Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 63(1-2), 255-276. doi: 10.2143/JECS.63.1.2149622 © 2011 by Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. All rights reserved. THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND ITS PALESTINIAN-CHRISTIAN IDENTITY LEONARD MARSH* A. THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN ITS HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL SETTING IN JERUSALEM AND PALESTINE: A BRIEF SURVEY The unity of the earliest Christian community in the Holy Land had, by the first Muslim conquest of Palestine in 638 CE, been undermined by the Christological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries.1 Despite these divisions, and a growing estrangement between the Latin West and the Greek East, as well as ‘Oriental’ Christianity, there had been until the onset of the Crusader period reasonably good relations among these groups. The early Islamic period saw an important cultural development, with Christians beginning to pray in Arabic, the language of their rulers. All kinds of Chris- tian literature were translated into Arabic, including the Bible, liturgical texts, patristic texts, and other ecclesiastical works.2 The fall of Jerusalem, followed by the development of the Latin Crusader kingdoms, meant greater alienation among Greek and Latin traditions within the Church. From Sala- din’s capture of Jerusalem, until its Ottoman absorption, the city was gov- erned by the Ayyubids and Mamluks from Egypt. The prominent position * Leonard Marsh is an Anglican priest in a London parish. He has a specialist interest in the contemporary theological and political movements within the Palestinian Christian community in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. He read History and Theology at the Uni- versity of Hull. After training for ordination he undertook postgraduate research and study at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has published many articles on Palestinian Christianity. 1 Francis E. Peters, Jerusalem, The Holy City in the Eyes of Chroniclers, Visitors, Pilgrims and Prophets from the Days of Abraham to the Beginnings of Modern Times (Princeton NJ, 1985). 2 Anthony O’Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians: Religion, Politics and Society, c. 1800- 1948’, in Palestinian Christians: Religion, Politics and Society in the Holy Land, ed. A. O’Mahony (London, 1999), pp. 9-95, p. 11. 995069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd5069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd 225555 227/02/127/02/12 110:580:58 256 LEONARD MARSH of the Latin Church weakened, and there developed the struggle between the Latin and Orthodox Churches for the control of the Holy Places, which remains such a pronounced factor in the consciousness of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Land. After the fourteenth century, many different com- munities organised themselves in the Holy Places: Latins, Greeks, Armeni- ans, Georgians, Syrians, Nubians, Copts, Ethiopians, and Maronites. How- ever, struggle over these sites mainly involved the Armenians, the Greek Orthodox, and the Latins, since the others were too poor to be significant players.3 1. Under Ottoman Rule The Ottoman victory at Constantinople in 1455 and the capture of Jerusa- lem in 1517 increased the influence of the Orthodox Church. The Armeni- ans and the Orthodox were recognised as millets, or communities, whereas Latins were supported by powers with which the Ottomans were in conflict.4 Although Christian communities of different traditions existed, only Ortho- dox and Latin millets, along with Armenians and Ethiopians, had significant standing before the nineteenth century. Extraordinary challenges in the nineteenth century meant that the Otto- man administration strengthened its provincial (Sanjak) organisation, lead- ing to the Sanjaks of Jerusalem and Gaza realising greater importance.5 The Christian world also showed a growing interest in the Holy Land, from Ethiopia, the Americas, Russia, Germany and Britain. Russian involvement with the Orthodox grew alongside French influence among the Latin, East- ern and Oriental Catholic communities.6 The emerging pattern of the San- jak framework owed a great deal to the importance of Jerusalem and the 3 Ibid, p. 15. 4 Anthony O’Mahony, ‘The Religious, Political and Social Status of Christian Communi- ties in Palestine’, in The Christian Heritage in the Holy Land, ed. A. O’Mahony (London, 1995), pp. 237-256; id., ‘Les chrétiens palestiniens: Politique, droit et sociéte, 1917-1948’, in De Balfour à Ben Gourion – La France, L’Europe occidentale et la Palestine, 1917-1948, eds. Dominique Trimbur & Ran Aaronsohn (Paris, 2008), pp. 357-406. 5 Ibid, p. 245. 6 Sotiris Roussos, ‘The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and Community of Jerusalem. Church, State and Identity’, in The Christian Communities of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, ed. A. O’Mahony (Cardiff, 2003), pp. 38-56. 995069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd5069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd 225656 227/02/127/02/12 110:580:58 THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND ITS PALESTINIAN-CHRISTIAN IDENTITY 257 Holy Land to Christians in general, but its institutional expression should be noted. The jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate had existed since Roman times and covered Western and Eastern Palestine.7 As the Ottoman Empire declined, new influences were brought to bear in the Middle East. Russia increasingly displayed ambitions to become a new focus for Orthodoxy. This was part of a larger vision, seeing themselves as a ‘third Rome’, and from 1843 Russian influence became more obvious. This was demonstrated particularly through the organisation known as The Impe- rial Palestine Society, with its activities in education and welfare among the Arab Orthodox.8 2. The British Mandate in Palestine (1917-1948) Up until the First World War, two Empires, the Ottoman and Russian, sustained Eastern Orthodoxy, and Orthodoxy was part of the fabric of these states.9 The mandate administrations of Britain and France, the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following the Armistice of Mudros (30 October, 1919), greatly affected the Christian com- munities. Instead of dealing with a single Islamic authority, Britain and France had to confront different political realities. Alongside this develop- ment, the emerging Arab nationalism in the region complicated Christian loyalties, since it cut across ecclesial identities.10 The British mandate policy towards the religious communities under their jurisdiction continued the Ottoman policy of autonomous rights. A 1922 census, the first undertaken in Palestine, and designed to test the relative numerical strength of different communities as the basis for proportional 7 O’Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians’, p. 23. 8 Anthony O’Mahony, ‘Palestinian-Arab Orthodox Christians: Religion, Politics and Church-State Relations in Jerusalem, 1908-1925’, Chronos, 3 (2000), pp. 61-91 p. 27. See also D. Tsimhoni, ‘The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Jerusalem during the Formative Years of the British Mandate in Palestine’, Asian and African Studies, 12 (1978), pp. 77-122; Helen Bryer ‘Arab Orthodox Christians of Jerusalem and Palestine in the Inter-war Period: A Study in Religious and Political Identity and Church-State Relations’, in Christianity in the Middle East: Studies in Modern History, Theology and Politics, ed. A. O’Mahony (Lon- don, 2004), pp. 232-262; Laura Robson, Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine (Austin, 2011). 9 O’Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians’, p. 27. 10 Ibid, p. 28. 995069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd5069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd 225757 227/02/127/02/12 110:580:58 258 LEONARD MARSH representation for a proposed legislative council, revealed significant findings. Christians comprised 9.6% of the total population. According to this census, the Christian community was strongly urban (76%). The largest Christian community in the British mandate census was Greek-Arab Orthodox. How- ever, it declined in proportion to the general Christian population from 45.7% (39,727) in 1922 to 43.5% (33,369) in 1931.11 Since the middle of the nineteenth century the Palestinian Christian com- munity had been in a process of continual change and fragmentation. Con- flict within the Greek-Orthodox community, between the Greek hierarchy and the Arab Orthodox, concurrent with increased institutional commit- ment among other Christian churches, finally led to Arab Orthodox affilia- tion with Latin, Eastern Catholic and Protestant forms of the Church. Further difficulties for the Greek Orthodox patriarchate during the British mandate period were created by the refusal of the British authorities to allow financial help for the Greek patriarchate from Greek government sources. Serious difficulties for the patriarchate were soon to follow, including the loss of revenue from Romania and Bessarabia owing to the upheavals of the First World War. The Greek patriarchate sought to deal with these financial difficulties by selling land, notably land in and around Jerusalem, to Zionist land agen- cies.12 A British commission of enquiry rejected Greek interference but urged consideration to be given to the interests of the Arab Orthodox community. The Greek clergy continued to control the patriarchate and manage its prop- erty and income. The British continued to support Orthodox interests, wish- ing to maintain the arrangements for the Holy Places that had existed under Ottoman rule known as the ‘status quo,’ until a permanent solution could be agreed upon.13 11 J.B. Barron, Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 (Jerusalem, 1923). 12 Roussos, ‘The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate’, p. 46. See also Sotiris Roussos, ‘Patriarchs, Notables and Diplomats: The