Ordo Sancti Constantini Magni
The Order of Constantine (Ordo Sancti Constantini Magni) was founded in Switzerland on 29 May 1953 and registered under Swiss law as an “association of knights” with the aim of promoting ecumenical thought, spreading tolerance, building spiritual bridges between people, races and cultures, and proclaiming the Greco-Roman-Christian heritage of Byzantium and supporting those in need. The original founders of the Order of Constantine were united by their sense of chivalry and by a desire to serve the truth and to practice charity.
Even today, the most important activity of the Order of Constantine is to promote an ecumenical spirit and work for a more humane society through personal efforts. Accepting the moral principles of the Order creates the basis for the activity that everyone can carry out in their daily work. The duty of the Knight is to set a good example and be a person whom people can trust. The Knight is a servant and a foundation on which the work of the Order is built. The social and charitable work of the Order is coordinated through the Order’s leadership. The Order continuously supports the educational work of the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Africa. The local units are free to carry out their own spiritual charitable activities in their countries, in accordance with the ideals of the Order.
The OCM has grown from a small Christian and cultural community with a modest group of enthusiastic participants to a legal Christian and ecumenical Order under our High Patron, Theodore II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, Libya, Pentapolis, Ethiopia and all Africa.
The goal of the Order’s activities can be briefly summarized in two sentences:
- to work for ecumenism – bringing together people of different confessions
- to cherish the heritage of Byzantium – the time when the Church was undivided.
For the Knights of the Order, the Constantinian ideals of tolerance and mercy are guiding lights. The Order’s purpose includes both strengthening the ecumenical community and helping – a merciful act of love.
The Order consists of approximately 1,000 knights and ladies and is ecumenical and has a worldwide membership. The Exarchate is the organizational unit at the national level; one exists in Finland, Greece, Sweden and the United States. Bailiwicks, a level below the Exarchate, exist in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway and the United States
Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria
The Ordo Sancti Constantini Magnu is under the patronage of Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria. Theodore (Theodoros) II (Greek: Πάπας και Πατριάρχης Αλεξανδρείας και πασίσες Αφρικής Θεόδωρος Β ́; born Nikolaos Khoreftakis (Νικόλαος Χορευτάκης), 25 November 1954) is the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa. He was formerly a monk at the Holy Monastery of the Assumption of Agarathos.
He was born on the Greek island of Crete in 1954, where he completed his schooling. He was educated at the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School in Athens and holds a degree from the Theological Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He also studied art history, literature and philosophy in Odessa.
He was ordained deacon in 1975 and archbishop on 23 April 1978 by Metropolitan of Lambis and Sfakion Theodore Tzedakis. From 1975 to 1985 he served as archdeacon and chancellor of the Holy Metropolis of Lambis and Sfakion in Crete, where he developed significant preaching and philanthropic activities (shelters for needy youth, etc.). From 1985 to 1990 he served as Patriarchal Exarch in Russia, based in the Ukrainian city of Odessa, during the tenure of Patriarchs Nicholas VI and Parthenios.
Establishing International Lagality
High Patron: A contemporary Order cannot be considered legal or empowered if it is not accepted and recognized by an individual sovereign or sovereign ecclesiastical authority with a tradition from the first Christian centuries. Only such a High Patron grants international legality and provides the inspiration for all its activities. The legal rights to give spiritual protection to an Order belong exclusively to the five bishops of the Pentarchy, approved in 431 by the Ecumenical Synod of Ephesus – Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
In 1970, the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, Nicholas VI, legalized the OCM, our ecumenical Order, i.e. an order recognizing the confessional differences of its members. Being a Chivalric lay organization, it is protected from attempts at absorption by movements hostile to the Christian faith.