9th c.Documented
St Photios the Great
Ἅγιος Φώτιος ὁ Μέγας
The patriarch under whom Canon 15 was issued, and who defended the received Creed against the Filioque.
- Feast day
- 6 February
- Century
- 9th c.
- Region
- Constantinople
- Rank
- Patriarch of Constantinople
Biography
A learned statesman raised to the patriarchate, Photios presided over the First and Second Council (861), whose Canon 15 defines the limits of ceasing commemoration, and over the council of 879 to 880 that many Orthodox count as the Eighth Ecumenical.
His Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit set out the Eastern case against the addition of the Filioque to the Creed.
The controversy
- The dispute over the addition of the Filioque and over papal claims; and the contest surrounding his own elevation (the “Photian schism”).
Position taken
- The Creed may not be added to or subtracted from; the councils held under him shaped the canonical treatment of communion and heresy.
Quotations
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Church FatherUnverified
Verified quotation to be inserted after source review.
Bibliography
- Migne, Patrologia Graeca 102 (Photios).
- F. Dvornik, The Photian Schism: History and Legend (1948).