The Greek/Palestinian Divide Within The Jerusalem Orthodox Church. The Institutional Aspect
The Greek/Palestinian Divide Within The Jerusalem Orthodox Church. The Institutional Aspect

Author(s): Konstantinos Papastathis
Subject(s): Eastern Orthodoxy
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Greek; Palestinian Divide; The Jerusalem Orthodox Church; Orthodox; Christian; Palestine; Greek hierarchy; non-ethnic; religious;
Summary/Abstract: The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the oldest Christian institution in Palestine. It has a monastic structure via the establishment of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher, and its aim is the protection of the Orthodox custodianship rights over the Hole Places, as defined by the so-called Status Quo Agreement. From the nineteenth century onwards, the national Greek element became dominant within the institution. This created an internal division between the Greek hierarchy and the Arab lay community, essentially overdetermined by the nation-building and the secularisation processes, which were the side-effects of: a) the tanzimat (reforms) that opened the way for the activation of the lay element in the decision-making processes of the millet; and b) the gradual building and crystallisation of the new collective identity, the nation. The outcome of these developments was the “gradual transformation of Church administrative structures from a non-ethnic religious representation to a nationality-based religious affiliation”.

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