The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Jerusalem Patriarchate chaired by its President H.H. Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos in its Meeting on Tuesday 15^th/28^th November 2017 made the following decisions:

1. Appointed the Most Reverend Archbishop of Tabor a member of the School Board.
2. Appointed Archimandrite Nectarios Dean Priest in the Holy Church of the Meeting of the Saviour and St. Nectarios chapel in the Metropolis of Amman.
3. Appointed Dragouman Archimandrite Mattheos Managing Director of the Patriarchal School of Zion.
4. Appointed Archimandrite Dionysios Hegoumen of the Holy Monastery of Praetorion and ministering Priest of Gethsemane.
5. Appointed Archimandrite Kallistos Hegoumen of the H. Monastery of St. Charalambos.
6. Appointed Archimandrite Sophronios Hegoumen of the Holy Monastery of Tiberias.
7. Appointed Archimandrite Bartholomew Steward of the Holy Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Jordan river.
8. Appointed Hierodeacon Sophronios Secretary at the Secretariat General Office.
9. Appointed Hieromonk Euphrosynos teacher at the Patriarchal School of Zion.
10. Appointed Nun Euphemia teacher at the Patriarchal School of Zion.
11. Decided on the ordination to Deacon of Monk Patrikios in order to minister at the Church of the Resurrection.
12. Decided the tonsure of novice Cheruvim and novice Apostolos.
13. Appointed the steward Fr. Antonios Azini a ministering Priest in Acre-Ptolemaeda.
14. Appointed Archimandrite Benedict Kagial who is on secondment from the Holy Metropolis of Drama, a ministering Priest of the Holy Church of the Annunciation in Abdali of Amman in Jordan.

From Secretariat-General

On Tuesday, 2nd/15th August 2047, the assembly of the Holy Synod of the Jerusalem Patriarchate chaired by His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, discussed matters related to the Patriarchate and decided as follows;

1. The appointment of Archimandrite Kallistos as the Hegoumen of the Holy Monastery of Praetorion – Christ’s Prison, and as serving Priest at Gethsemane – the Theotokos’ Tomb.
2. The appointment of Dragouman Archimandrite Mattheos as Hegoumen of the H. Monastery of Saint Charalambos.
3. The appointment of Archimandrite Parthenios as serving Priest of the Monastic Church of Saints Constantine and Helen.
4. The ordination of Mr. Ilias Zorob as Deacon, followed by his ordination as Priest in order to minister at the Greek-Orthodox Arab-speaking Community of Beit-jala.
5. The ordination of Deacon Demetrios Hanna as Priest, in order to minister at the Holy Archdiocese of Qatar.

From Secretariat-General

On Friday, 11th/ 24th February 2017, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem met, chaired by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos and discussed matters related to the Patriarchate and decided:

1. Appointed the Spiritual Father of the Holy Monastery of the Living Spring in Jordan, Archimandrite Christophoros, as member of the Holy Synod.
2. Appointed the Most Reverend Archbishop Theophylactos of Jordan as member of the Ecclesiastical Appeal.
3. Appointed Hierodeacon Agapios a Secretary of the Real Estate Committee, while the President of the Economic Committee Most Reverend Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias, remains the active President of the Real Estate Committee.
4. Decided the ordination of the Hierodeacon Fr. Nectarios – Farah as Priest.
5. Decided the ordination of the novice of the Most Holy Church of the Resurrection Constantinos Psyhalopoulos as monk.
6. Decided the ordination of Demetrios Mousa Hanna as a Deacon in order to serve in the Patriarchate Delegation in Qatar.

From Secretariat-General

On Thursday, the 18^th of November/2^nd of December 2016, the Holy and Sacred Synod convened under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem.

The Synod looked at various topics regarding the Patriarchate and approved the following:

1. His Beatitude proposed that Acting Dragoman, Archimandrite Mathew, be appointed a member of the Holy and Sacred Synod, after which Archimandrite Mathew, made the necessary oath, thanked the Patriarch and received His blessing and the blessings of the members of the Synod.
2. The Synod finalized the process of accession to the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood of Joachim, former Metropolitan of Zambia, having canonically left the Patriarchate of Alexandria, conferring upon him the title of Metropolitan of Helenoupolis.
3. His Beatitude appointed Hieromonk Euphrosynos as teacher at the Patriarchal School of the Holy Sion.
4. The Synod appointed Archimandrite Nephon, hegumen in Remli, as President of Jerusalem’s Ecclesiastical Court of First Instance.
5. The Synod decided that Hierodeacon Onuphrios, serving at Mount Sarantarion, and deacon Psara Dahabra, serving in Amman, be ordained as Presbyters.
6. The Synod divested deacon Synesios from the rank of a deacon and demoted him to the order of laymen, for having arbitrarily left the brotherhood.

From the Secretariat-General

On Wednesday, the 9^th/22^nd of June 2016, the Holy and Great Synod of Orthodoxy, in the course of two sessions held in the morning and in the evening, looked at the already approved texts on the “Autonomous”, “Orthodox Diaspora” and “The Mission of the Church in the contemporary world”, discussed the proposed completions and corrections, agreed on them and referred them to the Secretariat to be registered before signing the finalized texts.

During the same session, the proposal set forth by Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem was approved, on sending a letter of support by the Ecumenical Patriarch on behalf of the Great Synod of Orthodoxy, to His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Hussein of Jordan, for the unjust and criminal death of eight Jordan soldiers by a group of terrorists.

The message of condolences can be reached here: https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2016/06/22/24618

 From the Secretariat-General

On Sunday, the 16^th/29^th of May 2016, the Patriarchate observed the feast of the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well in Nablus, Samaria.

The feast commemorates the meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well, which had been hewn by Jacob the patriarch between the mountains of Yeval and Yoresin.

After that meeting, the Samaritan woman believed in the Lord, both she and her house, as the Lord revealed to her that “He, who spoke with her, was the Messiah, Christ”. The event is related by the Evangelist John in the fourth chapter of his gospel.

In the church built over the Well by Archimandrite Ioustinos, dedicated to St Photini the Samaritan, the Hagiotaphite St Philoumenos had suffered a martyr’s death. There, His Beatitude Theophilos served the divine Liturgy on the day of the feast, having as concelebrants: Archbishops Aristarchos of Constantina, Demetrios of Lydda, and Philoumenos of Pella; Archimandrite Nektarios as leading priest, the hegumen of Raffidia, Archimandrite Leontios, the hegumen in the Village of the Shepherds, priests visiting from Greece, and Arabic-speaking priests from the nearby towns of Nablus. Elder nun Mariam sang in Greek, with hieropsalts in Arabic, in the presence of Consul-General, Mr Vasileios Koinis, and other members of the Greek Consulate. Residents of adjacent towns attended the service, as well as pilgrims from Greece, Russia, Ukraine and Romania.

To the pious congregation the Patriarch delivered a sermon in Greek, saying: “Today we celebrate the New Testament in the honest blood of Christ our Saviour, namely Pascha, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, so that “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (Corinthians 2, 5, 17) according to the Apostle Paul. This is why, when talking to the Samaritan woman, the Lord replied: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4, 13). This spring of eternal life Christ has offered us through His crucifixion and resurrection. And this spring of eternal life did the Samaritan Woman recognize in the face of the Messiah”, His Beatitude said.

The Patriarch’s speech was also read in Arabic, see link: https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/ar/2016/05/29/21902#more-21902

The divine Liturgy was followed by procession thrice around the Church, and the blessing of the Patriarch.

After the Apolysis, guests were hosted to a reception at the hegumeneion and, later, to festive lunch, courtesy of the monastery’s renovator, Archimandrite Ioustinos. During lunch, Halil Yanam of Zababdeh addressed His Beatitude in Arabic.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/PPCw8c77HpQ

httpv://youtu.be/yAsVbalBONg

On Sunday, the 18^th/31^st of January 2016, the ceremony of the Canonization of Hosios John the New Chosebite by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem took place at the Monastery of Sts George and John the Chosebites.

During the divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, read the Canonization decree, as follows:

SYNODICAL ACT OF CANONIZATION

OF HOSIOS JOHN THE NEW CHOSEBITE

The area of the Cherith brook and the Monastery of St George Chosebite within it, the place where we hold today this Joint Patriarchal Liturgy, have proven to be sites of revelation of God’s miracles for the salvation of man since the days of the Old Testament. This is where, to escape the wrath of king Ahab, Prophet Elias sought refuge, called by God: “Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there”. (1 Kings 17, 2-4). In the same area, Joshua asked God to make the sun “stand still over Gibeon and the moon over the Valley of Aijalon, so the sun stood still and the moon stopped” (Joshua 10, 122-13).

In the early years of the New Testament, the holy and righteous Joachim and Anna prayed there and became Ancestors of God as by divine intervention they were liberated from the shame of childlessness and bore a child, Maria the ever virgin, through whom the Only Begotten Son and Logos of God, Jesus Christ, became incarnate by the Holy Spirit.

During the first years of the monastic angelic community, shown to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, this area was inhabited by the five hosioi fathers of the Monastery of Choseba: Promos, Elias, Yannaios, Aian and Zenon, who led a holy life to sanctification.

After them, in the 5^th c. AD, St John, Bishop of Caesarea, Palestine, an opponent of the heresy of Monophysitism, expanded this first skete into a large monastic centre. Then, men, churches and cells were lost to the Persian rage in 614 AD. From the ruins and the ashes of destruction, St George the Chosebite, hailing from Cyprus, went on to restore the Monastery and turn it once more into a pole of attraction and a monastic centre for hundreds of monks.

[…]

In the mid-20^th c., God blessed the Monastery par excellence through the presence of His chosen vessel, St John the New Chosebite. Leaving behind his earthly homeland of Romania, relatives and friends, he arrived in the Holy Land as a pilgrim and received the monastic schema at the Monastery of St Savva the Sanctified, where he would live a monk’s life for a decade. He then went on to lead an ascetic life at this Monastery of Choseba, hence why he has been called “the Chosebite”. He also lived in the desert of the Jordan river, emulating the example of the Baptist and subjecting himself to asceticism, fasting, vigilance and prayer. […] Those who have known hosios John attest to this day his holy life and the help he offered through prayer and spiritual guidance. Others attest that after his dormition they were cured of their illnesses by his mediation. […]

For these reasons, and for the strengthening of the faithful of the Mother of Churches and those pilgrims who have come to the Monastery of Choseba from across the world, and to the glory of our Triadic God, the Holy and Sacred Synod has decided to sanctify St John the New Chosebite and place him in the Canon of Saints of the Church of Jerusalem, his memory to be observed on the 28^th of July of each year, the day of the translation of his holy relics.

In the Holy City of Jerusalem, 22 December 2015

THEOPHILOS III Patriarch of Jerusalem

KYRIAKOS Metropolitan of Nazareth

ISYCHIOS Metropolitan of Kapitolias, Patriarchal Commissioner

CHRISTODOULOS Metropolitan of Eleutheroupolis, Elder Dragoman

BENEDICT Metropolitan of Philadelphia

DOROTHEOS Archbishop of Avila

 ARISTARCHOS Archbishop of Constantina, Elder Secretary-General

 METHODIOS Archbishop of Tabor

 THEOPHYLAKTOS Archbishop of Jordan

 DEMETRIOS Archbishop of Ledda, Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod

 PHILOUMENOS Archbishop of Pella

Archimandrite Nektarios, Elder Kamarasis

Archimandrite Ioustinos

Archimandrite Theodoritos

Archimandrite Hilarion

Archimandrite Timotheos

Archimandrite Evdokimos

Archimandrite Galaktion

More details about this event will be available on our website in due time.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/C8c59LUftGk

On Tuesday, the 4^th/17^th of November 2015, the Holy and Sacred Synod convened under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Among other things, the Synod has decided the following:

1. To promote the Hegoumen of Gethsemane, Archimandrite Nektarios, to the rank of Elder Kamarasis, Synod member and Treasurer of the Hieron Koinon, President of the Committee of St Sion Cemetery and Head of the Gallery.
2. To ordain Hierodeacon Dionysios as priest and appoint him Hegoumen at the Monastery of the Holy Apostles in Tiberias.
3. To appoint Archimandrite Chrysanthos as Secretary of the Patriarchate’s Audit Committee.
4. To promote f. Athanasios Kakis to the rank of Archimandrite and appoint him Hegoumen of the Arabic-speaking Community in Zarqa, Jordan.

From the Secretariat-General

The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem convened under the Presidency of H.B. Theophilos, our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem, on Thursday, August the 21^st/September the 3^rd 2015. The Synod addressed issues of the Patriarchate and reached the following decisions:

1. The Most Reverend Isychios, Metropolitan of Kapitolias, His Eminence Aristarchos, Archbishop of Constantina, and Mr Yangou, Professor of Canon Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, are to represent the Patriarchate of Jerusalem at the fifth Pre-synodical Pan-Orthodox Conference scheduled to take place at the Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, Geneva, in view of the Great Synod of Orthodoxy in 2016.
2. Mr Demetrios Lykoudis, novice monk and Professor of Philology and Theology, is to be appointed as Principal at the Patriarchate’s Hieratic School in Sion.
3. Archimandrite Sophronios is to be appointed as Hegoumen at the Patriarchate’s Greek Orthodox Arabic-speaking Community in Reine near Nazareth.
4. The ordainment of monk Synesios in the rank of deacon is approved.
5. Former Principal, f. Nikolaos Zervis, is to be appointed as Teacher at the Patriarchal School in Sion.

From the Secretariat-General

On Saturday the 15^th/28^th of March 2015, the Holy and Sacred Synod convened under the presidency of Patriarch Theophilos to discuss issues of interest to the Patriarchate.

One of these decisions was the approval to found two housing settlements, one in the city of Bethlehem, on land of the Patriarchate, and one in the adjacent town of Beit Jala. The settlements are intended to be offered on very favourable conditions to people of low means, whilst ownership of the land remains with the Patriarchate. The renting contracts for the settlements have been signed with HADI MASHAL & ASSOCIATES.

Upon a different decision of the Synod, Hierodeacon Polycarpos, serving at the Church of the Resurrection, was ordained as presbyter and promoted to the rank of Assistant Sacristan and Archimandrite.

Acting on the aforementioned decision, the Elder Sacristan of the Church of the Resurrection, His Eminence Isidoros, Archishop of Hierapolis, ordained Hierodeacon Polycarpos during the nocturnal Divine Liturgy of Saturday the 15^th/28^th to Sunday 16^th/29^th of March 2015, at the Life-Giving Sepulcher.

Attending the ceremony was f. Polycarpos’ mother, alongside numerous Hagiotaphite Deacons at the Church of the Resurrection, Hagiotaphite Fathers and pilgrims, praying for him to be blessed with the grace of the All-holy Spirit in order to guard the interests of the Patriarchate in the Holy Shrines.

On the conclusion of mass, the newly ordained hosted guests to a reception at the Office of the Elder Sacristan, Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/wH00_oyVY1I