Patriarch Joachim of Moscow

Who was Patriarch Joachim of Moscow?

Patriarch Joachim was the eleventh Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, an opponent of the Raskol, and a founder of the Slavic Greek Latin Academy.

Born Ivan Petrovich Savelov, Joachim was of noble origin. When his family died in the 1654 epidemic, he became a monk and served in various monasteries, receiving the religious name Joachim upon his tonsure.

In 1664 Joachim was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and became hegumen of the Chudov Monastery and in 1672 was consecrated as Metropolitan of Novgorod. He was elected a Patriarch on July 26, 1674, following the death of Patriarch Pitirim. Although Joachim had participated in the council which deposed Patriarch Nikon, he continued Nikon's policies with regard to the Old Believers, and defending church authorities against the encroachments of Caesaropapism by the Tsars.

In 1686, he made an agreement with Bulgarian Rostislav Stratimirovic to aid in a revolt against the Ottomans.