Christian leaders: State preventing rituals
Leaders of four Christian sects send angry leader to Attorney General Mazuz, in which they complain about government’s involvement in affairs they claim are under their exclusive jurisdiction
Leaders of four Christian sects in Israel sent an angry leader to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, in which they complained about the involvement of the government in affairs they claimed are under their exclusive jurisdiction.
"This behavior is unacceptable in a democratic country," they wrote. "The managing of religious and spiritual rituals in churches under our responsibility are the exclusive responsibility of every patriarch or head of church," the letter said.
The message was sent after an embarrassing incident which took place a month and a half ago, in which the Greek-Orthodox patriarch Theophilos III and hundreds of his followers were prevented from entering an east Jerusalem church in order to hold a special Christmas prayer.
'This behavior is unacceptable in a democratic country.' Greek-Orthodox Church in J'lem (Photo: AFP)
Police say they didn't allow the religious leaders to enter in order to prevent a disagreement with Theophilus and his rival, Patriarch Irineos I, who was there at the same time; but the fact that hundreds of believers were forced to hold the prayer outside of the church was perceived as a stinging insult and attack on freedom of religious ritual.
Details of the incident were spread around the Orthodox-Christian world and also found their way to the supreme Patriarch of the Orthodox Church Bartholomew, who is seated in Anatolia, Turkey, thought of as the "holy synod."
Senior church sources told Ynet that Bartholomew said that in light of the incident, he intended to declare that the State of Israel is not tolerant of the Christian religion, and does not allow freedom of religion to Christian sects.
Such a declaration could cause a wave of harsh responses in the whole Christian Orthodox world, totaling around 500 million believers (in addition to Christian Russians), and cause damage to the State of Israel's image, but was the statement was prevented after sources in the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and the Patriarch of the church, Tehophilus III.
The affair is not yet over though, as heads of Christian sects in Israel decided to involve the Attorney General in the matter. Their letter was signed by the patriarchs of the Greek-Orthodox, Latin, Armenian sects, and the custos of the Franciscans.
Greek Patriarchate affair continues
The patriarchs’ letter was the latest episode in the scandalous affair of the Greek Patriarchate. Last May, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irineos I was released from his post, although, in a rare decision, he remained at the head of the Holy Synod and the Fraternity of the Holy Sepulcher.
The decision was made after it was exposed that Irineos I sold real estate assets belonging to the church in east Jerusalem to Jewish organizations. Despite the fact he was ejected by a majority vote, and was even demoted to junior priest, Irineos I still sees himself as the church’s legal patriarch as, he claims, his appointment was a lifetime appointment. He is currently living under heavy police security out of concern for attempts on his life.
Last August, the Holy Synod appointed Theophilus III as Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox patriarch to replace Irineos. The appointment needs to be approved by heads of the church as well as the governments of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Jordan has already said it supports the move to eject Irineos I and appoint Theophilus, as did the Palestinians. Israel is the only one that has refused the appointment of Theophilus, spurring Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to say that, “It is unheard of that in our country Jews have total religious freedom, but in Israel the government is trying to force a man on the religious institution.”
After Israel refused to approve the appointment, in November of last year Theophilus appealed to the High Court against the state. At the same time a ministerial committee was established to deal with the situation. Sources in the Attorney’s Office claim Israel cannot approve Theophilus’ appointment because the proper procedures to release his predecessor have not been completed.
At the end of the hearing, the court recommended waiting until the next government is set up, and a new ministerial committee on the matter is assigned. The discussion of the matter is slated to resume in June.
