Hieromartyr
Hieromartyr Parthenius III, Patriarch of Constantinople
? — 1657
Hieromartyr Parthenius III, Patriarch of Constantinople — a 17th-century Greek hierarch executed by Ottoman authorities in 1657 on a treason charge after refusing to convert to Islam; venerated as a hieromartyr exclusively within the Greek tradition, not included in the ROC calendar.
HONEST CAVEAT: this hierarch is venerated as a hieromartyr ONLY within the Greek tradition; Russian Wikipedia states explicitly: "Not currently included in the calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church." No entry for him exists on days.pravoslavie.ru or drevo-info.ru. The hieromartyr category is justified per Greek tradition but this should be borne in mind when displaying the card in an ROC-calendar context.
Hieromartyr Parthenius III, Patriarch of Constantinople, was a 17th-century Greek hierarch. Born on Lesbos (Mytilene), he became Metropolitan of Chios in 1639, then Ecumenical Patriarch on July 26, 1656, succeeding the abdicated John II. He supported Moscow's position on jurisdiction over the Kiev Metropolitanate and condemned Peter Mogila's "Confession of Faith" as excessively Latinizing.
In 1657 Ottoman authorities accused him of treason after intercepting his correspondence with an Orthodox bishop within the Russian state. By order of Sultan Mehmed IV he was condemned to hanging; offered pardon for converting to Islam, he refused and died on March 24, 1657, at the Parmak-kapı gate in Constantinople.
He should be distinguished from other Patriarchs named Parthenius: Parthenius I (1639–1644), Parthenius II (twice, 1644–1651), and Parthenius IV (four separate reigns, 1657–1684/85). The new-style date (April 6) is a calculated 13-day-offset conversion, not directly confirmed by any source.