Still Running Off at the Keyboard

WASHINGTON -- By the time the synod of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem convenes Aug. 15 to elect a new patriarch of the Holy City, they hope to have evicted the current one from the residence where he has dug himself in, protected by Israeli police.

Patriarch Irineos I was voted out of office by his peers in the Episcopal Synod in May when it emerged he had without proper consultation leased church property in East Jerusalem to Jewish developers. The expulsion was confirmed at a meeting of Orthodox patriarchs from Moscow, Cyprus, Serbia, Alexandria, and Antioch in Istanbul on May 23. Still, Patriarch Irineos remains in the house adjoining the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem with Israelis guarding him from any attempt to remove him forcibly.


Responsibility for maintaining the holy places in Jerusalem including the landmarks connected with the life of Jesus is shared by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic clergy, but the partnership between clerics has not always been a happy one. Irineos himself led at least one demonstration in which Catholic pilgrims were beaten up by Orthodox churchgoers, and the clashes had to be broken up by Israeli police.

The Jerusalem government's support is based on its claim that it has the right to approve both the appointment and -- as in the case -- the removal of the Orthodox patriarch. The government of Jordan claims the same right, but contrary to the Israelis it has endorsed the synod's ouster, and supports the selection of Irineos' successor. On July 14, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, issued a statement also endorsing the patriarch's removal.