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[[Image:0209 ioan-postitorul.jpg|right|frame|St John IV of Constantinople]]Our father among the [[saint]]s '''John IV of Constantinople''', also known as '''John the Faster''', '''John the Abstainer''', and ''' John Nesteutes''', was the 33rd bishop or [[List of Patriarchs of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]]. He is noted for his penitential nomokanon and as the first [[bishop]] of Constantinople to assume the title Ecumenical Patriarch. His feast day is on [[September 2]].
==Life==
The date of Joannes' birth is unknown. He probably was born in Constantinople where he was raised by artisan parents. He was not well educated. He became famous for his ascetical life which led to his being called "the Faster". He was a [[deacon]] at [[Hagia Sophia (Constantinople)|Hagia Sophia]] under Patriarch [[John Scholasticus|John III (Scholasticus)]] before becoming a ''skallarios'', that is, an official who was the patriarchal vicar for [[Monastery|monasteries]]. Under Patriarch [[Eutychius of Constantinople|Eutychius I]], who was restored as patriarch, after John Scholasticus died in 577, Joannes became esteemed among the [[clergy]] of Constantinople. Upon the death of Eutychius in 582, he was named patriarch as John IV by Emperor Tiberius II on [[April 11]], 582. He remained in the good graces of Emperor Maurice who succeeded Tiberius later in 582.
In 588, John IV convened a council in Constantinople to investigate certain charges against Patriarch Gregory of Antioch, of which he was acquitted. The summons to the bishops of the East was done in the name of John IV as Ecumenical Patriarch. While this title, in a context of a compliment, had been used as early as reign of Acacius (471 to 489) in reference to the Patriarch of Constantinople, its use by John IV as a title in documents of his office was a first. The title was used in the acts of the council, to which Pope [[Pelagius II of Rome ]] objected. Again, in 595, Pope Gregory I, objected to the use of the title, although Gregory previously had been on good terms with John.
Patriarch John the Faster reposed on September 2, 595 in Constantinople.
[[Category: Saints]]
[[Category:Byzantine Saints]]
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category:6th-century bishops]]
[[Category: Patriarchs of Constantinople]]
[[Category:6th-century saints]]
[[ro:Ioan Postitorul]]