body

Published by The National Herald, August 28, 2005

The head and the body

The election of a new patriarch to the Patriarchal Throne in Jerusalem puts an end to a nagging and thorny situation which caused a crisis in the Church of Jerusalem, and therefore a near breakdown at one of Orthodoxy’s most important ecclesiastical centers.

The unanimous election of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III this past Monday thus signifies a new beginning, and once again proves the Church’s durability in Her ability to overcome a crisis and experience a process of continual renewal.

And here, it is important to emphasize the unanimity of the new Patriarch’s election.

Whereas before, there was tremendous discord between (now former) Patriarch Eirineos I and the Holy Synod of the Church in Jerusalem, there is now complete accord between head and body, and harmony has been effectively restored, as is clearly signified by the unanimous decision.

Eirineos was accused of sanctioning property transactions to the benefit of investors who were interested in expanding a Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, enraging the Palestinian populace, which claims the Old City as capital of its future state. The allegations against the former patriarch, who has continued to maintain his innocence, have not been clarified, but while Eirineos may indeed be innocent, he should have stepped down for the sake of pacification and peace. Sometimes, unfortunately, it’s wrong to be right.

Moreover, and more importantly, those who have argued absurdly that the Church in Jerusalem should have an Arab, rather than a Greek, Patriarch should respect the unanimous election of Patriarch Theophilos. Throngs of faithful were cheering in the streets when his election was announced, and this shows that there is no problem at the local level, suggesting that outsiders (even among other Orthodox jurisdictions) have been trying to unsettle the Church in the Holy Land.

That being the case, those who insist that the Patriarch of Jerusalem should not be Greek are espousing racist views, and this demonstrates a clear attempt to divorce Orthodoxy from its Hellenic roots.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with a non-Greek patriarch in principle, but let’s not forget that the Israeli Government, a key player in the Holy Land’s affairs, is more comfortable with a patriarch it considers to be ethnically neutral.

Finally, the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher deserves our eternal gratitude and respect. The Church in Jerusalem has undergone immense upheavals over its long history, and the Brotherhood, as custodian of Christianity’s holiest shrines, has made enormous sacrifices to preserve the holy sites and keep the faith in a volatile political context.



Volume 7 Number 35 - Tuesday, August 30th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY