March 21, 2021, marks 200 years since Bishop Germanos of Patras, hoisted the banner of Independence, thus proclaiming an end to the Ottoman occupation.
Something to ponder: Is it too much to ask for that the descendants of these proud, desperate rebels do the same and take their independence from the European Union? After all, the English did.
Congratulations to George and all our Greek brethren on the anniversary of their independence!
Thank you Misha!
On a more sobering note, I can’t help but notice that there is a certain “dog that didn’t bark” in honor of this, most auspicious of anniverseries.
Does anybody care to take a guess as to who I am referring to?
Presumably P. Bartholomew.
And you would be correct!
Check out Helleniscope.com: “Not One Word from Pat. Bartholomew on the 200th Anniversary!!”
Well, on occasion, the Ottomans have been known to
hang a Patriarch or two – pour encourager les autres.
The Church of Greece explained that the clerics who declared anathema to the OCU do not belong to its clergymen:
https://raskolam.net/en/33646-v-epc-poyasnili-shho-kliriki-yaki-vigolosili-anafemi-pcu-ne-nalezhat-do-cerkvi-grecii
Sad that this is the current state of the Church of Greece
Hence the empty churches.
Yep, just saw this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/OrthodoxChristianity/comments/me2oa1/2020_census_of_orthodox_christian_churches/
The Greek Archdiocese has lost over 100,000 members of a 10 year period. They could very well be extinct within my lifetime.
If the parish I belong to is an example of any other, it is because for the most part it is a Greek chaplaincy with no inclination to spread the gospel to non-Greeks. It is more of a Greek community center.
Sad. OTOH, our parish has 66 catechumens. For 15ish years I have been blessed to attend, and I cannot recall if there has been a year with less than 20.
Wonderful to hear!
That’s awesome, what do they do that attracts so many converts?
Petros, that is a good question, and I can speculate. The principal thing which occurs to me is that evangelism and catechesis have been a strong emphasis by our priest since before my family joined the parish. Several in the parish participate in teaching, and the program runs through the entire year with the catechumens being dismissed for teaching after the homily, becoming more intense during Lent when the catechumens have additional lectures on Saturdays before Great Vespers. There is additional teaching occurring most Wednesday nights. On the one hand, this is a pretty high expectation which might be expected to dissuade; on the other hand, I think that when much preparation and expectation are put into something for the sake of the Gospel, God then brings the fulfillment.
Other considerations: Perhaps our location in Southern California helps. I also think many have their interest piqued because the quality of the homilies is quite good. The choir is beautiful. The congregation is a diverse mix of ethnicities, languages, religious backgrounds, and I think many potential converts are able to link with parishioners whose personal histories are relatable to their own. Although the services are mostly English, we have a frequent peppering of Arabic and Greek, and some Slavonic and Spanish. I hear parishioners around me lifting up their voices in these portions, and I realize that there is great value in this.
In the end, though, thank God! May we both experience a profitable Lent.
My friends in Thessaloniki inform me that every church in the city has been closed except the Cathedral of St. Gregory Palamas and St. Demetrios, but only 20 people are allowed in each of those churches. They fear that once again they will be denied celebrating Pascha in the churches. My friend, a priest, serves liturgy for his family in his home. Who would have believed that all churches would be closed in Thessaloniki of all places. I find it very sad.
The Prime Minister, Mitsotakis, is stonewalling
the opposition – and I don’t mean Tsipras.
The Metropolitan of Thessaloniki has been a disaster for years. Lord have mercy on him. It doesn’t help when you don’t have a Metropolitan like Morphou that is willing to fight to keep the churches open. I agree, I see churches being ordered to be kept highly restricted or closed even for Pascha, although this time there might be some public resistance. Fear is real amongst so many people especially in the cities, unfortunately. They believe the lies on the television.
If one searches with the Lord’s blessing, there are churches that one can find that are open doing liturgy and the services, as normal. May the Lord bless forever those priests that are fighting the good fight.
This is the age of the confession of the faith. If our Metropolitans won’t lead the charge, then the lay people will eventually.
Empty churches in Greece?
Yes.
PB recently referred to the Orthodox brethren in Russia as “ungrateful children.”
It would be nice if he recalled a few names in history — “Navarino” comes to mind — for a better idea of who the “ungrateful” might be.
Touche! Fr.
Seriously, I imagine he gets all of his talking points re Russia from the State dept & those for Greece from Ankara.
The Greeks fought for their independence and then immediately submitted to a German king. Then they fought in WWI and briefly took southwestern Turkey, but then they were forced to give all that up and have the population exchange (which was tragic but necessary). Then they joined the EU and flooded themselves with more Moslem.
What’s the point of independence if you’re just going to be ruled by others? What’s the point of the population exchange if you’re going to bring them back in another hundred years?
The Greeks of who I am one are on the verge of extinction. The Greeks traded one empire for an even worse one (the EU). They went from the turkish Otto-man to the German Otto-boy. Today their birth rates have collapsed, abortion rules, suicide rates through the roof, we are fractured losing our Orthodoxy to neo-paganism and heterodoxy and we have lost all our ancestral lands while claiming we have liberated them. Since gaining our “independence” we have been the culprits to divide Orthodoxy from Meletios to now Bart. This Greek Independence has actually been our demise.
It really saddens me. I’m an ethnic Greek on both sides, but was not raised in the culture or the faith. While I managed to embrace Orthodoxy later on in life, I’ve really not had the same desire to re-integrate myself into the Greek community. I love Greece, our people, our land, our traditions, and our history, but what we have now is a travesty. I’m an ethno-nationalist without an ethnos, unfortunately, but I’m happy to simply attend my (non-Greek) Orthodox parish and get on with surviving.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/krispy-kreme-offers-free-glazed-donut-those-who-show-covid-n1261768
God bless the President of Byelorussia! He stood up to the globalists:
https://fort-russ.com/2020/09/belarusian-president-lukashenko-says-imf-offered-a-billion-usd-bribe-to-impose-covid-19-lockdown/
My only question is this: why have all the other proud, European (and some Orthodox nations) cucked out?
George, I think it’s because either they don’t care about their people, but only money, or they have bought wholesale into the narrative put out by those on the big platforms.
As the saying goes “the truth is out there.” But people have to be willing to listen.
In any case, like you said, God bless him. Almost makes me want to move to Belarus.