Hierarch John III Scholasticus, Patriarch of Constantinople

Hierarch John, surnamed Scholasticus ("the Scholar," "the Jurist"), came from Sirmium near Antioch, where before his ordination he served as a jurist and advocate. Around 548-549 he held the office of apocrisiarius (permanent representative) of the Patriarch of Antioch in Constantinople — hence his other name, "the Antiochene."

On April 15, 565, under Emperor Justinian I, he was elevated to the see of Constantinople (succeeding the deposed Patriarch Eutychius). He reposed in office on August 31, 577.

As patriarch, at Emperor Justin II's request, he settled a 570 theological dispute between Monophysites and Tritheists; in 571 he unsuccessfully attempted to reconcile detained Monophysite bishops with Chalcedonian Orthodoxy.

The principal work of his life was canonical: the "Synagoge in 50 Titles" (Σύνταγμα κανόνων εἰς ν΄ τίτλους) — a thematic compilation of the Apostolic Canons, the canons of four Ecumenical and six Local Councils, and the canonical letters of St. Basil the Great; in addition, he compiled a "Collection of 87 Chapters" based on Emperor Justinian's ecclesiastical novellae. Both works established the nomocanon tradition — the fusion of imperial law and church canons — which shaped later Byzantine and Slavic canon law.

His feast is kept on February 21/March 6.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON POSSIBLE CONFUSION: this hierarch, Patriarch of Constantinople, should be distinguished from an entirely different person — Hierarch John I, Patriarch of Antioch (428-441/442, see the separate entry john_of_antioch) — although John Scholasticus is sometimes called "the Antiochene" due to his education and former service as apocrisiarius, he never held the Antiochene see itself. He should also be distinguished from a separate, unconfirmed entry "John III the Great" (john_iii_great) — research established that the epithet "the Great" is nowhere attested for John Scholasticus, and that entry has been unpublished as pertaining to a different, non-canonized figure.