The new Patriarch of Jerusalem and All Palestine, Theophilos III, was
enthroned in November 2005 in a ceremony at Jerusalem's Church of the
Ascension.
The enthronement was attended by Greek President Karolos Papoulias and
representatives of all the Orthodox Churches and Patriarchates, including
Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens.
In his enthronement speech, Theophilos referred to the recent problems
experienced by the Jerusalem Patriarchate and stressed the difficult task
that lay before him in his efforts to "emerge from the sea of corruption and
fraud".
President Papoulias said the day marked the start of a new course. "The
Jerusalem Patriarchate recently underwent major upheavals that momentarily
threatened to turn it aside from its path. Patriarch Theophios' unanimous
election trumpeted the desire of the Holy Sepulcher's Brotherhood to fight
to restore itself to the glorious position it deserves in the modern world,"
Papoulias said.
Theophilos is the 140th Patriarch of Jerusalem, Palestine, Syria, beyond
Jordan River, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion.
He was born in 1950 in Messinia, Greece. In 1964, he went to Jerusalem. He
served as archdeacon for then Patriarch Benediktos. From 1991 to 1996, he
was a priest in Cana in Galilee, which had a predominantly Israeli Arab
flock.
In 1996, he was one of the first Christian clergymen in centuries to develop
a relationship with the Wahhabi Islamic society of Qatar, historically under
the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem.
He subsequently served as Exarch of the Holy Sepulcher in Qatar. From 2000
to 2003, he was church envoy to the Patriarchate of Moscow. Before becoming
patriarch, Theophilus served for a short time as the Archbishop of Tabor. He
was consecrated to the episcopacy in January 2005.
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