On Wednesday, April 4/17, 2024, the following people visited His Beatitude:
From Secretariat-General
On Friday, March 30/April 12, 2024, the following people visited His Beatitude:
The Franciscan Deputy Custodian Fr. Dobromir for work-related issues in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Five volunteers from the Holy Metropolis of Patras with the Hegoumen of the Monastery of the Holy Cross Archimandrite Christodoulos, to help prepare for the feast of the Holy Cross, on the 4th Sunday of Lent.
Ms Marian Loubat, representative of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem to the World Council of Churches in Ghana, Africa, to receive His blessing.
The pilgrim Kalliope Mavragani, whose cassock and request His Beatitude blessed, to serve in the Holy Monastery of the sisters of Lazarus Martha and Mary in Bethany, for the Holy Monastery to emerge as a monastic centre of the Patriarchate with a lively Christian witness in the region of Bethany.
On Saturday, March 31/April 13, 2024, His Beatitude received:
A 50-member group of Orthodox Youth from Zdeide and Baane in northern Israel. He accepted and guided them Pastorally and gave each of them a copy of the New Testament in Arabic.
Afterwards, His Beatitude received Mr. Markon Nirman, to receive the blessing for priesthood, following the decision of the Synod.
From Secretariat-General
On the morning of Tuesday, March 27/April 9, 2024, His Beatitude received:
From Secretariat-General
On Saturday, March 24 / April 6, 2024, His Beatitude, our Father, and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos received a group of 400 people, mostly young but also middle-aged and elderly from the Communities of the Patriarchate of the Upper Galilee region under the reverend Priest of the city of Kufr Yassif Fr. Farah Farah.
They thanked His Beatitude for His support to them. They asked for His blessing for the celebration of the Feast of the Annunciation and the Adoration of the Cross and for the visit to the Church of the Resurrection, the Holy Sepulchre, and the Holy Golgotha.
His Beatitude blessed them and wished them the rest of the Holy and Great Lent in health, humility, and all virtues. He also gave each of them a copy of the New Testament in the Arabic language.
From Secretariat-General
On Tuesday, April 2, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III welcomed His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow, at the Patriarchate’s headquarters in Jerusalem.
His Eminence was accompanied by the Reverend Father Nikolai Balasov, the Head of the Russian MISSIA in Jerusalem Archimandrite Vassianos, the Deputy of Metropolitan Anthony Father Igor Iakimchuk and the Metropolitan’s secretary deacon Nikolai Vasin, who were a special delegation on behalf of His Beatitude Patriarch Cyril of Moscow.
In recognition of the contribution of His Eminence to the unity of the Church, His Beatitude awarded him with the medal of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
His Eminence thanked His Beatitude for this decoration and emphasized the importance of His Beatitude’s work and support towards the unity of the Church, his support for the Moscow Patriarchate, and his commitment to the unity of the Orthodox Churches and for the Christians in the Holy Land.
During the meeting, His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony conveyed the brotherly osculation of His Beatitude the Patriarch of Moscow Cyril and his thanks for the letter of condolences regarding the recent terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow.
In return, His Beatitude asked to convey His brotherly greetings to the Patriarch of Moscow Cyril.
From Secretariat-General
On Saturday, March 16/30, 2024, representatives of the Councils of most of the Communities of the Metropolis of Acre – Ptolemais under the President of the Council of Acre, Mr. Fouad Brek, visited H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos.
From Secretariat-General
On the afternoon of Monday, March 12/25, 2024, a school ceremony of the Priestly Patriarchal School of Holy Zion took place for the national anniversary of March 25, 1821.
The ceremony was organized and performed by the Managing Director of the School, Elder Dragoman Archimandrite Matthaios, the teachers and the students of the School.
This event was honoured by the presence of H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, the Chairman of the School Board, His Eminence Archbishop Isidoros of Ierapolis, the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Dimitrios Angelosopoulos with his family, Holy Sepulchre Fathers and monks, nuns and members of the Greek Parish of Jerusalem.
During this ceremony, a preface was given by the Schoolmaster Archimandrite Matthaios and a solemn speech by the Greek Literature teacher Zoe Paparnaki, the students recited poems, sang patriotic hymns and presented on stage and on screen the sufferings of our nation during the four hundred years of hard times, death, barbaric slavery, child mutilation, unbelievable tortures, with particular emphasis on the cases of the new martyrs, who refused to convert and were martyred.
Through the acts on stage and those watched on screen, the spectators were filled with feelings of ardent faith, extreme patriotism and national pride.
Words of approval, satisfaction and praise for the success of the ceremony were expressed by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos and the Consul General to the Principal Archimandrite Matthaios, the teachers and the students of the School, after the wish that they may have a good academic performance and become worthy successors of the Holy Sepulchre Fathers.
From Secretariat-General
The monastic schema of nun Marianna Agathokleous, Abbess of the Holy Monastery of Saint George in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem is suspended until her chastisement. The reason for this is that she abandoned her ministry and went to Australia without proper permission.
From Secretariat-General
On Thursday, March 8 / 21, 2024, H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos received the Ambassador of Romania to Israel Mr Radu Ioanid.
During this visit, discussions took place about the dire situation of the war in the Holy Land and Gaza and about the relationship of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem with the Patriarchate of Romania and the State of Romania in the past and today.
In this meeting, His Beatitude underlined the absolute need for the unity of the Orthodox Churches and the contribution of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem to this matter through the Amman meeting of the Orthodox Churches in February 2020 (The Amman Fraternal Familial Gathering of the Orthodox Primates and Delegates Dialogue and Unity).
From Secretariat-General
On the morning of Wednesday, February 22/March 6, 2024, our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos received:
1. The distinguished professor of the Arabic language literature and steward of the Kufr-Smea Community of the northern Israel region of Acre – Ptolemais, Mr Youssef Nasser, with his lawyer son, Mr Kais, who thanked His Beatitude for His historic visit. Thanks to His many efforts, the newly built Church of Saints Constantine and Helen hosted the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy, which solved the long-standing conflict in the Community of Kufr Smea.
From Secretariat-General