” “"An unjustified delay": with these words, Samuel Kobia, secretary general of the World Church Council (Wcc), defines Israel’s refusal to recognise Teophilus III, head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem who was appointed in August 2005. In a letter sent to the Israeli prime minister Olmert, published today, Kobia invites the country’s authorities to "promptly and unconditionally recognise" the new primate. Such non-recognition "prevents the church, the community of which is the largest and oldest in the Holy Land, from exercising its normal functions". The letter ends with the comment that "a proper respect of religions does justice to those who wield power anywhere. Even more if this happens in a split city, like Jerusalem, with the world’s communities looking at it with faith and hope". Teophilus III, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church, succeeds the patriarch Ireneus, blamed for having sold some properties including 2 hotels to an Israeli holding. As everyone knows, the Greek Orthodox Church is the biggest landowner in Israel, with vast properties in East and West Jerusalem that were bought at the time of the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth century.” “
