Saint John of Kathara

Also known as

  • John di Catari
  • John of Cathares
  • John of Constantinople

Memorial

Profile

Entered a monastery at age nine. Attended the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. Ordained at the Dalmatus monastery in Constantinople. Hegumen (abbot) of the Kathara monastery in Bithynia (in modern Turkey) in 805. Removed from his office, beaten and sent into exile in 815 for opposing the iconoclasm of emperor Leo V. Worked with Saint Theodore the Stoudite to defend icons. Brought to Constantinople in 817, both the emperor and the patriarch tried to convince him to support the iconoclasts; he refused and was exiled again. He was allowed to return to his house in late 820, but was exiled again in 832 when the iconoclasts came to power again.

Born

  • Irenopolis, Isaurian Decapolis

Died

  • c.835 on the prison island of Aphousia (modern Avsa, Balikesir, Turkey) of natural causes

Canonized

Additional Information

MLA Citation

  • “Saint John of Kathara“. CatholicSaints.Info. 18 December 2023. Web. 11 May 2024. <>