Haaretz
Av 21, 5765
Irineos I, the ousted patriarch of the Greek
Orthodox Church in the Holy Land is negotiating with the Greek government
over terms that would allow him to retire honorably. The matter has become
urgent since the election on Monday of a new patriarch.
An
agreement has been reached over the conditions of Irineos' retirement and
pension. The bone of contention is Irineos' request for immunity from any
legal proceedings which might be initiated against him in
Greece.
This demand is seen as controversial by Greek officials,
who want to put the embarrassing affair to rest as quickly as possible,
but hesitate to confer immunity on the ousted patriarch, who has been
demoted to the rank of monk.
If Irineos retires of his own
volition, it would ease matters for Israel, which has until now avoided
withdrawing its recognition of him, thus creating the problematic
precedent of two competing Greek Orthodox patriarchs in
Jerusalem.
Israel's position has been influenced by the fact that
the proceedings that led to Irineos' dismissal grew out of suspicions of
his involvement in the sale of church real estate in Jerusalem's Old City
to Jews affiliated with Israel's right wing.
However, an official
source in Greece told Haaretz that the disappointment in Irineos'
performance was not due to the real estate affair in Jerusalem, but rather
to his performance in his previous capacity as the custodian of the
Jerusalem Patriarchy's property in Greece.