Debar, North Macedonia, November 26, 2024
Photo: liturgija.mk
His Eminence Metropolitan Timotej of Debar and Kičevo of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric reposed in the Lord yesterday, November 25, after a short illness. He was 73 years old.
The Diocese of Debar writes: “The clergy, monastics, and faithful people of the Diocese of Debar-Kičevo are united in prayer for the repose of his soul, with hope in the resurrection and bright blessedness. His life and service were a bright example of pastoral love, sacrifice, and dedication to God’s Church.”
A memorial Divine Liturgy was celebrated this morning at the Church of St. Clement of Ohrid in Plaošnik by the diocesan vicar, His Grace Bishop Partenij of Antania. His body will remain in the church until that evening.
His Eminence was also the administrator of the Australia-Sydney Diocese at the time of his repose. Altogether, he served 43 years as a hierarch of the MOC-OA.
May Met. Timotej’s memory be eternal!
***
The announcement of the Holy Synod of the MOC-OA includes his biography:
Met. Timotej was born on October 20, 1951, in Mlado Nagoričane, Kumanovo Region, in what is today North Macedonia. He came from noble and God-loving parents, Alexander and Ljuba Jovanovski, who from childhood instilled in their children, including young Slava, Christian love and love for God.
His reverence for God contributed to his decision, after completing elementary school, to enroll as a full-time student at the Macedonian Orthodox Seminary of St. Clement of Ohrid, first in the Monastery St. Elijah in the village of Banjane, near Skopje, and then in Dračevo. After completing seminary, he enrolled in the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade, where he graduated in 1976.
After graduation, he worked for a year as an altar server in the Macedonian Archbishopric in Skopje. Then, he went for postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome (from 1977 to 1979). He successfully completed his master’s degree with the thesis “The Cult of the Most Holy Theotokos in Ohrid and the Ohrid Region.” At the invitation of the Holy Synod of the MOC-OA, he returned to his homeland and became a lecturer at the St. Clement of Ohrid Faculty of Theology teaching Liturgics, Art History, and Patrology. The Holy Synod also appointed him as acting rector of the St. Clement of Ohrid Seminary in Dračevo.
On September 10, 1981, he was tonsured a monk with the monastic name Timotej at the St. John the Baptist-Bigorski Monastery. The next day, he was ordained as a hierodeacon in the same monastery, and two days after that, he was ordained a hieromonk at the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos in Kičevo. He was elevated to archimandrite in the metochion of the St. Naum of Ohrid Monastery in Bitola.
After being elected bishop by the Holy Synod of the MOC, on September 20, 1981, he was consecrated as a hierarch Church St. Demetrius in Skopje.
From September 21, 1981, by decision of the Holy Synod of the MOC, he was appointed Metropolitan of Australia. The conditions at that time required that he also be assigned administrator of the vacant Diocese of Debar and Kičevo, from where he would selflessly and patiently manage both dioceses: the Australian until 1995, and the Diocese of Debar and Kičevo until his repose. From 2016, he was appointed by the Holy Synod to administer the Australian-Sydney Diocese.
In the past 43 years as a hierarch of the MOC-O, Met. Timotej performed many other responsible duties: He was secretary of the Holy Synod and administrator of the Povardarie Diocese (1997-2000 and from July 5, 2002, to October 1, 2006), and until his blessed repose, he was also the spokesperson for the Holy Synod of the MOC-OA.
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