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Raphael II (Greek: Ραφαήλ, Rafail; died after 1607) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1603 to 1607.

Life

Raphael was Bishop of Mithymna when, in March 1603, he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch. During his patriarchate, he addressed the regulation of many ecclesiastical matters and issued a number of standard provisions. The clashes with the previous Patriarch Neophytus II caused many problems in the Church, to the point that Cyril Lucaris, in a letter to the Bishop of Heraclea Dionysius, wrote that "... Raphael ruled the Patriarchate as a tyrant for more than four years ...".

Raphael showed interest in a possible union with the Western Church and he began a secret correspondence with the Pope. He remained Patriarch until October 1607, when he was forcibly deposed by Sultan Ahmed I and suffered a violent death in exile.

Notes

1. Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate. Wildside Press LLC. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6.
2. "Ραφαὴλ Β´". Ecumenical Patriarchate. Retrieved 16 Sep 2011.(in Greek)
3. Runciman, Steven (1985). The Great Church in captivity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 270. ISBN 978-0-521-31310-0.

• 17th-century Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople
• 17th-century Greek clergy