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Boston University professor Elizabeth Prodromou has some comment along these lines in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "This lawsuit is in some ways the culmination of a decade of internal soul-searching within the Greek Orthodox diocese," she said. "It tells us that Orthodoxy is pretty much like most other mainstream religious traditions in this country: They're trying to come to terms with how to function in a very pluralized and highly competitive religious free market. That's the bedrock issue that is driving these questions about governance and leadership."

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America spokesperson Nikki Stephanopoulos called the suit "totally without merit," and expects it to be dismissed. However long the court battle lasts, expect the battle over American ecclesiastic independence to go on much longer.

Speaking of Greek Orthodox power struggles …
A miscellaneous link in a recent Weblog noted that Israel's Cabinet had finally recognized Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox Patriarch Eireneos—two years after he was appointed to the post by the church.

Ah, but nothing is resolved so easily in the Holy Land these days. Two suits have been brought against Eireneos's appointment, and Israel's Supreme Court has put the case on hold for at least three weeks.

The Greek leader's opponents claim he made anti-Semitic comments in letters to Yasser Arafat. The letters, which bear his name and signature say, "You are aware of the sentiments of disgust and disrespect that all the Holy Sepulchre fathers are feeling for the descendants of the crucifiers of our Lord Jesus … actual crucifiers of your people, Sionists [sic] Jewish conquerors of the Holy Land of Palestine."

Eireneos says the letters are a forgery. An investigation was closed for lack of evidence, the Tel Aviv newspaper Ha'aretz reports.

The Passion of the Christ :

• Ad timed to Gibson film release refused | AMC Theatres is refusing to accept a 30-second ad produced by the Baptist General Convention of Texas and timed to coincide with the Ash Wednesday opening of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" (Associated Press)
  
  
• Gibson to delete a scene in 'Passion' | A scene in the film, in which the Jewish high priest Caiaphas calls down a kind of curse on the Jewish people by declaring of the Crucifixion, "His blood be on us and on our children," will not be in the movie's final version, said the Gibson associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity (The New York Times)
  
  
• Jewish groups left out of Passion | Thousands of Canadians have already seen Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion of the Christ before its much-anticipated commercial release Feb. 25, but none of them have been official representatives of the country's Jewish organizations (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
  
  
• Critics debate 'The Passion,' Gibson evades the debate | Gibson has an unbroken record of evasion and deception (Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• 'Faith' inspired Gibson's movie | Director Mel Gibson says a renewed interest in faith inspired his controversial film about Christ (BBC)
  
  

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February (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48