Greek Court Orders End To Monastery Siege

Greece's highest court has ordered police to lift a siege of a monastery where more than 100 Orthodox monks face eviction for not recognizing the authority of their bishop.

The monks locked themselves in the Esphigmenou monastery at Mount Athos, a peninsula in northern Greece, after receiving an eviction notice Jan. 28.

Police were brought in to watch the premises, and the monks feared that they would be arrested if they left the compound to obtain food, heating oil and medical supplies.

The monks appealed to the country's highest court, the Council of State, which is expected to rule on the eviction order in October.

Mount Athos, home to 20 Orthodox monasteries, is a self-governing region of Greece under the spiritual jurisdiction of Bartholomew I, the ecumenical patriarch in Istanbul.

The Esphigmenou monks said they rejected the patriarch's efforts to restore ties with the Roman Catholic Church and called him a heretic. The patriarch told Greek authorities to order the monks to leave.