Theoliptos I

Theoliptos I was originally from Crete or Hepirus, and was a spiritual child of Pachomios I, who assisted him in becoming metropolitan of Ioannina.

After the death of Pachomios, Theoliptos went immediately to Adianoupolis and paying the appropriate amount received the patriarchal veratium before his canonical election from the Holy Synod in mid-1513.

During his patriarchy, he organised the metropoles of Adrianoupolis, Samos and the dunabic countries, and assisted spiritually the Russian Church by sending there Maximos the Greek as librarian.

When, after the retreat of the Mamelukes from Jerusalem in 1517, the holy shrines of the Holy Sepulchre were in danger of falling in Turkish possesion, Theoliptos used his relations with the Sultan in order to avoid this to happen.

In 1520 he saved the faithful of Constantinople from the enforced islamation which Selim had decided; the latter in fact only took all the stone-built Churches (other than that of Pammakaristos and Mouchliou), allowing henceforth the building oly of wooden temples. Finally he stood up against the papal propaganda in Crete and Vlachia.

Afte the death of Selim in 1522, he was accused for immoral private life, but Theoliptos died unexpectedly before his trial. He was buried outside the Church of the Pammakaristos.

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