ISTANBUL - Orthodox Church leaders gathered here for a governing council meeting decided Tuesday to dismiss Jerusalem's beleaguered Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irineos I from office over his alleged involvement in a damaging land-sale scandal.
"The (Jerusalem) patriarch has been dismissed," Kesarios Asilios, the Metropolitan of Jerusalem, told reporters after the meeting of the pan-Orthodox Synod, or governing council, here.
"He will not be recited as part of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He has been dismissed by all Orthodox Churches," said Asilios, who is ranked the first metropolitan in the hierarchy of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
The decision came after Irineos I refused a proposal by the Istanbul Synod of 12 sister churches and patriarchates to resign voluntarily, the Metropolitan of Petra, Cornelios, said.
"Then there was a vote and (the Istanbul Synod) accepted the decision of the" Synod of the Jerusalem Patriarchate which earlier this month voted to dismiss Irineos from office for an alleged multi-million-dollar sale of Church land in a mainly Palestinian area to Jewish businessmen, he added.
Nine of the churches and patriarchates present at Tuesday's Synod voted against Irineos while only the patriachate of Georgia cast a vote in favour of him, Cornelios said.
The Church of Poland and the patriarchate of Antioch abstained, he added.
"The next step will be to elect a temporary replacement for Irineos. Then, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians will be informed. Then we will organise elections for the next patriarch," he said.
Irineos, who intended to contest the power of the Istanbul Synod, meanwhile signalled that he would not step down when queried by reporters after the meeting if he would resign.
Before the Istanbul Synod got underway, one of his two lawyers had said that they would take the matter to international courts should the synod decide against the patriarch.
"No one can cut us from the religious rights and legal liberties through any legal means," attorney Franciscos Ragoussis told AFP.
"And any entity that is going to challenge this is going to be brought in front of international justice. By that, we mean the European Court of Human Rights and even the United Nations," he said.
Irineos was effectively turfed out of office by his own flock on May 7 when 12 out of the 18 bishops in the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem voted for his removal.
The patriarch had been under pressure to resign since mid-March when a newspaper reported an alleged transaction in which ideologically motivated Jewish businessmen acquired Church land in a mainly Palestinian area of the Old City, part of occupied east Jerusalem.
Irineos has repeatedly denied involvement in the sale and has refused to step down.
His supporters claim the Holy Synod in Jerusalem cannot decide on a dismissal unless the patriarch himself calls the meeting, loses his mental capacities or violates the teachings of the Church.
His opponents, on the other hand, argue that the Jerusalem Synod acted in the right and expect the Istanbul Synod to endorse its decision.
The Istanbul Synod meeting also stirred controversy among nationalists in Turkey who contest the power of Bartholomew I, recognised by Ankara as only the head of the Greek Orthodox community in Turkey.
Up to 3O demonstrators showed up in front of the patriarchate shortly after the synod began but were blocked by police a few meters (yards) from the entrance to the patriarchate.
They dispersed after reading a declaration condemning Bartholomew for setting up a "court independent of Turkish courts" and what they called his attempts to establish a "second Vatican" in Turkey.
05/24/2005 16:49 GMT