Church of Jerusalem

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Founder(s)	The Apostles
Autocephaly/Autonomy declared	Traditional
Autocephaly/Autonomy recognized	692 by Quinisext Council
Current primate	Metr. Cornelius (locum tenens)
Headquarters	Jerusalem, Israel
Primary territory	Israel, Palestine, Jordan
Possessions abroad	United States
Liturgical language(s)	{{{language}}}
Musical tradition	Byzantine Chant
Calendar	Julian
Population estimate	130,000
Official website	Church of Jerusalem

The Church of Jerusalem is 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 disciples of Jesus Christ. From Jerusalem the gospel of Christ was spread to the world.

As Christianity spread, and the persecutions of the Jews by Roman authorities in their homeland increased, causing the dispersion of many of the Christians from Jerusalem, the import of this church and its impact on the ongoing life of the whole Church diminished. As other churches gained ascendency, namely the Churches of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, the Church of Jerusalem was accorded a place of honor with them among the five original Christian patriarchates of the Christian world, called the Pentarchy.

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 recent deposition of Patriarch Irenaios I amidst scandals regarding the transfer of land to Jewish control, the Holy Synod of the church has named as their temporary primate His Eminence Metropolitan Cornelius (Rodousakis) of Petra, Locum Tenens of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine.

External links

• Official Website of the Church of Jerusalem (Main page)
• Official Website of the Church of Jerusalem (English)
• Eastern Christian Churches: The Patriarchate of Jerusalem by Ronald Roberson, a Roman Catholic priest and scholar
• Rum Orthodox Ivri: The Website of the Eastern Orthodox Christian Community within Israeli Society, served by Fr. Alexander Winogradsky, a priest of Jewish ethnicity serving mainly in Hebrew