November 23, 2005
The new Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem has been sworn in, despite the lack of approval of his appointment by the Israeli government. Theofilos III succeeds Irineos, who was ousted in May amid allegations that he had leased church land in eastern Jerusalem to Jewish groups. The long-term leases enraged the church's predominantly Palestinian flock, which claims east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. World Orthodox leaders stopped recognizing Irineos' authority in May, but he continued to resist demands to step aside, saying a former aide signed the leases without his knowledge. Theofilos, who had been the metropolitan of Tabor in the Galilee, was elected to replace Irineos in August by the church's synod. He had served previously as a Greek Orthodox Church envoy in Qatar and reportedly has close ties to the Greek Orthodox leadership in the United States. A church official was quoted by AP as saying: "We hope Israel will recognize him, because all the Orthodox world and neo-Orthodox world has recognized him."