Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus III (Elijah Jannopoulos): biography

Unlike the Catholic Church, where all the bishoprics are subordinate to the Pope, the Orthodox patriarchates are local, that is, independent of each other. But we can not deny the role of Jerusalem, the saint for all Christians of the city. After all, the first historical church was founded there. Therefore, the authority of the head of this patriarchy is undeniable. Who is at the head of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church? Today we will tell about him. Since his throne is in Jerusalem, and jurisdiction extends to Syria, Palestine, Israel and Arabia (the church itself is often called Zion), it can not be out of politics. The election of the new head is closely monitored by clerics and ministers of other orthodox local patriarchates. The statements of the Jerusalem primate often evoke resonance in political circles.

The Importance of Patriarchy in Christianity

Jerusalem is not in vain considered a holy city for the three world religions. He is especially zealously honored by Christians of all denominations, because the Son of God lived and preached here. In Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified. Here He was resurrected. In this city on the day of Pentecost, through the descent of the Holy Spirit, the first Church of God was formed. Afterwards the apostles dispersed to different corners of the earth, preaching the Gospel to all nations. Therefore, the Jerusalem Orthodox Church is considered the mother of the remaining orthodox patriarchates. The first bishop in it was Jacob the Righteous, who took the martyr's crown at the hands of King Herod. Since Jerusalem was constantly attacked and captured, the supremacy of its patriarchy was lost and passed to the leader of Constantinople. At the moment, in the diptych of the churches, it is number four in importance (after Tsargrad, Alexandria and Antioch). The full title of the leader is the All-holy and Beatitude Patriarch of the holy city of Jerusalem, all of Palestine, Arabia, Syria, the two-coasted land of Jordan, St. Sion and Kana of Galilee.

Modern device of the local church

Jerusalem was often the victim of invasions. To protect holy places from destruction and desecration - all the heads of the local church saw their calling in this. To do this, they were forced to use all their diplomatic abilities. A turning point occurred in the 16th century, when the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Herman II, obtained from the Ottoman authorities a decree that all the Christian shrines of Palestine will from this moment be in the hands of the Orthodox. In the same century, the monastic Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher was created. Only the monks who came from Greece inhabited the monastery. According to the position adopted in the middle of the 19th century, the Holy Sepulcher of the Lord remained under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox, while the Bethlehem Basilica of the Nativity of Christ was transferred to Catholics. Until the forties of the 19th century the patriarchs of Jerusalem were appointed by the Primate of the Church of Constantinople. Now it is elected by the Synod Cathedral. But they state in the rank of the patriarch of Jerusalem three secular authorities: Palestine, Jordan and Israel. A long history of the local church in it was replaced by one hundred and forty priests. At the moment it is headed by the 141st Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus the Third.

Biography

The present head of the church in the world bore the name of Elijah Jannopoulos. He was born on April 4, 1952. By nationality the Greek. This alone has already served as a good starting point for a career in the patriarchate of Jerusalem. Most of the parish priests and believers in these lands are Arabs. But historically, the entire episcopate is elected exclusively from members of the monastic brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher. And this abode is inhabited by natives of Hellas. Ianopoulos was born in the village of Gargaliani, which is located in Messinia (Greece). As a teenager, at the age of twelve, he arrived in Jerusalem and settled as a novice in the brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher. From 1964 to 1970, Elijah studied at the Patriarchal School. The monastic monastic vows took in June 1970 from the patriarch of Jerusalem Venedict I. As it is supposed to the monk, he adopted a new name - Theophilus, meaning "Loving God."

Career in the Church

Even in the patriarchal school, the young novice showed great abilities and an unprecedented desire for knowledge. Therefore, after taking the tonsure, the church authorities decided that the young monk should continue his theological education. In 1975, he was sent to his homeland, Greece, to enter the theological faculty of the University of Athens. After graduation in 1978, the future Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus was elevated to the monastic rank of archimandrite. But even here the young cleric decided that his theological education was not complete. In 1981, he entered the University of Durham (UK), where he completed his studies in 1986. After returning to Jerusalem, Theophil served for two years as chairman of external relations under the patriarchate. Later he served as a representative of his church in a number of organizations. In 2001-2003, He was even an ambassador at the Moscow Patriarchate, although he did not come to Russia often. In the early 2000s he was appointed to the honorary position of the senior guardian of the Holy Sepulcher.

The previous Patriarch of Jerusalem, Irenaeus

In the summer of 2001, at the Council of the local church, she was elected her ex-priest in Athens (responsible for the spread of the Holy Fire), the Archbishop of Hierapolis and a member of the Holy Synod, who was known as Emmanuel Scopelitis in the world. As a patriarch, Irenaeus the First promoted the career of his successor, Theophilus. But in 2005 the church scandal broke out. The Holy Synod accused the patriarch of Jerusalem Irenaeus that he gave the Israeli company long-term lease of real estate in the Old City. The primate refused to participate in the court. According to the resolution of the Synod, and then of the All-Orthodox Council, which met in Fanar, the patriarch was deposed, deprived of the priestly rank, demoted to monks and sentenced to imprisonment in his own cell. There he was seven years old, until he was forced to leave for health reasons to perform a surgical operation.

Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus and his predecessor

The imposition of Irenaeus unexpectedly lifted the present head of the church to high rank. This allowed idle tongues to talk about the latter's involvement in the charges, which proved to be inadequate. But Theophilus III remained on friendly terms with the deposed predecessor. So, in 2015, Irenaeus unexpectedly appeared at the ceremony of the descent of the Holy Fire, where he was greeted and blessed by the present patriarch. By the way, he was visited by the primate of the Church of Constantinople, Bartholomew.

The political statements of the Patriarch of Jerusalem

On Easter 2008, the clergy and believers of the Russian Federation were shocked by the sharp criticism of Theophilus III against Porfiry Uspensky, the founder of the Russian spiritual mission in the Holy City. He said that the latter is poisoning the believers' life with the "poison of nationalism". Deacon Andrey Kuraev and the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Church Herald" saw in this statement signs of Russophobia. In the past two years, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilus, met repeatedly with the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, prayed for peace in that country and discussed the problem of uniting believers in a single local church.