Gregorios 26 was also called Asbestas: Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 512B (Γρηγόριος ἐκεῖνος ὁ καλούμενος Ἀσβεστᾶς), 540D (cited below), 573A (cited below), Ps.-Symeon 671 (Γρηγόριος ... ὃς καὶ Ἀσβεστᾶς ἐκαλεῖτο), 674 (Γρηγόριος ὁ Συρακούσης).

A Sicilian (Σικελός), he was a native of Syracuse: Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 512 C (τοῦ δεινοῦ ἐκείνου Σικελοῦ), 540D (τοῦ Συρακουσίου Ἀσβεστᾶ), 573A (τὸν Συρακούσιον ... Γρηγόριον).

Archbishop; he restored orthodoxy (to Sicily) in AM 6352, indiction 7 (i.e. 843/844): Chronicle of Cambridge, p. 26 (Greek) (ἔφερεν ὁ ἀρχιεπίσκοπ... Γρηγόριος τὴν ὀρθοδοξίαν). He is described as the bishop of Syracuse deposed by the Church of Rome for breaches of canon law; in 847 he was present in Constantinople when Methodios 1 died and was succeeded as patriarch by Ignatios 1; because at the time Gregorios 26 was the subject of accusations and had not as yet been judged, Ignatios 1 asked him not to attend the consecration (ὅν ποτε καὶ Συρακούσης μὲν ἐπίσκοπον ἔφασαν γενέσθαι, ἐπ'ἐγκλήμασι δέ τισιν εἰς τὸ Βυζάντιον κατηγορούμενον, ἤδη δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίας ὡς παρὰ κανόνας πράξαντα, καθῃρημένον); this act is said to have turned Gregorios 26 into a lifelong enemy of Ignatios 1; he rejected all efforts by Ignatios 1 to appease him and was joined in his opposition by Petros 74 (bishop of Sardis) and Eulampios 1 (bishop of Apameia); he made the acquaintance of Photios 1 by whom he was highly regarded and whom he inspired also against Ignatios 1 (ἦν δὲ αὐτῷ καθηγητὴς καὶ ἱεροτελεστὴς); when Ignatios 1 was overthrown it was Gregorios 26 who consecrated Photios 1 as priest: Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 512B-D.

Other details are added in the account in Pseudo-Symeon; he was bishop of Syracuse, but was condemned by the patriarch Methodios 1 for, among other unspecified matters, illegally (παρ' ἐνορίαν) consecrating as bishop the priest Zacharias 6 when on a mission to Rome for Methodios 1; he was one of a number of bishops who associated with Photios 1 (the future patriarch), meeting in Photios 1's house and scheming against the patriarch Ignatios 1; they were allegedly condemned by a synod held in Constantinople: Ps.-Symeon 671. Gregorios 26 is also mentioned in another story to the discredit of Photios 1; he asked about the meaning of the name "Marzoukas", by which the emperor addressed Photios 1: Ps.-Symeon 674. The story in Pseudo-Symeon is, like that in the Vita Ignatii, very hostile to Photios 1.

Gregorios 26 is probably to be identified with Gregorios, archbishop of Sicily, the owner of a seal dateable to the ninth century: Laurent, Corpus V 1, no. 887. Obv.: Virgin holding bust of Child, between invocative monograms of Θεοτόκε and βοήθει, and with the liturgical formula Σὲ προσκυν[οῦ]μεν (καὶ) τὸν [ἐκ σοῦ Παρθ]έν[ε]. Rev.: τω σω - δουλω Γρη - [γ]οριω αρχι - [ε]πισκοπ[ω] - Σικε[λ(ίασ)]. See Laurent, op. cit., pp. 696-697, note (citing Grumel, Régestes, 445 and 512, and Grumel, "Le schisme de Grégoire de Syracuse", in EO 39, 1940, pp. 257-267).

Gregorios 26 became bishop of Nikaia after 867 (in c. 878/879), in succession to Amphilochios 1; soon afterwards Gregorios 26 died and was eulogised in a funeral oration by Photios 1, allegedly because he had remained critically hostile towards Ignatios 1 to the end of his life: Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 573A (κατὰ τὸν ἁγίου καθώσπερ ξυρὸν ἄχρι τέλους τὴν γλῶσσαν ὁ δύστηνος παρέθηξε).

Gregorios 26 was the addressee of two letters from the patriarch Photios 1, written between 868 and 879: Photius, Ep. 112 (I 150f. Laourdas-Westerink; 868/871), Ep. 257 (II 200ff. Laourdas-Westerink; before end of 879) (both addressed Γρηγορίῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Συρακούσης). Like Photios 1, he suffered persecution and received a letter of encouragement; he is styled ἡ ἀρχιερατικὴ ὑμῶν ... ὁσιότης: Photius, Ep. 112 (I 150f. Laourdas-Westerink). He was an accomplished artist; in 867 a book was found among Photios 1's papers containing the proceedings of the Council held to condemn Ignatios 1; at the head of each of the seven sessions, Gregorios 26 had drawn a coloured picture of Ignatios 1 in various unflattering postures: Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 540D-541A (αὐτουργίᾳ τοῦ Συρακουσίου Ἀσβεστᾶ - ἦν γὰρ καὶ ζώγράφος ὁ γεννάδας, εἰς προσθήκην τῶν αὐτοῦ κακῶν, οἶμαι - διὰ χρωματικῆς ζωγραφίας ἐνεγέγραπτο Ἰγνάτιος).

Gregorios 26 was perhaps the author of a Life of the patriarch Methodios 1: see Beck, Kirche, pp. 557-558, with n. 1.

(Publishable link for this person: )