JERUSALEM, Oct 29, 01 (CWNews.com) - The new Greek Orthodox leader in the Holy Land has announced that he will seek to recover land formerly owned by the Church, including land on which the Israeli parliament building now stands.
Patriarch Eireneos I, who was elected by the Greek Orthodox synod this summer, has not yet formally assumed his new office. Under the terms of a 1500-year-old agreement, he cannot take office until he is approved by the local governments. He was quickly approved by Jordan and the Palestinian Authority-- the other two political entities within his jurisdiction-- but the Israeli government has not yet acted.
Prior to the election of the new patriarch, the Israeli government had refused to approve several different candidates for the office-- Eireneos among them-- because of complaints that they were biased toward the Palestinian cause.
If he eventually wins Israeli approval, and follows through on his promise to seek recovery of Orthodox Church real-estate holdings, Patriarch Eireneos would immediately become embroiled in a controversy involving what was once St. John's Hospice in Jerusalem. That facility was seized by Israeli investors in 1990, in a bitterly contested court battle. The building, located in a predominantly Palestinian section of the ancient old city of Jerusalem, is now housing a group of Jewish families.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
29. oktober 2001