JERICHO, West Bank (CWNews.com) - Two American Orthodox nuns have remained in a standoff with Palestinian police for the past 10 days over ownership of a Jericho monastery, but said on Tuesday that a compromise is in the works.
On January 15, Palestinian police evicted four monks of the Russian Orthodox Church-in-exile, known as the "White Church," to turn over ownership of the Jericho Garden Monastery to the so-called "Red Church" - the Russian Orthodox Church led by the Patriarch of Moscow. The White Church and Red Church split with the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 when many Russian Orthodox outside the Soviet Union refused to acknowledge the leadership of the Communist-dominated Moscow Patriarchate.
The White church controlled Russian shrines in the Holy Land until 1948, when Israel recognized the Moscow Patriarchate's claim, as a gesture of gratitude to the Soviet Union for its recognition of the Jewish state.
The Palestinian police said the "Red Church" had papers proving ownership of the monastery. The two nuns - Sister Maria, 40, from New York City, and Sister Xeina Cesana of San Francisco - immediately occupied the church and have refused to leave, igniting high-level talks between the Palestinian Authority, the US, and Russia.
A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a temporary solution would be to divide the property between the two sides until a final agreement were reached. Father Alexy, a local leader of the White Church, said the church would accept such a division as a short-term solution, but expected the property to be fully restored to the church soon after.
One of the two nuns, Sister Maria, happens to be the sister of George Stephanopoulos, a former senior aide to President Bill Clinton.
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