Benjamin I of Constantinople | |
Church: | Church of Constantinople |
Archbishop Of: | 266th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople |
Term: | 18 January 1936 – 17 February 1946 |
Predecessor: | Photius II of Constantinople |
Successor: | Maximus V of Constantinople |
Birth Name: | Benjamin Psomas (Veniamin Psomas) |
Birth Date: | 18 January 1871 |
Birth Place: | Edremit, Ottoman Empire |
Death Place: | Istanbul, Turkey |
Benjamin I (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Βενιαμίν Αʹ, 18 January 1871 – 17 February 1946) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1936 to 1946.
Benjamin was born as Benjamin Psomas on 18 January 1871, in Edremit, Ottoman Empire.[1] From 1889 to 1896, he studied at the Halki seminary.
In 1912, he was appointed as the Metropolitan of Rhodes, in 1914, he was appointed as the Metropolitan of Silybria, and was later moved to the Metropolis of Philippopolis, but was unable to perform his duties due to the outbreak of World War I.[2]
On 18 January 1936, the Holy Synod voted to elevated Benjamin from Metropolitan bishop to Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople following the death of Photius II.[3] Benjamin died in Istanbul on 17 February 1946, after suffering from bronchitis and was succeeded by Maximus V.[4] At the 1946 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America national convention, two minutes of silence were given in honor of Benjamin and a delegate from Pope Pius XII attended his funeral.[5] [6]