Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August/September 2001, page 17

Jerusalem Journal

 

Unholy Row, Political Meddling Threaten Greek Orthodox Church

 

By Christopher Slaney

His Beatitude Deodorus II, Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, died last December after several years of poor health. Seven months later the ancient holy order still is struggling to elect a successor. Political intrigue and a series of scandals are complicating what already was a tricky electoral process.

At the root of the problem is the question of who will control the Greek Orthodox church in the Holy Land—and ultimately some very attractive real estate. The Byzantine Church of Jerusalem, raised to the rank of Patriarchate in AD 451, thrived for hundreds of years and survived the advent of Islam—although it was forced into exile during the 11th century Crusader kingdom. Since 1534, however, there has been an uninterrupted presence of ethnic Greek patriarchs in Jerusalem. The late Patriarch Deodorus II, and all his predecessors since 1534, came from the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher, a monastic order based in Jerusalem’s Old City.

During the 19 years Deodorus held office, a rift developed between the Greek-born hierarchy and its Arab congregation. Church members and parish clergy, the vast majority of whom are Palestinians, are angry over a series of land deals the Patriarchate made with Israeli developers, who poured big money into church coffers. Some of the transactions are very controversial, involving land for Jewish settlements such as Har Homa, south of Jerusalem. A separate deal has resulted in a luxury condominium development on a site in Jaffa locals say used to be a cemetery.

The community claims profits from these deals have not been properly accounted for, and that the Patriarchate is not providing sufficient funding for churches and schools. Since 1998 there has been an open revolt by church members calling themselves the “Arab Orthodox Committee.” They demand a greater say in church management, beginning with a look at the bookkeeping.

The Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem has a rich inventory of land accumulated over the centuries by frugal monks. It includes a 107-acre tract in the middle of Jewish West Jerusalem, straddling the smart neighborhoods of Talbieh, Rehavia and the site of the Israeli president’s residence. The church leased this particular parcel to the Jewish National Fund in 1950 for 99 years. Other large plots are located in Jaffa, Ramle and Nazareth. The Greek clergy are adamant that no land has been sold, only leased, and that what they do with their property is of no concern to the churchgoers.

Shortly before the patriarch’s death this reporter met His Beatitude Deodorus at his residence on the Street of the Patriarch. He was weak and confined to a wheelchair, but became angry and animated when the Arab Orthodox Committee and its claims were mentioned. “They should be ashamed for making these allegations, it’s nothing but ingratitude!” he said. His Beatitude stated quite bluntly that the land belongs to the Patriarch and not to the people: “Which land has been sold?” he asked. “Theirs? Their fathers’? None of the land is from the people, they never gave us any land!”

Marwan Toubasi, a founding member of the Arab Orthodox Committee, is equally forthright. “The activities of the Patriarchate are not serving the Orthodox community, the Palestinians, or the existence of Orthodoxy at all,” he said. “They are working as a real estate office and not as the spiritual leaders of the community.”

Apart from being a valuable commodity, the land is also a political time bomb. The Greek Orthodox Church is the only major church in Jerusalem which has not come under Palestinian control. The Israeli government is mindful of the fact that, should church leadership pass to Palestinian hands, some choice title deeds go, too. At the time of Patriarch Deodorus’ death, in fact, the Israeli police fraud squad and investigators from the attorney general’s office were trying to determine if he had signed an agreement to renew the Jerusalem lease for a further 999 years—the term sought by the Jewish National Fund—or whether, as he claimed up until his death, his signature was forged. Either way, the Israelis require a Greek-born patriarch with whom they could continue to do business.

In an internal report leaked to the media in 1999, the Israeli Ministry of Internal Security saw the conflict within the church as having wider implications, far beyond the land issue. The report’s author warned that the Palestinian leadership wants to seize control of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate for political gain, and that the PLO is the instigator of bodies like the Arab Orthodox Committee. The report claims the Palestinian Authority wants to use the Greek Orthodox Church as a means of influencing the political positions of the Greek government and the European Union.

External politics aside, Arab church members would like to see one of their own elevated to the top job. However, the electoral process, conducted by a mostly Greek synod, is stacked against them. The synod—The Order of the Holy Sepulcher—has 17 Greek members and, together with 12 Arab clergy, elects a short list of 15 candidates from within their own ranks. Then, following a centuries-old tradition, the list must be approved by the sovereign power.

While the Ottoman Empire held sway in the region, this was a simple procedure. Today, however, the candidates must be approved by both the Jordanian and Israeli governments, along with the Palestinian Authority. (The Patriarchate includes Orthodox congregations in Jordan.) Israeli approval has not been forthcoming, and in the interim the church is headed by an acting patriarch, Metropolitan Cornelius.

The point of contact between the church and the Israeli government is the Foreign Ministry. When the ministry’s Ariel Kenet says his government wants an “independent Patriarchate,” he no doubt means independent of Palestinian influence. “I am sure that if the Patriarchate will consider things carefully then Israel’s interests will have a place in their decision making,” Kenet said.

According to Bethlehem University lecturer Sammy Kirreh, an Arab candidate, Father Atallah Hanna, was on the original list of 15 but was dropped after Israeli objections. A Greek church official denies that Hanna’s name ever had been considered.

Once all parties approve the list, three finalists are chosen at a meeting of the synod joined by 33 other clerics. The synod then holds a secret ballot in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and one of the three is proclaimed patriarch.

Fanning the flames of the election is a campaign being waged by the supporters of three leading candidates, and characterized by mudslinging, slander, bribery and tales of sexual misconduct. Church insiders believe Acting Patriarch Metropolitan Cornelius will be among the final three. The other two are controversial. Metropolitan Timothy has been accused in a local newspaper of having sex in church. The third name is believed to be Archbishop Irineos, the current exarch of the Holy Sepulcher in Athens. He is considered to be very close to the PLO, and it is rumored in Jerusalem that he also has close ties with Israelis who want to do business in Greece.

Metropolitan Cornelius is coy about his own chances, “We don’t have leading candidates,” he said. “There’s a list of 15, and one should not be surprised if a complete unknown gets elected.”

Whatever names are on the list, it has both the Jordanian and Palestinian stamps of approval. The Israelis still are dragging their feet, and the delay is leading to more intrigue, scandal and a congregation which is beginning to question its church. The Israelis say they will not be rushed. “We didn’t stand with a stopwatch over the Jordanians and the Palestinians,” says the Foreign Ministry’s Kenet. “We will take our time for as long as it takes according to the Israeli perspective.”

In mid-June Metropolitan Cornelius met with Israeli officials and drafted a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urging him to speed up the process. “This is the law and it’s been done this way for centuries,” Cornelius said after the meeting, “but maybe it was a mistake to give the governments this authority.”

Christopher Slaney is a free-lance journalist based in the Middle East.

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