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In 2006, Greek newspapers reported the archbishop's displeasure at a decision by the centre-right government of [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]] under [[Kostas Karamanlis]] to discontinue the practice of allowing Greek Orthodox priests to use public schools for [[Confession#Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism|confessionary]] purposes. Until then, calling in priests to hold private confession sessions within schools, was at the discretion of local educational authorities ; the sessions took place on a voluntary basis for children. Greek media reported that the Archbishop characterised the move a "hostile act" against the Church <ref>http://www.skairadio.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_skaigreece_118_11/09/2006_163482</ref>, while the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, presided by Christodoulos, sent a letter of complaint to the [[Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs (Greece)|Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs]] under [[Marietta Giannakou]]. The decision, however, was applauded by representatives of the Greek Teachers' Association <ref>http://www.alphatv.gr/index.asp?a_id=90&news_id=17584</ref>, who supported it as a measure that safeguarded freedom of belief and fostered respect for cultural and religious differences in schools.
In 2006, Greek newspapers reported the archbishop's displeasure at a decision by the centre-right government of [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]] under [[Kostas Karamanlis]] to discontinue the practice of allowing Greek Orthodox priests to use public schools for [[Confession#Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism|confessionary]] purposes. Until then, calling in priests to hold private confession sessions within schools, was at the discretion of local educational authorities ; the sessions took place on a voluntary basis for children. Greek media reported that the Archbishop characterised the move a "hostile act" against the Church <ref>http://www.skairadio.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_skaigreece_118_11/09/2006_163482</ref>, while the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, presided by Christodoulos, sent a letter of complaint to the [[Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs (Greece)|Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs]] under [[Marietta Giannakou]]. The decision, however, was applauded by representatives of the Greek Teachers' Association <ref>http://www.alphatv.gr/index.asp?a_id=90&news_id=17584</ref>, who supported it as a measure that safeguarded freedom of belief and fostered respect for cultural and religious differences in schools.


The Archbishop has attacked the authors of the newest Greek elementary schools’ sixth grade history book, accusing them of attempting to “enslave Greek youth” and conceal the Church’s role in defending Greek national identity during [[Ottoman Greece|Ottoman occupation]]. In reference to the same issue, he has castigated the “[[Janissary|yannisaries]]” <ref>http://www.in.gr/innews/article.asp?lngEntityID=786186&lngDtrID=244</ref> (ie [[Treason|traitors]] to the Greek [[nation]]) “who dare raise an audacious head and question unimpeachable things”.
The Archbishop attacked the authors of a Greek elementary schools’ sixth grade history book, accusing them of attempting to “enslave Greek youth” and conceal the Church’s role in defending Greek national identity during [[Ottoman Greece|Ottoman occupation]]. In reference to the same issue, he has castigated the “[[Janissary|yannisaries]]” <ref>http://www.in.gr/innews/article.asp?lngEntityID=786186&lngDtrID=244</ref> (ie [[Treason|traitors]] to the Greek [[nation]]) “who dare raise an audacious head and question unimpeachable things”.


== Criticism and controversy ==
== Criticism and controversy ==

Revision as of 06:37, 28 January 2008

Archbishop Christodoulos

His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos (Greek: Χριστόδουλος) (born Christos Paraskevaides Χρήστος Παρασκευαΐδης) (January 16 1939 in Xanthi - January 28 2008), was the primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece, a position to which he was elected in 1998.

Greece's Orthodox Church leader, Archbishop Christodoulos, who eased centuries of tension with the Vatican but angered liberal critics who viewed him as an attention-seeking reactionary, died January 28, 2008 at his home of cancer, church officials said. He was 69.

Election

Christodoulos, at 59 years of age, had been the youngest archbishop to head the Greek Church. His chief rivals in ballot were the Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis Anthimos and the Metropolitan of Thebes Ieronymos.

Involvement in issues

The archbishop played a leading role in stoking public opposition to NATO and the Kosovo War of 1999 in which Greece, as a NATO member, played a significant, though largely non-interventionist, role. He also spoke out strongly against the intention of the Greek government under Costas Simitis to follow EU directives even where they clashed with what he regarded as traditional Greek policies. [1]Shortly after his swearing in, Christodoulos stated that it was "a disgrace for the modern Greeks to decide on the basis of what directives from Brussels might ask, at one time or another [2].

In 2000 a major clash between church and state erupted when the Greek government sought to follow a decision of the Greek Data Protection Authority, by removing the "Religion" field from the national ID cards carried by Greek citizens. Christodoulos opposed the decision, claiming that it was part of a wider plan to marginalise the Church from Greek public life ; he also stated that the decision was "put forward by neo-intellectuals who want to attack us like rabid dogs and tear at our flesh". [3] The archbishop organised two demonstrations in Athens and Thessaloniki, alongside a majority of bishops of the Church of Greece, supporting the inclusion of religious data on a voluntary basis, and asked for a referendum on the matter. For this purpose he was greatly supported as more than three million Greek citizens signed and asked for a referendum. In 2001, Christodoulos prompted international criticism after claiming that the ID decision had been instigated by Jews. [4]

It emerged the same year that despite Christodoulos' claims that he had no knowledge of nor involvement with human rights violations by the Greek military junta of 1967-1974, because those seven years he was busy studying to become a priest, he had been present in the swearing-in ceremony of the new regime [5] while he held the office of Arch-Secretary of the "Holy Synod", the collective council of Metropolitan bishops of the Church of Greece.[6] At the same time he was serving as chief advisor to Archbishop Hieronymus, a regime supporter.

Christodoulos consented in 2001 to the Greek government's decision to allow Pope John Paul II to visit Greece. He commented that he would not "close the door" on the Pope, because he was coming to the country as a pilgrim. The two men met for discussions during the Papal visit in May 2001, though they did not pray together. Christodoulos' decision led to major controversy in Greece, where many Orthodox Christians regard the Pope (and the Catholic Church as a whole) as a schismatic heretic. [7] He also consented in 2002 to the construction of a mosque in Athens, to end the fact that Athens is the only EU capital without a Muslim place of worship. [8]

In 2006, Greek newspapers reported the archbishop's displeasure at a decision by the centre-right government of New Democracy under Kostas Karamanlis to discontinue the practice of allowing Greek Orthodox priests to use public schools for confessionary purposes. Until then, calling in priests to hold private confession sessions within schools, was at the discretion of local educational authorities ; the sessions took place on a voluntary basis for children. Greek media reported that the Archbishop characterised the move a "hostile act" against the Church [9], while the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, presided by Christodoulos, sent a letter of complaint to the Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs under Marietta Giannakou. The decision, however, was applauded by representatives of the Greek Teachers' Association [10], who supported it as a measure that safeguarded freedom of belief and fostered respect for cultural and religious differences in schools.

The Archbishop attacked the authors of a Greek elementary schools’ sixth grade history book, accusing them of attempting to “enslave Greek youth” and conceal the Church’s role in defending Greek national identity during Ottoman occupation. In reference to the same issue, he has castigated the “yannisaries” [11] (ie traitors to the Greek nation) “who dare raise an audacious head and question unimpeachable things”.

Criticism and controversy

Christodoulos supported views on Greek politics and culture that were criticized as highly conservative and nationalist. He led protests in 2002 against Greece's version of the television programme Big Brother, urging followers to "pray for the young kids" on the shows and to "turn off our [television] sets". [12]

In 2006, he decried the establishment of the monotonic orthography, as a "globalization plot" to impose "cultural uniformity" and "support the sale of multi-national Olivetti's typewriters". He also sarcastically referred to the lawmakers' "kindness of relieving our race from the darkness of Aristophanes" [13], with regards to the same matter.

File:Christodoulos.jpg

The archbishop was also intensely critical of globalisation, to which he referred, on repeated occasions, in disparaging terms as a global, or alternatively, "foreigner" plot to deprive people of their national identities. In 2004 he criticized globalisation as a "bulldozer that is out to demolish everything, on account of those who want to rule the world without resistance or obstacles"[14], adding that Greeks live in a paradise compared to other Europeans, because "they have a strong faith, they build churches, follow traditions, and resist globalisation". In 2006 he castigated globalisation as a "crime against humanity" and "a vehicle to Americanize the life of all humankind"[15]. He has also claimed that "globalisation wants to turn us into gruel, soup, sheep, or better yet, turkeys, so that we may be led with a cane"[16]. In 2002, he asked students in a Greek school whether they wanted to be "mince meat or meat", explaining that "foreigners want to turn us into the meat-grinder, while meat is a solid thing".[17]

Christodoulos frequently criticized the principles and values of what he characterizes "the atheist Enlightenment", and which he contrasted to Christian values [18].

The archbishop was also criticised for frequently judging the internal and foreign policies of the elected Greek governments, usually during sermons in the liturgy. In 1999 he complained during a sermon that the Education Ministries were "experimenting on students" with their continuous innovations on the educational system, causing the dissatisfaction of then Minister Gerasimos Arsenis, who was pushing substantial changes in secondary education at the time.

Christodoulos created a major controversy in 2003 when he denounced proposals to let Turkey enter the European Union, calling the Turks "barbarians". [19] Despite the fact a number of Greeks are also opposed to Turkey's entrance (as, indeed, are many other Europeans), Christodoulos' statements were seen as an unwarranted intervention in foreign affairs, based on a discriminatory and racialist logic. It has to be noted, however, that statements to the same effect had been made -and retracted- in the past by former Foreign Affairs Minister Theodoros Pangalos.

The archbishop was accused of fusing ethnic stereotypes and homophobic ideas when, on another occasion, he proclaimed that "Because we are not German, neither French, far more not English, but manful Greeks, we are Orthodox Christians". [20] The statement reflects a tendency in Greek low comedy to depict the British, French and German men with a tendency towards effeminacy, more frequently seen in burlesque comedy rather than serious works.

Christodoulos was also criticized for supporting what many Greeks feel to be an arbitrary, nationalist, and ultimately ahistorical division between the Greek and European culture at large. In 1998 he declared that "when our ancestors gave the lights of civilization, they [Europeans] were living up in trees"[21]. In 2003 he claimed that "history teaches us Europeans were always out to harm us. Long before the sack of Constantinople, Hellenism had been subjected to the horrible experience of the Franks, who wanted to achieve, by any means possible, its extinction". The latter sentence, most probably in reference to the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, seems to indicate that the Archbishop extrapolates attitudes of the excommunicated Frankish sackers of 1204 AD, to all Western Europeans, of all times.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, parts of the public were shocked to hear the archbishop attribute the attacks to "despondent men" who acted "out of despair caused by the injustices of the Great Powers". Critics attacked the archbishop [22] for what they considered to constitute an underhanded justification of the terrorist act. Christodoulos denied the allegation and responded that he condemned the attacks. In the fifth anniversary of the attacks, in 2006, and while speaking to an audience of High School students, Christodoulos characterized the September 11, 2001 attacks "a hideous crime that cost the lives of thousands of innocent people" and attributed them to "man failing to discern between good and evil, and being unable to posit himself responsibly towards the problems of the world" [23].

The archbishop's attacks on human rights were equally controversial. During a 2006[24], Christodoulos stated that the Church is bound to "come into many conflicts with the movement for human rights", despite the fact "it not only does not oppose human rights, but supersedes them". His proposed reason for these conflicts was that "the Church cannot accept what the Lord of This World is promoting through the human rights movement : the abolishment of sin". The archbishop has attributed human rights to a ploy by Satan on a second occasion, stating that "the forces of Darkness cannot stand it [that Greece is a predominantly Orthodox country], and for this reason they want to decapitate it and flatten everything, by means of globalization, the novel deity that has appeared alongside another deity called human rights, and on account of which they expect us to curtail our own rights". [25]

On December 2007 and January 2008, an anarchist organization calling themselves "Προδότες Εθνικής Συνείδησης - Αυτόνομοι" (Traitors of National Consciousness - Autonomics) posted two malevolent posters in the streets of Athens, celebrating and thanking the disease that has been affecting the Archbishop. The act came under attention by Greek media, which described it as cruel, merciless and misantrhopic. [26][27]

Clash with Ecumenical Patriarchate

In 2003, he fell out with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew over who should have the final say in the appointment of bishops in northern Greece. As a result Christodoulos' name was stricken off the Diptych of the Church as a punishment. He was reinstated three months later, as the conflict seemed to be coming to a resolution. [28]

Implication in 2005 Church scandals

Since his elevation, he had attracted a significant amount of controversy, culminating in a major corruption scandal in 2005. Christodoulos himself was drawn into the scandal when he was forced to admit links with the former archimandrite Iakovos Giosakis, imprisoned on charges of stealing icons and manipulating court judgments through an illegal circuit which arranged the bribery of judges. Christodoulos initially denied knowing the man, until a high-ranking judicial member, unrelated to the scandal, revealed that he had met the Archbishop twice in the presence of Giosakis, in meetings which were arranged by the latter [29].

Christodoulos was also criticised for his connections with Apostolos Vavylis, a convicted drug smuggler whom he had earlier also denied ever meeting. Vavylis was said to have lobbied on Christodoulos' behalf for the election of Jerusalem Patriarch Irenaios, a Christodoulos supporter. Vavylis' tactics included distributing homoerotic pictures of the patriarch's leading opponent in an apparent smear campaign. Despite calls for his resignation, Christodoulos vowed to stay on and "clean up" the church.

Illness

In June 2007, Archbishop Christodoulos was hospitalized in Aretaeion Hospital of Athens and diagnosed with colonic adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma in the right lobe of the liver, and cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis C. [30].

Following colonic tumor resection, transplantation specialist Professor Andreas Tzakis, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, announced that the Archbishop would be transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida in order to undergo liver transplantation. On October 8, 2007 the transplantation was cancelled [31] because one of the tumors had already spread to the peritoneum. [32] As a result of the transplantation cancellation and following suggestions by his attending doctors, Christodoulos returned to Athens on October 26, 2007 to continue his treatment. He passed away on January 28, 2008 after battling bravely with his illness. [33]


Quotes

  • The Archbishop has also been taped saying, referring to the Justinian era of Christianism: Early Greek Christians blessed and honored the Ancient Greek temples, in which pagans and heathens dwelled, by recycling the materials (stones and dirt) from the Ancient Greek Temples to build Christian temples. [34] [35]


Notes & references

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/despatches/90193.stm
  2. ^ http://www.hri.org/news/grpapers/typos/1998/98-05-05.typos.html#4
  3. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,223516,00.html
  4. ^ >>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1222101.stm
  5. ^ Template:El icon Photo of a younger Christodoulos after the swearing-in of the Regime of the Colonels.
  6. ^ http://www.iospress.gr/extra/fotochrist.htm
  7. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1300926.stm
  8. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2371541.stm
  9. ^ http://www.skairadio.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_skaigreece_118_11/09/2006_163482
  10. ^ http://www.alphatv.gr/index.asp?a_id=90&news_id=17584
  11. ^ http://www.in.gr/innews/article.asp?lngEntityID=786186&lngDtrID=244
  12. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1886998.stm
  13. ^ http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=708357
  14. ^ http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=528449
  15. ^ http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=722627&lngDtrID=244
  16. ^ http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=25036028
  17. ^ http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=25036028
  18. ^ http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=477827
  19. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3292835.stm
  20. ^ http://www.hri.org/E/1999/99-06-21.dir/keimena/greece/greece4.htm
  21. ^ http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=25036028
  22. ^ Manolis Vasilakis, "Kala na pathoun", ISBN 960-252-007-8 A research on the reactions of Greek media and the public after the 9/11 attacks.
  23. ^ http://www.skairadio.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_skaigreece_118_14/09/2006_164084
  24. ^ http://www.ecclesia.gr/greek/archbishop/default.asp?id=454&what_main=1&what_sub=7&lang=gr&archbishop_heading=%CE%91%CE%9D%CE%91%CE%96%CE%97%CE%A4%CE%97%CE%A3%CE%97
  25. ^ http://ta-nea.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=A&f=18233&m=P52&aa=2
  26. ^ http://www.resaltomag.gr/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1934
  27. ^ http://www.resaltomag.gr/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2033
  28. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3292835.stm
  29. ^ http://www.hri.org/news/grpapers/typos/2005/05-02-23.typos.html
  30. ^ http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/21/europe/EU-GEN-Greece-Church-Leader.php
  31. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7033412.stm
  32. ^ http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=5769390&maindocimg=5611810&service=100
  33. ^ http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/politics_5404105KathiLev&xml/&aspKath/politics.asp?fdate=12/12/2007
  34. ^ Template:El icon The Church of Greece and the ancient Greek pantheon, article from Ios Press.
  35. ^ Template:El icon TV video capture in which the Archbishop analyses his beliefs about the Ancient Greeks and the ancient Greek religion.

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