117 Monks up in arms

Neos Kosmos (Greek-Australian Newspaper)

January 30, 2003.

MT. ATHOS, JAN 30 - In an unprecedented move, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has blockaded basic food, medical supplies and heating oil to the 117 monks in the Mt. Athos monastery of Esphigmenou.

The monks in the largest and most historic monastery in the region, the spiritual center of the Orthodox faith disagree with the Patriarch's unorthodox teachings and actions, particularly as it pertains to unity with the Roman Catholic church and as a result are facing his wrath. The Patriarch has failed to get the monastery to change its orthodox beliefs by this unprecedented blockade, and is now using Greek police as his own private army to have all the monks evicted from the monastery, by this week.

Power and water have been cut, and authorities have halted supplies of food and medicine, but for the time being, the monks are resisting efforts to force them from their 1,000-year-old monastery. "We will fight with our prayer beads," chief abbot Methodios told a news conference in Thessaloniki.

The expulsion was ordered for rejecting the authority of Eastern Orthodox leadership. Members of the monastery condemned church leaders for holding talks with Roman Catholics as part of a long-running effort to reconcile the two main branches of Christianity. Mount Athos, known as the Holy Mountain, is considered a spiritual cradle of Orthodox Christianity, and its conservative monks are widely perceived as being guardians of the faith.

The inhabitants of Esphigmenou are considered the most doctrinal of all the 2,000 or so monks living on Athos. For decades, they have shown their opposition to any reconciliation with Catholics by adorning their monastery with black flags and a giant banner reading "Orthodoxy or death." They have also referred to the pope as a heretic.