Theodosios (Atallah Hanna)

ثيودوسيوس (عطا الله حنا)

Born: Rameh, Israel

Domain: Civil Society & Religion

Recognition: REGIONAL

Biography

Archbishop Theodosios, widely known as Atallah Hanna, is a Palestinian Greek Orthodox clergyman who has become one of the most outspoken Christian voices for Palestinian rights and Muslim-Christian solidarity. Born Nizar Hanna in 1965 in the Galilee village of Rameh to an Eastern Orthodox family, he studied theology in Jerusalem and then in Greece, earning a master's degree from the University of Thessaloniki. Ordained and consecrated Archbishop of Sebastia of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 2005, he became only the second Palestinian to hold the rank of archbishop in that historically Greek-dominated patriarchate, a distinction that placed him at the heart of long-running debates over the Arab character of the local Orthodox church. Hanna gained renown for high-profile activism: a relentless critic of the occupation, a defender of Palestinian land and holy places, and a champion of national identity who frames the Palestinian cause as one shared equally by Christians and Muslims. His insistence that Palestinian Christians are an indigenous, integral part of their people has made him a unifying figure across religious lines and a popular voice in Arab public life. His activism has come at a cost. He has faced travel restrictions and pressure from both Israeli authorities and elements within his own patriarchate, and in 2019 he was hospitalized after what supporters described as a poisoning, an episode that drew wide attention. He has consistently called for Muslims and Christians to defend Jerusalem together and has condemned the marginalization of the city's Arab Christian community. For civil society and religion, Hanna matters as a contemporary symbol of Palestinian Christian steadfastness and interfaith solidarity, a clergyman who uses the moral authority of his office to assert that the struggle for justice and the protection of the holy sites belong to all Palestinians regardless of faith.

Why This Person Matters

One of the most outspoken Palestinian Christian clergymen, Hanna champions Muslim-Christian solidarity and the indigenous Arab character of the local church, becoming a unifying symbol of steadfastness across religious lines.