The Orthodox Church of Greece has decided to put an end to a dispute that has for several months placed it in opposition to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on the control of bishops in the north of the country. According to religious sources, the Holy Synod, supreme collegial organ of the Greek Church, approved a compromise agreement “satisfactory for both sides” on Monday 1st March. The Holy Synod thus decided to send Patriarch Bartholomew I who resides in Istanbul, in Turkey a list of the candidate bishops for the vacant bishoprics of northern Greece so that the Patriarch may exercise “his right” to be kept informed. The dispute arose last year. The death of the bishop of Salonica rekindled a buried conflict that had for years opposed the Greek Church led by archbishop Christodoulos and Patriarch Bartholomew I, criticised for his spirit of openness. For the first time, after 75 years, the Patriarch had asked to be informed on the list of candidates for the succession of the deceased bishop. He made this request in conformity with the terms of an agreement signed in 1928 which recognized the primacy of Constantinople over the said bishopric and over a further 35 in the region. But the Greek Church had refused.
