Haaretz
Adar2 12, 5765
Last Friday evening
Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox patriarch issued an urgent press release: "In
light of the media reports regarding the sale of the Patriarchate's assets
in Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Square in Jerusalem," read the statement, "I,
Irineos I, patriarch of the Holy City, rigorously and absolutely deny,
personally or in the capacity of my position, any connection with this
fictitious transaction, about which we so far have no
knowledge."
Irineos went on to say that he will sue anyone who
claims otherwise, and that only the supreme body of the Patriarchate, the
Holy Synod, is authorized to sell church assets.
This news release
came in response to a main headline in Friday's edition of Maariv, which
said that two groups of Jewish investors from abroad had purchased church
assets in the Jaffa Gate plaza (Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Square), including the
two long-standing Petra and Imperial hotels and a few
stores.
According to the Maariv report, the church assets were sold
by a young Greek named Nicholas Papadimas, who had received a power of
attorney for this purpose. Representatives of the Patriarchate explained
last weekend that Papadimas received a power of attorney to rent the
church's properties, but not to sell them, so the sale, if there even was
one, is not valid.
The nature of the transaction concerning the
church's assets near Jaffa Gate is not clear, but one thing that is
certain is that the report caused quite a stir in the Palestinian
Authority, in Jerusalem's Christian community, in Jordan and even in
Greece. Irineos' strident denial has not helped him.
Ever since the
news item appeared five days ago, PA government and parliamentary
committees have been investigating the affair. The Jordanian government
has also asked to be included in the probe, and the Greek Foreign Ministry
sent a special delegation to Israel, which spent the entire day yesterday
in a series of meetings with Irineos and his officials.
"I will
cooperate with any inquiry," said Irineos, while the Greek Foreign
Ministry has issued an announcement that according to the information in
its possession, "if any deal was transacted with those assets, it has no
validity as it was conducted in violation of church laws and without the
knowledge of the Holy Synod."
A very sharp response to the reports
also came from Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.
"This is a
most dangerous affair," said Qureia, who in recent days has reiterated his
demand to do everything to cancel the sale of the properties. "Israel is
mistaken if she thinks she can change the Arab and Christian character of
the Holy City by such measures."
Qureia lambasted all the
activities aimed at "Judaizing Jerusalem" and the construction of the
"racist separation wall" around it, which he feels is designed to oust all
the Arabs from the city.
The plaza of the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher, adjacent to the Patriarchate, has been the site since Sunday of
a series of demonstrations by members of the Christian Arab community,
organized by the Christian Coalition action committee. Committee leaders
have repeatedly announced that they will not rest or be silent until
Patriarch Irineos is unseated. The committee, headed by Marwan Toubasi,
Imad Awad and Dimitri Diliani, is raising the familiar demand to transfer
the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem from the Greek priests to the Arab
priests, claiming that "the Greek Patriarchate has become a branch of the
Jewish Agency."
Most of the Christian churches in the Holy Land
have undergone a process of Arabization in recent years, with local Arab
clergy replacing foreign priests. Only the Orthodox Patriarchate continues
to be controlled with a heavy hand by the Greeks, while the Arab priests
ask rhetorically, "Did you bring the church lands with you on ships from
Greece? These are the lands and the homes of our forefathers."
The
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is the oldest and richest in Israel. It owns
extensive properties in every corner of Israel, in the neighboring
countries and overseas, including in Greece. It is a kind of miniature
kingdom controlled by the patriarch, above whom there is no higher
authority. Only a few restrictions are placed on him by the 17 Greek
priests, members of the Holy Synod, and the patriarch is effectively an
omnipotent ruler concerning the church assets.
For years there have
been news reports of corruption within the church and the involvement of
powerful organizations in the fate of the Patriarchate's assets. Foreign
governments, contractors and various intelligence services, tycoons and
oligarchs meddle in the affairs of the church and its assets. Dozens of
attorneys, both Israeli and foreign, work for the church, which is rife
with power struggles and a strong undercurrent of chaos.
The
current wave of scandals in the Patriarchate began in 2000, after the
death of the previous Patriarch, Diadoros. Three senior priests waged a
fierce campaign for the position of patriarch, who is elected by
representatives of the church institutions. The election campaign was
accompanied by threats, pressure, forged documents and worse. Metropolitan
Irineos, who was finally chosen, was assisted in his campaign by a Greek
citizen named Apostolos Vavilis, who later turned out to be a con artist
with several identities and who had served time in prison for drug
trafficking.
Vavilis, who even now is a fugitive wanted by
Interpol, has been at the eye of the huge political storm in Greece in
recent weeks, after it turned out he had connections with Archbishop
Christodoulos, head of the Orthodox Church in Greece and one of the most
influential people in that country. Christodoulos apparently sent Vavilis
to Jerusalem to help Irineos' election campaign.
The Greek media
have been having a media fest with the story, intimating that Vavilis, who
was married to an Israeli, might be a Mossad agent, and that he had
dealings with the Israeli Defense Ministry and even sold Israeli military
equipment to the Greek police.
After Irineos was elected patriarch
in August 2001, he distanced himself from Vavilis and shortly thereafter
hired a young Greek, namely Papadimas, who was living in Tel Aviv.
Papadimas became Irineos' confidante in all matters concerning the
Patriarchate's properties and finances. Three weeks ago Papadimas suddenly
disappeared, along with his Israeli wife and their infant son.
At
first the Patriarchate claimed that he had stolen millions of dollars.
Then it turned out that he had not fled as a thief, but rather because he
had become a victim of the squabbles within the Patriarchate and feared
someone would harm him and his family.
Either way, Papadimas has
been in hiding for the past few weeks, and is now suspected of being the
man who sold the hotels and stores at Jaffa gate on behalf of Irineos to a
group of Jews from abroad. Irineos is now a victim of the whole affair,
and it is doubtful whether he will be able to recover from this scandal,
as pressure increases for his ouster.
Just a few months ago,
Irineos complained to the police that someone was trying to murder him.
The police arrested a suspect, but he was released when the allegations
against him were proven groundless.
Now Irineos will have to face
extensive inquiries. The big winners now are his opponents, priests within
the Patriarchate, who want to replace him. They seem to be close to their
goal.