Nuns stage sit-in at disputed Orthodox church

JERUSALEM — Two American Orthodox nuns, including Maria Stephanopoulos, sister of former White House aide George Stephanopoulos, have defied a Palestinian Authority attempt to forcibly turn over a so-called “white Russian” church property in Jericho to “red” Russian church authorities based in Moscow. The two have moved onto the grounds of the property, staged a brief hunger strike and are refusing to leave.

The incident marks the latest stage in the gradual transfer of “white Russian” church sites in the Holy Land to the Moscow-controlled Russian Orthodox Church. The transfers have been slowly taking place during the past 50 years.

The “white” Russian church is officially affiliated with the New York-based Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, created after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. During the Soviet era the Moscow-based church was controlled by the communist government.

Stephanopoulos and another American nun, Xenia Cesena, from San Fransisco, managed to enter the Russian Orthodox church compound Jan. 15 after Palestinian Authority security police staged a surprise raid and expelled five Russian monks who lived at the site.