GREEK CUURCII. 



461 



< '(lumbers were opened on November 1st by 

 the King, who said in his speech that the ne- 

 gotiations with Turkey were shortly expected 

 to have a favorable issue. It was necessary, 

 however, that the forces of the country should 

 bo iiriintaiin-il in an effective condition, and 

 military preparations must continue, because 

 strength greatly regulated the relations be- 

 t\\ ..!! nations. 



GREEK CHURCH. The following table 

 gives an estimate of the population connected 

 with the Greek or Orthodox Eastern Church 

 at the end of 1879, and compares it with the 

 entire population of the several countries: 



Adding to the above figures a population of 

 about 10,000 scattered through all other coun- 

 tries, especially in North America, the aggre- 

 gate population connected with the Greek 

 Church may be estimated at about 77,912,000. 

 It will be seen that the Greek Church in 1879 

 controlled the majority of population in seven 

 countries, in the following order : Greece, 98 - 9 

 per cent. ; Servia, 94'5 ; Roumania, 87'4 ; Mon- 

 tenegro, 82-5; Russia, 68-6; Bulgaria, 67'7; 

 Eastern Roumelia, 50. Besides, a large minor- 

 ity (47'2 per cent.) belongs to this Church in 

 Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the remainder 

 is divided between the Roman Catholic Church 

 and Mohammedanism. 



The most prominent bishop of the entire 

 Church is still the Patriarch of Constantinople, 

 but the churches of Russia, Austria, Greece, 

 Servia, Roumania, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and 

 the churches of Bulgarian nationality in East- 

 ern Roumelia, are independent of his jurisdic- 

 tion. The Patriarch has formally recognized 

 the entire independence of the churches of Ser- 

 via and Roumania. Therefore, although the 

 honorary preeminence of the see of Constanti- 

 nople continues, the direct jurisdiction of the 

 Patriarch has become limited to the Greeks liv- 

 ing in the Turkish Empire. The progressing 

 consolidation of the Bulgarian nationality, and 

 the prospective annexation of large districts of 

 the European part of Turkey to Greece, are 

 likely soon to reduce this jurisdiction of the 

 Patriarch to still narrower limits. 



As the Greek Church in Bosnia and Herze- 

 govina is of the p*me (Servian) nationality as a 

 large portion of that in Austria- Hungary, the 



Austrian Government lias given special atten- 

 tion to the establishment of a cloer uni< 

 tweeu the two churches. It is estimated that 

 in Austria-Hungary about 3,100,000 inhabi- 

 tants belong to the Servian nationality. Add- 

 ing to these the population of Bosnia and Her- 

 zegovina, Austria now rules over more than 

 4,300,000 people of that race, considerably ex- 

 ceeding in number all Servians living outside 

 of Austria. The establishment of a strong ec- 

 clesiastical center in Austria for ail Servians 

 appears therefore to many Austrian statesmen 

 as a matter of great political importance. Up 

 to the time when the Treaty of Berlin was con- 

 cluded, the church of Bosnia and Herzegovina 

 was under the direct jurisdiction of the Patri- 

 archate of Constantinople. The Patriarch ap- 

 pointed the bishops, who generally were Greeks 

 and did not understand the language of the 

 natives. This rule of Greeks over Servian 

 churches has long called forth considerable 

 dissatisfaction, which in late years greatly in- 

 creased as the national feeling among the dif- 

 ferent branches of the Servian people grew 

 stronger. When the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 

 placed Bosnia under the administration of Aus- 

 tria, the Servians of Austria fostered this feel- 

 ing of dissatisfaction. The history of the past 

 relations between Constantinople and the Ser- 

 vian nation was appealed to as a proof that the 

 jurisdiction claimed by Constantinople over the 

 Servians is in fact a usurpation, and that the 

 latter are therefore fully justified in shaking it 

 off as coon as they have the power. At the 

 time when Servia was a powerful kingdom it 

 had its own Patriarch at Ipek, whose indepen- 

 dence the Patriarchs of Constantinople were 

 prevailed upon to recognize. The Patriarchs 

 of Ipek maintained their supremacy even after 

 the subjection of the country by the Turks in 

 1389. In 1690, when the attempted rising of 

 the Servians against Turkish rule had failed, the 

 Patriarch Arsenius of Ipek, with 80,000 Servian 

 families, settled in Hungary. This Patriarch 

 was recognized by the Austrian Government 

 as metropolitan, and the Servian emigrants 

 were authorized to elect thereafter a Vay vode 

 and a Patriarch. After the death of Patriarch 

 Arsenius, however, the Servians of Hungary 

 elected only metropolitans, who remained de- 

 pendent upon the Patriarch who had been 

 elected at Ipek as successor of Arsenius. This 

 dependence was greatly disliked by the Court 

 of Austria, which entered into negotiations with 

 the Patriarch of Ipek in regard to the transfer 

 of the Patriarchate to Austrian territory. In 

 consequence of these negotiations, Patriarch 

 Arsenius Yoranovitch Shakobent, who felt ag- 

 grieved by the Turkish rule, emigrated with 

 several thousand families to Hungary, bringing 

 with him all the documents and church utensils 

 of the Patriarchate of Ipek. After the death 

 of the Austrian Metropolitan he was confirmed 

 by the Empress Maria Theresa, in 1741, as Pa-' 

 triarch, Archbishop, and Metropolitan of the 

 entire Servian Church. After his death the 



