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Metropolitan Irenios I,
the newly elected top clergyman of the Greek Orthodox Church, on
Thursday was officially
approved by a Royal Decree as the Patriarch in the old walled city
of
Jerusalem.
Amman based church
officials said the 62 year old bishop, who was elected on August 13
in two rounds of voting,
held talks with Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb during which he was
granted the official
approval in accordance with the 1958 Jordanian law on the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate.
Archimandrite Christofos
Hanna of Amman's Greek Orthodox Archdiocese described talks
between Abul Ragheb and
Irenios I as "constructive".
" The Patriarch and the
Prime Minister held a friendly conversation which was effective and
in favor of the church
and the Christian Orthodox denomination", he told The Jordan Times.
Hanna, however, did not
elaborate on whether the church sought Israel's approval of the new
Patriarch.
The church last month
blasted the Jewish State for disqualifying one third of the
contenders
vying for the
Patriarchate's helm, accusing Israel of meddling in the elections.
But weeks
later, Israel withdrew
its objection to the candidates, defusing a possible crisis between
Israel and the church.
Irenios I, who received
seven of the ballots cast by the 17 member Holy Synod, was one of
the contenders whom
Israel sought to disqualify. " What really matters to us is that the
Jordanian law was
applied in the church's recent elections," stressed Hanna.
The Jordanian law on the
Patriarchate stipulates that the patriarch has to be a Jordanian
citizen in order to be
elected and approved by a Royal decree. All church clergy should
also
be Jordanian citizens.
Other churches like the Latin and Protestant are not subject to the
Jordanian law.
On his Election Day, the
Patriarch, formerly a representative of Jerusalem's church in
Athens, said in a
statement that he will serve the church and support the Palestinian
people
and their just issues.
This article was
published in the Jordan Times Newspaper [August, 24-25,2001]
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