A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 7 Number 24 - Tuesday, June 14th, 2005 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian Laity
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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AMMAN, Jordan (AP) Jordan confirmed on Saturday that it has withdrawn the diplomatic passport issued to embattled Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irineos I but denied that reports that it had revoked the churchman's nationality. Interior Ministry spokesman Faisal Al-Qadi did not say when the passport was taken. The move, coupled with Greece's issuance last month of a new passport that changes Irineos' title to "former patriarch," increases the already fierce pressure on Irineos to resign. For the past three months, Irineos has been embroiled in a controversy over the long-term leasing of choice church property to Jews trying to expand their presence in disputed Jerusalem. Reports of the leases have aroused the furor of the Palestinians, who make up most of the Orthodox congregation, because Palestinians claim the eastern sector of Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Irineos has repeatedly declared he would not step aside, even though the controversy has prevented him from wielding the powers of a patriarch. World Orthodox leaders, in a special meeting in Istanbul last month, decided they would no longer recognize him and church leaders in Jerusalem have selected a temporary replacement. Legally, though, church leaders cannot dismiss him: Only the governments in areas where his congregation lives Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have the power to do that, by withdrawing recognition of him. Irineos has received no public support from any of the three governments.
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