Turkey: The world's Orthodox leaders yesterday voted to stop recognising Jerusalem's patriarch, a church official said, after charges he was engaged in a controversial land deal sparked a crisis in the church.
Senior clerics from Russia, Greece, Bulgaria and other Orthodox nations held the vote at a rare synod in their spiritual capital of Istanbul after Patriarch Irineos I refused to step down earlier this month following his dismissal by the Holy Land's Greek Orthodox Church leadership.
"The synod has voted to stop recognising Irineos after calling on him to step down, which he refused to do," Nikolaos Manginas, a patriarchate spokesman, told Reuters.
Irineos has denied allegations he was involved in leasing church property to Jewish investors in Arab areas - charges that sparked outrage among Palestinians, including Arab Christians who see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
The synod, attended by Irineos, lacks the authority to fire the patriarch, but its decision to end recognition is seen as an attempt to isolate him and force his resignation.
The affair has brought together normally divided senior clerics from Russia, Bulgaria and other Orthodox nations for the two-day meeting in Istanbul, their spiritual capital.
The synod is being overseen by Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians.
Turkey rejects Bartholomew's "ecumenical", or worldwide, title, and the meeting brought protests from Turks accusing him of trying to set up a Vatican-like state in Istanbul.
The synod, which Irineos is attending, lacks the power to dismiss the Greek-born cleric, but it is seen as an effort to create a common front that could force him to step down.
The Istanbul meeting also offers Bartholomew a chance to assert his authority over a fractious Orthodoxy.
The once-powerful patriarchate has seen its clout dwindle over the past century as the Orthodox flock in Istanbul, formerly the Greek Byzantine capital, has shrunk to just 1,500 or so.
Bartholomew has clashed with the Church of Greece, Moscow's Russian Orthodox Church and even Istanbul's tiny Bulgarian Orthodox community over the extent of his authority.
He also faces pressure from Turkish authorities, who say his leadership is limited to Istanbul's ethnic Greeks.