Timotheos Evangelinidis (; 23 April 1880 in

Polichnitos Polichnitos () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares l ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

– 6 October 1949 in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

), was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

priest and

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

bishop who presided over the Metropolis of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

from 1931 to 1947, and the

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

from 1947 to 1949.

Early life

He was born as Tilemachos Evangelinidis (Τηλέμαχος Ευαγγελινίδης) in the village of

, on the island of

(then still part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

), on 23 April 1880. He studied at the Evangelical School of Smyrna and the Great School of the Nation in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, before becoming a monk and serving as ''

protosynkellos A protosyncellus, protosynkellos or protosyngel () is the principal deputy of the bishop of an eparchy for the exercise of administrative authority in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The equivalent position in the Western Christi ...

'' under the metropolitan of

Methymna Mithymna () (, also sometimes spelled ''Methymna'') is a town and former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality of West Lesbos, of which it is a municip ...

, Stephen, until 1910. He then studied in the

Halki seminary The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki ( and ), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki ( Turkish: Heybeliada), the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theo ...

until 1914, before going to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

as parish priest for the local Greek community and teacher in the city's Greek college. In 1921 and for the next ten years, he served as '' apokrisiarios'' of the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed ...

to the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...

Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand

Evangelinidis was elected as the second Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand in 1931. The position had officially remained vacant since 1928, when his predecessor Metropolitan Christoforos Knitis had been recalled to Greece. Father

Theophylactos Papathanasopoulos Metropolitan Theophylactos (born Vasileios Papathanasopoulos; 1891–1958) was a Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. Biography Papathanasopoulos was born on the feast of St. Basil on 1 January 189 ...

had presided over the

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand was an archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand, part of the Eastern Orthodox religion. It was a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ...

until Metropolitan Timotheos arrived in

on 26 January 1932 (

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

). On Sunday 10 November 1935, Timotheos opened and dedicated a Greek Orthodox church in

Innisfail, Queensland Innisfail (from Irish language, Irish: Inis Fáil) is a regional town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was originally called Geraldton until 1910. In the , the town o ...

. It was the second Greek Orthodox church to be opened in Queensland and the sixth in Australia.

Metropolitan of Rhodes

On 16 January 1947, Metropolitan Timotheos was elected to head the Metropolis of Rhodes. He left his Australian post in March and was replaced as bishop by

. In June 1949, he was elected Archbishop of North and South America but was unable to assume the post due to a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

. Unable to travel, he was re-instated as Metropolitan of Rhodes until his death in

on 6 October 1949.''Timothy of Rhodes Dead at Age of 69'', The New York Times, 7 October 1949 He was buried in the Balıklı Greek cemetery, until in 1961 his remains were transferred to his birthplace.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timotheos, Metropolitan of Australia 1880 births 1949 deaths Australian people of Greek descent Orthodox bishops of Rhodes People from Lesbos Theological School of Halki alumni Greek expatriate bishops