The Metropolis of Corinth, Sicyon, Zemenon, Tarsos and Polyphengos () is a metropolitan see of the Church of Greece in Corinthia, Greece. Since the Middle Ages it has also existed as a Latin Catholic titular see. The latest metropolitan (since 2025) is Paul II Kitsos.

History

The foundation of the See of Corinth is attributed to the Apostle Paul, who is held to have preached in the city and addressed multiple epistles to the Corinthian Church, two of which became canon. His successor and first bishop was Saint Apollos of Ephesus. Pope Clement I also wrote an epistle to the community, in the first century.First Epistle to the Corinthians (Clement) In the Roman and early Byzantine periods, Corinth was the capital and metropolitan see of the province of Achaea (southern Greece).Gregory (1991), pp. 531–533

The city was largely destroyed in the earthquakes of 365 and 375, followed by Alaric's invasion in 396. It was rebuilt on a smaller scale thereafter, but with grandiose buildings. Corinth declined from the 6th century on, and the main settlement moved from the lower city to the Acrocorinth. Despite its becoming the capital of the themes of Hellas and Peloponnese, it was not until the 9th century that the city began to recover, reaching its apogee in the 11th and 12th centuries, when it was the site of a flourishing silk industry. This prosperity ended with the Norman sack of 1147.

Besides St. Apollos, Le Quien (II, 155) mentions forty-three bishops for the Roman/Byzantine era: among them, St. Sosthenes, the disciple of St. Paul, St. Dionysius; Paul, brother of St. Peter, Bishop of Argos in the tenth century; St. Athanasius, in the same century; George, or Gregory, a commentator of liturgical hymns. Until the 9th century, Corinth remained the metropolis of southern Greece, and particularly the Peloponnese. Indeed, the bishop of Corinth was the only bishop from the Peloponnese to attend the Council of Ephesus in 431, and the only bishop from Greece to attend the Third Council of Constantinople in 680. From the early 9th century, however, the primacy of Corinth over the Peloponnese was challenged by the See of Patras, and from the 10th century on Corinth was restricted to the eastern Peloponnese and certain of the Ionian Islands. Based on the various Notitiae Episcopatuum from the 10th–12th centuries, Corinth counted seven suffragan sees: Cephalonia, Zakynthos, Damala, Lacedaemon/Monemvasia, Argos, Helos and Zemena.Setton (1975), pp. 36–37 note 45

In 1203/4, the city fell to the ambitious lord of the Argolid, Leo Sgouros, who secured possession of Corinth by inviting its Metropolitan, Nicholas, to Acronauplia for dinner, and then had him thrown from its heights.Setton (1975), pp. 21–24, esp. note 28 Sgouros' ambitions to create a state of his own in southern Greece were checked by the onslaught of the victorious Crusaders, who captured Corinth in 1210.Bon (1969), pp. 56–59Setton (1975), pp. 22–25, 36

After the city's capture, the Crusaders established a Latin Archbishopric to replace the Greek Orthodox see.Setton (1975), pp. 36–37 note 45Bon (1969), pp. 93–94 Le Quien (III, 883) mentions twenty Latin prelates from 1210 to 1700, but Eubel (I, 218; II, 152) mentions twenty-two archbishops for the period from 1212 to 1476. Although Corinth was the oldest and most prestigious see in southern Greece, during the period of Frankish rule it was eclipsed by the Latin Archbishopric of Patras.Bon (1969), p. 92

The city was recovered by the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea in 1395, and, after a short period (1397–1404) of rule by the Knights Hospitaller, returned to Byzantine hands, where it remained until it fell to the Ottoman Empire on 8 August 1458. After the Byzantine recovery of the city, the Catholic see became a titular see. Today, the Metropolis of Corinth belongs to the Church of Greece, under the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.

List of bishops Name Name in Greek Tenure Notes Apollos mid-1st century Silas Onesiphorus Sosthenes Apollonius early 2nd century Dionysius I ca. 170 Bacchylus ca. 196 Hesiodus 3rd century Dionysius II ca. 350 Dorotheus late 4th century Eustathius 381 Alexander 406 Perigenes ca. 431 Erasistratus 446 Peter ca. 451 Photius ca. 536 Theodore 6th century Anastasius ca. 590–591 John I 591 Stephen I 681 Gabriel I 8th/9th century John II 879–880 Paul Basil Athanasius Gabriel George Nicetas Michael Nicholas Stephen II Theodore Gregory Sergius Nicodemus I Hyacinthus Theoleptos Isidore Theognostos Latin Archbishops, 1212–mid-15th century Mark 1445 Malachias 1446 Joachim ca. 1447 Cyril I 1492–1507 Macarius I 1507–1517 Theophanes 1517–1534 Joasaph I 1541–1549 Sophronius 1549–1569 Laurentius 1574–1585 Neophytus I 1585–1589 Laurentius 1590 Neophytus I 1595 Anthimus 1620–1622 Neophytus II 1622–1626 Daniel 1626–1628 Cyril I Spanos 1628–1635 Subsequently Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, 1652 and 1654 Ezekiel II 1636–1638 Joasaph II 1638–1641 Gregory I 1641–1660 Parthenius 1660–1668 Callistus 1668–1672 Zachary I 1678–1684 Gregory II Notaras 1684–1715 under Venetian rule Joasaph III 1715–1719 Metrophanes 1719 Parthenios 1734–1763 Makarios Notaras 1764–1767 Gabriel III 1776–1784 Zachary II 1784–1819 Cyril II 1819–1836 Cyril III 1841–1842 Gerasimos 1842–1843 Jonah 1852–1854 Amfilochios 1854–1875 Bartholomew 1899–1918 Damaskinos Papandreou 1922–1938 Subsequently Archbishop of Athens, 1941–1949 Michail Konstantinidis 1939–1949 Prokopios 1949–1965 Paneteleimon Karanikolas 1965–2006 Dionysios Mantalos 2006–2025 Paul II Kitsos2025 –present

References

Sources

Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 1 , p. 210; vol. 2, p. 136; vol. 3 , p. 178; vol. 4, pp. 164-165; vol. 5, p. 173; vol. 6, p. 183

"Corinthe", in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. XIII, Paris 1956, pp. 876-880

External links Official website