Can you tell I’m catching up on the blogosphere after being too busy with services and celebrations? I’m figuring everyone else is in about the same boat.

And this is one of those selfish times when I’m quoting an article just because I want to know where I can lay my hands on it when I want to. The problem with occasionally hearing about the problem that’s going on in Jerusalem between the Orthodox and other nations sharing control of the city is that it’s too complicated to tell all the back-story every time there’s a new wrinkle. And yet you can’t understand things without all that context. So here’s the story so far (via OrthodoxChristianity.net)

Greek and Armenian clergymen have exchanged blows over who would be the first to bring out the flame [– the miraculous Holy Fire]. Last year, Israeli police held back Palestinians outraged by alleged deals to lease Greek Orthodox properties to Jewish investors in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The upcoming ceremony on April 22 — the eve of Orthodox Easter — has elements for even higher drama. The land scandal has splintered the Greek Orthodox, one of the caretakers of the Holy Sepulcher shrine.

Orthodox leaders last May ousted the church’s Jerusalem-based patriarch, Irineos I, after reports of deals for several prime buildings near Jaffa Gate. The church’s mostly Palestinian Christian congregation denounced it as another attempt to weaken the Arab presence in east Jerusalem - which Palestinians insist must be the capital of any future state.

Irineos, however, has not gone quietly. He has refused to recognize his dismissal and still commands a band of loyalists. Israel, too, has not given its formal backing to the new patriarch, Theofilos III, who says he opposes the reported leases. Traditionally, the Greek patriarch needs three-way approval that includes Jordan and the Palestinians, which have given the nod to Theofilos. The patriarchate dispute is now before Israel’s Supreme Court.