} and the heresiarch Nestorius (428-431){6} also held the throne, as did five Monophysites: Acacius (472-489),{7} Fravitas (489),{8} Euphemius (489-495),{9} Timothy I (511-518),{10} and Anthimus I (535-536).{11} The Monothelite Patriarchs of Constantinople include the heresiarch Sergius I (610-638),{12} Pyrrhus (638-641, 654),{13} Paul II (641-653),{14} Peter (654-666),{15} and John VI (712-714).{16} Constantinople also had a series of Iconoclast Patriarchs: Anastasius (730-754),{17} Constantine II (754-766),{18} Nicetas I (766-780),{19} Paul IV (780-784),{20} Theodotus I Cassiteras (815-821),{21} Antony I Cassimatis (821-836),{22} and John VII Grammaticus (836-842).{23} Photius (877-886), whose first term was illegitimate,{24} was guilty of doctrinal innovations,{25} especially his opposition to the Filioque.{26} Cyril I Lucaris (1612, 1620-1623, 1623-1633, 1633-1634, 1634-1635, 1637-1638) was a Calvinist,{27} Cyril V (1748-1751, 1752-1757) held Anabaptist tenets,{28} and Meletius IV Metaxakis (1921-1923; †1935) was a Freemason who declared Anglican orders valid.{29}

If Catholicism is false, then even more Patriarchs of Constantinople were heretics, since they accepted distinctively Catholic dogmas (e.g., Filioque, papal primacy): John XI Beccus (1275-1282; †1297),{30} Joseph II (1416-1439),{31} Metrophanes II (1440-1443),{32} Gregory III Mammas, a renowned wonderworker (1443-1459),{33} Dionysius II (1546-1555),{34} Neophytus II (1602-1603, 1607-1612),{35} Raphael II (1603-1607),{36} Cyril II Contares (1633, 1635-1636, 1638-1639; †1640),{37} Athanasius V (1709-1711),{38} and probably others.{39}

Since 1054, there has been no "Orthodox" Pope of Rome, whereas the post-1054 Orthodox succession lines of the following autocephalous sees and Churches include multiple Catholics:
Constantinople: nine or more (to 1711)
Alexandria: three or more (to 1517)
Antioch: four or more; up to 25 (to 1724) [G. D. Gallaro in NCE IX:479]
Jerusalem: six or more (to 1503)
Kiev: 15 or more (to 1596)
Serbia: two or more (to 1321)
Bulgaria (Tarnovo and Ohrid): eight or more (to 1660)
Georgia: 15 or more (to 1240)

Notes to Section B
{29}
{30}
{31}
{32}
{33} a. Siméon Vailhé, "Constantinople, Église de," in the 1907 DTC 3.2:1402, says that "the Catholic Patriarch Gregory Mammas ... had not abdicated and ... probably had not been deposed..." According to Fr. Joseph Gill, S.J. of happy memory, there was no anti-Catholic Patriarch Athanasius II of Constantinople (1450-1453); see The Council of Florence (Cambridge, 1959), p. 376 n. 3.
b. AASS 8:I:190B-192B (216-218).
c. On the holy Gregory's reputation as a wonderworker, see his Greek biography on the Ecumenical Patriarchate website.
{34} a. Vailhé, op. cit., 1424-1425.
b.
c.
{35}
{36} a. Vailhé, op. cit., 1426.
b.
{37} a.
b.
{38} a. Vailhé, op. cit., 1432: "And concerning the Patriarch Athanasius V, we note that he was deposed in 1711, because he innovated in matters of faith and showed himself too favorable to Western ideas, that is to say to Catholicism."

C. Heretical Patriarchs of Alexandria

D. Heretical Patriarchs of Antioch

E. Heretical Patriarchs of Jerusalem

F. Alleged Counter-Examples proposed by Orthodox: Old Rome

G. The Russian Church
The first Christians of Russia were Catholic.{1} Princess St. Olga of Kiev was Catholic,{2} and so was her grandson, Grand Prince St. Vladimir I Sviatoslavich the Great.{3} From his conversion until the elevation of anti-Catholic Metropolitan Nicephorus I of Kiev (1104-1121),{4} all the metropolitans of Kiev were Catholic,{5} except for John II of Kiev (1080-1089).{6} These were St. Michael I of Kiev (988-992),{7} Leontius (992-1008),{8} John I (1019-1035),{9} Theopemptus (1035-1049),{10} Hilarion (1051-1055),{11} Ephraim I (1055-1061),{12} George (1062-1073),{13} John III (1089-1091),{14} and Nicholas I of Kiev (1097–1101).{15} Even between 1121 and the Ecumenical Council of Florence, not all the Metropolitans of Kiev were Orthodox; Catholic Metropolitans of Kiev during this time period include Clement Smoliatich (1147-1154){16} and Peter Akerovych (1241-1246){17}, and probably John IV (1164-1166).{18} There is no historical certainty that the following Metropolitans of Kiev were Orthodox: Nicetas (1122-1126),{19} Michael II (1130-1145),{20} Constantine I (1156-1159),{21} Theodore (1161-1163),{22} and Nicephorus II (1182-1198).{23} Peter of Kiev (1308-1326), who resided in Moscow starting in 1325, was Catholic for quite a while (until at least 1316),{24} but became Orthodox in 1324 at the latest.{25}

Notes to section G
{1} a.
b.
{2} a.
b.
{3} a.
b. Andrew Shipman, "St. Vladimir the Great," in the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 15.
{4} a.
b.
{5} a. Fr. Stilting in AASS
b. Fr. Yves Congar, O.P., After Nine Hundred Years: The Background of the Schism Between the Eastern and Western Churches (Fordham University Press, 1959), p. 95, n. 7.
c. Fr. Joseph Schweigl, "Menologio graeco-slavico post annum 1054," Periodica de re morali, canonica, liturgica 3 (Rome 1941): 222.
{6}
{7}
{8} a.
b.
c. Fr. Mauricio Gordillo, S.J. in the 1938 DTC 14.1:217: the letter denouncing unleavened bread is not by Leontius of Kiev, but by a metropolitan in Bulgaria after the time of the anti-Catholic bishops Leo of Ochrid and Michael Cerularius.
d. The Popes were John XV (XVI) (985-996), Gregory V (996-999), Sylvester II (999-1003), John XVII (XVIII) (1003), and John XVIII (XIX) of Rome (1003-1009).
e. The Antipope was John Philagathus of Piacenza ("John XVI (XVII)" 997-998; †1013).
f. The Patriarchs of Constantinople were Catholic Sisinnius II (996-998) [Siméon Vailhé in 1907 DTC 3.2:1359] and Sergius II (1001-1019).
{9} a.
b.
c. The Popes were Benedict VIII (1012-1024), John XIX (1024-1032) and Benedict IX of Rome (1032-1045).
d. The Patriarchs of Constantinople were Sergius II (1001-1019), Eustathius (1019-1025), and Alexius I the Studite (1025-1043).
{10} a.
b.
c. The Popes were Benedict IX (1032-1045), Gregory VI of Rome (1045-1046; †1048), Clement II (1046-1047), Damasus II (1048), and St. Leo IX the Wonderworker of Rome (1049-1054).
d. The Antipopes were John of Sabina ("Sylvester III" 1045; †1063) and the ex-pope Benedict IX (1047-1048).
e. The Patriarchs of Constantinople were Alexius I the Studite (1025-1043) and the anti-Catholic Michael I Cerularius (1043-1058).
{11} a.
b. Fr. Congar, loc. cit.
{12} a.
b. Fr. Congar, loc. cit.
{13} a.
b. Fr. Congar, loc. cit.
c. Fr. Gordillo in op. cit., 218: the anti-Catholic letter said to be a 1072 work of Metropolitan George of Kiev is probably a 12th century work
d. The Pope was Alexander II of Rome (1061-1073).
e. The Patriarchs of Constantinople were Constantine III Leichoudes (1059-1063) and the anti-Catholic John VIII Xiphilinus (1064-1075) [AASS 8:I:127C-128D (153-154)], who frustrated an attempted reunion of the Churches in 1072 under Pope Alexander II of Rome (1061-1073) and Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Ducas (1071-1078; †1090) [Fr. Jugie I:402].
{14} a.
b. Fr. Congar, loc. cit.
{15} a.
b. Fr. Congar, loc. cit.
{16}
{17}
{18} a. Fr. Stilting, op. cit., xviii:EF, §75 (43), says "Joannes probabilius Catholicus", and according to Ignatius Kulczynski, O.S.B.M., he wrote a letter of obedience to Pope Alexander III of Rome at the command of Grand Prince Rostislav I Mstislavich of Kiev (1154, 1159–1167), whom the Eastern Orthodox commemorate on March 14 (see his OCA entry).
b. The Pope was Alexander III of Rome (1159-1181).
c. The Antipope was Guido of Crema ("Pascal III" 1165-1168).
d. The Patriarch of Constantinople was Luke Chrysoberges (1156-1169) [AASS 8:I:139C-140C (165-166)].
{19} a. Fr. Stilting says, op. cit., xviii:EF, §73 (42), that he was in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople, but it is uncertain if Nicetas was Catholic or schismatic.
b. Mgr. Pelesz I:293 (305) says, "über dessen Wirksamkeit keine Nachrichten vorhanden sind."
c. The Popes were Callistus II (1119-1124) and Honorius II of Rome (1124-1130).
d. The Patriarch was John IX Agapetus of Constantinople (1111-1134) [AASS 8:I:131D-132B (157-158)].
{20} a. Fr. Stilting says, loc. cit., that he was in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople, but it is uncertain if Michael II was Catholic or schismatic.
b. Mgr. Pelesz I:294-295 (306-307) is not clear on whether Michael II was Catholic or Orthodox.
c. The Popes were Innocent II (1130-1143), Celestine II (1143-1144), Lucius II (1144-1145), and Bl. Eugene III of Rome (1145-1153).
d. The Antipopes were Pietro Pierleoni ("Anacletus II" 1130-1138) and Gregorio Conti ("Victor IV" 1138; †1139).
e. The Patriarchs of Constantinople were John IX Agapetus (1111-1134) [AASS 8:I:131D-132B (157-158)], Leo Styppeiotes (1134-1143) [AASS 8:I:132B-133B (158-159)], and Michael II Kourkouas (1143-1146) [AASS 8:I:133C-E (159)].
{21} a. Fr. Stilting, op. cit., xviii:EF, §75 (43), says "de hisce nihil certi invenio".
b.
c. The Pope was Adrian IV of Rome (1154-1159).
d. The Antipope was Ottavio di Montecelio ("Victor IV" 1159-1164).
e. The Patriarch of Constantinople was Luke Chrysoberges (1156-1169) [AASS 8:I:139C-140C (165-166)].
{22} a. Fr. Stilting, loc. cit., says "de hisce nihil certi invenio".
b.
c. The Pope was Adrian IV of Rome (1154-1159).
d. The Antipope was Ottavio di Montecelio ("Victor IV" 1159-1164).
e. The Patriarch of Constantinople was Luke Chrysoberges (1156-1169) [AASS 8:I:139C-140C (165-166)].
{23}
{24}
{25}
{26}
{27}
{28}
{29}
{30}
{31}
{32}
{33}

H. The Serbian Church

I. The Bulgarian Church

J. The Georgian Church

K. The Photian Schism

L. The Council of Florence