World Orthodox Leaders Vote to No Longer Recognise Jerusalem Patriarch

World Orthodox church leaders gathering in Istanbul, voted Tuesday to stop recognising the beset patriarch of Jerusalem, Irineos I, and asserted a unique unified position on the crisis in the Holy Land.

Votes were cast by the representatives of the 12 main Orthodox churches, the "pan-Orthodox" synod which was presided by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians based in Istanbul.

Irineos had unrelentingly declined to resign, though members of Irineos’ church attempted to remove him from his post due to detonating allegations that his church rented property to Jewish investors in east Jerusalem, the city which Palestinians regard as their capital.

The synod vote does not directly call for Irienos’ dismissal but the act of refusing to recognise his authority will put further pressure on him to step down.

"We had to make a sad decision about the Jerusalem patriarch," Bartholomew said. Irineos was asked to resign during the synod but he refused.

The gathering in Istanbul is the first major pan-Orthodox summit in over ten years. The authority to dismiss Irineos or choose his successor lies with the synod, or the governing council of the Jerusalem church. The gathering has no authority over this. Irineos had refused to assemble the synod together.

Clerics supporting Irineos’ dismissal were represented by six bishops at the synod. They are claimed to have already voted to remove Irineos as patriarch and seek backing from the pan-Orthodox synod which represents the highest authority in the Orthodox Church.

According to Cornelius, the Metropolitan of Petra, the vote Tuesday would enhance efforts by church leaders in the Holy Land to dismiss Irineos. "He can call himself patriarch, but he is not," Cornelius said.

Father Dimitrios, the secretary for the Holy Synod in Jerusalem, spoke from Jerusalem and said the church in the Holy Land will now begin to choose a "locum tenens," the person who will carry out the duties of the patriarch until a new patriarch is inaugurated. "It's a day of our joy and the day of our freedom," Dimitrios said.

As Irineos was leaving the patriarchate, he was asked by reporters whether he would step down. He kept silent but put his finger in the air and shook it back and forth, signifying that he wouldn’t.

Prior to the decision, as the representatives had met in the Cathedral of St. George, Bartholomew prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide the clerics when making their decision.

Franciscos Ragoussis, Irineos’ attorney, has indicated earlier on Tuesday that his client would continue to fight his expulsion. "No one can try in any legal way to cut us off from our rights, religious liberty and religious duties, and any entity that is going to challenge these is going to be brought in front of international justice," he said in Istanbul.

A former financial advisor to the patriarch has also been accused of giving 198-year leases to Jewish investors for two hostels owned by the church and a number of shops in the Old City. This infuriated the Palestinians, who claimed the deals were part of Jewish violation to Arab quarters.

This scandal has brought about a disgrace to the Orthodox Church. The meeting was seen as an effort by Bartholomew and other church leaders to improve their image in the Holy Land.