http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/742/re2.htm
Church sacks patriarch
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem is finally pushed out, but
Palestinians insist the crisis is not over yet, writes Khaled Amayreh in the
West Bank
Click to view caption
Arab Christian demonstrators stand around a broken picture of Greek
Orthodox Patriarch Irineos
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
After weeks of protest, the Christian Arab community in Jerusalem has
apparently succeeded in getting the Greek Orthodox Church to sack its
patriarch, Irineos I, over his alleged involvement in the sale of church
property in East Jerusalem to Jewish settlers earlier this year. Irineos is
widely believed to have okayed the sale of several buildings and a hotel in
Jerusalem's old city, in concert with Nikos Papadimas, a Greek aide, who fled
Palestine to an unknown destination with millions of dollars.
Irineos, for his part, has insisted that he had no knowledge of the illicit
deal, promising to restore, if possible, the sold real estate. Orthodox leaders
in Palestine, clergy and laity alike, refused to believe him, arguing that it
would be a calamity if he knew of the deal and even a greater calamity if he
didn't.
The crisis reached a climax on Friday 6 May, when the orthodox community's
religious council, or synod, decided by a two-third majority to dismiss Irineos
and cease all contact with him. "Irineos has been driven by a spirit of
falsehood, misunderstanding the meaning of the church and irresponsibly
handling the property of the patriarchate," read a statement issued by the
synod. Explaining the decision to sack him, the statement continued that
Irineos "put in danger our rights and our presence in the Holy Places".
Irineos, meanwhile, refused to accede to the decision, accusing the synod of
acting illegally and in contravention to clerical norms. He even sought
unsuccessfully to convene a meeting of top clergymen for the purpose of sacking
18 members of the synod who voted to dismiss him.
Following the synod's decision, a meeting was hastily arranged between Irineos
and his critics during which an acrimonious argument erupted between the two
sides. In the meeting, the official spokesman of the church, Archimandrite
Atallah Hanna, accused the patriarch of not telling the truth and of betraying
the trust of the community. Irineos, feeling besieged, walked out of the
patriarchate headquarters. During the night, he returned to the patriarchate
under heavy Israeli police protection where he reportedly began packing his
belongings.
Some of the leaders of the Palestinian Orthodox community demanded that Irineos
be put on trial before a church court. "He must not be allowed to leave until
he has been investigated and tried before a church court," said Dimitri
Diliani, an orthodox community leader. "This is an important move but the
battle is not yet over, the fight will continue until we recover the real
estates and buildings that were sold," he said.
Developments in the Jerusalem patriarchate seem to have prompted Patriarch of
Istanbul Portholomeos I to give at least tacit consent to the sacking of
Irineos. According to Archimandrite Hanna, Portholomeos I sent a telegram to
Irineos in which he didn't address him as "patriarch". Portholomeos I, the
spiritual head of some 250 million Orthodox believers around the world, also
asked Irineos to de-escalate the situation and visit him in Istanbul.
Irineos protested against the letter, arguing that Jordan, Israel and the
Palestinian Authority were still recognising him as the legitimate patriarch.
Signs are, however, that Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have been simply
waiting for the crisis to fully unravel before officially withdrawing
recognition of Irineos.
Meanwhile, Irineos's financial manager, Papadimas, who signed the deal with
Jewish settler investors, has been quoted as saying that the patriarch sold the
buildings in Jerusalem in order to gain Israel's approval. The Israeli
newspaper Haaretz on Friday quoted Papadimas as saying that Irineos wanted "to
prove to Israel that he didn't support the Palestinian cause".
The sacking of the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem is expected to bolster
a trend towards the "Arabisation" of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. Orthodox
leaders, both religious and secular, have long been demanding an end to
centuries of Greek "guardianship, tutelage". Such demands have always been
rejected, ostensibly because the Greek Church didn't want to lose a foothold in
the Holy Land without which it would lose much of its stature and symbolism.
The situation has changed now.
Some Orthodox leaders, indeed, are arguing that the church systematically
exploits the community rather than serving it, an allusion to alleged
mishandling of the vast church holdings in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Beit Sahour,
Beit Jala and Ramallah, with revenues amounting to millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, Israel is vehemently against the "Arabisation" of the Orthodox
Church, fearing that such a step would ally the Orthodox Church in Palestine
with the Palestinian national movement.
As the controversy has played out, most Palestinians have been monitoring with
admiration the successful struggle of the Palestinian orthodox community
against Irineos and his perceived treachery of the Palestinian national cause.
Irineos is perceived by most Palestinians as having betrayed not only the
orthodox community but also Palestinian national interests in Jerusalem, the
capital of an envisaged Palestinian state.
Admiration for those who pushed for his removal is expected to further cement
Palestinian national unity and the Christian-Muslim Brotherhood in the face of
Israel that misses no opportunity to implant seeds of division between Muslims
and Christians, often via misinformation and rumour. Moreover, the sacking of
Irineos will make it more difficult for the new church leadership to illicitly
sell church property to Jewish groups.
Whether Irineos's ignominious dismissal will lead to the recovery of property
sold is less likely.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater?
Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/pkgkPB/SOnJAA/Zx0JAA/uTGrlB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
