Name:  Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III
Description:  Persons
Title:  Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
Person Category:  Clergy
Religion:  Christian
Denomination/Stream:  Greek Orthodox
Address (1):  P.O.B. 19632, Jerusalem 91 196
State:  Israel
Work Telephone:  02-628-2048
Fax:  02-628-2048
http://www.jerusalem-patriarchate.org/intro.asp
Full Description: 

His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III (secular name Ilija Jannopoulos) was born in 1952 in the village of Gargaliani in the Messinia region of Greece. At the age of 12, he entered the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher and continued his studies in the Patriarchal school in Jerusalem which he completed in 1970. He was then tonsured monk with the name Theophilus by the late Patriarch Benedictos and ordained as a deacon by Archbishop Vassilios of Jordan. In 1975 he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Diodoros of Ierapolis. That same year, by a decision of the Holy Synod, he was sent to study theology at the University of Athens. Upon returning to Jerusalem, he served in the General Secretariat of the Holy Synod, in the Patriarchal school and in St. Charalampy’s Monastery. In 1978 he was raised to the rank of Archimandrite and three years later he as appointed a member of the editorial board of the Patriarchates journal “Nea Zion.” From 1981-86 he engaged in post-graduate studies at Durham University in England.
In 1986 he was appointed secretary for foreign relations of the Holy Synod of the Jerusalem Patriarchate and in 1988 he was appointed to represent the Patriarchate of Jerusalem on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. From 1991-96 he was hegumen of the Monastery of St. George the Victorious in Cana in Galilee. From 2001-03 he was the representative of the Patriarch of Jerusalem to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and rector of the church of the Jerusalem Patriarchate in Moscow. In 2003 he was appointed Patriarchal epitrop in Doha, Qatar. In 2004 he was appointed custodian of the Holy Sepulchre and elected a member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. On 14 February 2005, he was consecrated and nominated Archbishop of Mount Tabor. He was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem on 22 August 2005.