Irenaios Skopelitis (formerly, Patriarch Irenaios, Erinaios the 1st, or Eirinaios the 1st) is the former Patriarch of Jerusalem, the primate of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem (2001-2005). This is standard photo of Patriarch Irenaios, taken from the monastery. ... The Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is the head bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, ranking fourth of nine patriarchs in the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... Primate (from the Latin Primus, first) is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. ... The Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, properly called the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, is regarded by Orthodox Christians as the mother church of all of Christendom, because it was in Jerusalem that the Church was established on the day of Pentecost with the descent of the Holy Spirit on the...

Born Emmanouil Skopelitis in April of 1939, Irenaios was elected patriarch on August 13, 2001 in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Main Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, called Church of the Resurrection (Anastasis) by Eastern Christians, is a Christian church now within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. ...

He was enthroned on September 15, 2001 as the 140th "Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Syria, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion" in the presence of senior church and secular dignitaries, including Archbishop Christodoulus of the Church of Greece and Metropolitan Nicholas of the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church. September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Jerusalem (31°46′ N 35°14′ E; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Northern part of the Great Rift Valley as seen from space (NASA) The Jordan River is a river in Southwest Asia flowing through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Dead Sea. ... This article refers to a place mentioned in the New Testament. ... Galilee (Hebrew hagalil הגליל, Arabic al-jaleel الجليل), meaning circuit, is a large area overlapping with much of the North District of Israel. ... Zion or Tzion (צִיּוֹן Height, Standard Hebrew Ẓiyyon, Tiberian Hebrew á¹¢iyyôn; Arabic صهيون á¹¢uhyÅ«n) originally was the specific name given to a Jebusite fortress near modern-day Jerusalem that was conquered by David. ... The Church of Greece is one of the fourteen or fifteen autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches which make up the Eastern Orthodox Communion. ... The Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church (Czechoslovak Orthodox Church up to 1993) traces its roots to the Church of the Czech Brethren of the 1920s. ...

He was born on the Island of Samos in Greece and came to the Holy City of Jerusalem in 1953 and served for many years as Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Athens. Samos (Greek Σαμος; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an island in southeastern Greece in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Asia Minor. ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... In the Byzantine Empire, an exarch was an essentially military viceroy who governed a part of the empire at some remove from the central (oriental) authorities, the Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ...

Only a few years into Irenaios' patriarchate, he became embroiled in bitter controversy. Several parcels of church-owned land in the Old City of Jerusalem were sold to Israeli developers. As most of the Orthodox Christians in the region are Palestinian, and the land was in a Arab-populated area that most Palestinians hoped would become as a part of a future Palestinian capital, this caused a great deal of outrage among Church members. On May 5, 2005, other Greek Orthodox Church leaders in Jerusalem announced in a letter they had broken off contact with Patriarch Irenaios, and regard him as dismissed as Patriarch of Jerusalem. ... The Palestinians are a mainly Arabic-speaking people with family origins in Palestine. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The decision reached by the Holy Synod of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre was made final on May 6, 2005 by a two-thirds vote of that body. Irenaios ceased to be Patriarch at that point as far as the local church is concerned. May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On May 24, 2005 a special Pan Orthodox Synod was convened in İstanbul to review the decisions of the Holy Synod of Jerusalem. The Pan-Orthodox Synod under the presidency of the Ecumenical Patriarch voted overwhelmingly to confirm the decision of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher and to strike Irenaios' name from the diptychs, and on May 30, Jerusalem's Holy Synod chose Metropolitan Cornelius of Petra to serve as locum tenens pending the election of a replacement for Irenaios. May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine or administration. ... Shows the Location of the Province Ä°stanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul; a contraction of Greek εις την πολιν into the city, the former Constantinople, Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ... The Patriarch of Constantinople is the Ecumenical Patriarch, the first among equals in the Eastern Orthodox Communion. ... A diptych is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. ... May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). ... Metropolitan Cornelius of Petra is a senior bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem and is the current locum tenens of that church, pending the election of a new Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. ... Locum tenens is a Latin phrase literally meaning holding place. ...

On June 16, 2005, the Holy Synod of Jerusalem announced that Irenaios had been demoted to the rank of monk.[1] June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ...

However, by a longstanding tradition any action of this nature requires the approval of the governments in the regions of the Patriarchate's authority, presently Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Jordan. As of July 13, 2005 only Jordan and the Palesinian Authority have granted their approval. There is no report that Israel has followed suit. Israel's position on the matter is unclear since on March 9, 2005 the Jerusalem District Court ruled that Irenaios' election was illegal in the first place. The West Bank The Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA) is a semi-autonomous state institution nominally governing the bulk of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (which it calls the Palestinian Territories). It was established as a part of Oslo accords between the PLO and Israel. ... July 13th is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (69th in Leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Biography of Patriarch Irenaios and other facts about Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• His Beatitude's biography at the official web-page of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• BBC News report of Patriarch Irenaios dismissal
• Patriarch of Jerusalem Eirineos I

The Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is the head bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, ranking fourth of nine patriarchs in the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem (b. ...