Sophronius | |
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Patriarch of Jerusalem | |
Born | c. 560 Damascus, Byzantine Empire |
Died | 11 March 638 Jerusalem, Rashidun Caliphate | (aged 77–78)
Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church |
Feast | 11 March [O.S. 24 March (where the Julian calendar is used)] |
Attributes | Vested as a bishop, with right hand upheld in blessing, holding a Gospel Book or scroll |
Sophronius (Greek: Σωφρόνιος; Arabic: صفرونيوس; c. 560 – March 11, 638), called Sophronius the Sophist,[1] was the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 until his death.[2] He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Before rising to the primacy of the see of Jerusalem, he was a monk and theologian who was the chief protagonist for orthodox teaching in the doctrinal controversy on the essential nature of Jesus and his volitional acts. He is also renowned for negotiation of surrender of Jerusalem to the Muslim caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab.