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Published
by Ecumenical News
International, June 10, 2004
Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul court for
dismissal of Bulgarian
By Clive Leviev-Sawyer
Sofia, Bulgaria, 10 June (ENI)--Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomeos I, soon after a bruising
dispute with the Greek Orthodox Church, faces new
difficulties after appearing in an Istanbul court
on criminal charges of illegally dismissing a
Bulgarian priest.
Bartholomeos I, known as the "first among equals"
of Orthodox Christians, appearing in his clerical
robes, defended himself in an Istanbul court on
Monday against charges of breaking the law by
dismissing a Bulgarian priest.
The charges, which led to Bartholomeos*s court
appearance on 7 June, stemmed from a complaint
laid in the name of the board of the St Stefan
Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Istanbul.
Bartholomeos, along with 12 other priests, is
accused of preventing people practising their
religion, through his
dismissal of a Bulgarian priest.
In court, he rejected the allegations, asserting
his authority over all Orthodox Christians in
Turkey. Members of a Bulgarian group that launched
the proceeds argue that Bartholomeos has no power
over the Bulgarian Orthodox Church because the
church split from the Patriarchate in 1840.
A Bulgarian national private television channel
bTV, reported that if Bartholomeos is found
guilty, he could face up to five months in jail.
Konstantin Kostof was removed from his post in
2002 after he refused to refer to the patriarch in
prayers. "Mr Kostof refused to mention the name of
the highest religious leader in the liturgy as was
required," Bartholomeos told the court. "We warned
him. When he did not comply he was dismissed."
The Ecumenical Patriarch has spiritual authority
over much of the Orthodox world and directly
controls several Greek Orthodox churches around
the world, including the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of America.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul dates from
the Orthodox Greek Byzantine Empire, which
disintegrated in 1453 when the Muslim Ottoman
Turks conquered the city, then called
Constantinople. Although few Greek Orthodox
Christians remain in Turkey, the Patriarchate is
still based in Istanbul.
At the same time the Greek newspaper Kathimerini
reported that an 11-month battle between
Bartholomeos and Greek Orthodox Church head
Christodoulos has apparently ended. The dispute
centred on a jurisdictional dispute over the right
to appoint bishops in the areas administered by
the Greek church.
Following mediation by Greece*s education and
religion minister Marietta Giannakou, the election
of three bishops by the Greek church, which led to
a temporary suspension of communion between the
Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek church, was
allowed to go ahead.
The English-language edition of Kathimerini on
Wednesday quoted Greek government spokesman
Theodoros Roussopoulos expressing the government*s
"satisfaction" with the apparent end of the feud,
in the light of conciliatory overtures by the
patriarch. "The two pillars of Orthodoxy have
displayed a prudent and moderate stance to the
benefit of both Orthodoxy and Hellenism,"
Roussopoulos was quoted saying.
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