Translated material
Doubling the Patriarchs
Irenaeus does not want to give in to Theophilus
Yesterday in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem the name of the new Patriarch of Jerusalem was announced. He became the 55-year-old Archbishop Theophilus of Tabor. The Holy Synod was convened especially for this purpose. All 14 members of the Synod unanimously voted for the candidacy of Archbishop Theophilos. The Russian Orthodox Church was represented by the head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in the Holy Land, Archimandrite Elisha. In a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent, a representative of the Jerusalem Russian Spiritual Mission, Father Tikhon, welcomed the appointment of the new Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilus.It took the members of the Holy Synod about an hour to make a decision. The name of the new patriarch was named by the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Cornelius of Petra. Theophilus became the 97th Patriarch of Jerusalem. In addition, he is the third primate of the Jerusalem church with the name Theophilus. Many years were sung to the newly elected patriarch, and the signs of the patriarchal rank were placed on him: two panagias and a cross.
The new patriarch still has to resolve the housing issue. The previous Patriarch of Jerusalem, Irenaeus, refuses to leave his home adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Israeli police are preventing him from being forcibly removed from his home. The State of Israel refused to recognize the deposition of Irenaeus.
Let us recall that on May 24, the Pan-Orthodox Council in Istanbul approved the deposition of Irenaeus, who was elected to this post on August 13, 2001. The former Patriarch of Jerusalem was accused of leasing church lands to the Israelis for 198 years, receiving huge commissions for this. By the decision of the council, the name of Irenaeus was crossed out from the list of primates of Orthodox churches. Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II no longer mentions the name of the Patriarch of Jerusalem among the names of the heads of other Orthodox churches during services. 66-year-old Irenaeus, in the world Greek Emmanuel Skopelitis, continues to claim that he “had no idea about the impending deal for the long-term lease of church land by Jewish businessmen.” He denies that the agreement provided for the payment of commissions transferred to his personal account. Irenaeus refused to resign voluntarily and stated that “the patriarch dies as a patriarch,” since he is elected for life.