Joachim III of Constantinople

Joachim III the Magnificent (Ιωακείμ ὁ Μεγαλοπρεπής; 30 January 1834 – 26 November 1912) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1878 to 1884 and from 1901 to 1912.

Joachim was born in Istanbul in 1834, with Aromanian origin from Kruševo. He was educated in Vienna. In 1858-1861, he was the deacon in the holy temple of St George. In 1864, he was elected bishop of Varna and in 1874 bishop of Thessalonica In the time of his first reign, he worked on the improvement of the financial state of the Patriarchate. In 1880, he founded the magazine Truth and did various other charitable acts. He is seen as one of the most prominent and important patriarchs of the twentieth century and modern times.

In his 1911 encyclical, Joachim said that holding church services in the Aromanian language was against the teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church and threatened clergy performing services in Aromanian with unfrocking and excommunication.

Joachim repeatedly attempted to find a solution to the Bulgarian schism, to little avail. Patriarch Joachim was a Mason, a member of the «Πρόοδος» lodge. He was awarded the Serbian Order of the Cross of Takovo and the Austro-Hungarian Order of St. Stephen.