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Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

The history of the Patriarchate begins from the first Christian community in the

years of the Apostles. The Church and the

Episcopacy of Jerusalem was and is

the "Mother of all Churches".

The patriarchate had an adventurous history and has known many conquerors

and persecutions. But there were always

clergymen and faithful people who with

big sacrifices and sufferings established the vested rights of the Greek Orthodox

Patriarchate.

History of the Patriarchate

In 52 AD takes place the first Apostolic Council in Jerusalem.

In 70 AD the Roman emperor Titus captures and destroys Jerusalem. The

Romans demolish the Jewish temple and under

difficult conditions the Christians

emigrate in Pella in the east bank of Jordan river.

In 135 AD the Roman emperor Hadrian builds on the ruins of Jerusalem a new

roman city and names it Aelia Capitolina and

permits the Christians to come

back. However the Jewish are not permitted to come in town. In the meantime

christianism

spreads all over Palestine and a lot of communities and

episcopacies were created but the primacy had the Metropolis of

Caesaria.

Thanks to roman emperor Constantine the Great and his mother St. Helena who builds churches all over Palestine, the
Jerusalem Patriarchate gained its previous glory. It is the time of the conflict between the Patriarchate of Caesaria and
Jerusalem for the primacies. Finally the fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD recognises the sublimity of
Jerusalem and is granted status of Patriarchate with jurisdiction over Palestine and the east banks of Jordan river. During the
Byzantine period (5th to 7th century) the Patriarchate had five metropolies, 60 episcopacies and hundreds of monasteries.

In 637 AD, the Arabs who had conquered Jerusalem, restrict the Patriarchate activities who although had authority over
Christian affairs social or religious, and the Patriarch is recognised as the highest authority of all the Christians on earth.

When the crusaders conquered the Holy Lands in 1099 AD, they appointed their own patriarch (the schism between the East
Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches preceded in 1054 AD) but they weren’t able to abolish the Greek orthodox patriarch
who stayed for safety reasons in Constantinople.

After the eviction of the crusaders in 1187 the orthodox Patriarch returns to his throne while the crusaders Patriarchate
moves to Akko and remains there until 1230 AD when after the final eviction of the crusaders from Palestine, is abolished.

The years that followed under the occupation of the Mamluks (13th-15th century) were the most cruel and tragic the
Patriarchate ever encountered. The Mamluks who hated the Christians tried to destroy everything Christian.

In the 13th century the Armenian Patriarchate is established.

In the 14th century Franciscan monks arrive in the Holy Land and together with monophysites of different nationalities like
Copts, Ethiopians and Syrians organise in ecclesiastical communities and claim rights over the pilgrimages.

In 1517 AD the Ottomans conquer Jerusalem and the Patriarchate’s struggle to salvage the pilgrimages, not only against the
Turks but also against the demands of the other Christians, continues.

In 1856 AD the scene clears with the confirmation of the Status Quo of the Pilgrimages in the Paris council.

Since then begins a new era of reformation of the Patriarchate. All the Christian world and in particular the - at last-
unoccupied Greek state contributes with donations. Monks and contributors buy land, build churches and monasteries,
reform the ruined pilgrimages establishing the necessary basis for the Patriarchate’s sustenance.

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