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Stuffy robes ruin marriage chances, say Greek priests
BBC ^ | Saturday, October 3, 1998 Published at 20:40 GMT 21:40 UK | BBC

Posted on 04/21/2002 12:54:01 AM PDT by Spar

Saturday, October 3, 1998 Published at 20:40 GMT 21:40 UK

World: Europe

Stuffy robes ruin marriage chances, say Greek priests.

Archbishop Christodoulos in traditional robes - but is it a turn off?

Greece's Orthodox priests say their long black robes, pipe hats and overgrown beards are ruining their marriage prospects.

And they are calling for a makeover in an attempt to increase their chances of attracting a wife.

Father Efstathios Kollas, head of the union of parish priests, says only 3,000 of Greece's 11,000 priests are married.

"If the robes create an obstacle for finding a wife, and you know they do, then the church's leadership must do something to modernise our appearance," he added.

Father Kollas, who favours a more simplified frock, argues that the frumpy cassocks are also discouraging educated Greeks from becoming men of the cloth.

He says many candidates for the priesthood fear they will repel potential partners with such attire - not to mention the obligatory long whiskers.

Archbishop says priests can wear earrings

The priests' plea to shed their head-to-foot robes comes ahead of a meeting of the Holy Synod, the Greek Church's governing body.

But it is not yet certain whether Father Kollas's call to revamp the strict dress code will come up for discussion.

The 10-day meeting to begin on Tuesday will be presided over by Archbishop Christodoulos, who at 59 is the youngest archbishop to head the Greek Orthodox Church.

Since his election in April, he has stressed the need to modernise the church, a bastion of conservatism, without abandoning its age old traditions.

In a surprise move last month, he even told young men they could wear earrings when they visit their pastors.

More than 90% of all Greeks are baptised Greek Orthodox, which is the country's official religion.

Unlike Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy permits priests to marry.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News
KEYWORDS: catholiclist; orthodoxy
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I am not certain but I think the long hair and beards and the black cloth is a tradition that was adopted to mourn the martyrs of the Church. In that part of the world (I do not know if it is a multi-cultural tradition or one originating with the Jews) when a relative dies you do not shave your facial hair or cut your own hair for a period of time. Divorce and remarriage is allowed in the Orthodox Church for all up to 3 times but no more.

I think it is unfair to Catholics that Uniate Catholic priests can marry and in that Papal recognized church divorce is allowed just as in the Orthodox rite, but it is denied to the Roman Catholics of the Latin tradition.

1 posted on 04/21/2002 12:54:01 AM PDT by Spar
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To: Spar
PS: This is only a curiosity to me. I am not much turned on by religion beyond studying it.
2 posted on 04/21/2002 12:59:54 AM PDT by Spar
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To: Spar

I think I saw that movie. Is that Ringo Star?


3 posted on 04/21/2002 1:02:20 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler
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To: Spar
This post smells of April Fool and British prankery to me.

It is almost certainly bogus.

4 posted on 04/21/2002 1:07:07 AM PDT by crystalk
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To: Jeff Chandler
No, isn't this is Ringo Star??


5 posted on 04/21/2002 1:11:08 AM PDT by Spar
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To: crystalk
This article is very true and a few years old.
6 posted on 04/21/2002 1:12:08 AM PDT by Spar
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To: crystalk
It is almost certainly bogus.
7 posted on 04/21/2002 1:12:54 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: Spar
Pulling our legs. Since when do Greek women looking for a mate care about whether the potential husband is wearing an ornate costume.
8 posted on 04/21/2002 1:14:36 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: Spar
I think that's his father.
9 posted on 04/21/2002 1:19:41 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler
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To: Spar
Archbishop says priests can wear earrings
...
In a surprise move last month, he even told young men they could wear earrings when they visit their pastors.

I would assume the first sentence is wrong, and the latter correct.

10 posted on 04/21/2002 1:21:58 AM PDT by xm177e2
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To: xm177e2
He said they have acute hearing.
11 posted on 04/21/2002 1:24:57 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler
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To: Jeff Chandler
Hey Spar, let's cross-link this sucker!  Pope: Priests Must Stay Celibate
12 posted on 04/21/2002 1:39:01 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Miss Greece 2001
13 posted on 04/21/2002 1:47:12 AM PDT by Spar
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To: Jeff Chandler; crystalk; HiTech RedNeck; Jeff Chandler; xm177e2
Just one word to consider: GROUPIES

Greece is the word for pop monks

Wednesday, 13 March, 2002, 16:06 GMT

The group's first CD went platinum in Greece

A group of black-robed Orthodox monks of the Saint Augustine and Seraphim Sarof monastery in Greece want to become Europe's most unlikely pop stars. They are hoping to break into a wider market with their third album, which contains English-language songs.

The band's manager Father Nektarios said the group wanted to save young people from the temptations of modern life and bring them closer to God - by using the same tools as the devil.

By Your Side, the group's third CD, was launched at a concert in Athens on Monday.

It contains an English-language club remix of I learned To Live Free, a song which established the act in their home country in 2000.

The song came from their first CD, which sold 60,000 - platinum sales in Greece.

Their songs have titles like Anarchy And Rock and Pal, I'm Down and appear to have struck a chord with Greek youth.

The monks have said they are also supported by Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece, who has tried to reverse dwindling church attendance with fiery speeches - and reversed church policy by allowing boys to wear ear-rings.

'Boiling'

The monastery is near the coastal town of Nafpaktos

The monks claim support from Archbishop Christodoulos

Group member Father Panteleimon, 30, has said: "We have many messages - on human relationships, the dead-end young people find themselves in.

"We are all boiling in the same pot under the new world order."

Now, says Father Panteleimon: "We want to let people outside Greece know what we are about.

"That's why we translated it into English."

The 12 members of the group, all between 18 and 30, hail from a monastery in the village of Trikorfo near the central Greek town of Nafpaktos.

14 posted on 04/21/2002 2:09:52 AM PDT by Spar
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To: Spar
Father Efstathios Kollas, head of the union of parish priests

They have a UNION???

15 posted on 04/21/2002 7:33:25 AM PDT by pgkdan
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To: pgkdan
It seems so. Why not? They draw a salary.
16 posted on 04/21/2002 11:53:38 AM PDT by Spar
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To: Spar
Papal recognized church divorce is allowed just as in the Orthodox rite, but it is denied to the Roman Catholics of the Latin tradition.

Can you back that up? I don't have a copy of the Code of Canon Law for the Eastern Churches right on hand... but I'd be very interested to know.

17 posted on 04/21/2002 12:38:03 PM PDT by De Fide
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To: De Fide
I thought that men were more attracted to looks and women to status. If that is the case, these old guys in ornate robes can land some pretty bodacious Greek babes!! "Hey babe, I have a congregaton of 1,500 and I uphold a 2,000 year tradition...money? I preach the invaluable Word of Life, better than riches or gold..." If these guys are not married...they are not trying.
18 posted on 04/21/2002 12:44:37 PM PDT by trevorjohnson
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To: De Fide
It is to me a great double standard: Eastern Rite churches are communities of eastern Christians in union with the Roman Catholic church. Also known as Uniate churches, they retain their own distinctive spiritual, liturgical, and canonical traditions. In addition to differences from the Roman (Western) rite in liturgy, many of the Eastern Rite churches permit a married clergy.
19 posted on 04/21/2002 1:12:22 PM PDT by Spar
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To: Spar
The Greeks don't want no freaks.
20 posted on 04/21/2002 1:13:11 PM PDT by AdA$tra
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