A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 18 - Tuesday, May 4th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Greek church leader defiant in bishop spat with Istanbul
ATHENS, Greece (Associated Press)- Greece's church leader Archbishop Christodoulos defied calls to cancel the appointment of three bishops in disputed dioceses, deepening divisions with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians. "We are defending the rights of our church. This cannot make us the guilty party," Christodoulos said in a Sunday service at Athens cathedral. "I am certain of the unity among our church hierarchy and our people." News of a possible church split has caused alarm in this country where more than 97 percent of its 11 million population is baptized Orthodox. Christodoulos is at odds with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew over control of diocese in northern Greece and Aegean Sea islands. The dispute flared last week when the Greek church appointed three bishops in the disputed territories, including the diocese of Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Bartholomew based in Istanbul, Turkey said he was not properly consulted and demanded that the appointments be canceled. He also suspended ties with the archbishop, and threatened to take direct control of the diocese. The Athens daily Eleftherotypia blamed Christodoulos for the "Orthodox Jihad" and called and urged the government not to ratify the bishops' appointments. "The problem lies with Mr. Christodoulos," the newspaper said. "It's up to him to end this dispute and comply with ecclesiastical rules." But a telephone poll published Sunday by the weekly Paron newspaper found that 76 percent of Greeks disagree with the penalties imposed by Bartholomew. The nationwide survey of 1,005 adults by the Rass polling agency had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. Bartholomew, spiritual leader of about 300 million Orthodox Christians around the world, cannot dismiss the archbishop but can attempt to isolate him abroad and within the Greek church. Two envoys from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul are due in Athens this week to meet Greek government officials who have appeared unwilling to intervene but are urging the two sides to work toward a solution. "This is a very unpleasant situation which nobody wants. The tension must be lowered," said Giorgos Kalos, deputy minister for education and religious affairs. In Istanbul, Bartholomew said he had already exhausted efforts to break the impasse.
"We have
performed an unpleased but necessary duty," he
said Sunday. "I hope the archbishop demonstrates
through his actions, and not with words alone,
respect and honor toward the mother church and its
inviolable rights observed over the centuries."
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