KIM LAWTON: The Patriarch of Jerusalem presides over the oldest church in Christendom. Irineos I has been controversial since he was narrowly elected Patriarch by a Church council in 2001. But in recent weeks, a new conflict exploded over allegations that Irineos secretly leased valuable Church property to Jewish investors. Protests against him erupted during Easter services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
On Tuesday (May 23), representatives of the world's main branches of Orthodoxy gathered in Istanbul to address the situation. The rare "pan-Orthodox" summit was led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.
The crisis highlights the Holy Land's complicated mix of religion and politics. The majority of the region's estimated 100,000 Orthodox Christians are Palestinian, but the Patriarch and the majority of priests and bishops are from Greece. Moreover, by tradition it is Jordan and Israel that grant formal recognition to the Patriarch. Despite the stalemate, Church officials are moving ahead with plans to elect a new Patriarch.
