Clerics Vote Against Jerusalem Patriarch

The world’s Orthodox Christian leaders voted Tuesday to stop recognizing Jerusalem’s patriarch because of his alleged involvement in a controversial land deal.

Senior clerics from Russia, Greece, Bulgaria and other Orthodox nations held the vote at a rare synod in Istanbul, their spiritual capital, after Patriarch Irineos I refused to step down after his dismissal by the Holy Land’s Greek Orthodox Church leadership.

Irineos has denied being involved in the leasing of church property to Jewish investors in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians see as the capital of their future state.

“We have been meeting since this morning and praying, and we decided to accept the decision of the metropolitans and archbishops” in Jerusalem, said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians.

“We wanted him to resign of his own accord, but unfortunately he refused,” he said.

The synod, attended by Irineos, lacks the authority to fire him, but its decision to end recognition is seen as an attempt to force his resignation.

A spokeswoman for Irineos said he would not step down. “The patriarch says that he is not going to resign, because he is not involved in any alleged leasing,” said Libi Zipser.