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Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-08-28
CONTENTS
[01] New Jerusalem Patriarch Theofilos cites need for restoring
Patriarchate's 'moral standing'
[01] New Jerusalem Patriarch Theofilos cites need for restoring
Patriarchate's 'moral standing'
Newly elected Jerusalem Patriarch Theofilos was featured in two
interviews carried by Athens dailies on Sunday, days after he succeeded
deposed patriarch Irineos (Eirineos) as the head of the venerable but
recently crisis-plagued Orthodox Patriarchate of the Holy Land.
In an interview with the "Eleftherotypia" daily, Theofilos stressed the
"need for restoring the Patriarchate's moral standing and credibility,
which were injured vis-a-vis the local governments (of the region), the
people and all of the parties that one way or another had contact with
the Church."
Irineos was dethroned by the world's Orthodox Church leaders after
months of heightened criticism by members of his Holy Sepulcher
Brotherhood, the Holy Land's congregation and non-Orthodox Palestinians
for actions or omissions related to the long-term lease of Patriarchate
properties in east Jerusalem to Jewish investors.
Speaking to the "Vima" daily, Theofilos dismissed any worry of an
"arabisation" of the Patriarchate -- most of the top clergymen are
ethnic Greeks -- while taking umbrage, in fact, with the term
"arabisation".
"The Patriarchate of Jerusalem belongs to all, whether they are Greeks
or Arabs. Our flock, comprised of Arab speakers, needs the Patriarchate
very much," he stressed.
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