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John V of Jerusalem: what Wikipedia removed

John V was Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem from 706 to 735, serving under Muslim rule during the reign of Caliph Umar II. In 2020 the opening said that under Muslim rule, “in addition to forbidding Christians to make wine and forcing them to convert to Islam, many Christians suffered martyrdom.” Today the opening instead states that Omar “did not cause any persecutions against the Christians,” and the word does not appear anywhere in the article. A reader today learns that the caliph caused no persecution of Christians, not that Wikipedia once said many Christians were martyred under Muslim rule at this time.

The word “martyr” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2020. Today it appears nowhere in the article at all, references included. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word20206 October 20232025
martyr100

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The description of the caliph as ‘fanatical’ is gone, replaced by the neutral title ‘the Umayyad caliph Omar II.’
  • The statement that many Christians suffered martyrdom after being forced to convert to Islam is gone, replaced by a claim that Omar caused no persecutions.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2020 (revision 859263645):

John V was Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (706–735). John V of Jerusalem was the patriarch of Jerusalem during the iconoclastic struggles under the Eastern Roman emperor Leo III the Isaurian as well as the time of persecution in Palestine and Syria under Muslim rulers. John, who was a monk , succeeded Patr. Anastasius II as patriarch of Jerusalem in 706. He was a friend of John of Damascus and ordained him to the priesthood shortly after John Damascene entered the monastery to become a monk. Patr. John also supported John in his efforts against emperor Leo and the iconoclasts, including writing a number of tracts against iconoclasm. During his patriarchate , John had to contend with t…

2025 (revision 1288896958):

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (706–735) John V was Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (706–735). John V of Jerusalem was the patriarch of Jerusalem during the iconoclastic struggles under the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian as well as the time of persecution in Palestine and Syria under Muslim rulers. John, who was a monk , succeeded Patriarch Anastasius II as patriarch of Jerusalem in 706. He was a friend of John of Damascus and ordained him to the priesthood shortly after John of Damascus entered the monastery to become a monk. Patriarch John also supported John in his efforts against emperor Leo and the iconoclasts, including writing a number of tracts against iconoclasm…

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