Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter in Jerusalem under cloud of land scandal

AP Worldstream
May 01, 2005

KRISTEN STEVENS

Hundreds of pilgrims joined a handful of local Christians in
celebrating Orthodox Easter in Christianity’s holiest site, where
tradition holds that Jesus rose after being crucified and buried _ but
current and ancient disputes intruded.

Worshippers celebrated peacefully despite plans by Palestinians to
protest the participation of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Irineos I,
a central figure in a land dispute in the Jerusalem’s Old City.

Pilgrims from Russia, Serbia, Greece and other nations kneeled to rub
oils, crosses, religious pictures and other articles across a
rectangular orange stone representing the place where the body of
Jesus was prepared for burial, just inside the entrance of the ancient
Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built over the traditional site of
Calvary.

Though the Easter holiday is supposed to be one of joy, new and old
disputes clouded the celebrations. Many Orthodox Christian
Palestinians stayed away because of the land dispute involving the
Greek Patriarch, Irineos I, accused of approving the lease of church
land to Jews _ an affront to Palestinians.

On Saturday, a dozen Greek and Armenian clergymen briefly scuffled
over who would be first to emerge from the tomb of Christ with the
ceremonial flames, said to come from Jesus, reflecting a dispute
dating back centuries.

Custody of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is shared by a number of
denominations that jealously guard their responsibilities under a
fragile network of agreements hammered out over centuries.

Standing beside her son, Maria Ediotis, 60, who lives in Australia,
said she was filled with emotion “in this place where God’s intentions
can be felt.”

But she said she felt uncomfortable Saturday watching the clergymen
argue.

“I saw some things here yesterday I didn’t like… I don’t know why
people have to fight. Jesus blessed everybody.”

Atena Chaiu, 67, from Queens, New York, said she was hesitant about
coming to Israel because she feared terror attacks. Even so, she
joined her sister and a group of 35 Romanian pilgrims because “this is
a special trip. It’s a beautiful place to be celebrating Christ.”

Police carved a wide path with barricades to make way for Greek
Orthodox Patriarch, Irineos I, to conduct service in the church.

Palestinian demonstrators were absent after objecting to the
patriarch’s alleged role in the land scandal as recently as Friday
night, when four Palestinian men were arrested for shouting at Irineos
and for allegedly assaulting police officers. A dozen police dressed
in riot gear were all smiles as Sunday’s events drew to a calm close.

Irineos leased church property in Jerusalem to Jewish groups to prove
to Israeli authorities that he does not sympathize with the
Palestinians, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Sunday, citing the
patriarch’s former financial manager, Nikos Papadimas.

The newspaper did not directly quote Papadimas and did not say where
they contacted him, saying only that he is hiding in the United
States.

The Jerusalem patriarchate, which owns large amounts of property, is
one of the main Christian denominations in the Holy Land, with about
100,000 faithful, most of them Arabs.

Orthodox churches use a different calendar than the Roman Catholic and
Protestant churches, which celebrated Easter on March 27.

In Turkey, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I spoke out against
terrorism and killing in the name of religion as Orthodox faithful
gathered early Sunday at the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church in
Istanbul to celebrate Easter.

Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians
and a longtime advocate of harmony among different religions, led
several thousand worshippers at a crowded midnight liturgy. Many were
pilgrims from neighboring Greece.

At Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a massive church near the
Kremlin that was destroyed by Stalin and rebuilt with a golden dome,
thousands of believers gathered for midnight mass, including President
Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and an influential
Kremlin aide Dmitry Medvedev.

Earlier in the evening, organizers put on a first-ever laser show that
painted the church’s white exterior with images of icons and famous
church frescoes.