Saint Paul the Confessor, Bishop of Constantinople

Paul was elected bishop of Constantinople in the 330s, when the emperor Constantius favoured the Arian party and Paul's rival Macedonius had a following. Constantius was away in Antioch at the election and was displeased with it. A riot in the city that killed the general Hermogenes led the emperor to drive Paul out.

Over the next years Paul was exiled several times and returned several times. He went to Rome, where he met Athanasius of Alexandria and was received by Pope Julius, and the Council of Serdica (c. 343) upheld him. The emperor Constans pressed his brother to restore him. In the end, tradition says, he was banished to Cucusus in Armenia and strangled with his omophorion while serving the liturgy, around 350.