Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem - Recent Political Controversies

Recent Political Controversies

Theophilos III became patriarch of the Church at a very difficult time in its history. The politics of the Middle East and the delicacy of the relations with the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Jordan continues to make the role and place of the Patriarch and the Patriarchate very challenging.

In 2005, a crisis occurred in the Church when Patriarch Irenaios was stripped of his authority as patriarch by the Holy Synod of Jerusalem after he had allegedly sold church property in a very sensitive area of East Jerusalem to Israeli investors. The locum tenens (steward) until the election of a new patriarch was Metropolitan Cornelius of Petra. On August 22, 2005, the Holy Synod of the Church of Jerusalem unanimously elected Theophilos, the former Archbishop of Tabor, as the 141st Patriarch of Jerusalem.

The Patriarchate continues to be the subject of continuing allegations of political impropriety, from various political sources. Theophilos's critics claim that he was favored by Israel owing to his ties with key United States officials, such as former CIA chief George Tenet (who is Theophilos's cousin), whom he reportedly met through the Greek lobby in the United States. They note that, remarkably, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a meeting with Theophilos at her request during a recent trip to Israel. On the other hand, it is also been reported that he, as then Superior of the Holy Sepulcher, merely showed Secretary Rice the holy sites, as he did for President Vladimir Putin of Russia and other dignitaries visiting the Holy Land.

For some time the Israeli Government withheld recognition of Theophilos as the new Patriarch, and continued to only recognize Irenaios as Patriarch. This position has been criticised as defying the unanimous decision by representatives of all Orthodox Churches meeting at the Phanar at the call of the Ecumenical Patriarch withdrawing communion from Irineos and recognizing Theophilos's canonical election.

Israel's refusal to recognise the Patriarch's temporal role, had inhibited the Patriarch's ability to take the Government to court and froze Patriarchal bank accounts. This in turn threatened the maintenance of the Holy Places and the Patriarchate school system with 40,000 students. It has been alleged that the origins of the dispute are part of a forty year attempt by Israeli settler organizations and politicians to open up the Patriarchate's extensive land holdings worth estimated hundreds of millions of dollars. The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported on February 4, 2007 that two Ministers in the Israeli Government offered to recognize Theophilos if he would give up control of several valuable properties. The Israeli press reports that senior officials of the Israeli government may have been involved in a fraudulent real estate transaction with the deposed Patriarch Irenaios and are afraid of the consequences of court action.

In 2006, Israel refused to renew visas of many of the Greek clergy, which threatened to create to a serious crisis within the Church, as most of the monks are Greek citizens. Patriarch Theophilos applied to the Israeli Supreme Court in an effort to gain civil recognition. The Court was due to give a decision in mid-2006, but delayed giving a decision twice since then. A decision was due in January 2007, but the Israeli government again requested a further delay in the case.

In May 2007, the Government of Jordan revoked its previous recognition of Theophilos III, but on 12 June 2007 the Jordanian cabinet reversed its decision and announced that it is once again officially recognising Theophilos as patriarch. Archbishop Theodosios (Hanna) of Sebastia has also called for a boycott of Theophilos.

In December 2007, the Israeli government finally granted Theophilos full recognition. Irenaios appealed this decision to the Israeli Supreme Court, but that court ruled in favor of Theophilos.