Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem

Greece's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday issued a statement expressing its "deep concern" over recent developments in the predominantly Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem after Israeli forces started bulldozing a 5,000 square meter plot of land owned by the Greek Orthodox Church.

Archbishop Atallah Hanna of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem strongly condemned the assault, dubbing it an “unprecedented phenomenon.”

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias called for an emergency international Middle East peace initiative while on a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories today, and he participated immediately thereafter in a teleconference between EU foreign ministers focusing on the raging problem.

He condemned Hamas and supported Israel's right to defend itself.

Britain's Prince William (center, left) walks with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem (center, right) and other religious leaders as he arrives for a visit at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City on Thursday. The Duke of Cambridge is the first British royal to make such an official visit. [Ammar Awad/Reuters] 

The Greek Orthodox Church is denouncing an Israeli court decision that ruled a 2004 sale of prime church property to companies representing Jews seeking to expand their presence in Jerusalem's Old City was done legally.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hailed the contribution of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in interfaith dialogue at an especially critical time for the region, during a meeting on Thursday afternoon with Patriarch Theophilos III.

Speaking exclusively to Proto Thema, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos, sent a message of Greek optimism to the Greek people.  "Whoever doesn't have hope, has no future," said the Patriarch just hours before the ceremony that marks the miraculous appearance of the Holy Flame that is then flown to Greece for Easter services.

The University of Bucharest will confer, on Saturday, the title of Doctor Honoris Causa to His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, during a ceremony that will take place in the Constantin Stoicescu hall of the Palace of the Law School.