Joseph III (Chaldean Patriarch)

Mar Joseph III Timothy Maroge
Patriarch of the Chaldeans
Church	Chaldean Catholic Church
See	Amid of the Chaldeans
Installed	1713
Term ended	23 January 1757
Predecessor	Joseph II Sliba Maruf
Successor	Joseph IV Lazare Hindi
Personal details
Birth name	Timothy Maroge
Died	23 January 1757
Residence	Amid, Turkey

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, thus being the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1713 to 1757.

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 March 18, 1714 and took the name of Joseph III.

During his patriarchate there was a growth of the number of faithfuls of 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. Shortly after, some problems arose in Amid, where the traditionalists occupied Joseph's cathedral and the Capuchins left the town in 1726.

The patriarchate struggled with financial difficulties due to the tax burden imposed by the Turkish authorities and to the ransoms required to free Joseph from the prison. Furthermore, according to the Ottoman law the Chaldean community was administratively subject to traditionalist Patriarchate of Alqosh, resulting so to be in a weak position and exposed to vexations.

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