Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

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)
"Orthodox Church of Jerusalem" redirects here. For other churches, see Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem, Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of Jerusalem, and Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem
Πατριαρχεῖον Ἱεροσολύμων
بطريركية الروم الأرثوذكس في القدس
Eastern Orthodox
OrientationGreek Orthodoxy
ScriptureSeptuagint, New Testament
TheologyEastern Orthodox theology
PolityEpiscopal polity
PrimatePatriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Israel, Syria, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion, Theophilos III.
LanguageGreek, Arabic, English
HeadquartersChurch of the Holy Sepulchre, East Jerusalem
TerritoryIsrael, Palestine, Jordan
FounderThe Apostles
Independence451 AD from the Metropolis of Caesarea
MembersEstimated 500,000 people
Official websitewww.jerusalem-patriarchate.info Edit this at Wikidata

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem,

Theophilos III. The patriarchate's ecclesiastical jurisdiction includes roughly 200,000 to 500,000 Orthodox Christians across the Holy Land in Palestine, Jordan and Israel.[2][3]

The church traces its foundation in Jerusalem to the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit, according to Christian beliefs, descended on the disciples of Jesus Christ and ushered the spread of the Gospel.[4] The church celebrates its liturgy in the ancient Byzantine Rite – whose sacred language, Koine Greek, is the original language of the New Testament – and follows its own liturgical year under the Julian calendar.[note 2]

The majority of Orthodox Christians under the patriarchate are Palestinians and Jordanians, with minorities of Russians, Romanians, and Georgians. However, the church's hierarchy has been dominated by Greek clergy since its creation, which has been a source of recurring tension and dispute. A movement to Arabize the church, known as the Arab Orthodox Movement, began in the 19th century. The church serves as custodian of several holy places in Christianity, including the Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, where Jesus is said to have been born, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which includes the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion and the empty tomb from which he is believed to have resurrected.

History

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Eastern Orthodox Church
Christ Pantocrator (Deesis mosaic detail)
Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia
Overview
Background
Organization
Autocephalous jurisdictions
Autocephalous Churches who are officially part of the communion:

Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure:

Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches:

Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church:


Autonomous jurisdictions

Semi-Autonomous:

Episcopal assemblies
Noncanonical jurisdictions
Ecumenical councils
  • Other possible ecumenical councils:
  • Other important councils:
History
Theology
Liturgy and worship
Liturgical calendar
  • The four fasting periods:
Major figures
Other topics
Holy Sepulchre, East Jerusalem
James, brother of Jesus, first Bishop of Jerusalem

In the

evangelical efforts, and to whom the term "Christians" was first used.[5] Nevertheless, Jerusalem was consistently central to Christianity
.

During the first Christian centuries the church at this place was the centre of Christianity in Jerusalem, "Holy and glorious Sion, mother of all churches." Certainly no spot in Christendom can be more venerable than the place of the Last Supper, which became the first Christian church.[6]

Before the outbreak of the

Herod's Temple in 70 by Titus, Christians led by Simeon fled to Pella in Decapolis (Jordan),[7]
where they remained until 135.

The Jews of Judea again revolted against Rome in the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136). By or during that time, the Christians had returned to Jerusalem. However, to punish the Jews for their revolt and to prevent further unrest, Jerusalem was made a Roman colony and renamed Aelia Capitolina by Hadrian. In 135, the Metropolitan of Caesarea appointed Marcus as the first bishop of the renamed Church of Aelia Capitolina. He was the first gentile bishop of the Church of Jerusalem (or Aelia Capitolina), all the previous ones having been Jewish.[8] The persecution of Jews by Roman authorities in Judea increased, with most of the Jewish and Christian population of Judea being enslaved and dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. The importance and place of Jerusalem in the life of the Christian Church diminished, though a Jewish and Christian remnant always remained in the city and the land.

Despite the strife, persecutions and meager population, bishops continued to be elected or named.

James the Just to Judas († 135)—and the remainder were Gentiles.[8] The Metropolitans of Caesarea continued to appoint the bishops of Aelia Capitolina
until 325.

At the

Caesarea, the council accorded the bishop a certain undefined precedence in its seventh canon
.

In a decree issued from the seventh session of the

emperors of Byzantium
.

The Persians occupied Jerusalem in 614 and took Patriarch

Chrysostomos Papadopoulos writes in his history of the patriarchate: "The Churches and the monasteries, inside and outside Jerusalem, were destroyed; the Christians were brutally slaughtered … thousands of prisoners purchased by Jews were slaughtered. Anything good that existed was destroyed or was plundered by the invaders. The monks were slaughtered mercilessly, especially those of St Savvas Monastery
."

In 637, after a long

Covenant of Umar I, which recognised Christian rights to protection. In 638, the Armenian Apostolic Church began appointing its own bishop in Jerusalem
.

After 638, however, Christians suffered many persecutions. Christian shrines were repeatedly ransacked and defaced by the successors of Umur, and there was great persecution all around.[

Ali az-Zahir
, under a treaty with Byzantium, permitted the reconstruction of the shrines.

In the

Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem
.

In 1099, the

Latin patriarch, and expelling the Orthodox patriarch. The Latin patriarch resided in Jerusalem from 1099 to 1187, while Greek patriarchs continued to be appointed, but resided in Constantinople. In 1187, the Crusaders were forced to flee Jerusalem, and the Orthodox patriarch returned to Jerusalem. The Catholic Church
continued to appoint Latin patriarchs, though the office holder resided in Rome until 1847, when they were permitted to return to the Middle East by the Ottoman authorities.

The

Roman Catholic Church and the Oriental Churches (Egyptian, Syrian
,
Armenian Orthodox
Christians).

Priest of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Flag of the Patriarchate with the letters "ΤΦ" (Tau + Phi) representing the word "taphos" (tomb or sepulchre)

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 Irenaios was deposed as patriarch by the Holy Synod of Jerusalem after having sold church property in East Jerusalem to Israeli investors.[9] On August 22, 2005, the Holy Synod of the Church of Jerusalem unanimously elected Archbishop Theophilos of Tabor as the 141st patriarch of Jerusalem.

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 Eastern Orthodox churches meeting at the

ecumenical patriarch withdrawing communion from Irineos and recognizing Theophilos's canonical election.[citation needed
]

Israel's refusal to recognise the patriarch's temporal role inhibited the patriarch's ability to take the Israeli 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 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.[citation needed]

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. A decision was due in mid-2006 and then in January 2007, but the Israeli government repeatedly requested further delays in the case. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on 11 February 2007 that the Israeli government offered to recognize Theophilos if he would give up control of several valuable properties and sell church property only to Israelis.[10]

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 had once again officially recognised Theophilos as patriarch.

Theodosios (Hanna) of Sebastia has also called for a boycott of Theophilos.[12]

In December 2007, the Israeli government finally granted Theophilos full recognition.

The dominance of ethnic Greeks in the Church's hierarchy excludes the Arab majority from its upper ranks. This has been a point of endless contention within the church and among its outside supporters, with the Greeks backed by the

Ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople
, in opposition to the native Palestinian clergy, some of whom seek to nationalize the church's leadership.

Land holdings

The "ΤΦ" symbol at the Christian quarter
Monastery of the Cross

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the second biggest owner of land in Israel, after only the Israeli government. The Greek Church purchased most of its lands from the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. In the 1950s, shortly after Israel’s independence, the Greek Patriarchate agreed to lease most of its lands in Israel to the Israeli government for 99 years, with an option to extend. Even Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, was built on lands owned by the Greek Orthodox Church.[13][14]

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate's properties also include historic buildings in

Jerusalem's Old City, including the Imperial and Petra hotels, inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City, as well as extensive areas in the Palestinian territories.[15]

In 2005, it was revealed that then patriarch Irenaios had sold lands owned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in East Jerusalem to Jews who seek to increase their presence in what is a predominantly Arab area.[16] The majority of Orthodox Christians in Jerusalem identify as Palestinians, and the sale of lands to Israelis caused a major uproar, which resulted in Irenaios being ousted as patriarch.[16]

Arab Orthodox Movement

Main article: Arab Orthodox Movement

A political and social movement aiming for the Arabization of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, known as the Arab Orthodox Movement, started in the 19th century.[17]

The movement began within the context of rising

liturgical language.[18] Initially a church movement among Palestine and Transjordan's Orthodox Arab Christians, it was later supported as a Palestinian and Arab nationalist cause and championed by Arab Muslims, owing to the Greek-dominated patriarchate's early support to Zionism
.

The Arab Orthodox laity maintains that the patriarchate was forcibly Hellenized in 1543, while the Greek clergy counters by saying that the patriarchate was historically Greek.

1967, the patriarchate has continued to function according to a 1958 Jordanian law, which mandates the clergy hold Jordanian citizenship and speak Arabic.[19]

To this day, the patriarchate continues to be dominated by Greek clergy, and continues to own vast properties that make it the second largest landowner in Israel.[17] In recent decades, lawsuits have ensued in Israeli courts between the Arab laity and the patriarchate over ownership of properties, and land sales by the patriarchate to Israeli investors has led to several controversies, the most recent of which led to the dismissal of patriarch Irenaios in 2005.[20] The patriarch's total control over the patriarchate and its vast properties has led to it being described as resembling "small absolute kingdom".[17]

Administration and Hierarchy of the Throne

Head of the Patriarchate and of the Holy Synod is Patriarch

Theophilos III (Ilias Giannopoulos), Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Israel, Syria, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion
.

Archdioceses and archbishops

Metropolises and metropolitans

Autonomous churches

  • Raithu
    )

See also

Notes

  1. Arabic: بطريركية الروم الأرثوذكس في القدس, romanized: Baṭriyarkiyyat ar-Rūm al-ʾUrṯūḏuks fī 'l-Quds, lit. 'Patriarchate of the Rūm Orthodox in Jerusalem', Hebrew
    : הפטריארכיה היוונית-אורתודוקסית של ירושלים
  2. ^ That is, thirteen days behind the Western (Gregorian) calendar

References

  1. ^ "The first Church". Jerusalem Patriarchate News Gate. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
  2. ISBN 9781598842043
    . Total membership is estimated at 200,000, with no more than 3,500 remaining in Jerusalem itself.
  3. ISBN 9780334040439
    . Greek Orthodox Church, with a membership of around 500,000, is the largest church in Israel / Palestine.
  4. ^ Acts 2:1–41
  5. ^ Acts 11:19–26
  6. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Jerusalem (A.D. 71–1099)". Newadvent.org. 1910-10-01. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  7. ^ According to Hegesippus.Catholic Encyclopedia: Schism. On the flight to Pella, see: Pritz, Ray A., "On Brandon’s Rejection of the Pella Tradition", Immanuel 13 (1981), p. 39-43; Bourgel, Jonathan, "The Jewish Christians’ Move from Jerusalem as a pragmatic choice", in: Dan JAFFÉ (ed), Studies in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity, (Leyden: Brill, 2010), p. 107-138.
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-14-044535-8
    ), see summary in Appendix A.
  9. Jerusalem Post. December 20, 2007. Archived from the original
    on September 17, 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  10. ^ "Haaretz: Government's Precondition for Greek Orthodox Patriarch's Appointment: 'Sell Church Property Only to Israelis'". Haaretz. February 11, 2007. Archived from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  11. ^ Jordan reverses decision over Jerusalem Patriarch
  12. ^ "Link lost". Archived from the original on 2007-06-24. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  13. ^ Surkes, Sue. "1,500 Jerusalem homeowners up in arms over secret sale of church land". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  14. ^ "This Day in Jewish History / Finally, Construction on the Knesset Begins". Haaretz. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  15. ^ Jerusalem Post: Court freezes recognition of Greek Patriarch Archived 2011-09-17 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ a b "Ousted patriarch behind locked doors in Jerusalem". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  17. ^
    JSTOR 3879643
    . Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  18. ^ a b Robson 2011, p. 77.
  19. S2CID 229454185. Retrieved 14 January 2023. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
  20. ^ "The Monk in the Window". Haaretz. Retrieved 14 June 2022.

Further reading

External links

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