GOJ DEFENDS MOVE ON GREEK PATRIARCH

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002241 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2017 TAGS: PGOV SOCI JO SUBJECT: GOJ DEFENDS MOVE ON GREEK PATRIARCH REF: A. ATHENS 1021 ¶B. JERUSALEM 225 Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) In conversations May 22 and May 24, the director of FM Khatib's private office, Thamer Adwan, stressed to Polcouns that the GOJ was carrying out its responsibilities under the Jordan-Israel peace treaty and Greek church law when it withdrew its recognition of Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, on May 12. Adwan noted that Greek Orthodox Palestinians and Jordanians had complained to the GOJ that Theophilos III had made no effort to fulfill commitments he made to the GOJ to increase the number of ethnically Arab clergy in the Patriarchate, or to guard against new sales of church property. NOTE: Such sales led to the deposition of Theophilos's predecessor, Irineos I, in May 2005. END NOTE. ¶2. (U) According to Petra News Agency, the Jordanian Council of Ministers issued a communiqu on May 12 withdrawing recognition of Theophilos because "he failed to fulfill the obligations he pledged to the government during his tenure." ¶3. (U) GOJ Spokesman Nasser Judeh defended the decision during a May 14 press conference "because he (Theolopolis III) failed to fulfill the obligations he made to the government when he was appointed two years ago." Judah cited bringing Arab Christian clergy into the Holy Synod, guarding the inventory of Church property and "taking the necessary legal procedures with respect to actions taken by his predecessor" - a reference to the Patriarch's alleged failure to act on the controversial East Jerusalem sale conducted by his predecessor (ref A) - as obligations that were unmet. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ Hale