JOHN IV, the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople. - The appellation "the Faster" was given to him because of the austerity of his life; in the dissident Church he is venerated as a saint. In history he became famous for the question of the title "ecumenical patriarch", already used by some of his predecessors in the 6th century, but under him, in a Synod of 587, it became in a solemn manner the official and exclusive title of the patriarch of Constantinople. The popes Pelagius II (575-90) and St. Gregory the Great (590-604) protested in vain against this abuse. G. was also reproached by St. Gregory for not having given information about two Greek priests. He was patriarch from 582 to 595.

Two letters of G. to Pope St. Gregory are lost; two of the Pope to him are preserved instead (that is, register III, 52 and V, 44 in the edition of Ewald, I, pp. 208-10 and 338-43). A letter of Archbishop Leander of Seville is mentioned by St. Isidore of Seville. Penitential writings attributed to him are probably apocryphal.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: Krumbacher, p. 144; S. Vailhé, Le titre de patriarche oecuménique avant st. Grégoire le Grand, in Echos d'Orient, 11 (1908), 65-69; R. Janin, Jean IV Le Jeuneur, in DThC, VIII, coll. 828-29; J. Grumet, Les registes des actes du patriarcat de Constantinople, I, 1, Paris 1932, nos. 264-72.

Giorgio Hofmann

@incollection{ec6_giovanni_iv_il_digiunatore_pat, author = {Hofmann, Giorgio}, title = {Giovanni IV, il digiunatore, patriarca di costantinopoli}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {553--554}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/giovanni-iv-il-digiunatore-patriarca-di-costantinopoli} }

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John IV, the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople

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