wfn.org | Jerusalem's Orthodox Patriarch, Diodoros I, Dies

[JerusalemRelOrgs@aol.com]

Contact:  Timotheus, Administrator
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
Jerusalem
Tel: (972-2) 628-2048

JERUSALEM, Dec. 20, 2000  - Diodoros I of Jerusalem, the Greek Orthodox 
Patriarch,  died today from complications due to diabetes, the Patriarchate 
announced.  He was 77. 

Funeral services for the Patriarch were shededuled to take place on Friday, 
22 of December, in the Church of Saints Constantine and Helena, inside the 
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. 

A funeral procession was planned to Virei Galilei in the Mount of Olives 
where the Patriarch will be buried. 

All the Patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem were invited to take 
part, as were many others coming from all over the world, including the 
Patriarch of Moscow, the Patriarch of Alexandria, and Archbishop of Athens. 

Archbishop Metropolitan Cornelius was elected by the Fraternity of the Holy 
Sepulcher which composed of all the bishops of the Greek Orthodox 
Patriarchate to be the "Locum Tenens."  He will serve for the next 40 days 
and arrange for the election of a new Patriarch. 

Patriarch Diodoros had been suffering from liver problems for some time. 

He was born on the Greek island of Chios in 1923, he traveled to Palestine in 
1938 as a layman, became a monk in 1944, was ordained three years later, and 
was named patriarch of Jerusalem in 1981. 

Earlier this year, Diodoros met with Pope John Paul II during the Pontiff's 
visit to the Holy Land.

-End-