Tomos dated 29 June 1850

The tomos dated 29 June 1850 is the official decree of the Ecumenical Patriarchate which gave de jure autocephaly to the then-de facto autocephalous Church of Greece.

The religious jurisdictions of the Church of Greece (in blue) in Greece today.

History

Declaration of autocephaly by Greece

The decision to create an independent Kingdom of Greece from the Three Great Powers (the British Empire, the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of France), finalized by the Treaty of Constantinople (1832), posed a dilemma for Greek patriarchal and religious society: whether there is an independent Church of Greece or in the independent state extends the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[1]

The government declared the Church of Greece to be autocephalous in 1833 in a political decision of the Bavarian regents acting for King Otto, who was a minor. The decision roiled Greek politics for decades as royal authorities took increasing control.

Signing of the tomos

In the end, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople decided on a compromise: the Ecumenical Patriarchate agreed to give autocephaly to the Church of Greece through a tomos which was dated 29 June 1850.

Aftermath

The decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to give autocephaly to the Church of Greece catalyzed the Bulgarian National Revival and ultimately led to the Bulgarian schism after which ethnophyletism was condemned.[2][3]

Mount Athos, Crete, Macedonia, Thrace, and the eastern Aegean Islands remained under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

References

ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΙΚΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΥΝΟΔΙΚΟΣ ΤΟΜΟΣ
Nikolaos-Nikodemos Anagnostopoulos, The development of the Ecclesiology and the Political Theology of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church in response to Muslim Christian relations in the contemporary context of modern Greece and Turkey until 2014, PhD thesis, Heythrop College, University of London, 2015, p. 106.
Beginning of the History of the Greek Church in the 19th Century (in Bulgarian)

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[1] ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΙΚΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΥΝΟΔΙΚΟΣ ΤΟΜΟΣ

[2] Nikolaos-Nikodemos Anagnostopoulos, The development of the Ecclesiology and the Political Theology of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church in response to Muslim Christian relations in the contemporary context of modern Greece and Turkey until 2014, PhD thesis, Heythrop College, University of London, 2015, p. 106.

[3] Beginning of the History of the Greek Church in the 19th Century (in Bulgarian)