{{Short description|Head of the Coptic Church from 457 to 477}} {{More citations needed|date=April 2009}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Pope | honorific-prefix = Saint | name = Timothy II of Alexandria | honorific-suffix = | title = Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark | image = | caption = | venerated = Coptic Orthodox Church and Syriac Orthodox Church | major_shrine = | enthroned = 457 | ended = 31 July 477 | predecessor = Dioscorus the Great | successor = Peter III | ordination = | consecration = | birth_date = | birth_place = Egypt | death_date = 31 July 477 | buried = Saint Mark's Church | nationality = Egyptian | religion = Coptic Orthodox Christian | residence = Saint Mark's Church | feast_day = 31 July Julian calendar (7 Mesra in the Coptic calendar) }}[[File:Timothy Ailuros Armenian translation (10th century manuscript).png|thumb|10th century Armenian translation of the writings of Timothy Ailuros]] '''Pope Timothy II of Alexandria''' (died 477), also known as '''Timothy Ailuros''' or '''Timotheus Ælurus'''<ref name="DictOfSHES">{{cite book|last=Blunt|first=John Henry|date=1874|title=Dictionary of sects, heresies, ecclesiastical parties, and schools of religious thought}}</ref> (from Greek Αἴλουρος, "cat", because of his small build or in this case probably "weasel"<ref>Philip Jenkins,''Jesus Wars'' (2010) pp 221</ref>), succeeded twice in supplanting the Chalcedonian patriarch of Alexandria.
Before he became a bishop, Timothy was a monk at the Eikoston. He was elected and consecrated after the death of the exiled Dioscorus of Alexandria in 454 by the Miaphysite opponents of the Council of Chalcedon and became a rival of the pro-Chalcedon bishop Proterius.
According to pro-Chalcedon sources, after Proterius of Alexandria was installed as patriarch after the Council of Chalcedon, he was murdered at Timothy's instigation at the baptistery during Easter.<ref>Philip Jenkins,''Jesus Wars'' (2010) pp 222</ref> In the Anti-Chalcedon Sources, Proterius was murdered on the order of the Byzantine General in Charge of Egypt after a heated exchange <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/zachariah04.htm|title = Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 4}}</ref>
In 460, Emperor Leo I expelled him from Alexandria and installed the Chalcedonian Timothy III Salophakiolos as patriarch.
In 475, Timothy was brought back to Alexandria by Basiliscus, where he ruled as patriarch until his death. According to John of Nikiu, the emperor Zeno sent an officer to summon him, but when the officer arrived, Timothy told him "The emperor will not see my face" and immediately fell ill and died.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/nikiu2_chronicle.htm#1|title = John, Bishop of Nikiu: Chronicle. London (1916). English Translation}}</ref>
Timothy gave his name to the sect of Christians who came to be known as the Timotheans, or alternatively, the sect of Ælurus.<ref name="DictOfSHES"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * {{Cite book|last=Meyendorff|first=John|author-link=John Meyendorff|year=1989|title=Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450-680 A.D.|series=The Church in history|volume=2|location=Crestwood, New York|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|isbn=9780881410563|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6J_YAAAAMAAJ}} * {{Cite web |url=http://www.patriarchateofalexandria.com/index.php?module=content&cid=001003&id=104&lang=en |title=Timotheos II, Ailuros (457–460) |publisher=Official web site of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa |access-date=2011-02-07}} * {{Cite web |url=http://st-takla.org/Saints/Coptic-Synaxarium-Orthodox-Saints-Biography-00-Coptic-Orthodox-Popes/Life-of-Coptic-Pope-026-Pope-Timothy-II_.html |script-title=ar:البابا تيموثاوس الثاني |publisher=Official website of St. Takla Haymanot's Church |language=ar |trans-title=Pope Timothy II |access-date=2011-02-13}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel}} {{s-bef|before=Dioscorus I}} {{s-ttl|title=Coptic Pope|years=454–477}} {{s-aft|after=Peter III}} {{s-end}}
{{Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timothy 02 Of Alexandria, Pope}} Timothy II Aelurus of Alexandria Category:5th-century popes and patriarchs of Alexandria Category:Year of birth unknown