Unlike the Catholic Church, where all bishoprics are subordinate to the Pope, the Orthodox patriarchates are local, that is, independent of each other. But the role of Jerusalem, a saint for all Christians in the city, cannot be denied. After all, the first historical church was founded there. Therefore, the authority of the head of this patriarchy is undeniable. Who is in charge of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem? Today we will talk about him. Since his throne is in Jerusalem, and jurisdiction extends to Syria, Palestine, Israel and Arabia (the church itself is often called Zion), he cannot be out of politics. The election of a new chapter is closely monitored by clergy and ministers of other orthodox local patriarchates. Statements by the Primate of Jerusalem often resonate in political circles.
The significance of patriarchy in Christianity
Jerusalem is not in vain considered a holy city for the three world religions. It is especially zealously honored by Christians of all faiths, because the Son of God lived and preached here. In Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified. Here He rose again. In this city on the day of Pentecost, through the descent of the Holy Spirit, the first Church of God was formed. Subsequently, from here 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 her was Jacob the Righteous, who received a 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 Primate of Constantinople. At the moment, in the diptych of the churches, it is listed fourth in importance (after Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch). The full title of the Primate is the Most Holy and Beatitude Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, all of Palestine, Arabia, Syria, the olonpol (two banks) of Jordan, St. Zion and Cana of Galilee.
The modern structure of the local church
Jerusalem was often the victim of invasions. To protect the 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 an order from the Ottoman authorities that all Christian shrines in Palestine would be in the hands of the Orthodox from that moment on. In the same century, the monastic Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher was created. Only monks who arrived from Greece inhabited the monastery. According to the position adopted in the middle of the 19th century, the Holy Sepulcher remained under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox, while the Bethlehem Basilica of the Nativity of Christ passed to the Catholics. Until the forties of the 19th century, the patriarchs of Jerusalem were appointed by the primate of the Church of Constantinople. Now he is elected by the Synod Cathedral. But three secular authorities affirm in the dignity of the patriarch of Jerusalem: Palestine, Jordan, and Israel. Over the long history of the local church, one hundred forty primates have been replaced in it. At the moment, it is led by the 141st Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus the Third.
Biography
The current primate of the church in the world bore the name of Elijah Yannopoulos. He was born on April 4, 1952. By nationality Greek. This alone has already served as a good launching pad 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 was elected exclusively from members of the monastic fraternity of the Holy Sepulcher. And this monastery is inhabited by immigrants from Hellas. I. Yannopoulos was born in the village of Gargaliani, which is located in the town of 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 young man received monastic tonsure in June 1970 from the patriarch of Jerusalem, Benedict I. As the monk is supposed, he adopted a new name - Theophilus, meaning "Loving God."
Church career
Even in the patriarchal school, the young novice showed great abilities and an unprecedented craving for knowledge. Therefore, after the adoption of the tonsure, the church authorities decided that the young monk should continue 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 completed. In 1981, he entered the University of Durham (UK), where he completed his studies in 1986. After returning to Jerusalem, Theophilus served as chairman of the Foreign Relations of the Patriarchate for two years. Later he served as a representative of his church in a number of organizations. In 2001-2003 he was even an ambassador to the Moscow Patriarchate, although he rarely came to Russia. In the early 2000s, he was appointed to the honorary position of senior guardian of the Holy Sepulcher.
Previous Patriarch of Jerusalem Irenaeus
In the summer of 2001, at the Council of the local church, he was elected exarch in Athens (responsible for the spread of the Holy Fire), archbishop of Hierapolis and a member of the Holy Synod who bore the name of Emmanuel Skopelitis in the world. As a patriarch, Irenaeus I greatly facilitated the advancement of his successor Theophilus. But in 2005, a church scandal erupted. The Holy Synod accused the patriarch of Jerusalem, Irenaeus, of having given the Israeli company long-term rental real estate in the Old City. The primate himself refused to participate in court. According to the decree of the Synod, and then the Pan-Orthodox Council, which gathered in Phanar, the patriarch was deposed, deprived of priesthood, demoted to monks and sentenced to imprisonment in his own cell. He was there for seven years, until he was forced to leave for health reasons to undergo surgery.
Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus and his predecessor
The deposition of Irenaeus suddenly lifted the current primate of the church to high rank. This allowed idle languages to talk about the latter's involvement in the allegations, which turned out to be insufficient. 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 current patriarch. By the way, he was visited by the primate of the Church of Constantinople Bartholomew.
Political remarks of the Jerusalem Patriarch
On Easter 2008, the clergy and believers of the Russian Federation were shocked by harsh criticism from Theophilus III to Porfiry Uspensky, the founder of the Russian spiritual mission in the Holy City. He stated that the latter poisons the lives of believers with the "poison of nationalism." Deacon Andrei Kuraev and editor-in-chief of the journal “Church Herald” saw signs of Russophobia in this statement. In the past two years, the Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus has repeatedly met with the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, prayed for peace in this country and discussed the problem of uniting believers into a single local church.