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Yes, and Don is a subject I am concerned about, but don't know of anything I can do about it. His posts are beginning to worry me a bit.

My dearest father Gregory,


I do again agree with you,father, the Church is the home of sinners, a refugee for all those who flee from sin, a hospital for sick people looking for the therapy of their passions, the Church does condemn sin but never condemns the sinners, that's Christ job, as the last Sunday Gospel told us, to judge and to separate, as the shepherd, the sheep from the goats and believe me I do not consider myself but a sinner...but do not forget that the Church from the very beggining of its history did institute rules in order keep the order in the Church and to protect itself not from the goats but from the woolves, from those who are among us (sick people looking for a therapy) but are not one of us. That is the reason of being of Church Canon Law, to protect the Church from Simon the Magician and all the Magicians along Church's history.

That was Simon Peter, the unfaithful and coward apostle who denied three times the Lord the night before his passion, who said to Simon the Magician "May your money perish with you, because you thought that you could buy the gift of God with money. You have no share or lot in this matter, for your heart is not upright before God. Repent of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your intention may be forgiven. For I see that you are filled with bitter gall and are in the bonds of iniquity."

Let all of us pray so that all the Magicians in the Church may repent and may follow the way of Peter, the unfaithful and coward apostle who became brave and fithful till death.

I wish you all and myself "kali metanoia" (good conversion) and "kalo stadio" (goog Stadium), as Greeks say, as next Monday the Stadium of the Virtues open its doors for all those who want to exercice themselves.

Dear Francisco, +May the LORD bless you richly! I apologize profoundly if I have offended you in anyway...you have done NOTHING wrong---I'm simply too sensitive. Your sincerity and openness is refreshing and uplifting and I thank you for sharing with us here...and especially for sharing with me and making us aware of issues that need to be addressed, whether we (I) like it or not. Most of all Francisco, I thank you for the gift that YOU ARE to us here...and for your gift of being present and being so kind and gentle and pious. May the Lord Himself reward your honesty and goodness!

With a prostration before you,
I remain your poor brother in the Lord,
+Fr. Gregory

Dear Father Gregory,

You do not need to apologize, father, believe me, you have not offended me in anyway. I hope not to have provoked you to much pain with my interminable posts (I recognize that all these posts about the ecclesiastical actuality of the faraway Greece must be a bit boring for most of you).

I consider that it is our common love for the Church, this enormous hospital where sick people try to find the therapy of their passions, that drives all the members of this forum to devote part of our time to talk about Church issues in this forum. The fact that each of us has got a different conception about the Church (as Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas or Saint Paul and Saint James the relative of the Lord, just to mention two examples) and about how must the Chuch face its problems is both an inconvenience and a blessing. In any case I must confess that it is a pleasure for me to talk about all these things with the people of this forum.

Yours in Christ,
Francisco

Psalm 133 ; Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is, brethren, to dwell together in unity!

From Kathimerini (http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100010_19/03/2005_54224)

Patriarchate �sold land to Jews�
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Foreign Jewish investors have paid millions of dollars to buy two large properties at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem�s Old City through a secret deal with the Greek Orthodox Church, an Israeli newspaper reported yesterday.

The highly controversial deal, details of which appeared in the Maariv daily, saw a group of Jewish investors paying millions of dollars for a tract of land in Omar Ibn Khatib Square just inside Jaffa Gate, which lies at the main entrance to the Old City. The article did not give an exact purchase price.

The site is currently home to two landmark properties managed by two prominent Palestinian families: the Imperial and Petra hotels. A row of Palestinian-run shops selling tourist trinkets is situated on the ground floor of the two compounds.

Neither the hotel managers nor the shop owners had any knowledge of the sale, which the newspaper said was carried out with money transferred through various European banks.

Asked to comment, a source close to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate told AFP the Church was unaware of the land sale and that �an internal investigation� was under way.

The source said Patriarch Irenaios I would never have agreed to such a transaction and that suspicions were growing that it had been carried out by a Greek lawyer for the Church who had acted outside the bounds of his authority and then fled the country to avoid detection.

Irenaios and about 20 priests visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City under police escort yesterday, as some 50 people brandishing copies of the Maariv newspaper held a silent protest outside the church.

Purchasing property in the Old City, which is situated in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, is fraught with political tensions, as Jewish groups often try to obtain properties in the heart of Palestinian areas in a major settlement drive. In order to avoid detection, Jewish investors often use Palestinian middlemen who operate in utmost secrecy and at great risk to their own lives in exchange for huge sums of money.


--------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately the beggining of the holy period of Lent did not meant the end of the problems (here we are talking about serious problems and not just about scandals) for the Orthodox Church in the Holy Land. The Rum Orthodox communities dicided today to ask the priests of the Patriarchate not to conmemorate Patriarch Irineos during the Divine Liturgy and to all all the Orthodox Christians to demostrate tomorrow (Sunday of the Orthodoxy)after the Liturgy in all the Orthodox Churches of the Holy Land asking for Irineos's resignation. The Rum Orthodox aks the Kingdom of Jordan and the Palestine Authority to take active role in the solution of the crisis whereas they ask foreing goverments to stop supporting the patriarch. Some of the Metropolitans of the Holy Sinod would, according to some press agencies, tomorrow ask patriarch Irineos to resignate during the Divine Liturgy. A big demostration, according to the same sources, will take place tomorrow before the Most Holy Church of the Resurrection.

May the Lord help the Church in Jerusalem during this Lent to find the way to the Resurrection.

....and more bad news from the Holy City of Jerusalem

From the Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1111205276130)

Mar. 20, 2005 1:33 | Updated Mar. 20, 2005 4:51
Patriarch urged to resign over land scandal
By JOSHUA BRANNON AND AP




Greek Orthodox Patriarch Eirineos I
Photo: AP

Advertisement




The Greek Orthodox Church called on Jerusalem Patriarch Irineos I to resign on Saturday in a move to quell Arab anxiety over reportedly secretive Jewish land acquisitions in Jerusalem's Old City in which the cleric was allegedly involved.

A report in Ma'ariv on Friday implicated Irineos in a multimillion-dollar deal that transferred sensitive land in largely Arab portions of Jerusalem to two groups of foreign Jewish investors, who were not identified.

In a news conference held Saturday in Ramallah, Palestinian Greek Orthodox leader Marwan Tubasi called on Irineos to step down. Though Tubasi could not confirm the transaction, he said any such deal would have been unauthorized by the consensus of the Holy Synod, and thus void.

"These lands are Palestinian lands, not lands from Crete or Greece," Tubasi told reporters. "We call on the Greek government to intervene and facilitate the inquiry."

"We condemn this behavior and we demand the resignation of those behind this deal, if it proves to be true," added Greek Orthodox Church official Atallah Hanna.

The Greek Orthodox Church owns large tracts of real estate in east Jerusalem and within the walls of the Old City. While legal, Jewish land purchases in the eastern part of the city are seen as a betrayal to Palestinians.

Nicolas Papadinos, an aide to Irineos, allegedly brokered the deal with Jewish investors seeking to bolster the number of Jews in the holy city. The sale included properties in Umar Square, most notably, the Imperial Hotel.

The alleged land sale shocked Arab residents and business owners in the area, although they did not know whether the report was true. The owners of the Imperial Hotel, an Arab landmark that frequently hosts meetings for Palestinian officials, deny having knowledge of the property's sale.

"This city is not for the Greeks or the Jews or the Arabs," said Abul Walid Dajani, the manager of the Imperial Hotel. "This city is a house of religion for the whole world."

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei immediately formed a committee to investigate the allegation made in the Ma'ariv report. "It is dangerous and a clear indication of the Israeli plan that targets the holy city," Qurei said. He said the plan includes buying up land "through secrecy, through fraud...all with the goal of making Jerusalem Jewish."

A number of Jewish groups have quietly purchased dozens of properties in east Jerusalem at top prices in recent years in efforts to bolster the Jewish claim to the area and prevent the city from being divided.

Officials with Ateret Cohanim, one of the groups active in such efforts, said they knew nothing of the latest deal.

In the 1990s, the Greek Orthodox Church sold a large tract of land in east Jerusalem around what is now the neighborhood of Har Homa to Jewish investors, enraging Palestinians.



From

Saturday, March 19, 2005 � Last updated 11:07 a.m. PT

Church leaders seek patriarch's resignation

By LARA SUKHTIAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

From http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/natio...07&slug=Jerusalem%20Divided%20Church



JERUSALEM -- Arab leaders of the Greek Orthodox church in the Holy Land on Saturday called for the resignation of Patriarch Eireneos following a report that he was involved in a land deal transferring sensitive Jerusalem property to Jewish control.

The Israeli daily Maariv reported Friday that the church sold land in the walled Old City of Jerusalem to Jewish groups working to bolster the Jewish presence in the area. The properties, which include two hotels, are in traditionally Palestinian sections of the Old City.

The Maariv report, which did not cite sources, could not be independently confirmed, and church officials said they had no knowledge of such a transaction.

But the report aggravated long-running tensions between Greek monks and local Palestinian leaders of the Orthodox Community, who have demanded more representation within the church. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate represents about 100,000 faithful in the Holy Land.

The church is one of the biggest property owners in Jerusalem, including large tracts of real estate inside the Old City, which is home to sensitive Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites. It also shares control of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection - with other Christian denominations.

A land sale to Jews in east Jerusalem, while legal, would be seen as a betrayal to Palestinians. The Palestinians claim the eastern part of the city, which includes the Old City, as the site of a future capital. Israel, which captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast War, claims the entire city.

In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Arab church representatives demanded the patriarch's resignation, saying they had lost confidence in him because of the reported land deal.

They also called on others involved to resign if the report is confirmed.

"We condemn this behavior and we demand the resignation of those behind this deal, if it proves to be true," Atallah Hanna, a Greek Orthodox church official, said Saturday.

The allegations prompted Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to form a committee to investigate the land sale. "It is dangerous and a clear indication of the Israeli plan that targets the holy city," Qureia said. He said the plan includes buying up land "through secrecy, through fraud ... all with the goal of making Jerusalem Jewish."

A number of Jewish groups have quietly purchased dozens of properties in east Jerusalem in recent years in efforts to bolster the Jewish claim to the area and prevent the city from being divided. Officials with Ateret Cohanim, one of the groups active in such efforts, said they knew nothing of the reported deal.

Residents and business owners in the Old City said they were shocked by the alleged land sale, although they did not know whether the report was true.

"This city is not for the Greeks or the Jews or the Arabs," said Abul Walid Dajani, manager of Jerusalem's Imperial hotel, one of the properties reportedly sold in the deal. "This city is a house of religion for the whole world."

The crisis is the latest sign of internal divisions within the church. In 2003, Eireneos accused a senior priest and formal rival for his job of hiring a Palestinian hit squad to assassinate him. The cleric, Metropolitan Timothy of Vostron, denied the accusations.

Eireneos' appointment to the post of Patriarch also was controversial. Israel approved Eireneos' appointment in 2004 after a more than two year delay, accusing him of being too sympathetic to the Palestinian Authority.






Greek Orthodox Patriarch Eirineos I
Photo: AP

Advertisement



The Greek Orthodox Church called on Jerusalem Patriarch Irineos I to resign on Saturday in a move to quell Arab anxiety over reportedly secretive Jewish land acquisitions in Jerusalem's Old City in which the cleric was allegedly involved.

A report in Ma'ariv on Friday implicated Irineos in a multimillion-dollar deal that transferred sensitive land in largely Arab portions of Jerusalem to two groups of foreign Jewish investors, who were not identified.

In a news conference held Saturday in Ramallah, Palestinian Greek Orthodox leader Marwan Tubasi called on Irineos to step down. Though Tubasi could not confirm the transaction, he said any such deal would have been unauthorized by the consensus of the Holy Synod, and thus void.

"These lands are Palestinian lands, not lands from Crete or Greece," Tubasi told reporters. "We call on the Greek government to intervene and facilitate the inquiry."

"We condemn this behavior and we demand the resignation of those behind this deal, if it proves to be true," added Greek Orthodox Church official Atallah Hanna.

The Greek Orthodox Church owns large tracts of real estate in east Jerusalem and within the walls of the Old City. While legal, Jewish land purchases in the eastern part of the city are seen as a betrayal to Palestinians.

Nicolas Papadinos, an aide to Irineos, allegedly brokered the deal with Jewish investors seeking to bolster the number of Jews in the holy city. The sale included properties in Umar Square, most notably, the Imperial Hotel.

The alleged land sale shocked Arab residents and business owners in the area, although they did not know whether the report was true. The owners of the Imperial Hotel, an Arab landmark that frequently hosts meetings for Palestinian officials, deny having knowledge of the property's sale.

"This city is not for the Greeks or the Jews or the Arabs," said Abul Walid Dajani, the manager of the Imperial Hotel. "This city is a house of religion for the whole world."

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei immediately formed a committee to investigate the allegation made in the Ma'ariv report. "It is dangerous and a clear indication of the Israeli plan that targets the holy city," Qurei said. He said the plan includes buying up land "through secrecy, through fraud...all with the goal of making Jerusalem Jewish."

A number of Jewish groups have quietly purchased dozens of properties in east Jerusalem at top prices in recent years in efforts to bolster the Jewish claim to the area and prevent the city from being divided.

Officials with Ateret Cohanim, one of the groups active in such efforts, said they knew nothing of the latest deal.

In the 1990s, the Greek Orthodox Church sold a large tract of land in east Jerusalem around what is now the neighborhood of Har Homa to Jewish investors, enraging Palestinians.

From Aljazeera.Net

Stir over Palestinian church land sale


Sunday 20 March 2005, 21:18 Makka Time, 18:18 GMT


The Greek Orthodox leadership is facing accusations of betrayal



Related:
Church tries to allay Palestinian fears
Report: Jews in secret land deal



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The Greek Orthodox Church is investigating a reported sale of sensitive Jerusalem property to Jewish organisations, a church official said.


The reported sale has sparked an uproar among Palestinian followers of the church, who accuse the Greek leadership of betraying the Palestinian cause.

Dozens of people staged a protest in Jerusalem on Sunday, calling Patriarch Eireneos a "collaborator" and demanding his resignation.

Palestinian church leaders have also demanded that he step down.

The controversy erupted after the Israeli daily Maariv reported on Friday that the church had sold properties in the predominantly Arab sector of the walled Old City of Jerusalem.

The Old City is home to Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites.

Perceived betrayal

A land sale to Jews in east Jerusalem, while legal, would be seen as a betrayal to Palestinians.


The Old City is home to Christian,
Muslim and Jewish holy sites


The Palestinians claim the eastern part of the city, which includes the Old City, as the site of a future capital. Israel, which captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war, claims the entire city.

Archbishop Aristarchos, the chief secretary of the patriarchate, declined to confirm or deny whether the sale
had taken place.

"This is an unfortunate event. We are investigating," he said.

"We shall try to cancel whatever actions have been done illegally".

In a statement, the church said any sale that might have taken place was unauthorised, adding an arrest warrant had been issued in Greece for a former employee allegedly involved in the case.

Patriarch heckled

During Sunday's protest, several dozen people gathered at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection according to Christians - and marched to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, chanting slogans and carrying signs such as "No to Judaisation of Jerusalem" and "We Will Not Rest Until the Patriarch is Fired".

"What is more difficult than witnessing the sale of Jerusalem?" Ellen Kashram, a deputy school principal who joined the crowd, said.

"This is an unfortunate event. We are investigating"

Archibishop Aristarchos,
chief secretary to the Greek Orthodox Church patriarch


When the patriarch left morning mass, about 10 people started heckling him and calling him a collaborator. Eireneos did not comment.

After a brief standoff with the Israeli police, Palestinian representatives of the church who were leading the protest met privately with the patriarch's aides.

Nabil Mishahwar, chairman of the Arab Orthodox Council of Jerusalem, said church leaders denied any connection to the sale and said they suspect fraud. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate represents about 100,000 faithful in the Holy Land.

The church is one of the biggest property owners in Jerusalem, including large tracts of real estate inside the Old City. It also shares control of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with other Christian denominations.