Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople

Gregory was born in the Peloponnese, served as Metropolitan of Smyrna, and three times occupied the Ecumenical Throne of Constantinople, laboring for the education of his people and the printing of church books. When the Greek War of Independence broke out in 1821, the Ottoman authorities held the patriarch answerable for his flock. Although he had publicly disavowed the uprising under duress, he refused to flee, saying a shepherd must remain with his sheep. On Pascha, April 10, 1821, immediately after serving the Paschal liturgy, he was seized and hanged at the main gate of the patriarchate, which has remained sealed ever since. His body was thrown into the sea, recovered by Christian sailors, and eventually enshrined in Athens. He is honored as a hieromartyr and ethnomartyr of the Greek nation.