Patriarch denies role in land sales
Reports of Jerusalem church land sold to Jews have angered Palestinians, they claim it is part of Israeli attempt to gain control of property in Arab East Jerusalem
The head of Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox Church denied on Thursday he had any role in selling church land to Jewish investors but said he would work to cancel the deals that have enraged Arabs.
Patriarch Irineos I made the comments after talks with officials in Jordan, which is the custodian of the Jerusalem Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church and had come under pressure to investigate the reported land sales.
"I can say that these allegations are lies. I would like to confirm that I did not carry out any property deal and I confirm that even if such a thing took place through fraud or any other manner then we will coordinate with the legal consultants to annul these illegal measures," Patriarch Irineos told reporters.
Newspaper reports that church land in the Holy City had been illegally sold to Jews have angered Palestinians. They see such deals as attempts by Israel to gain control of property in Arab East Jerusalem, which they want as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Jordanian Interior Minister Samir Habashneh told reporters after the talks in Amman that a joint legal committee had been set up that would "work to cancel any sale or lease whether it is through any court or through easier legal methods".
The Patriarch, who has blamed the scandal on rivals intent on ousting him, pledged to produce legal documents to assist the work of the committee.
"We have the Patriarch's commitment to an accord that stipulates the cancellation of all types of authorizations granted to handle the church's transferred and non-transferred assets and a copy of these annulments should be provided to the Jordanian government," Habashneh said.
Jordan approves the appointment of the head of the Jerusalem Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church under a 1958 law that gives it wide powers over elections of the church's top clergy.
The Greek Orthodox Church is a significant landholder in Jerusalem owning thousands of acres of property. The church is led by Greek clerics rather than Palestinians, unlike most of the churches that have recently appointed Arab patriarchs.
