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Dositheus II Notaras of Jerusalem (Greek: Δοσίθεος Β΄ Ἱεροσολύμων; Arachova 31 May 1641 – Constantinople 8 February 1707) was the Patriarch of Jerusalem between 1669 and 1707 and a theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was known for standing against influences of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. He convened the Synod of Jerusalem to counter the Calvinist confessions of Cyril Lucaris.

Dositheus was born in Arachova (today the village of Exochi, Aigialeia, Achaea) on 31 May 1641. Little of his early life is known. He was ordained a deacon in 1652 and elevated to archdeacon of Jerusalem in 1661. In 1666, he was consecrated archbishop of Caesarea Palestinae (now Caesarea Maritima). In 1669, he was elected patriarch of Jerusalem.

He became very involved in the state of the Orthodox Church in the Balkans, Georgia, and southern Russia, particularly after Patriarch Cyril Lucaris of Constantinople set forth in his Confession of Faith (1629) his agreement in the doctrines of predestination and justification by faith alone. In 1672, Patriarch Dositheus convened the Synod of Jerusalem which rejected all the Calvinist doctrines and reformulated Orthodox teachings in a manner that distinguished them from Roman Catholicism as well as Protestantism.

In correspondence with Peter I of Russia, he objected to Peter's reforms that subjected the church to the state, particularly with his abolition of the Patriarchate of Moscow. Dositheus failed in his attempt to get Peter to intercede for the Eastern Orthodox Church in the peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire in 1700.

Dositheus was an "instancabile editore di cose non sue" ("indefatiguable editor of other people's works"), "theologorum Graecorum opera non pauca prelo mandavit ... fuit enim potius compilator et alienorum editor quam novorum auctor" ("he printed not few works of Greek theologicians ... he was a compiler and editor of other people's works, rather than author of original works"). The main works published during his life were a three-volumes collection of anti-Latin works: Τόμος καταλλαγῆς , Τόμος ἀγάπης , Τόμος χαρᾶς , all printed in Jaşi, 1692–1705.

Dositheus died in Constantinople on 8 February 1707. In 1715, his twelve-volume History of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem was published.

Notes

1. Google Books website, Arab Orthodox Christians Under the Ottomans 1516-1831 (Appendix: Patriarchs and the Sultans), by Constantin Alexandrovich Panchenko
2. The Genuine Orthodox Church website, Timeline of the Church, 1453-1821
3. Palmieri, Aurelio (1909). Dositeo II Patriarca greco di Gerusalemme (in Italian). Firenze: Libreria Editrice Fiorentina. p. 46.
4. Jugie, Martin (1926). Theologia dogmatica Christianorum Orientalium ab Ecclesia Catholica dissidentium (in Latin). Vol. 1. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. p. 516.

Bibliography

• Vassa Kontouma, «Vestiges de la bibliothèque de Dosithée II de Jérusalem au Métochion du Saint-Sépulcre à Constantinople», in A. Binggeli, M. Cassin, M. Detoraki, A. Lampadaridi, Bibliothèques grecques dans l’Empire ottoman, Brepols 2020, pp.259-289.
• Vassa Kontouma, «Londres ou Paris? Les affinités électives de Dosithée II de Jérusalem dans ses premiers projets éditoriaux», in A. Girard, B. Heyberger, V. Kontouma, Livres et confessions chrétiennes orientales. Une histoire connectée entre l'Empire ottoman, le monde slave et l'Occident (XVIe-XVIIIe siècles), Brepols 2023, pp.271-312.
• Klaus-Peter Todt, «Dositheos II. von Jerusalem», in C.G. Conticello, V. Conticello, La Théologie byzantine et sa tradition, II, Brepols 2002, pp.659-720.

External links

• Dositheos (patriarch of Jerusalem) (Encyclopædia Britannica)
• Works by Dositheus II of Jerusalem at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

v t e Bishops and Patriarchs of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem
Bishops of Jerusalem (until 451)	James, brother of Jesus Simeon of Jerusalem Justus Zacchaeus Tobias Benjamin John I Matthias Philip Senecas Justus II Levis Ephram Joseph I Judas Marcus Cassianus Poplius Maximus I Julian I Gaius I Symmachus Gaius II Julian II Capion Maximus II Antoninus Valens Dolichianus Narcissus Dius Germanion Gordius Alexander Mazabanis Imeneus Zamudas Ermon Macarius Maximus III Cyril I John II Praulius Juvenal
Patriarchs of Jerusalem (from 451)	Juvenal Anastasius I Martyrius Sallustius Elias I John III Peter Macarius II Eustochius John IV Amos Isaac Zacharias Modestus Sophronius Anastasius II John V Theodore Elias II George Thomas I Basileus John VI Sergius I Solomon Theodosius Elias III Sergius II Leontius I Athanasius I Christodulus I Agathon John VII Christodulus II Thomas II Joseph II Orestes Theophilus I Nicephorus I Joannichius Sophronius II Euthemius Simeon II Savvas John VIII Nicolas John IX Nicephorus II Leontius II Dositheos I Marcus II Euthemius II Athanasius II Sophronius III Gregory I Thaddaeus Athanasius III Gregory II Lazarus Dorotheus I Theophilus II Theophanes I Joachim Theophanes II Athanasius IV Jacob II Abraham I Gregory III Marcus III Dorotheus II Germanus Sophronius IV Theophanes III Paiseus Nectarius I Dositheos II Chrysanthus Meletius Parthenius Ephram II Sophronius V Abraham II Procopius I Anthemus Polycarpus Athanasius V Cyril II Procopius II Hierotheus Nicodemus I Gerasimus I Damian I Timotheus I Benedict I Diodoros I Irenaios I Theophilus III
: in exile at Constantinople due to the Latin rule over Jerusalem

• 1641 births
• 1707 deaths
• People from Aigialeia
• 17th-century Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem
• 17th-century Greek clergy
• Eastern Orthodox Christians from Greece
• Eastern Orthodox theologians
• 17th-century Greek writers
• 17th-century Greek educators
• 18th-century Greek writers
• 18th-century Greek educators