HOLY MONASTERY OF ESPHIGMENOU- Mt. Athos

"Our battle is for truth and the true Orthodox way of life, which the Patriarch is attempting to silence." Abbot Methodios AP/CNN

“Keep an eye on your bishops as far as their Orthodoxy is concerned lest they go so far as to teach doctrines against the true faith or celebrate with heretics and schismatics." Gennadios II Scholarios, Patriarch of Constantinople, 1454 - 1464

"Therefore, we urge you... to act in consort with all the state assets and those in charge of Mount Athos and elsewhere, to move against them, and to discreetly expel them from this place (Mt. Athos)...." Patriarch Bartholomew

PEACEFUL ESPHIGMENOU MONASTERY UNDER NEW THREAT

WITH PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW’S

TRIP TO MT. ATHOS TODAY

MOUNT ATHOS, GREECE – Today the Esphigmenou monastery has learned that the Greek government has once again been pressured to forcibly remove the monks in advance of Patriarch Bartholomew’s trip to Mt. Athos tomorrow.

Abbot Methodios of Esphigmenou Monastery has called upon Patriarch Bartholomew to show brotherly love toward his fellow Orthodox Christians and approach their ecclesiastical disagreement with a spirit of love and charity, and not one of coercion and force.

“We call upon Patriarch Bartholomew to use his influence with the Greek government to urge them to cease their intervention in Church matters and end the acts of legal and political harassment of our peaceful monastic brotherhood,” said Abbot Methodios.

The monks of Esphigmenou monastery have repeatedly asked for peaceful dialogue with Patriarch Bartholomew to resolve their ecclesiastical dispute, but those requests have been ignored.

“Patriarch Bartholomew should lead by example and not engage in attacks on fellow Orthodox Christians. Lead by showing how to solve disagreements with peace and love. We have asked for face to face dialogue but those requests have been ignored. Christ said we Christians will be known by the love we show for one another.”

The Esphigmenou monastery has been involved in a long-running theological dispute with Patriarch Bartholomew. As a result, the Greek government has moved to evict the peaceful monks from their monastery home. The monks have called for peaceful dialogue with Patriarch Bartholomew to resolve their dispute. The Greek government has gone so far as to impose a barbaric blockade of food, water, medical supplies and even doctors in an effort to starve the monks out of their home of 1,500 years. Greece has been cited for its actions against the monks in the U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report.

The Greek government’s most recent act of legal corruption has been to engage in state-sponsored identity theft to steal the land and buildings the monastery has owned and occupied for more than 1500 years and transfer them to another entity and then declare the monks trespassers. The Greek Government seeks to imprison the monks who know no other home than this monastery.

Over 25 monks have already died while the government imposed blockade has been in place. The monks of Esphigmenou ask for the support and prayers of people of goodwill during this difficult time, and send their holy Blessings to all.

GREEK GOVERNMENT CONTINUES PERSECUTION OF ESPHIGMENOU MONKS – MOVES TO FORCE THEM OUT OF THEIR OWN MONASTERY

Call Upon our fellow Christians and International Human Rights Community to Help Defenseless Monks

THESSALONIKI, GREECE, July 23, 2020 – Today Esphigmenou monastery has learned that the Greek government has ordered the 100 elderly peaceful monks to leave their remote monastery. The Esphigmenou order of monks has been continuously active in this monastery for over 1,000 years, through several governing empires and national governments. The monastery is currently home to over 100 monks, many of them elderly, and a good many of them have lived at the monastery for more than 50 years. Last week, in a mockery of justice only seen in 3^rd world dictatorships and totalitarian regimes, the Greek government ordered the monks to leave the monastery.

This attack on Esphigmenou Monastery is also seen as a litmus test for the entire Mt. Athos peninsula. If the Greek Government can evict monks from one monastery they can do it to every monastery and skete, and for any reason, and no one will be safe on the entire Holy Mountain.

The Greek Government now has imminent plans to raid the monastery to seize and imprison the abbot and monks.

“We call upon the Greek government to stop this immoral and unchristian action and to let us pray in peace as this brotherhood has done for over 1,100 years,” said Abbot Methodios of Esphigmenou Monastery. “We also ask all people of goodwill to support us in our struggle for religious liberty, and to allow our over 100 brothers to live our lives in peace and prayerful contemplation, rather than under constant government threat.”

The Esphigmenou monastery has been involved in a long-running dispute with the Greek government, which has tried to evict the peaceful monks from their monastery home. The Greek government has gone to great lengths to impose its will on the hapless monks and has enforced a barbaric blockade of essential needs including: food, water, petrol, medical supplies, and even doctors in an effort to starve and outlast the monks from the only home they know, and one that has been in existence for over 1,100 years. Greece has been cited for its actions against the monks in the U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report.

In a failed 2014 raid the government attempted on the peaceful monastery, the government used a steel bulldozer in order to flatten a door, behind which several monks were seeking shelter. The defenseless monks were nearly crushed to death by the government operated bulldozer. After the world wide public outcry from these tactics in 2014, the government had, until now not attempted to violently remove the monks from their only home, the Esphigmenou monastery on Mount Athos.

“The Greek government has committed despicable acts of aggression and violence against these peaceful Esphigmenou monks, and these actions must cease immediately,” said John Rigas of Friends of Esphigmenou. The government has threatened to imprison the monks for continuing to live in their own property, the monastery “We ask the international human rights community to join us, just as the U.S. State Department has in previous years in condemning these actions. The Greek government cannot get away with persecuting its own citizens over a religious difference of opinion.”

Sadly, over 25 monks have already died while the government imposed blockade has been in place. Tomorrow’s anticipated acts of are simply the latest in the non-stop campaign of harassment and intimidation in recent years by the Greek government against the peaceful monks. The monks of Esphigmenou ask for the support and prayers of people of goodwill during this difficult time, and send their holy Blessings to all.

The dispute with the Greek government stems from a disagreement the monks have had with Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul, Turkey. Patriarch Bartholomew has pressured to Greek government to take action against the monks, whom he treats in a fundamentally unchristian manner. The monks have requested dialogue with him in order to resolve this dispute in a peaceful and brotherly manner, but he has refused. He has instead used the Greek government as a weapon against his fellow Orthodox Christians.

The Greek plans to transfer the monastery to others who have never had any association with Esphigmenou by arbitrarily and against the Charter of the Holy Mountain, declaring them, as the new owners, and the eternally existing brotherhood of monks as trespassers.

The Greek Government is now poised to once again escalate the situation and employ violence by sending in armed police to imprison the Very venerable, Abbott Methodios and all the monks who know no other home than this monastery.

The monks and their supporters continue to pray for peace and for cooler heads to prevail in the Greek government. “Why don’t they just leave them alone? All they want to do is to be left alone to pray in peace” said John Rigas of Friends of Esphigmenou. “They are literally bothering no one. They are monks.”

ADDRESS for ELECTRONIC CONTACT (for: Prime Minister Mr. Kyriako Mitsotaki) E-mail: primeminister@primeminister.gr

Telephone: General Communication with the Prime Minister can be done through the Secretariat Office at the Following Number: 011-30- 210- 671-1000

As we near the completion of the Easter season, where our Lord Jesus Christ was humiliated, beaten, and crucified by the authorities of His time, the monks of Esphigmenou must endure a modern day persecution. The Greek Government is once again hard at work threatening the lives of the peaceful monks of Esphigmenou Monastery. In what can only be described as unholy miscarriage of justice, an appeals court in northern Greece has upheld a wholly inappropriate jail sentence of 17 years for Abbot Methodios of Esphigmenou. The highly questionable judgment of the Greek Government toward monasticism has come into focus not only with the egregious sentences handed to Abbott Methodios and numerous monks of Esphigmenou at this time and in the past but is certainly similar in spirit to the 2011 jailing of Abbot Ephraim of Vatopedi Monastery, also of Mt. Athos. Both are questionable at best and highly vindictive at worst. The monks simply want to live in peace and pray. The authorities want to remove them from the only place they know as home. The Greek Government has threatened the lives of the monks by entirely cutting them off from the outside world and at many times surrounded the monastery with paramilitary personnel. To date the monks of Esphigmenou have had their food and medical supplies cut off, pilgrims are banned from visiting, the supply ship that supports Mt. Athos is banned from stopping at Esphigmenou, their bank accounts have been seized, nearly all of their property outside Mt. Athos has been taken and many monks over the years have died from lack of medical attention or from attempting to circumnavigate the blockade of the monastery. They are crucifying us says Abbot Methodios. They want us gone or dead but we will endure.

MT. ATHOS, GREECE - Greek police once again descended upon Mount Athos as part of their ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation of the peaceful monks of Esphigmenou Monastery. Monks who were peacefully picking grapes at the monastery vineyards were accosted by police and threatened with arrest. This is just the latest incident of abuse of these defenseless monks at the hands of the Greek government. The Greek government has already blockaded the delivery of food to the monastery and prohibited doctors from visiting ailing monks, and now they are stopping them from picking food for sustenance from their own lands.

Friends of Esphigmenou plan rally in Ouranoupolis to protest monks prison sentence

THESSALONIKI, GREECE On Sunday Feb 5, supporters of Esphigmenou Monastery will gather at the Port of Ouranoupolis in Northern Greece to protest the ever escalating persecution of the monks of Eshpigmenou. Last week, in a miscarriage of justice seen only in totalitarian regimes, Abbot Methodios was found guilty in absentia of incitement and sentenced to 20 years in prison, without possibility of release while on appeal. The court also sentenced several other monks to 10 years in prison.

The Greek Government has plans to raid the monastery to seize and imprison the abbot and monks.

We call upon the Greek government to refrain from violent actions and to let us pray in peace as we have for over 1,500 years, said Abbot Methodios of Esphigmenou Monastery. We also ask all people of goodwill to support us in our struggle for religious liberty, and to allow our over 105 brothers to live our lives in peace and in prayerful contemplation, rather than under constant persecution by the government.

The Esphigmenou Monastery has been involved in a long-running dispute with the Greek government, which has tried to evict the peaceful monks from their monastery home. The Greek government has gone so far as to impose blockade of food, medical supplies and even doctors in an effort to force the monks out of their home of 1,500 years. Greece has been cited for its actions against the monks in the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report.

Supporters plan to protest the recent judge's decision to issue 20 year prison sentences against the abbot.

The Greek government's most recent act of legal corruption has been to engage in state-sponsored identity theft to confiscate the land and buildings the monastery has owned and occupied for more than 1500 years and grant them to another entity and then declare the monks trespassers. The Greek Government is now poised to once again escalate the situation and employ violence by sending in armed police to imprison the monks who know no other home than this monastery.

For information regarding the protest in Ouranoupolis contact: Ioannis Kolokithas in Greece at (+30) 6972291676

ARMED GREEK RIOT POLICE POISED TO RAID AND SEIZE ABBOT OF ESPHIGMENOU MONASTERY

THESSALONIKI, GREECE - Today Esphigmenou monastery has learned that the Greek government is planning to raid the peaceful monastic community in order to arrest and imprison their Abbot Methodios. Last week, in a miscarriage of justice seen only in totalitarian regimes, Abbot Methodios was wrongly found guilty of incitement and sentenced to 20 years in prison, without possibility of release while on appeal. The court also sentenced several other monks to 10 years in prison.

The Greek Government now has imminent plans to raid the monastery to seize and imprison the abbot and monks.

The Esphigmenou monastery has been involved in a long-running dispute with the Greek government, which has tried to evict the peaceful monks from their monastery home. The Greek government has gone so far as to impose a barbaric blockade of food, water, medical supplies and even doctors in an effort to starve the monks out of their home of 1,500 years. Greece has been cited for its actions against the monks in the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report.

The latest charges and cruel and unusual prison sentences stem from a brutal 2014 raid the government made on the peaceful monastery. In that raid, the government employed a steel bulldozer in order to flatten a door, behind which several monks were seeking shelter. The charges now brought by the government result from the hapless attempts the monks made to defend themselves from being crushed to death by that government operated bulldozer.

The Greek government has committed despicable acts of aggression and violence against the peaceful Esphigmenou monks, and these actions must cease immediately, said John Rigas of Friends of Esphigmenou. To add insult to injury, the government has now sought to imprison the monks for the pathetic attempts the unarmed monks made to defend their lives. We ask the international human rights community to join us, just as the U.S. State Department has in previous years in condemning these actions. The Greek government cannot get away with persecuting its own citizens over a religious difference of opinion.

Over 25 monks have already died while the government imposed blockade has been in place. Tomorrow's anticipated acts of government violence are simply the latest in the non-stop campaign of harassment and intimidation in recent years by the Greek government against the peaceful monks. The monks of Esphigmenou ask for the support and prayers of people of goodwill during this difficult time, and send their holy Blessings to all.

The dispute with the Greek government stems from a disagreement the monks have had with Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul, Turkey. Patriarch Bartholomew has pressured to Greek government to take action against the monks, whom he has personally decided are schismatic. The monks have requested dialogue with him in order to resolve this dispute in a peaceful and brotherly manner, but he has refused. He has instead used the Greek government as a weapon against his fellow Orthodox Christians.

The Greek government's most recent act of legal corruption has been to engage in state-sponsored identity theft to steal the land and buildings the monastery has owned and occupied for more than 1500 years and transfer them to another entity and then declare the monks trespassers. The Greek Government is now poised to once again escalate the situation and employ violence by sending in armed police to imprison the monks who know no other home than this monastery.

The monks and their supporters continue to pray for peace and for cooler heads to prevail in the Greek government. Why don't they just leave them alone? All they want to do is to be left alone to pray in peace, said John Rigas of Friends of Esphigmenou. They are literally bothering no one. They are monks.

Thessalonika, Greece - This week the Greek court in Thessalonika has unjustly sentenced Abbott Methodios of Esphigmenou monastery on Mount Athos, a historic 1500 year old monastic community, to 20 years in prison and sentenced several monks of the monastery to 10 years in prison for crimes they never committed. The government continues to attempt to unethically and immorally remove them from the monastery which is their only home. This is a continuation of the years-long campaign of official harassment and intimidation being perpetrated against the peaceful monks by the Greek Government. Once we obtain the official court documents outlining what fabricated charges have been brought against the monks, we will post them here. In the meantime we ask supporters of the monastery to call and email Prime Minister Tsipras to demand that these actions against the monastery cease immediately, and vacate these cruel and unjust sentences against peaceful monks of Mount Athos. Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos has the ability to reverse these unjust sentences and we demand he do so immediately.

1	Mr. Tsipras	Prime Minister of Greece	E-mail: dialogue@politicalforum.gr
	Private office tel: +30-210-338-5491	Fax: +30-210-323-8129
2	Mr. Kontzas	Foreign Minister	The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
	Tel: +30-210-368-1000	Fax: +30-210-368-1433	5 Vassilissis Sophias Av, 106 71 Athens
			Foreign Minister contact form

3	Patriarch Bartholomew	http://www.patriarchate.org/contact	E-mail: Patriarchate@ec-patr.org
	Tel: +90-212-635-4501 (office) or +90-212-531-9670 (main#)	Main Fax. +90-212-534-9037 Office Fax +90-212-525-6429

November 29, 2010

BBC Reports: Greece wastes taxpayer dollars persecuting Esphigmenou Monastery:

Watch BBC Report

"Therefore, we urge you... to act in consort with all the state assets and those in charge of Mount Athos and elsewhere, to move against them, and to discreetly expel them from this place (Mt. Athos)...." Patriarch Bartholomew Complete document

"If these vessels are being used by the illegal occupiers of the main complex of buildings of the Monastery, or, are in any way providing services for them, even if by a third party, we ask that their approach to the Monastery be prohibited and blockaded with all means (at your disposal),...." Archimandrite Chrysostomos- (Abbott of imposter Esphigmenou Monastery) Complete document

December 2010

During the Holy Christmas Season The Holy Royal Esphigmenou Monastery and Abbott Father Methodios wish all a blessed and Holy Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year 2011.

We wish to thank all those who have supported our just cause and want them to know we pray for them every day at the Holy Liturgy. We are indebted to all of you, throughout the world for your support in our common cause for the Orthodox faith. We want you to know that the persecution of the monastery and the fathers continues. As you may know, we have been dragged into the secular courts to face familiar trumped up charges of illegally occupying our monastery. The struggle continues.

Glory to God for all things, through the prayers of our most Holy Lady Theotokos we will survive this trial also.

(AP photos above are pictures taken of the events, clearly showing police rough handling of Esphigmenou monks).

"Greek Police bar pilgrims from attending chruch service"

ATHENS, Greece, May 27, 2009 - Police and coast guard officials said they were on alert Wednesday in the wake of Greek Orthodox pilgrims near Esphigmenou Monastery on Mount Athos, Greece.

Officials were on stand-by in the ancient cities of Ouranoupolis and Ierissos as a result of Tuesday's decision by Greek police to bar nearly 35 pilgrims who were trying to attend church for Ascension, a major Holiday on the Orthodox Calendar, and the feast day for the church at Esphigmenou Monastery.

Since the siege began in 2003, pilgrims have been invited by Abbott Methodios to attend services at Esphigmenou. Pilgrims are drawn to Mt. Athos and Esphigmenou Monastery as it is the idyllic place of prayer, a world within a world; an ancient, peaceful, community that is world renowned for monastic life. However each attempt to attend church services at Esphigmenou Monastery by peaceful pilgrims are met by agitated Greek Police, (and backed by the Greek Government) who physically and sometimes violently turn them back. Multiple attempts have been made to reach the monastery over the years and nearly all have been met with violence.

More news coverage on May 27 events:

Original UPI story

Kathimerini - Letter to the Editor on Esphigmenou

Original Kathimerini.com story

Additional History:

Clashes at Esphigmenou Kathimerini article