{"id":19710,"date":"2026-06-11T05:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/trumps-meeting-with-orthodox-christian-patriarch-sows-confusion\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T05:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:29:07","slug":"trumps-meeting-with-orthodox-christian-patriarch-sows-confusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/trumps-meeting-with-orthodox-christian-patriarch-sows-confusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s meeting with Orthodox Christian patriarch sows confusion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_XPvkGHV5wBQ?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.1.5\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(RNS) \u2014 The Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, met with President Donald Trump last week in the White House and awarded him one of the highest honors in the church, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In return, Theophilos came out of the meeting with an honor of his own, the suggestion of becoming a peacemaker in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, apparently backed by Trump, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ynetnews.com\/article\/syhmbvxbge\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Israeli media reported<\/span><\/a>.<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The news left many observers scratching their heads. In the constellation of Orthodox Church leaders, Theophilos is seen as solidly in Russia\u2019s camp. The patriarch is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow later this month. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ukraine-Russia war is the largest conflict affecting the world\u2019s Orthodox Christians today, with majorities of both Russia and Ukraine\u2019s population identifying with Orthodox churches.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The conflict has divided the wider Orthodox world too, after the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople granted autocephaly to a Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent of the Moscow Patriarchate, prompting Moscow to break communion with Constantinople and forcing many of the Eastern Orthodox churches to pick sides. The result has been the largest schism in the church since the break with Rome in 1054.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though the Jerusalem Patriarchate does not acknowledge the legitimacy of the independent Ukrainian church, Theophilos is one of the leaders who \u2014 in some respects \u2014 straddles the divide. As a native Greek, he maintains ties with those in Constantinople\u2019s orbit, but the long history of Russian pilgrimage to the Holy Land and number of Russian Orthodox Christians in Israel have kept him close to Moscow, explained Samuel Noble, a scholar of Orthodox Christianity at Belgium\u2019s University of Li\u00e8ge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4263569\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4263569\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Ukraine-Russia1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Ukraine-Russia1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Ukraine-Russia1-427x285.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Ukraine-Russia1-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Ukraine-Russia1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Ukraine-Russia1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Ukraine-Russia1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Ukraine-Russia1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Ukraine-Russia1-380x253.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">People light flares during the funeral ceremony of fallen Ukrainian servicemen in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo\/Danylo Antoniuk)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHaving goodwill with both the Hellenic world and with Russia is an interesting diplomatic thing,\u201d Noble told RNS, \u201cbut I don\u2019t think that it all translates into diplomatic cachet with the Ukrainian state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cyril Hovorun, a Ukrainian Orthodox theologian and scholar, told RNS he viewed the news as an attempt to replace the White House\u2019s previous efforts to tap the Vatican as such a mediator. \u201cThe patriarch of Jerusalem is known for being quite closely attached to Putin,\u201d he noted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI think it fits the policy of Donald Trump\u2019s administration to distance itself from Ukraine as a mediator and to bestow this mission of mediation upon someone else,\u201d Hovorun said. \u201cOnce upon a time, the Holy See, the Vatican, was considered as such a mediator. \u2026 Now that the relations between the White House and the Apostolic Palace \u2014 the Holy See \u2014 have deteriorated significantly and dramatically, I think this idea to ask someone else, some other religious figure, to do mediation emerged in the White House.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ukrainian officials quickly shut down the idea of Theophilos as a mediator, noting his opposition to the Ukrainian church\u2019s independence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPatriarch Theophilos\u2019 participation in negotiations with Ukraine is unrealistic,\u201d a high-ranking diplomat of the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel told <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/risu.ua\/proponuvati-feofila-u-poseredniki-mizh-rosiyeyu-i-ukrayinoyu-vse-odno-shcho-proponuvati-shrodera---ukrayinski-diplomati-pro-ideyu-trampa_n164523\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ukrainian media<\/span><\/a>.<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cUkraine will never do such a thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4216828\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4216828\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/webRNS-Patriarch-Theophilos1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/webRNS-Patriarch-Theophilos1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/webRNS-Patriarch-Theophilos1-427x284.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/webRNS-Patriarch-Theophilos1-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/webRNS-Patriarch-Theophilos1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/webRNS-Patriarch-Theophilos1-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/webRNS-Patriarch-Theophilos1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/webRNS-Patriarch-Theophilos1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III speaks during a joint press conference with Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, not pictured, after their visit to the Gaza Strip in Jerusalem, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mahmoud Illean)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The embassy also said Theophilos had not responded to any of the embassy\u2019s initiatives previously but participated in Russian diplomatic events.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ancient Jerusalem patriarchate, one of nine independent churches governing Eastern Orthodoxy, has long seen its role as protecting Christian communities and sites in the Holy Land. The meeting came at a time when the Christian population of the Holy Land, including many Orthodox Christians, are facing heightened tensions against their communities and while the Trump administration has shown signs of willingness with Israel to topple the fragile status quo governing sacred sites in the region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Patriarch presented the President with a range of concerns and challenges confronting the churches of the Holy Land. Foremost among these were sustaining the authentic Christian presence, safeguarding holy sites, promoting human dignity, and reinforcing the Church\u2019s mission of pastoral care, mercy, and peace building,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info\/articles-speeches\/trump-receives-patriarch-theophilos-iii-to-discuss-protection-of-holy-land-christians-and-message-of-peace\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the patriarchate said in a statement.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After his meeting with Trump, Theophilos met with the Greek prime minister with the same agenda to protect Christians and the church\u2019s holy sites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the past several years, Jerusalem and the wider region have seen a rash of harassment, violence and legal pressures against Christian communities in the Holy Land. According to a recent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rossingcenter.org\/attacks-on-christians-in-israel-and-east-jerusalem-annual-report-2025\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">report by the Jerusalem-based Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 2025 saw more than 150 attacks on Christians in Israel, up from 111 in 2024 and 89 in 2023. Only about 1.9% of Israel\u2019s population is Christian, and 80% of Israeli Christians are Arab.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4263563\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4263563\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Theophilos-Trump2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Theophilos-Trump2.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Theophilos-Trump2-427x320.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Theophilos-Trump2-807x605.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Theophilos-Trump2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Theophilos-Trump2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Theophilos-Trump2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Theophilos-Trump2-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, left, meets with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, June 4, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Jerusalem Patriarchate)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jonathan Kuttab, a Palestinian Christian and human rights lawyer, noted that despite the influence of Christian Zionism, anti-Christian sentiment \u2014 as something separate from anti-Palestinian or anti-Arab sentiment \u2014 is a growing problem in several sectors of Israeli society.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s a very strong, almost gut level anti-Christian sentiment that is never acknowledged, but in some places and in some cases \u2014 like these days \u2014 it\u2019s coming up to the surface,\u201d Kuttab said, citing examples of ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting at nuns and priests and religiously motivated attacks against Christian villages, cemeteries and churches in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere is a very clear sentiment there, which is almost never addressed or expressed openly, unless, you know, you\u2019re somebody crazy, like (Bezalel) Smotrich or (Itamar) Ben-Gvir who say it up front,\u201d he said, referring to Israel\u2019s finance and national security ministers, who both helm far right parties in the Knesset and have a history of defending sectarian attacks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p>In April,<span> an Israeli soldier <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cew790ppn8jo\">smashed a statue of Jesus<\/a> with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon while another soldier photographed the act, resulting in their removal from combat service and prompting the Jewish state to appoint a special envoy to the Christian world. In <\/span>May, a man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaticannews.va\/en\/church\/news\/2026-05\/jerusalem-attack-nun-israel-police-religious-sister.html\">chased, pushed down and kicked<\/a> a French Catholic nun in Jerusalem.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4256284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4256284\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Jesus-Statue-Israel-Lebanon1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Jesus-Statue-Israel-Lebanon1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Jesus-Statue-Israel-Lebanon1-427x321.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Jesus-Statue-Israel-Lebanon1-807x606.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Jesus-Statue-Israel-Lebanon1-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Jesus-Statue-Israel-Lebanon1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Jesus-Statue-Israel-Lebanon1-600x451.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">An undated photo of an Israeli soldier smashing a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon. (Image via social media)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have witnessed incidents of harassment, acts of disrespect toward clergy and religious symbols, and growing concerns surrounding the preservation of Christian life and heritage in the city,\u201d said Levon Kalaydjian, a Jerusalem Armenian Christian activist. \u201cThese are not abstract concerns; they affect the daily sense of dignity, belonging and safety of communities that have been rooted in Jerusalem for centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rabbi Eugene Korn, the former academic director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, said the mentality has been growing in certain sectors, such as the ultra-Orthodox and religious Zionist communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cProblems that have gotten a lot of attention \u2014 and rightfully so \u2014 in Jerusalem, are kind of localized to Jerusalem, because you have these radicals and many of them are represented in the government and the government doesn\u2019t take action against them,\u201d Korn said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jerusalem\u2019s many church bodies have faced legal pressures as well. The Jerusalem municipality froze the Greek Orthodox Church\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2025\/08\/18\/jerusalem-freezes-greek-patriarchates-finances-in-latest-squeeze-on-holy-land-christians\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">accounts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> last summer in a tax dispute that critics allege was an attempt to force the church to sell its prized land holdings. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has similarly been <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2023\/12\/04\/jerusalems-armenians-battle-patriarch-and-jewish-settlers-to-maintain-their-quarter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">embroiled in a long court battle to defend a portion of the Armenian quarter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City from being taken over by developers. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two patriarchates, and particularly the Greek Orthodox Church, are among the largest landholders in Israel, controlling large swaths of land far beyond historic churches and religious institutions. But the Jerusalem P<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">atriarchate has also recently sold off properties \u2014 to the chagrin of its local Palestinian flock.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the church\u2019s flock is overwhelmingly Arabic-speaking Palestinian and Jordanian Christians, its leadership has for centuries been \u2014 almost invariably \u2014 transplants from Greece or Greek-speaking communities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem has never reflected the sentiment of the Palestinian, the people in the pew,\u201d Kuttab said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/06\/10\/trumps-meeting-with-orthodox-christian-patriarch-sows-confusion\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(RNS) \u2014 The Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, met with President Donald Trump last week in the White House and awarded him one of the highest honors in the church, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.\u00a0 In return, Theophilos came out of the meeting with an honor of his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}