Joseph III

Mar Joseph III Timothy Maroge (or Youssef III Timotheos Maraugin or Maroghin) was the third incumbent of the Josephite line of Church of the East, a patriarchate in Full Communion with the pope mainly active in the areas of Amid and Mardin. He was the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1713 to 1757.

Life

Timothy Maroge was born in Baghdad and educated by the Capuchin missionaries in Amid. He was consecrated bishop of Mardin by Joseph II Sliba Maruf in 1705.

He became patriarch after his predecessor's death, being the only Chaldean bishop who survived the 1708-1713 plague. He was confirmed by the Holy See on 18 March 1714, and took the name of Joseph III.

During his patriarchate there was a growth in the number of the faithful in the patriarchate, mainly in the area of the Alqosh's patriarchate. Joseph III was a skilful preacher, and it is remembered that more than three thousand people of Mosul entered in his patriarchate in 1723. This success caused a strong reaction of the traditionalist Patriarch of Alqosh, Eliya XII (XI) Denkha, who succeeded in having Joseph III imprisoned many times by the Turkish authorities. thus creating many difficulties for the growing number of Chaldeans who lived there.

In 1754 Joseph appointed as successor Mar Antun Galla, but the Holy See objected and did not allow him to resign: thus he remained the incumbent till his death on 23 January 1757.