Greek Orthodox Protest Next Month's Papal Visit

ATHENS, Apr. 25, 01 (CWNews.com/Fides) - Less than ten days before Pope John Paul II's historic visit to Athens, extreme right wing members of the Greek Orthodox Church have objected to the planned presence of Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud of the Syrian Catholic Church (which was once part of the Orthodox Churches), prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Oriental Churches,in addition to the visit itself.

Some outspoken parties have said that if the cardinal sets foot in Athens, Archbishop Christodoulos should desert the meeting with Pope John Paul II, but this statement does not seem to reflect the position of Archbishop Christodoulos, the Greek Orthodox Primate in Greece.

Father Yannis Spiteris, who teaches Orthodox theology says that the question of various oriental Churches who were at one time incorporated into the Orthodox Church and then reunited with Rome is a very sensitive point for Orthodox Christians.

The Greek Orthodox Church could not object to the visit of the Pope, who was invited by the Greek President. However the Synod placed the condition that there be no common prayer with religious Orthodox leaders. In a letter regarding the papal visit, Archbishop Christodoulos, who will not attend the welcome ceremony and has declined an invitation to dinner at the Nunciature, reassured his community that "the Orthodox Church will not recede from its truths of faith or betray its history, and the Pope will ask forgiveness for errors committed by Catholics."

Vatican officials organizing the Pope's visit say that the stop in Athens is the most complicated. For the Mass on May 5, a stadium able to seat 80,000 was requested to accommodate some of the country's 200,000 Catholics, but the authorities assigned one which holds only 20,000. The Pope's visit to the Areopagus in Athens the day before, May 4, will not be an ecumenical liturgy. There will be a reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles on St. Paul's preaching in Athens, followed by a performance of Handel's Messiah, after which the Pope and Archbishop Christodoulos will address those present.

The Greek media have launched an anti-pope campaign based on historical, theological, and cultural motives. There are rumors of possible terrorist attacks against the Pope, and the capital's buildings are plastered in posters bearing the slogan "No to the Beast of the Apocalypse."

But there are also differing opinions. In an article in Katimerini (The Daily), Orthodox theologian Aristidis Panotis says the protest against the papal visit is absurd. He describes as outmoded Orthodoxy's inability to dialogue and tendency to demonize Catholics.

In his letter entitled Pilgrimage to Places connected with the History of Salvation, issued in 1999, Pope John Paul II first expressed his desire to retrace the steps of the Apostle Paul, including a visit to the Areopagus in Athens. Leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church in Greece reacted strongly. Led by the community of monks of Mt. Athos they started an anti-pope campaign and even went as far as to declare the Pope persona non grata and the pilgrimage "another of Wojtyla's hegemonic tours."

On Wednesday, hundreds of Greek Orthodox rallied against the visit, chanting "Out with the Pope" and waving banners calling him a "Two-horned Heretic." About 400 members of Orthodox groups, led by the monks of Mt. Athos, led the demonstration in central Athens. "All monks, all clerics of Greece oppose the Pope's visit. We oppose him not personally but the institution, because he has committed many sins against humanity," said Father Nektarios.

Father Maximos, a chief organizer of the rally, listed the papacy's offenses-- from the Great Schism to the Fourth Crusade in 1204 that sacked Constantinople and the Inquisition. "He is the reason for the schism of the churches. Papism is not a church. We oppose the visit," he said, adding that more protests were planned before and during the visit.

Catholic World News - Feature
25. april 2001