Posted on 10/21/2006 12:14:44 PM PDT by gimmeone
Thessalonica, Greece, October 20, 2006 - The Greek Government will move, as early as this weekend, to have armed police forcibly remove the monks of the Holy and Sacred Monastery of Esphigmenou from their monastery property. Over 150 police have been deployed on Mt. Athos, an unprecedented number in a community entirely populated by peaceful and defenseless monks.
The monks, who seek only a life of peace and prayer in their monastery, have been subject to a non-stop campaign of official harassment and intimidation by Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul, Turkey, and his accomplices in the Greek government, because of a spiritual disagreement they have with him.
This week the Greek government announced it would prosecute the monks for embezzlement. This is a fundamental abuse of power that may be commonplace in the world’s most repressive dictatorships, but not something we expect from a free and democratic Greece. The charge lacks credibility, as it seems the prosecutor has forgotten that in an earlier round of the government’s campaign of harassment and intimidation, they confiscated and emptied all of the monastery’s bank accounts.
The Greek Government, acting under Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyiannis, has blockaded the delivery of food, medicine, fuel oil and have denied access to doctors seeking to provide urgently needed medical care to the elderly monks. They have cut the monastery’s telephone lines in a clumsy attempt to cut off their communication and hide their persecution from the outside world. They have confiscated their tractors so they cannot grow food to sustain themselves. They have expelled workers who have worked at the monastery for years, and voided their pensions and government benefits for providing help to the monastery.
The abuses of human rights to it own citizens by the Greek government and Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyiannis, could go on for pages.
Last week, in a display of judicial backwardness found only in banana republics, the Greek Court in Thessalonica found the monks guilty of the absurd charge of “disturbing the peace” and of being illegal occupants of their monastery home for 1500 years, while simultaneously allowing those who attacked the monks with sledgehammers to go free.
As Patriarch Bartholomew and the government of Greece descend further into the pit of backwardness and medieval religious persecution, the protests from religious leaders and lay people around the world are growing. On October 13th, Bishop Stephen, primate of the Italo-Greek Orthodox church, wrote to Patriarch Bartholomew “your treatment and persecution of the monks of Esphigmenou is a scandal to the Church and an embarrassment to all Orthodox Christians throughout the world. It sullies the good name of the Orthodox Church . . . Such behavior and acts are barbaric and take us back to the Dark Ages and for this Your All-Holiness should be deeply ashamed”
In the history of the church over 23 Patriarchs of Constantinople have been condemned for heresy.
This weekend, Patriarch Bartholomew will visit Mt. Athos to lay a cornerstone for a new monastery, on land confiscated from the monastery of Esphigmenou. In an unprecedented move, the Greek government has banned all media outlets from covering the Patriarch’s visit to Mt. Athos. Only the Greek State owned and controlled TV station will be allowed to cover his visit. It is expected that armed police will forcibly remove the monks before the Patriarch's visit to fulfill his desire of a Disney-like atmosphere, where everything looks nice on the surface, but in reality is all fake.
The Greek Prosecutors office in Thessalonica, headed by Vassilis Florides (tel: +30-697-388-5888), has threatened grave consequences to anyone who dares to raise their voice to protest the Patriarch’s actions.
For More Information Contact John Rigas +1-617-971-0091
On the net at www.esphigmenou.com
I was reading something from a decade old travelogue, and one of the Monk's said the Greek Government was trying to seize their property for a casino and resort.
An Orthodox Vatican? I like that idea!
Demonstrating again that Religion is a travesty on the character of Christ.
Quite possibly... thanks for some food for thought! :)
What?
Ping
"What on earth is this all about?"
I read some of their apologia and it seems they don't want to join the main Orthodox Greeks because they are members of the World Council of Churches.
I hope not. It would be disgusting seeing Hollywood trash walking the hallways of the monastery carousing, drugging it up, possibly committing every single one of the seven deadly sins on holy ground.
"Ah the false confidence inspired by spell check."
How true.
Personally, I think that this is an Orthodox issue and would do well to stay out the secular "human rights" arena.
My understanding is this: 1. Administratively (although not in issues of theology), the Ecumenical Patriarch has as much power as any Pope does over church property in Greece and its use. 2. The Patriarch also has the power to initiate discussions with other religious faiths, although he does not have the power to change Orthodox theology or faith.
The Ecumenical Patriarch is well within his authority to encourage ecumenical discussion and the monks have no right to challenge that authority. If they do challenge that Patriarchal authority, then they are disobeying their vows and can be subject to expulsion from their order and to excommunication. Their monastery is the church's property, not theirs, and the Patriarach has as much right to throw them out, as he would have if the monks were preaching a theology other than Orthodoxy. We have no idea how many discussions and/or warnings have taken place before this drastic action, nor what conversations have taken place. I cannot imagine that this action was taken lightly or without due consideration.
Re Greece and the Orthodox Church -- Until Greece joined the EU, it had always considered itself (and most Greeks still consider it) "an Orthodox country". There one church for virtually every square mile of the country. It was and has always seemed natural for the Church and the Greek State to work hand-in-hand. And frankly, when I was there in 2000 it appeared to have been working very well (until Greece joined the EU) -- Athens had the lowest violent crime rate of any major city in Europe and there was a strong sense of family and hospitality. People did not lock their doors and as a woman, I felt safer there than I even do in the US after-dark.
You'd think, "if it isn't broken, don't fix it", but "fix it" is exactly what Greece has done, with less than positive political consequences. Now these monks are afraid that the what happened to Greece with the EU politically, is going to happen with Orhtodoxy and ecumenicalism. But the two are mutually exclusive and the monks (as opposed to the laity) have no right to challenge Patriarchal authority on this.
The greek government for decade has been persecuting any bible beleiving christians that would dare preach or witness within their borders
what is surprising here is that being socialists they are in bed with the pope of the greek orthodox church
It probably is a deal where if the greek government overthrows these monks and gives their valuables to the greek orthodox pope he will not contest their seizing of the property
His appearance is bow the knee and destroy your illegal relics and icons or die.
On FR I have had several Greek Orthodox people contact me and declare that they are a peace loving religion and the one true church -- that has been unfairly been cruelly abused and savaged by Roman Catholics
I suspect that they have a long history of intolerance -- that begins when they went in and began before the split between the eastern and western church.
Some more low points include the Greek massacre of Latins in the late 12th century (not too many years before the sack of Constantinople) and the abandonment of the agreements from the Council of Florence.
Not wanting to join the left leaning World Council of Churches, me thinks is a good thing.
Yes, it does go both ways.
Do you know the difference between religion and God?
Damn shame, regardless how you look at it.
What is the exact nature of this "spiritual disagreement"?
Well said, BB!
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