Theophilus III (Patriarch of Jerusalem)

Born April 4, 1952 in Gargaliani , in Messenia , Greece.

Since 1964 he has been living in the Holy Sepulcher Brotherhood in Jerusalem. He studied at the patriarchal school in Jerusalem. On June 28, 1970, he was tonsured a monk by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Benedict I, with the name of Theophilus.

From 1975 to 1978 he studied at the theological faculty of the University of Athens , was elevated to the rank of archimandrite .

From 1981 to 1986 he studied at Durham University ( England ).

From 1986 to 1988, he was chairman of the external relations of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, and the following years was the representative of the Jerusalem Patriarchate at a number of organizations, in particular, from 2001 to 2003 at the Moscow Patriarchate . He was the senior guardian of the Holy Sepulcher .

On February 14, 2005, just six months before being elected to the patriarchs, he was ordained bishop and was elected archbishop of Tabor. In May of the same year, his predecessor, Patriarch Irenaeus I , was dismissed first by the Synod and then by the Pan-Orthodox Council in Fanar because of allegations of involvement in a number of scandalous real estate transactions.

On August 22, 2005, he was unanimously elected by the Holy Synod as Patriarch of Jerusalem. On November 22 of that year, his intronization took place .

Recognized as the head of the Jerusalem Patriarchate by the state of Palestine and Jordan , the patriarch could not receive official recognition from the Government of Israel for two years ^[1] .

Deacon Andrei Kuraev , who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in early April 2008 through the St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called , the statements of Patriarch Theophilus on the historical claims of Russia to Palestine and the negative role of Archimandrite Porfiry Uspensky (the founder of the Russian spiritual mission in the Holy Land) were regarded as Russophobic ^{[2] [3]} .

In July 2008, Archbishop Mark (Arndt) expressed the following assessment: “All former Jerusalem patriarchs were interested in Russia, even spoke some Russian, loved the Russian people and their piety, were grateful for the enormous contribution of the Russian Church to the strengthening of Orthodoxy in The Middle East appreciated the presence of Russian monks in the Holy Land ... The current policy is incomprehensible to me. It differs sharply from the policies of all the predecessors of the current Patriarch of Jerusalem. ” ^[4] .

• The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of the First Degree ( Ukraine , July 27, 2013 ) - for outstanding church activity aimed at raising the authority of Orthodoxy in the world, and on the occasion of the celebration in Ukraine of the 1025th anniversary of the baptism of Kievan Rus ^[5] .
• Grand Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit ( Hungary , 2014 ) ^[6] .
• Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir of the I degree (ROC, 2013) ^[7] .
• Order of Glory and Honor I degree (ROC, 2013) ^[8]
• Chain of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia and the Sacred Chiton of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Georgian Royal House, 2012) ^[9]
• Order of the Holy King Constantine ( Serbian Orthodox Church , 2013 ) ^[10]
• Order of St. John of Vladimir ( Serbian Orthodox Church , 2016 ) ^[11]
• Order of the Star of Bethlehem ( Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society , 2019 ) ^[12]

• Theophilus, Patriarch of Jerusalem (Yannopoulos Elijah) On the official website of the MP
• Our man in the Holy Land. Experts are wondering in whose interests the new Jerusalem Patriarch will act. Lenta.ru December 24, 2005
• His Beatitude, Patriarch Theophilos III On the official website of the IP
• Archimandrite Theophilus: “Jerusalem occupies an exceptional place in the world” // pravoslavie.ru , April 18, 2002