87Posted on 07/29/2013 4:47:24 PM PDT by Brian Kopp DPM
87 16 2 213
An earlier clash between the Mt. Athos monks and police
Angry monks at the Esphigmenou Monastery in the monastic community of Mount Athos in northern Greece, refusing to obey an eviction order, tossed Molotov Cocktails and rocks at bailiffs attempting to serve them on July 29, chasing them off the premises of the famed peninsula.
“The monks of Esphigmenou Monastery who are in the residential quarters and are in a defense position to defend it, threw some objects from inside out. We are expecting the intervention of the prosecutor from Thessaloniki. We are expecting the police to offer a political peaceful and calm solution, otherwise things will happen that will blacken Greece’s image abroad,” a spokesperson for the rebel monks, Iraklis Moraitis, told the state-run Athens-Macedonia New Agency.
The monks of Esphigmenou Monastery have been declared an illegal brotherhood by the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos, over a dispute regarding improving ties with the Catholic Church, which the monks vehemently oppose.
In 2002 Bartholomeos ordered their eviction from the 10th-Century Mount Athos monastery but they refused to obey. Moraitis said that the eviction order delivered to them last week was aimed at having them vacate the premises so that the management of the monastic community can get its hands on the monastery’s assets.
The Church doesn’t recognize the position of those inside the monastery as monks and a war of words has lingered for years between the leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church and the ultra-Orthodox self-styled monks inside the monastery.
Ah, the fruits of the Great Schism.
Feisty monks.
Send in Ironman. Ok, well, just play Ozzy....Real loud.
Wrap the building with shrink wrap and throw in a few
burritos.
Don’t cut the water off, just up the pressure to 400psi.
What is the issue between the Orthodox and the Catholic Church anyway
Papal primacy, some doctrinal issues.
The visit of Pope John Paul II to Greece is the first by a Pontiff in almost 1000 years and has sparked fervent anti-Papal feeling among many Orthodox Greeks.
The 80-year-old pontiff's brief visit to Athens comes as part of a millennial pilgrimage retracing the path of the Apostle Paul from Syria to Malta.
 Even Saint Cosmas said the Pope should be damned because he will be the cause of all evil  |
|
Father Maximus
|
Hundreds of religious protesters who gathered in central Athens last week under banners declaring "Out with the two-horned Pope" and Orthodox monks held an all-night vigil on Mount Olympus to pray that the pontiff would not come.
The union of Greek clerics is planning a mass bell-ringing protest during the Pope's 24-hour stay.
 Hardliners claim welcoming the Pope means dishonouring the Orthodox church
|
"You have demolished the holy canon, you have insulted the saints who fought the Pope, and opened the door for heavy wolves to enter the Church," declares an open letter from the protestors.
Surprise invitation
The Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos's invitation to the Pope appeared to take both the Greek media and the government by surprise.
|
Papal "offences" against Orthodoxy
|
|
1054 "Great Schism" dividing Christianity
1204 The sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade
The Inquisition
The Vatican's recognition of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
|
The Greek Church's outspoken leader, Archbishop Christodoulos, was later persuaded to agree to the visit.
Archbishop Christodoulos's decision breaks a thousand-year-old tradition of hostility which has existed since the "Great Schism" of 1054 split Christianity into Eastern and Western branches.
They have not forgiven the Pope for a long list of "offences" - from the Great Schism itself right up to the Vatican's recognition of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Anti-Pope prophesy
Some of the protestors believe that the Greek Orthodox Saint Cosmas sent them a prophetic warning about the Pope.
When the Orthodox speak of the Fourth Crusade, you'd think it was an event of World War II |
|
Roman Catholic Archbishop in Greece
|
"He warned that total catastrophe will come from the Pope himself. He is as much of a heretic as it is possible to be."
Father Maximus, who organised some of the protests agreed: "Although one should never condemn a person, even Saint Cosmas said the Pope should be damned because he will be cause of all evil."
Around 50,000 of Greece's 10 million population are thought to be Roman Catholic, with another 200,000 among Greece's foreign residents.
 Greek Roman Catholic leaders expect the Pope to try to mend the rift between the churches
|
Last spring, Pope John Paul II apologised for any offences committed by Catholic faithful, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop in Greece, Nicholas of Athens, told a local newspaper that the Pope might use the trip to try to heal the historic breach with the Orthodox Church.
"Many of us - including me - are expecting something will happen. Pope John Paul II has accustomed people to such breaks [with the past]. I don't know the specifics right now, but I would not rule out some kind of a surprise," the Archbishop said.
But he said this would not immediately wipe out the many historical grievances voiced by the Orthodox faithful.
"This historical past burdens Greece and cannot be erased from one day to the other. When the Orthodox speak of the Fourth Crusade, you'd think it was an event of World War II."
You'd think by now they'd have had that mortgage paid off.
It's a doozy. In the year 1054 Pope Leo IX's representative, Cardinal Humbert deposited a Bull of Excommunication against Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, on the altar at Hagia Sophia just before worship would commence. That act initiated the Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian Churches, which would go on for a thousand years.
Thank you for posting that time line. That certainly answers a lot of questions I had.
That’s an Orthodox timeline which makes the Greek Church the one & only in the True Christianity department, and relegates all the others to the outer darkness of heresy.
Kinda like how the Mormons see Christians. And BTW is there only sweetness & light between the Russian Church & the Greek Church in that timeline? You know, those folks who call Moscow the “Third Rome”?
Those bearded Greeks ready to riot over the Pope’s arrival need to realize that appearances count. Some look rather Islamic, don’t you know?
Heck, I have seen similar things in churches and parishes all over the US.
My second cousin gave my home church in Nebraska a million dollars in his will. I suspect that they will end up fighting about the money soon.
So Doc, are they fighting over the ecumenical talks or just fighting?
Yet Pope Francis invited the head of the Orthodox churches to his installation as Pope and if my memory serves me correct, he had wrapped around his hand while he was in Brazil last week for WYD a prayer rope that the Orthodox use in their prayers.
It was I believe on the issues of both the Holy Spirit and how holy communion bread is to be made. Catholics have have unleaven, Orthodox and I could be wrong, do not. Correct me if needed. Thank-you.
Allegiances to physical phenomena in the world can be powerful and the Orthodox are not the only believers in that boat. Warning might be taken from the way Jesus warned the Jews not to brag about being (physically descended) children of Abraham because God can raise more of them “from the stones.”
John the Baptist said “Mat 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
“
Trinity
I don’t dare try to explain the doctrinal issues, but one thing to say is that this division is deeply felt - especially by some Orthodox people. They feel very critical of the Catholic church, and also very angry, and constantly that they must be on their guard, lest the Papacy, or the Catholic missionaries, encroach upon them.
A very profound sense of difference.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.