3 weeks ago - 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.

November 23, 2017 - While the Patriarchate is the ... other Greek Orthodox patriarchates, it is independent from Greece and receives no financial support from the Greek — or any other — government....

August 8, 2023 - How the Greek Orthodox Church became one of the most influential landlords in Jerusalem is a story of medieval luck, good timing and a certain stubbornness. In the often strange politics of Israel, where religion and land are enmeshed in an ...

November 9, 2022 - The official headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is in the Christian Quarter of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Old City. A large compound just west of the church contains the Patriarchate’s administrative center. The patriarchate is led by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, which can trace its lineage back to the 1st century.

The Patriarchate holds the special status in Jerusalem as the oldest and largest Christian church in Jerusalem. It is one of the four oldest Orthodox Patriarchates, with the other three located in Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria.

Analysts in the country have warned of a major economic crisis if the church insists on regaining its properties, which are worth at least $2bn. The Israeli website Calcalist has published a news story stating that in August 2016 the Greek Patriarchate sold the ownership of its land in the mentioned areas to a foreign company, instead of getting it back after 99 years, for just over $10m. This news was leaked after the Greek Patriarch sent a letter to the Jerusalem municipality demanding that it accelerates the completion of the secret deal, and created shockwaves amid economic and media circles.

January 14, 2026 - The Ottoman Empire conquered the Mamluk Sultanate, including Palestine, in 1516–1517, integrating the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem into the Rum millet system under the oversight of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople. Sultan Selim I issued an ahidnâme to Patriarch Athanasius II (Atallas) in 1516, confirming the Patriarchate's rights to manage vakıf (endowment) properties, collect ecclesiastical revenues, and enjoy tax exemptions for monastic lands and holy sites.[18] Subsequent sultans, such as Mehmed II in 1458, reinforced these privileges through fermans that protected

The Ottoman Sultan would issue ... estate. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch was the titleholder and administrator of all lands registered in his name, as well as all those registered under the name of the Orthodox community...

July 5, 2021 - Instead, as Palestinian parishioners were demanding their own national church, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem was selling or issuing long-term leases of land to Israel.

July 5, 2017 - The Greek Orthodox Church — the second biggest owner of land in Israel after the Israel Lands Authority — acquired some 4,500 dunams (1,110 acres) of real estate in the center of Jerusalem during the 19th century, primarily for agriculture.

October 28, 2025 - This incredible story is thus possible based on a 99-year lease agreement, particularly through a emphyteutic lease between the church, the landowner, and the leaseholders of these neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

The Church of Jerusalem remains the custodian of many of the holy sites in Jerusalem and environs, sometimes jointly with Roman Catholic or Coptic or Armenian Christians, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Lately there has been criticism of the church leadership by Palestinian faithful, who accuse the Greek-speaking and largely Greek-born leadership of squandering their money and treating their Arabic-speaking members as second-class faithful. Following the deposition of Patriarch Irenaios I amidst scandals regarding the transfer of land to Jewish control, the Holy Synod of the church named as their temporary primate His Eminence Metropolitan Cornelius (Rodousakis) of Petra.

September 7, 2025 - While religious and historical significance drive demand, a lesser-known but critical factor influencing property values and ownership in the city is church-owned land. Several Christian denominations—primarily the Greek Orthodox Church, but also the Roman Catholic, Armenian, and Anglican churches—own large tracts of land in Jerusalem. Some of this land has been in church hands since the Ottoman era or earlier. It includes: ... The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is the largest private landowner in Jerusalem after the Israeli government.

July 20, 1998 - Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, Eastern Orthodox patriarchate, fourth in honorific seniority after the churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch. Since the beginning of Muslim rule in the 7th century, it has been the main custodian

January 29, 2025 - Presumably, by the time the agreement expires in 31 years, the State of Israel will have reached some sort of agreement with the investors that protects the rights of thousands of residents living in apartments built on former Church land property in Jerusalem. That being said, up until this point, no one imagined a situation where KKL-JNF may not renew the lease agreement with the Church. In the weeks following the deal, news outlets published many articles examining the failures of KKL-JNF, claiming that the organization passed up on several opportunities to purchase the land from the Church before ultimately choosing to sell it to private investors. While the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is the most prominent Christian landowner in Jerusalem, it is not the only one.

3 weeks ago - Today, the headquarters of the patriarchate is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The number of Eastern Orthodox Christians in the Holy Land is estimated to be about 200,000. A majority of Church members are Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinian Arabs, and there are also a small ...

November 15, 2024 - In the history of the shrines at the Holy Land, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate plays a primary role. Its formation is traced back to the day of Pentecost. According to the testimony of Apostolic authors, the first bishop of the Church of Jerusalem was James the Brother of the Lord, who ...

With the conquest of the Holy Land by the Crusaders in 1099 (see crusades) and the establishment of a Latin kingdom in Jerusalem (1099–1187) liberty was returned to the Christians, but the Byzantines were subjected to a Latin hierarchy. The Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem took residence in Constantinople, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople imposed his jurisdiction on the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.