| Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem Πατριαρχεῖον Ἱεροσολύμων بطريركية الروم الأرثوذكس في القدس | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Christian |
| Orientation | Greek Orthodox (Melkite) |
| Scripture | Septuagint,New Testament |
| Theology | Eastern Orthodox theology |
| Polity | Episcopal polity |
| Primate | Patriarch of the Holy City ofJerusalem and allPalestine, Israel, Syria, beyond theJordan River,Cana of Galilee and HolyZion,Theophilos III. |
| Language | Greek, Arabic, English |
| Headquarters | Church of the Holy Sepulchre,Jerusalem |
| Territory | Israel,Jordan |
| Founder | TheApostles |
| Independence | 451 AD from theMetropolis ofCaesarea |
| Members | Estimated 500,000 people |
| Official website | www |
TheGreek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem,[note 1] also known as theGreek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, is anautocephalous church within thewider communion ofEastern Orthodox Christianity. Established in the mid-fifth century as one of the oldestpatriarchates inChristendom,[1] it is headquartered in theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre inJerusalem and led by thepatriarch of Jerusalem, currentlyTheophilos III. The patriarchate'secclesiastical jurisdiction includes roughly 200,000 to 500,000 Orthodox Christians across theHoly Land in Palestine, Jordan and Israel.[2][3]
The church traces its foundation in Jerusalem to the day ofPentecost, when theHoly Spirit, according to Christian beliefs, descended on thedisciples ofJesus Christ and ushered the spread of theGospel.[4] The church celebrates itsliturgy in the ancientByzantine Rite – whosesacred language,Koine Greek, is the original language of theNew Testament – and follows its ownliturgical year under theJulian calendar.[note 2]
The majority of Orthodox Christians under the patriarchate arePalestinians andJordanians, with minorities ofRussians,Romanians, andGeorgians. However, the church's hierarchy has been dominated byGreek clergy since its creation, which has been a source of recurring tension and dispute. A movement to Arabize the church, known as theArab Orthodox Movement, began in the 19th century. The church serves as custodian of several holy places in Christianity, including theChurch of the Nativity, inBethlehem, where Jesus is said to have been born, and theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre inJerusalem, which includes the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion and the empty tomb from which he is believed to have resurrected.
In theApostolic Age, theearly centers of Christianity consisted of an indefinite number of local churches that initially looked to Jerusalem as its main centre and point of reference. Some found their way to Antioch, where they undertookevangelical efforts, and to whom the term "Christians" was first used.[5] Nevertheless,Jerusalem was consistently central to Christianity.
During thefirst Christian centuries thechurch at this place was the centre of Christianity in Jerusalem, "Holy and glorious Sion, mother of all churches." Certainly no spot inChristendom can be more venerable than the place of theLast Supper, which became the first Christian church.[6]
Before the outbreak of theFirst Jewish–Roman War (66–73 AD) and the destruction ofHerod's Temple in 70 byTitus, Christians led bySimeon fled toPella inDecapolis (Jordan),[7] where they remained until 135.
The Jews of Judea again revolted against Rome in theBar Kokhba revolt (132–136). By or during that time, the Christians had returned to Jerusalem. However, to punish the Jews for their revolt and to prevent further unrest, Jerusalem was made aRoman colony and renamedAelia Capitolina byHadrian. In 135, theMetropolitan ofCaesarea appointedMarcus as the first bishop of the renamed Church ofAelia Capitolina. He was the first gentile bishop of the Church of Jerusalem (or Aelia Capitolina), all the previous ones having been Jewish.[8] The persecution of Jews by Roman authorities inJudea increased, with most of the Jewish and Christian population of Judea being enslaved and dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. The importance and place of Jerusalem in the life of the Christian Church diminished, though a Jewish and Christian remnant always remained in the city and the land.
Despite the strife, persecutions and meager population, bishops continued to be elected or named.Eusebius of Caesarea provides the names of an unbroken succession of thirty-six Bishops of Jerusalem up to the year 324. The first sixteen of these bishops were Jewish—fromJames the Just toJudas († 135)—and the remainder were Gentiles.[8] TheMetropolitans ofCaesarea continued to appoint the bishops ofAelia Capitolina until 325.
At theFirst Council of Nicaea in 325, though thebishop of Aelia Capitolina was still subordinate to theMetropolitan ofCaesarea, the council accorded the bishop a certain undefined precedence in its seventhcanon.
In a decree issued from the seventh session of theFourth Ecumenical Council (theCouncil of Chalcedon) in 451 thebishop of Jerusalem was elevated to the rank ofpatriarch, ranked fifth after the sees ofRome,Constantinople,Alexandria, andAntioch (seepentarchy). Since then, the Church of Jerusalem has remained anautocephalous church. Jerusalem was established as a patriarchate because of the holiness of the place; the special significance acquired between the first and fourth ecumenical councils; the erection of magnificent churches; the conversion of a large proportion of the population of Roman and Byzantine Syria-Palestina to Christianity; the coming together ofpilgrims from around the world; the importance of outstanding bishops, monks, and teachers of the Church of Jerusalem; the struggles of theBrotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre on behalf of Orthodoxy; and the support of variousemperors of Byzantium.
The Persians occupied Jerusalem in 614 and took PatriarchZachariah prisoner, along with thepalladium of Christianity, the Precious Cross.Chrysostomos Papadopoulos writes in his history of the patriarchate: "The Churches and the monasteries, inside and outside Jerusalem, were destroyed; the Christians were brutally slaughtered ... thousands of prisoners purchased by Jews were slaughtered. Anything good that existed was destroyed or was plundered by the invaders. The monks were slaughtered mercilessly, especially those ofSt Savvas Monastery."
In 637, after a longsiege of Jerusalem, PatriarchSophronius surrendered Jerusalem toCaliphUmar, but secured theCovenant of Umar I, which recognised Christian rights to protection. In 638, theArmenian Apostolic Church began appointing its ownbishop in Jerusalem.
After 638, however, Christians suffered many persecutions. Christian shrines were repeatedly ransacked and defaced by the successors of Umur, and there was great persecution all around.[citation needed] The most deadly persecution occurred during the time of the FatamidAl-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (1007–1009), named the "Nero of Egypt" for his merciless acts.[9] He persecuted ferociously both Christians andJews, ordering that in public Jews were to wear masks representing the head of an ox and bells around their necks; Christians were to wear mourning apparel and crosses one yard in length. Al-Hakim is particularly notorious for ordering thedestruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other holy sites to Christians and Jews. In the eleventh century, the CaliphAli az-Zahir, under a treaty with Byzantium, permitted the reconstruction of the shrines.
In theGreat Schism of 1054, thepatriarch of Jerusalem joined those ofAntioch,Constantinople andAlexandria as theEastern Orthodox Church. All Christians in the Holy Land came under the jurisdiction of theOrthodox patriarch of Jerusalem.
In 1099, thecrusaders capturedJerusalem, setting up theKingdom of Jerusalem and establishing a Latin hierarchy under aLatin patriarch, and expelling the Orthodox patriarch. The Latin patriarch resided in Jerusalem from 1099 to 1187, while Greek patriarchs continued to be appointed, but resided inConstantinople. In 1187, the Crusaders were forced to flee Jerusalem, and the Orthodox patriarch returned to Jerusalem. TheCatholic Church continued to appoint Latin patriarchs, though the office holder resided in Rome until 1847, when they were permitted to return to the Middle East by the Ottoman authorities.
During the19th century, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem occupied a sensitive geopolitical position within theOttoman Empire. As part of themillet system, the Patriarch acted both as ecclesiastical head and as political representative of the Orthodox community before the state, which enabled the Church to accumulate extensive landholdings through a combination of private and religious endowment titles.Russian imperial patronage, particularly after theCrimean War, significantly enhanced the Patriarchate’s influence: Russian donations and the growing numbers of pilgrims supported land acquisitions, ecclesiastical construction, and agricultural estates across Palestine. These activities allowed the Patriarchate to assert itself against rival Catholic and Protestant missions while also engaging in competition with local actors, includingZionist colonization initiatives in theLate Ottoman andBritish Mandate periods.[10] Scholars note that the Patriarchate’s territorial strategies, such as the establishment of estates at sites likeCaesarea, reflected an effort to restore its former prominence while navigating the shifting balance of power among the Ottomans, European states, and emerging nationalist movements.[11][12]
TheBrotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, which is closely linked to the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, remains the custodian of many of the ChristianHoly places in theHoly Land, sometimes jointly with theRoman Catholic Church and theOriental Churches (Egyptian,Syrian,Ethiopian andArmenian Orthodox Christians).
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Theophilos III became patriarch of the church at a very difficult time in its history. The politics of the Middle East and the delicacy of the relations with thePalestinian Authority, Israel andJordan continues to make the role and place of the patriarch and the patriarchate very challenging.
In 2005, a crisis occurred in the church whenIrenaios was deposed as patriarch by theHoly Synod of Jerusalem after having sold church property in East Jerusalem to Israeli investors.[13] On August 22, 2005, the Holy Synod of the Church of Jerusalem unanimously elected Archbishop Theophilos ofTabor as the 141st patriarch of Jerusalem.
For some time the Israeli Government withheld recognition of Theophilos as the new patriarch, and continued to only recognize Irenaios as patriarch. This position has been criticised as defying the unanimous decision by representatives of all Eastern Orthodox churches meeting at thePhanar at the call of theecumenical patriarch withdrawing communion from Irineos and recognizing Theophilos's canonical election.[citation needed]
Israel's refusal to recognise the patriarch's temporal role inhibited the patriarch's ability to take the Israeli government to court, and froze patriarchal bank accounts. This in turn threatened the maintenance of the Holy Places and the patriarchate school system with 40,000 students. It has been alleged that the origins of the dispute are part of a forty-year attempt by Israeli settler organizations and politicians to open up the patriarchate's extensive land holdings worth estimated hundreds of millions of dollars.
In 2006, Israel refused to renewvisas of many of the Greek clergy, which threatened to create to a serious crisis within the church, as most of the monks are Greek citizens. Patriarch Theophilos applied to the Israeli Supreme Court. A decision was due in mid-2006 and then in January 2007, but the Israeli government repeatedly requested further delays in the case. The Israeli newspaperHaaretz reported on 11 February 2007 that the Israeli government offered to recognize Theophilos if he would give up control of several valuable properties and sell church property only to Israelis.[14]
In May 2007, the government of Jordan revoked its previous recognition of Theophilos III, but on 12 June 2007 the Jordanian cabinet reversed its decision and announced that it had once again officially recognised Theophilos as patriarch.[15]ArchbishopTheodosios (Hanna) ofSebastia has also called for a boycott of Theophilos.[16]
In September 2017, hundreds of Palestinian Christians protested inJerusalem calling for the removal of Theophilos III, accusing him of approving controversial land sales in East Jerusalem to Israeli settler organizations such asAteret Cohanim. The patriarch denied wrongdoing and stated that the sales were made under legal pressure and did not compromise church property rights.[17]
In December 2022, the patriarchate publicly condemned what it described as the illegal seizure of church land in theSilwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem by Israeli settler groups, warning that such actions threatened the Christian presence in the Holy Land.[18]
In August 2025, the patriarchate faced another financial and political crisis when Israeli authorities froze all its bank accounts over a disputed Arnona (property tax) bill. Officials claimed the church owed taxes on several income-generating properties, while the patriarchate argued that historic agreements exempted its holdings from such payments. The freeze disrupted salaries for clergy and staff and drew condemnation from thePalestinian Authority,Jordan, and other Christian institutions, which viewed the move as a violation of the traditional status quo protecting church property in Jerusalem.[19][20]
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the second biggest owner of land inIsrael, after only the Israeli government. The Greek Church purchased most of its lands from the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. In the 1950s, shortly after Israel’s independence, the Greek Patriarchate agreed to lease most of its lands in Israel to the Israeli government for 99 years, with an option to extend. Even Israel’s parliament, theKnesset, was built on lands owned by the Greek Orthodox Church.[21][22]
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate's properties also include historic buildings inJerusalem's Old City, including the Imperial and Petra hotels, inside theJaffa Gate of the Old City, as well as extensive areas in thePalestinian territories.[23]
In 2005, it was revealed that then patriarch Irenaios had sold lands owned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate inEast Jerusalem to Jews who seek to increase their presence in what is a predominantly Arab area.[24] The majority of Orthodox Christians in Jerusalem identify as Palestinians, and the sale of lands to Israelis caused a major uproar, which resulted in Irenaios being ousted as patriarch.[24]
A political andsocial movement aiming for theArabization of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, known as theArab Orthodox Movement, started in the 19th century.[25]
The movement began within the context of risingArab nationalism, inspired by 19th-century nationalist movements in the Balkans, which merged demands for religious reforms and national emancipation under theOttoman Empire, and the successful Arabization of Syria and Lebanon'sAntioch Patriarchate in1899. It demands the appointment of an Arab patriarch, Arab laity control over Jerusalem patriarchate's properties for social and educational purposes, and the use of theArabic as aliturgical language.[26] Initially a church movement amongPalestine andTransjordan's OrthodoxArab Christians, it was later supported as a Palestinian and Arab nationalist cause and championed by Arab Muslims, owing to the Greek-dominated patriarchate's early support toZionism.
The Arab Orthodox laity maintains that the patriarchate was forcibly Hellenized in 1543, while the Greek clergy counters by saying that the patriarchate was historically Greek.[26] Opposition to the Greek clergy started violent in the 19th century, when they came under physical attack by the Arab laity in the streets. There were historically also several interventions to solve the conflict by theOttoman,British (1921–1948), andJordanian (1948–1967) authorities, owing to the patriarchate's headquarters being located inEast Jerusalem. Despite the city coming underIsraeli occupation since1967, the patriarchate has continued to function according to a 1958 Jordanian law, which mandates the clergy hold Jordanian citizenship and speak Arabic.[27]
To this day, the patriarchate continues to be dominated by Greek clergy, and continues to own vast properties that make it the second largest landowner in Israel.[25] In recent decades, lawsuits have ensued in Israeli courts between the Arab laity and the patriarchate over ownership of properties, and land sales by the patriarchate to Israeli investors has led to several controversies, the most recent of which led to the dismissal of patriarch Irenaios in 2005.[28] The patriarch's total control over the patriarchate and its vast properties has led to it being described as resembling "small absolute kingdom".[25]
Head of the Patriarchate and of the Holy Synod is PatriarchTheophilos III (Ilias Giannopoulos),Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and allPalestine, Israel,Syria, beyond theJordan River,Cana of Galilee andHoly Zion.
Partial list.
List centered on the Holy Sepulchre and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, with the sites grouped together geographically.
InEast Jerusalem (political meaning):
InWest Jerusalem (political meaning):
Total membership is estimated at 200,000, with no more than 3,500 remaining in Jerusalem itself.
Greek Orthodox Church, with a membership of around 500,000, is the largest church in Israel / Palestine.
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