Cyril V of Constantinople
Cyril V Karakallos (), (? – 27 July 1775) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople for two periods from 1748 to 1751 and from 1752 to 1757. A controversial figure, often blamed for his ideas about the baptism, in 1755 he issued the Oros, a canonical document which, superseding the previous use of accepting Christian converts by Chrismation, stated that all non-Orthodox (including Catholic) baptisms were not valid and all converts needed to be re-baptized. Life Cyril was born in Dimitsana, in the Peloponnese. Still young, he was taken captive during the Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718) and after his release he went to Patmos where he became a monk. In Patmos, he also continued his studies but he was expelled by the school for behavior issues before graduation. In 1737, he was appointed Metropolitan of Meleniko and in 1745 he was promoted to the See of Nicomedia. On 28 September 1748, he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople for the first time in place of Paisius II, even if some days before he had sworn to Paisius that he would not try to depose him. As Patriarch, Cyril had three priorities: the recovery of the patriarchal finances, the fight against Catholic positions and the instruction of the monks. To improve the finances, he raised taxes on the metropolitan bishops and relieved the little parishes: this action was quite successful but made him unpopular among the bishops. He strongly supported the need to re-baptise all converts, and especially women, because he considered the Armenian and Catholic baptisms as not valid. These positions created discontent among the metropolitans, who deposed him in May 1751 and reinstalled the moderate Paisius II in his place. Cyril retired on island of Halki, near Istanbul. Cyril however was supported by a large portion of the populace, both because of his regulations on taxes and because of his opposition to the Catholic Church. In this regard Cyril was helped by the thaumaturgic and demagogic monk Auxentios who preached strongly against the Catholics and instigated riots which culminated with a violent assault on the Patriarchate and the seizure of Paisius himself. The riots were crushed, but the Ottoman authorities requested the deposition of Paisius and, in exchange for a considerable amount of money (45,000 piastres), appointed Cyril V, who was reinstalled on 7 September 1752. With regards to the instruction of the monks, Cyril established in 1749 the Athonite Academy on Mount Athos, and in 1753 he called the eminent theologian and scholar Eugenios Voulgaris to guide it. However the Enlightenment ideas of Voulgaris were too modern for the monks, and he had to resign in 1758. The opposition to Cyril was led by the Metropolitan of Proilavo (Brăila in Romania) and future Patriarch, Callinicus. After Cyril ordered Callinicus into exile in the Sinai, the latter took refuge in the French embassy in Istanbul. Here Callinicus obtained a large amount of money which were given to the Sultan Osman III and resulted in Cyril's second and final deposition on 16 January