(CE:2262a)
TIMOTHEOS I, Coptic archbishop of Jerusalem (1899-1925). He was born in Zaqaziq in 1865 with the name Michael. He studied Arabic and French at the school of the Frères de la Salle. He was ordained a monk in the Monastery of Saint Antony (DAYR ANBA ANTUNIYUS) in 1885. When Basilios II, archbishop of Jerusalem, asked for monks to serve in the Coptic churches in Jerusalem, Michael was appointed to serve in the Holy Sepulcher. In 1892, he became both an archpriest and secretary to the archbishop. When Basilios II became too ill to perform his duties, he asked Pope CYRIL V to consecrate Michael as a suffragan bishop. When this was done in 1896, he took the name Timotheos. He succeeded Basilios as archbishop in 1899. During his term in office, he traveled to Turkey to defend (successfully) the Copts' possession of Dayr al-Sultan. He renovated the Church of Saint Antony in the patriarchate of Jerusalem, furnishing it with lamps, bells, and icons. He also renovated the Monastery of Saint George in Jerusalem and built the Monastery, and Church, of Saint John the Baptist near Jericho. In his diocese in Egypt, he built a number of churches and schools, while at the same time restoring and enlarging the convent of the martyr Sitt Dimyanah in the north of the Nile Delta. When World War I broke out, Timotheos remained in Jerusalem to watch over the church until he was evacuated to Damascus with other ecclesiastical leaders. He returned to Jerusalem at the end of 1918 and continued to serve until his death on June 9, 1925.
ARCHBISHOP BASILIOS
