Callinicus was Patriarch of Constantinople from 693 to 705, during the turbulent first reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian II. Before his elevation to the patriarchal throne he served as a presbyter at the church of the Most Holy Theotokos at Blachernae, and he was raised to the see of Constantinople in 693 on the death of his predecessor, Patriarch Paul. The Orthodox Church commemorates him as a hierarch and confessor on August 23.
His patriarchate is remembered above all for his resistance to imperial overreach. According to the synaxarion, Justinian II undertook the construction of a palace close to the church of the Most Holy Theotokos and resolved to demolish the church to make room for it. When the emperor ordered the patriarch to bless the demolition, Callinicus answered that he had prayers only for the building of churches, not for their destruction. The church was torn down in spite of his refusal.
The accounts relate that Callinicus was subsequently drawn into the political upheavals of the period: he is said to have taken part in the deposition of Justinian II in 695 and the elevation of Leontius to the throne. When Justinian returned to power in 705 and was reinstated as emperor, he punished those who had opposed him; Callinicus was arrested, blinded, and confined in a monastery, where he ended his life. He is venerated as a confessor for the sufferings he endured.
