His Eminence Archbishop Timotei of Arad, the oldest member of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, celebrated his 90th birthday on Thursday.
He was born Traian Seviciu on 4 June 1936 in Timișoara and studied at the Theological Institute of Bucharest between 1953 and 1957.
In 1972, he earned a doctorate in theology, having previously pursued postgraduate studies in Switzerland at the Protestant Faculty of Theology in Neuchâtel (1967), the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey (1967–1968), and the Faculty of Theology in Fribourg (1971–1972).
Between 1960 and 1961, he taught at the Theological Seminary in Caransebeș. He later held several administrative positions, serving as diocesan secretary in Arad (1961–1962) and Timișoara (1962–1968), and as administrative vicar of the Archdiocese of Timișoara and Caransebeș (1968–1975).
He was ordained a priest in 1968 and received monastic tonsure a year later at Hodoș-Bodrog Monastery, taking the monastic name Timotei.
In 1970, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. On 15 December 1975, he was elected Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Timișoara and Caransebeș with the title Lugojanul, and was consecrated bishop on 8 February 1976.
On 30 September 1984, he was elected Bishop of Arad and was elevated to the rank of Archbishop on 28 November 2009.
Archbishop Timotei also holds a unique place in the contemporary history of the Romanian Orthodox Church. He is the only hierarch still living among the bishops who participated in the episcopal consecration of Patriarch Daniel, then assistant bishop Daniel of Lugoj of the Archdiocese of Timișoara, who was ordained to the episcopate on 4 March 1990 at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Timișoara.
Archbishop Timotei, then Bishop of Arad, was among the members of the synod who laid hands on the future Patriarch during the ordination service.
Full biography available in Romanian.
Photo: Basilica.ro
