Hierarch John I, Patriarch of Antioch

Hierarch John held the see of Antioch from 428 to 441/442. He became a central figure in the Christological disputes leading to the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431): he initially strongly defended the deposed Nestorius and, together with the other "Eastern" (Syrian) bishops, led an alternative, parallel synod that excommunicated St. Cyril of Alexandria.

By 433 he had reconciled with Cyril through the so-called "Formula of Reunion," affirming his fidelity to the Nicene faith and acknowledging the legitimacy of Nestorius's condemnation, initiating the end of the schism between the Antiochene and Alexandrian theological parties. He corresponded with St. Cyril of Alexandria and St. Proclus of Constantinople on suppressing residual Nestorianism in his diocese.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON THE SCOPE OF VENERATION: this hierarch's feast (April 18) is attested exclusively in the calendars of the Bulgarian and Romanian Orthodox Churches — the standard Russian calendar site azbyka.ru contains no separate commemoration day for him. He should be distinguished from several other historical Patriarchs of Antioch bearing the same name (John II, 6th century; John III, 996-1021) — no individual liturgical veneration was found for either; he should likewise be distinguished from Patriarch John III Scholasticus of Constantinople (see the separate entry john_scholasticus), who is sometimes called "the Antiochene" due to his education and service as apocrisiarius of the Patriarch of Antioch in Constantinople, but who never held the Antiochene see itself.