Ecumenical patriarch



Volume 6 Number 24 - Tuesday, June 15th, 2004	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY

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The Orthodox Christian News Service

Published by The Associated Press, June 7, 2004

Ecumenical patriarch defends himself

By JAMES C. HELICKE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians appeared before a criminal court Monday, defending himself against charges he broke the law by dismissing a Bulgarian priest.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I wore his long clerical garb into the courtroom, where he and 12 other senior clerics are on trial on rarely invoked charges of "preventing others from observing faith and conducting religious services."

Bartholomew insisted the Holy Synod, or governing council, had the authority to remove the priest, Konstantin Kostof. But members of a Bulgarian foundation who launched the lawsuit argue that Bartholomew has no power over the Bulgarian Orthodox Church because the church split from the Patriarchate in 1840.

The Orthodox Church frequently sees struggles over authority, but they rarely end up in a criminal court - and the trial poses a challenge to Bartholomew's authority. The defendants face up to five months in prison if found guilty.

The patriarch has spiritual authority over the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians and directly controls several Greek Orthodox churches around the world, including the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Turkey only recognizes the patriarch as the religious head of the tiny Greek community in Turkey.

Bartholomew said Kostof was removed 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," Bartholomew told the court. "We warned him. When he didn't comply he was dismissed."

"According to our rules, the Synod that grants spiritual authority can also take it back in the same manner," he said, according to a court transcript obtained by The Associated Press.

Three of the other 12 clerics from the patriarchate also appeared before the court Monday, wearing business suits.

The charges against the men were brought by Bozhidar Chiprov, head of a Bulgarian Orthodox Church foundation.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul dates from the Orthodox Greek Byzantine Empire, which collapsed when the Muslim Ottoman Turks conquered the city in 1453. Istanbul, then called Constantinople, was the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

Although few Greek Orthodox Christians remain in overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey, the patriarchate is still based in Istanbul.

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