TURKEY: ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH LEADERS VOTE TO STOP RECOGNISING CONTROVERSIAL JERUSALEM PATRIARCH IRINEOS I

Record ID: 328791

  • Title: TURKEY: ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH LEADERS VOTE TO STOP RECOGNISING CONTROVERSIAL JERUSALEM PATRIARCH IRINEOS I
  • Date: 24th May 2005
  • Summary: (BN15) ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MAY 24, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. PAN EXTERIOR OF PATRIARCHATE'S ST GEORGE'S CATHEDRAL 0.08 2. SLV/SV OF SENIOR CLERICS STANDING IN COURTYARD (3 SHOTS) 0.33 3. SV MEDIA SCRUM BEING CLEARED TO MAKE WAY FOR STATEMENT FROM ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW l, SPIRITUAL LEADER OF ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS 0.43 4. MCU (Turkish) PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW SAYING "We have been meeting since this morning and praying, and we decided to accept the decision of the metropolitans and archbishops (in Jerusalem). "We wanted him to resign of his own accord, but unfortunately he refused, so we took this decision." 1.03 5. SV OF CLERICS STANDING AROUND 1.09 6. MCU (English) UNIDENTIFIED CLERIC SAYING "It is a decision that the majority of the pan-Orthodox synod have decided to recognise the decision of our church, of this unit of our church in Jerusalem, this is our Patriarch Irineos and to recognise the new leadership of the church, the church of Jerusalem. And this way we have ecclesiastical approval, the collective ecclesiastical approval, pan-Orthodox approval to proceed to the steps of the election for a new patriarch". 1.40 7. SV/MCU/SLV SENIOR CLERICS DISCUSSING THE DECISION IN GROUPS STANDING IN COURTYARD (3 SHOTS) 2.02 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Reuters ID: LVA3CTAH7064EL8JTV03I3IW6EGK
  • Story Text: Orthodox Christian church leaders vote to stop
    recognising controversial Jerusalem Patriarch Irineos l.




    The world's Orthodox leaders have voted to stop
    recognising Jerusalem's patriarch after charges he was
    engaged in a controversial land deal sparked a bitter
    crisis in the church.

    Senior clerics from Russia, Greece, Bulgaria and other
    Orthodox nations held the vote on Tuesday (May 24) at a
    rare synod in their spiritual capital of Istanbul after
    Patriarch Irineos I refused to step down earlier this month
    following his dismissal by the Holy Land's Greek Orthodox
    Church leadership.

    Irineos has denied charges he was involved in leasing
    church property to Jewish investors in Arab areas --
    allegations that sparked outrage among Palestinians, who
    see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

    "We have been meeting since this morning and praying,
    and we decided to accept the decision of the metropolitans
    and archbishops (in Jerusalem)," said Istanbul-based
    Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the
    world's 300 million Orthodox Christians, after the synod
    adjourned.

    "We wanted him to resign of his own accord, but
    unfortunately he refused, so we took this decision," he
    told reporters outside of the patriarchate's St. George's
    Cathedral.

    The synod, attended by Irineos, lacks the authority to
    fire him, but its decision to end recognition is seen as an
    attempt to isolate the patriarch and force his resignation.

    In Jerusalem, a spokeswoman for Irineos said he would
    not resign, despite the decision on Tuesday, which she said
    was taken before he arrived at the synod.

    The affair brought together senior representatives from
    the normally fractious Orthodox church. Bartholomew has
    clashed in recent years with the Russian Orthodox Church in
    Moscow, as well as the Church of Greece, over the extent of
    his authority.

    Istanbul's once-powerful patriarchate has seen its
    clout dwindle over the past century as the Orthodox flock
    in Istanbul, formerly the Greek Byzantine capital, has
    shrunk to just 1,500.

    Bartholomew also faces pressure from authorities in
    Muslim Turkey, who say his leadership is limited to
    Istanbul's ethnic Greeks. It rejects his "ecumenical", or
    worldwide, title.

    There are also claims he's trying to create a
    Vatican-like state within Istanbul.


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