Ioseph 2 was hegoumenos of the Monastery of Kathara (in Bithynia) (τῷ ἀββᾷ Ἰωσήφ, τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τῶν Καθαρῶν); he celebrated the "crowning" (i.e. the marriage celebrations) of the emperor Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8) and his second wife Theodote 1 (September/August 795) and incurred the anger and disapproval of the hegoumenos of Sakkoudion, Platon 1: Theoph. AM 6288. A priest and oikonomos of the Great Church (Hagia Sophia); he agreed to perform the marriage ceremony for Konstantinos 8 and Theodote 1, with whom he was on good terms (συνήθης), although the patriarch Tarasios 1 had refused: Vita B Theod. Stud. 252B-D (Ἰωσὴφ δέ τις πρεσβύτερος καὶ οἰκονόμος τυγχάνων τῆς αὐτῆς ἁγιωτάτης Μεγάλης Ἐκκλησίας, τῶν μοιχωμένων τε συνήθης ὢν), Vita C Theod. Stud. §18, pp. 267-268 (Ἰωσὴφ δέ τις πρεσβύτερος, οἰκονόμος τῆς μεγάλης τυγχάνων ἐκκλησίας), Vita A Theod. Stud. 137A (πρεσβύτερος δέ τις ᾧ Ἰωσὴφ ὄνομα, ὃς καὶ οἰκονόμος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐτύγχανε, μεῖζον ἑαυτοῦ φρονήσας, καὶ τῶν θεῖων ὑπερφρονήσας), Theod. Stud., Ep. 555. At this time the hegoumenos Platon 1 is said to have been detained in the monastery of Echekolla under the hegoumenos who had performed the marriage ceremony for Konstantinos 8 and his second wife Theodote 1: Theod. Stud., Laudatio Platonis V 29 (832B-833A). After the overthrow of Konstantinos 8 he allegedly begged Platon 1's forgiveness, in vain: Theod. Stud., Laudatio Platonis V 30 (833AB). After the blinding and death of Konstantinos 8 in 797, Ioseph 2 was deprived of the priesthood: Vita B Theod. Stud. 256C-257B (τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ... τῆς ἱερατικῆς ἀπογυμνωθέντος ἀξίας), Vita C Theod. Stud. §22, p. 269 (Ἰωσὴφ ὁ πρεσβύτερος ἐξωθεῖται τῆς ἐκκλησίας καὶ καθαιρέσει ὑποβάλλεται), Vita A Theod. Stud. 141C (Ἰωσὴφ ἐκεῖνος ὁ πρεσβύτερος ... τῶν θείων ἐξωθεῖται περιβόλων, καὶ τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν ἱερέων ἐκβάλλεται). He was restored to the priesthood (τῷ ἱερατικῷ βαθμῷ) under the emperor Nikephoros I (Nikephoros 8), who forced the patriarch Nikephoros 2 to recall him; this aroused the opposition of Theodore the Stoudite (Theodoros 15) and other monks and bishops: Vita B Theod. Stud. 265B-268B, cf. Vita C Theod. Stud. §29, pp. 274-5, Vita A Theod. Stud. 156A-157B (τὸν γὰρ Ἰωσὴφ ἐκεῖνον ... τυραννικῶς, φευ, και ἀκανονίστως τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ εἰσαγαγεῖν). In 808/809 he was oikonomos (presumably of Hagia Sophia); the monks of the monastery of Stoudios refused to communicate with the patriarch Nikephoros 2 because of Ioseph 2's action in crowning (i.e. joining in marriage) Konstantinos 8 and Theodote 1 (διὰ Ἰωσὴφ τὸν οἰκονόμον ὡς παρανόμως στεφανώσαντα Κωνσταντῖνον καὶ Θεοδότην): Theoph. AM 6301. He was again deposed after the death of Staurakios 2 and the accession of the emperor Michael I Rhangabe (Michael 7) in 811: Vita B Theod. Stud. 269D-273A, Vita C Theod. Stud. §29, p. 275, §32, p. 277, Vita A Theod. Stud. 165A. He is alluded to in many of Theodoros 15's letters: Theod. Stud., Epp. 3, 21-28, 30-32, 38, 43, 48, 49, 135, 197, 222, 223, 231, 267, 268, 281. During the persecution of iconophiles under Leo V (Leo 15) Ioseph 2 subscribed a document condemning the veneration of icons but later repented and was reconciled with Theodoros 15; he was the addressee of a letter of reconciliation from Theodoros 15 in 816: Theod. Stud., Ep. 83, cf. Ep. 3.

In 804 he mediated between the emperor Nikephoros 8 and the rebel Bardanes 3: Synodicon Vetus 153, 2-5 (p. 128). Cf. also Rochow, Theophanes, p. 263. Possibly identical with Ioseph 18. If so, he was still alive in c. 821. Possibly also identical with Ioseph 16.

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