Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem caught in scandal
IRENAIOS I, who has died aged 83, was elected 140th Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem in 2001, only to be dismissed four years later after being accused of unauthorised sale of church properties in the Old City of Jerusalem to Ateret Cohanim, an Israeli Rightwing NGO which seeks to “reclaim” land in Jerusalem for Jews; he was the first Patriarch in two centuries to be removed from office.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is an autocephalous (ie, self-governing) church established in the fifth century, headquartered in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. One of the oldest patriarchates in Christendom, it is also one of the biggest landowners in Israel, but as its only sources of income are its properties, for years it has bought and sold to fund its expenses.
Controversy erupted in 2005 after it came to light that, acting through a shell company, Ateret Cohanim had bought long leases on the New Imperial Hotel near the Jaffa Gate, an establishment run by the Palestinian Muslim Dajani family since 1949, the neighbouring Petra Hotel, held by the Qirresh Palestinian family, and the Beit Azmiya, a residential complex in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem.
At first Irenaios denied any knowledge of the deal and tried to claim it was void. Then he backtracked, blaming the church’s director of finance, Nicholas Papadimas, claiming that Papadimas had accepted bribes. When the sales came to light, the Holy Synod of Jerusalem of the Greek Orthodox Church forced Irenaios out of office, while Papadimas fled to South America.
Irenaios’s replacement, Theophilos III, challenged the legality of the sales in the Jerusalem district court, which ruled that Irenaios had the authority to sell the properties and the church had not proved that the transactions were the product of bribery or corruption.
The ruling was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2019, and subsequently Ateret Cohanim was reported to have demanded possession of the properties and the eviction of Palestinian “squatters”.
The Supreme Court ruling prompted a protest by 13 leaders of various Christian denominations in Jerusalem condemning the sale and the “illegal occupation” of church properties by “Israeli extremists” who put “in danger of extinction” the religious balance in Old Jerusalem.
Irenaios was born Emmanouil Skopelitis on the Greek island of Samos on April 17 1939. He served for many years as Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Athens.
On the death of Patriarch Diodoros, he was appointed locum tenens (temporary head) of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem in 2000, and was elected patriarch under the name Irenaios in August the following year. He was enthroned on 15 September 2001 as “Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Syria, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion”.
Patriarchs are usually appointed for life, and Irenaios refused to accept his deposition, taking up residence in a small apartment on the top floor of the Patriarchate building, where he remained until 2015, receiving food from supporters via a basket lowered by rope down to the street below, and claiming he had been imprisoned by Theophilos. Until December 2007 Irenaios continued to be recognised by Israel as the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem.
In November 2015, however, needing surgery, he was taken to hospital where a visit by Patriarch Theophilos raised hopes of a reconciliation. In 2019, however, Irenaios wrote to the Consulate of Greece in Jerusalem, complaining that he was living in a state of “de facto” imprisonment, that his Greek passport had been stolen and that Theophilos was attempting to have him transferred to a monastery near Jericho against his will.
In August that year he was reported to have boarded a flight to Athens, where he died.