Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem Irineos I yesterday signed a commitment cancelling all powers of attorney given to dispose of church property in Jerusalem, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Minister of Interior Samir Habashneh met with the patriarch in Amman on Thursday and told reporters afterward that the Orthodox leader had pledged to “refrain from any action that would result in authorising the sale of church property in Jerusalem or elsewhere in the Palestinian territories and Israel.”Habashneh said the Patriarchate in the Holy City of Jerusalem would provide the Jordanian government with a copy of the revoked powers of attorney within 48 hours.
Addressing the media following their meeting, Habashneh said the commitment also entails the formation of a committee comprising the state prosecutor general and legal consultants from both the Interior Ministry and the patriarchy, to annul any confirmed sale or lease of church property.
The minister said diplomatic and legal measures would be taken to correct any mistakes.
As part of the commitment, the church's joint council and synod, which comprises representatives of the Orthodox communities in Jordan, Palestine and the occupied territories, will convene within 50 days to exercise its full authority.
Habashneh said the patriarch would instruct a financial team, also comprising engineers, to compile a list of the church's fixed and mobile assets and give a copy to the government.
Irineos I, who had been summoned by the government on Monday, and given a three-day deadline to meet several specific points on the reported sale of church property, denied any sale or lease to Israelis of church land in East Jerusalem.
“I would like to assure you, and my congregation, that no sale or rent of our land has occurred,” he said in Greek through an interpreter, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
“The reports were false,” he said. He stressed that if there were some “unauthorised” deals, “we shall abolish them.” He declined to elaborate.
The March 18 issue of the Israeli daily Maariv reported that the church had sold property, including two hotels and several caf?s inside the Old City's Jaffa Gate on Omar Ben Al Khattab Square to unnamed foreign Jewish investors.
The patriarch dismissed the report as a plot against the church, but failed to contain the outrage triggered among the Palestinians and the Orthodox community in the Kingdom.
On Monday, the Palestinian charge d'affaires in Athens, Ismat Sabri, called for the resignation of Irineos, saying the cleric did not actually sell the properties but leased them for 99 years to Jewish investors.
That amounts to “exactly the same thing” for the Palestinian Authority, as both acts lead to a “(Jewish) colonisation of East Jerusalem,” Sabri said.
Greece, which maintains historical and cultural links with the Jerusalem Patriarchy, also hinted on Wednesday that Irineos must go.
“It is clear that the current image of the patriarchate is not what it should be and does not bolster its prestige,” said Greek Foreign Ministry Spokesman Georges Koumoutsakos.
A Greek foreign ministry delegation that went to Jerusalem last week said it was unable to reach any conclusions because the necessary documents were not in the archives.