The Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem has reportedly sacked palestinian Archibishop Attalla Hanna. And he’s not a happy camper.
Patriarch Theophilos III of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem has sacked Archbishop of Sebastia Attalla Hanna, a statement issued by the office of the Archbishop said yesterday.
“Patriarch Theophilos and his Holy Gathering decided today to stop the salary of Archbishop Attalla Hanna,” the statement said, noting that Hanna is the only Palestinian archbishop in the Greek Orthodox Church.
The statement cited “the latest stances” of the Archbishop Hanna and his “clear support” for many other issues, stressing that this measure aimed to “blackmail him and put pressure on him and all the Arab clergymen.”
Meanwhile, the statement noted that the salaries of other Arab clergymen were “arbitrarily stopped” by the Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox in Jerusalem.
In addition, the statement said that the Orthodox Church took several other “punitive” measures against Arab clergymen such as moving Archimandrite Christophoros from his monastery in Jordan to Jerusalem.
“We expected Theophilos to be wiser and more responsible, not to escalate the situation,” Hanna said in the statement, noting that he intended to sort out all issues peacefully. “We expected him to act as a spiritual pope and not to take revengeful decisions far from the spirituality of the church.”
He continued: “Currently, we are facing a new stage and new reality. It seems that we are being forced to take a stance that it is impossible to [view anything as] positive from Theophilos. But this will never affect our spiritual, humanitarian and patriotic message.”
The Archbishop said that Theophilos “should have punished those who call for recruitment in the occupation army or those who sell our endowments and are involved in conspiracies against the Christian existence in the region.”
“We received Theophilos’ message,” he concluded, “cutting salaries does not scare us or stop our mission and our message will reach him very soon.”
While this statement is from Hanna and is thus written from his point of view and is vague as to exactly why he was sacked, one can surmise that it was related to his politics.
Not that it is a new thing – he has been an outspoken critic of Israel and supporter of terrorism for a long time. For instance:
- He has referred to “Israeli Judaization schemes” and considers Israel’s establishment the Nakba.
- In 2014, he called on the world to “rally in protest at Israeli terrorism.”
- Earlier this year he met with the families of terrorists, and also honored a terrorist who had murdered a Greek Orthodox monk.
Here he is in action.
I find it somewhat appropriate his name Attalla Hanna is similar to Attila the Hun. This is no peacemaker – he’s someone fanning the flames and inciting hatred against us.
Good riddance. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
