www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News What do you make of the scandals in the Greek Orthodox Church?

I'm on a monastic discussion group and just received this. What do you make of it? I note the date and thought there was another thread here about it but couldn't find one.

CDL

Greece in revolt as scandals sweep the Orthodox church

Helena Smith in Athens
Sunday March 20, 2005

Observer

Archbishop Christodoulos, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, is facing trying times. Last week, Greece's newly inaugurated President, Karolos Papoulias, spurned tradition by refusing to kiss him.
Days earlier, his closest confidant, Theoklitos, the Bishop of Thessaliotis, resigned amid accusations of homosexuality and drug dealing. And yesterday, after weeks of calls for his own withdrawal, the whiff of scandal came closer still - ensnaring his mentor, Metropolitan Bishop Kallinikos, with yet more claims of sexual impropriety. Growing numbers of the faithful have begun to wonder whether their fiery leader will survive 'Holygate'.

'There is no doubt that this crisis has blackened the face of the church,' said the conservative daily Kathimerini. 'Those who thought that the corruption scandals and shady intrigue bedevilling it were just a passing phase have been forced to reconsider.'

The revelations are mind-boggling. Almost daily, men once revered as paragons of virtue have been exposed as lascivious money-grabbers. Recorded conversations of eminent clerics engaging in 'love talk' have been broadcast on television, secret bank accounts revealed, and malfeasance unearthed, with priests emerging as central players in activities as disparate as trial-fixing, antiquities smuggling and election rigging. Highlighting a raft of lurid sexual claims, one newspaper splashed what was purported to be a 91-year-old priest in bed with a woman across its front page.

'In many ways, the Greek Orthodox Church has been revealed for what it is: a completely amoral and unethical multinational company,' said Nikos Dimou, author of the best-selling book The Misery of Being Greek .

At first, the archbishop reacted by pledging a wide-ranging 'self-catharsis' to clean up the church's sullied image. Addressing an extraordinary meeting of the Holy Synod, the institu tion's governing body of bishops, he conceded that reforms were clearly necessary to counter 'our apparent lust and greed'.

But despite the measures, the drama refused to die down. Forced to admit his own links with a priest imprisoned on charges of stealing icons and manipulating court judgments, the 66-year-old archbishop was quickly drawn into the scandal. Subsequent revelations of his connections with Apostolos Vavilis, a convicted drugs smuggler whom he endorsed in a glowing letter of recommendation, sparked protest from within his own ranks.

'There is no other solution ... the only thing left for the archbishop to do is resign,' insisted Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Zakynthos, a long-time rival.

Previously, Christodoulos had denied he ever meeting Vavilis, whom he is accused of employing to ensure that Patriarch Eirinaios of Jerusalem was elected to his post in 2001.

As the biggest landowner in the Middle East - the Israeli parliament and presidential palace are built on plots owned by the Orthodox patriarchate - insiders say the archbishop was keen to see his confidant win the seat.

Vavilis has since admitted circulating homoerotic pictures of Eirinaios's main opponent, a dirty trick that ensured his defeat. In another embarrassing step, Eirinaios conceded that Christodoulos had sent the wanted drugs smuggler to lobby for him.

Inevitably, the archbishop's popularity has been badly dented. Parish priests have added their voices to the growing chorus of demands that he step down. 'There are sacrifices that must be made,' said Efstathios Kollas, who heads the union of priests. 'The archbishop, if he loves the church, must make this sacrifice.'

But Christodoulos has vehemently refused to resign. He is, he says, 'determined to lead the effort to clean up the church'.

As the allegations have mounted, so have calls for a separation of church and state. Priests in Greece are paid by the government.

With the Holy Synod due to launch an inquiry into claims that the archbishop's mentor, Bishop Kallinikos, made sexual overtures to a male cantor, and the net closing on Vavilis, those calls are bound to get louder. 'Greeks are not particularly religious,' said Dimou. 'But the church is like the Greek flag, a symbol of their identity.'

Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

To directly answer the question posed by the title of the thread, they sadden me.

This subject was previously beaten to death in this thread , which occupied 11 pages and 155 posts. I am unconvinced that remarking on this sad series of events that are afflicting our Greek Orthodox brethren serves any useful purpose.

Many years,

Neil

The accusations are, no doubt, staggering. Corruption, sexual scandal, etc etc. Perhaps it is a good thing that the GO Church in Greece will no longer be funded by the State? (Isn't Greece a socialist state, btw?) Whenever state money gets involved, strange things seem to happen (one of the reasons I sometimes question the wisdom - not the intention - of Bush's faith based initiative).

What a sad time for our GO bretheren. My prayers go out to them all, especially given the recent RC experience with scandal.

I have to admit, though, that I actually found the Pope's reception in Greece some years back to be a far greater scandal - it was prelest on parade with pictures of monks and nuns spewing public hatred at this poor, sickly pilgrim of charity. Like Christ, he took it all upon himself, though, probably turning it into an offering for Christian unity. Problems of sexual passion and corruption, as bad as they can be, to me are of equal concern with a fundamental lack of Christian charity.

Can anyone possibly doubt the reality of the ancestral sin?

I find it curious, though, that apart from some apparent connections to bad people (the nature of those connections not being defined at all by the article) Archbishop Christodoulos seems to be the only one calling for reform. Maybe I am not sure how long he has been at his post, but it seems strange that blame for the scandal seems to be placed squarely on his shoulders. He may be completely innocent in this, for all we know. And how is Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Zakynthos his "rival"? Clearly I do not understand Greek Orthodox Church polity, especially in Greece.

Pace e' bene,

Gordo

Thanks, Neil, for the link. I'll look for my answers there.

Gordo

I agree with Neil and Gordo and apologize for not finding the thread.

Dan L

On the issue of Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Zakynthos, I understand that he was one of the candidates for the Archbishopric of Athens following Archbishop Seraphim's death. Make what you will of that...

I still think that the relationship between the Church and State will continue for the forseable future simply for the fact that the whole concept is more or less ingrained in Greek minds. But who knows...it might change.

Also Greece is currently under a centre-right government (and one of the few such governments currently in power in Europe...on the Bulgarian front, most people predict that Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's government will be defeared by the Socialists).

Anton

Scandal in any part of the Body of Christ should fill us all with sadness and mourning. To me, it makes no difference if the ones who fall are Latin, Greek, Oriental, Protestant . . .

Anyone who helps undermine the message of the Gospel in a world that so desparately needs it should be the focus of our prayer. These high ranking clerics are the most visible representatives of Christ and His Church. When they fall, they cause a bit more damage because of their visibility.

The Desert Fathers tell us that we should not marvel when one among us falls, but rather marvel when one is able to escape the Enemy. And so we mourn all these reportings of scandal anywhere in the Body of Christ.

It seems that across our world, across our culture, and across the Lord's Church, we have all forgotten that our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit and are to be treated as such. Additionally we need to see others in the same light and have the same respect for them that we would have for Christ Himself. Which means that we've all got a long way to go to re-evangelize ourselves and our fallen world.

How far we have all fallen.

In Christ,

BOB

Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,

We can look at the postives that may come out of what is happening in the Greek Orthodox Church. Hopefully it will lead to a more transpearent Church.

That the hierarch of the Church will represent the people and not just themselves.

Just as the American Church has had to face its short comings, we are going to be stronger because of it. So too, I see that for the Greeks and the Palestinians who are under Greek hierachs.

Poosh BaShlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Yuhannon

I prefer not to make any comments. The Latin Church in the United States has yet to completely deal with its own sins. I will say no more.

Me thinks it was a prophesy.
I remember back in a thread when the latin church was being beaten to a pulp, and those of the eastern church were gloating, just wait till it came ouT about the eastern church.
Stephanos I
That being said it is a sad sad thing.
But remember primarily we are to be a church which seeks reconciliation and forgiveness and above all mercy.

Leave it alone. What good can this possibly serve?

Oh my.... that is really sad. It remind of the Reformation. :rolleyes:

Bob really says it all here:

What useful purpose can this thread serve? That we pray for our Brethren in the East during their time of need, that they may overcome and escape the snares of the enemy.

Doug

I think it is similar to conditions that existed in the Latin Church before Trent. But the Counter-Reformation is proof that scandals can be overcome. If the Greeks are willing, their church can be purified and reformed. It sounds like they need a few holy men right now, who can lead them out of the scandals.

Just a few scattered thoughts:

My priest, who I have the utmost respect for, just came back from Greece for the ordination of a Metropolitan, and had the honor of meeting Arch. Christodoulos. He said the man has an amazing 'presence'.

My husband just got back from a trip to Greece, and saw Arch. Christodoulos on television there giving a fiery sermon:

He said to all the liberal dissenters that have now popped up with this scandal:

"And who are YOU to tell the Church that they must allow their Bishops to marry? YOU are not going to change the Church into what YOU want her to be. ONLY an Ecumenical council can reverse such a discipline.....and as far as women priests, there is just now way, and there is no discussion! PERIOD!"

Alice, (who thinks that if an unmarried Bishop is obsessed with money, as this scandal has revealed, then how much more would those 'gone astray' bishops be if they also needed to support a wife, home, and children!) LOL! :rolleyes: