Showing posts with label University of Athens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label University of Athens. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Panorthodox Synod : CONFERENCE ON THE RECEPTION OF ECUMENICAL DIALOGUES
Panorthodox Synod : CONFERENCE ON THE RECEPTION OF ECUMENICAL DIALOGUE...: Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity From 22 to 24 March an ecumenical conference entitled "Ecumenical Dialogue and the Life of the...
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
A Leftist and A Man of Ancient Faith
Manolis Glezos,who just turned 96,is a longtime leftist politician,activist and World War II resistance fighter.He came to prominence when,on 30 May 1941,he and his friend Apostolos Santas lowered the Nazi flag which German troops had raised at the Acropolis alongside the Greek flag.He was arrested by the German occupation forces on 24 March 1942,imprisoned and tortured,and contracted tuberculosis in consequence.What is more,Italian occupation forces arrested him again on 21 April 1943,jailing him for an additional three months.*
Indeed,Mr.Glezos was arrested numerous times in the Cold War era that followed as well,given the anti-left sentiment of the authorities at that time.The Soviet Union put him on a postage stamp and gave him the Lenin Prize.He spent a total of 11 years and four months in prison,plus four years and six months in exile.
As a member of the Democratic Left Party,or EDA,he was elected to his first seat in the Hellenic Parliament while imprisoned.He went on to serve several more times under EDA,the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and,most recently,the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA),which is currently in power.In 2014,he was elected to the European Parliament.*
Mr.Glezos has received a number of honourary degrees from the likes of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,among others.Besides politics,he has worked in civil engineering,inventing a flood and erosion control system that utilises a series of small dams.*
In 2015,Mr.Glezos met with His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece.It was a surprising moment for the Archbishop when Mr. Glezos made an unusual request for a leftist politician:
When I die,you will take charge of me,and you will do an ecclesiastical funeral.You will not let other people get involved in this issue.*
Archbishop Ieronymos inscribed a book for him:
2 September 2015,the day of revelation to me...Because all that we said was a revelation to me.*
They also discussed the migration crisis,something which appalled Mr.Glezos,and he confided to Archbishop Ieronymos that he in fact loved and respected the faith of his fathers.*
Indeed,Mr.Glezos was arrested numerous times in the Cold War era that followed as well,given the anti-left sentiment of the authorities at that time.The Soviet Union put him on a postage stamp and gave him the Lenin Prize.He spent a total of 11 years and four months in prison,plus four years and six months in exile.
As a member of the Democratic Left Party,or EDA,he was elected to his first seat in the Hellenic Parliament while imprisoned.He went on to serve several more times under EDA,the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and,most recently,the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA),which is currently in power.In 2014,he was elected to the European Parliament.*
Mr.Glezos has received a number of honourary degrees from the likes of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,among others.Besides politics,he has worked in civil engineering,inventing a flood and erosion control system that utilises a series of small dams.*
In 2015,Mr.Glezos met with His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece.It was a surprising moment for the Archbishop when Mr. Glezos made an unusual request for a leftist politician:
When I die,you will take charge of me,and you will do an ecclesiastical funeral.You will not let other people get involved in this issue.*
Archbishop Ieronymos inscribed a book for him:
2 September 2015,the day of revelation to me...Because all that we said was a revelation to me.*
They also discussed the migration crisis,something which appalled Mr.Glezos,and he confided to Archbishop Ieronymos that he in fact loved and respected the faith of his fathers.*
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
New Metropolitan,Auxiliary Bishop Named in Constantinople - updated
The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople elected His Grace Bishop Theodoritos of Nazianzos as Metropolitan of Laodicea,Turkey on 29 August 2018.At the same time,it also elected the Very Rev. Archimandrite Paisios Larentzakis as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Holy Metropolis of Austria with the title Apameia.He will serve under the leadership of His Eminence Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria.*
Born in 1948,Bishop Theodoritos (Polyzogopoulos) is a native of Athens.He received B.A. degrees in Theology (1972) and Philosophy (1976) from the University of Athens and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Manchester (1979).*
On 9 September 1972,His Grace was ordained to the diaconate in Athens;on 17 September of that year,to the holy priesthood in London;and,on 18 March 2000,he was consecrated to the episcopacy at the Church of St.George in Constantinople.
Bishop Theodoritos served mainly in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain (Ecumenical Patriarchate) at Cambridge;Manchester;St.Nicholas Shepherd's Bush,London;and also at St.Paraskevi,Athens.
In addition,His Grace taught Ancient Greek Philosophy;Theology;and Christian Ethics at Athens College,a coed private preparatory school in the Athens suburb of Psychiko,Greece. *
Archimandrite Paisios has been serving as Protosynkellos (Chancellor) of the Metropolis of Austria.As Bishop of Apameia,he will be assigned to Budapest,Hungary.Hungary is donating real estate to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and being generally cordial to the Orthodox Church.
Born in 1948,Bishop Theodoritos (Polyzogopoulos) is a native of Athens.He received B.A. degrees in Theology (1972) and Philosophy (1976) from the University of Athens and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Manchester (1979).*
On 9 September 1972,His Grace was ordained to the diaconate in Athens;on 17 September of that year,to the holy priesthood in London;and,on 18 March 2000,he was consecrated to the episcopacy at the Church of St.George in Constantinople.
Bishop Theodoritos served mainly in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain (Ecumenical Patriarchate) at Cambridge;Manchester;St.Nicholas Shepherd's Bush,London;and also at St.Paraskevi,Athens.
In addition,His Grace taught Ancient Greek Philosophy;Theology;and Christian Ethics at Athens College,a coed private preparatory school in the Athens suburb of Psychiko,Greece. *
Archimandrite Paisios has been serving as Protosynkellos (Chancellor) of the Metropolis of Austria.As Bishop of Apameia,he will be assigned to Budapest,Hungary.Hungary is donating real estate to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and being generally cordial to the Orthodox Church.
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Metropolitan Ignatios of Larissa,Greece Departs This Life in Miami - chaired committee on heresy
Word has been received of the passing of His Eminence Metropolitan Ignatios (Lappas) of Larissa and Tyrnavos,Greece .He died of a heart attack during liver transplant surgery on 26 June 2018 in Miami,Florida.He was 72.
Born in Salamina,Greece on the island of Salamis,the largest of the Saronic Islands,just 16 kilometers west of Athens,he was fatherless from an early age and endured crushing poverty;yet he rose from distressing origins to a high position within the Church of Greece.It was,as the title of his autobiography put it,"Like a Fairy Tale."*
Educated at the University of Athens,he began his studies as a student of law,then transferred to Theology.Meteorically,Metropolitan Ignatios was tonsured a monk on 17 January 1976;ordained a deacon on 22 January,and then a priest on 25 January of the same year.From 1976-94,he served in his hometown of Salamina and edited the youth magazine "The Talent."
His Eminence was consecrated to the episcopacy on 28 May 1994 and enthroned as Metropolitan of Larissa,capital of the Thessaly region,on 28 July of that year.*
On 6 June 2014 he was awarded the honourary title of Grand Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine for his genuine love and support of the Jerusalem Patriarchate,which he expressed by his pilgrimages to the Holy Places accompanied by priests and laity from his Metropolis.*
In October of 2016,Metropolitan Ignatios,who was chairman of the Holy Synod's committee on heresy,chaired the 28th Pan-Orthodox Conference on Heresies and Para-Religions in Agrinio,Greece,which was entitled "Heretical and Occult Ideas of the Human Being and Human Rights."The conference was attended by more than a hundred representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches,including the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Moscow Patriarchate.It focused on false beliefs of such groups as the Mormons,Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists,especially distorted anthropology.The final document concluded that:
Anthropological deviations from the Orthodox teaching in many occult and heretical movements lead to negative consequences for individuals who profess them and for whole groups of people.
Born in Salamina,Greece on the island of Salamis,the largest of the Saronic Islands,just 16 kilometers west of Athens,he was fatherless from an early age and endured crushing poverty;yet he rose from distressing origins to a high position within the Church of Greece.It was,as the title of his autobiography put it,"Like a Fairy Tale."*
Educated at the University of Athens,he began his studies as a student of law,then transferred to Theology.Meteorically,Metropolitan Ignatios was tonsured a monk on 17 January 1976;ordained a deacon on 22 January,and then a priest on 25 January of the same year.From 1976-94,he served in his hometown of Salamina and edited the youth magazine "The Talent."
His Eminence was consecrated to the episcopacy on 28 May 1994 and enthroned as Metropolitan of Larissa,capital of the Thessaly region,on 28 July of that year.*
On 6 June 2014 he was awarded the honourary title of Grand Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine for his genuine love and support of the Jerusalem Patriarchate,which he expressed by his pilgrimages to the Holy Places accompanied by priests and laity from his Metropolis.*
In October of 2016,Metropolitan Ignatios,who was chairman of the Holy Synod's committee on heresy,chaired the 28th Pan-Orthodox Conference on Heresies and Para-Religions in Agrinio,Greece,which was entitled "Heretical and Occult Ideas of the Human Being and Human Rights."The conference was attended by more than a hundred representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches,including the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Moscow Patriarchate.It focused on false beliefs of such groups as the Mormons,Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists,especially distorted anthropology.The final document concluded that:
Anthropological deviations from the Orthodox teaching in many occult and heretical movements lead to negative consequences for individuals who profess them and for whole groups of people.
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Metropolitan Chrysostomos Concerned About Church Participation in Greek Rally
One of the most highly respected churchmen in Greece,His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Messinia,who,in addition to his pastoral leadership,is an author and professor of theology in the University of Athens,has expressed misgivings about Church participation in the big rally planned for 4 February 2018 on the issue of current negotiations by the Greek government with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.The negotiations seek to resolve outstanding disagreements between the neighbouring nations,particularly the use of the name "Macedonia" itself,which is also used by a province of Northern Greece.Here are some of his recent remarks on the subject:
Recently,on the occasion of the resurgence of diplomacy to resolve the bilateral disputes between Greece and the FYROM (irredentism,naming,erga omnes,and others that are equally serious and perhaps not public),there is also a lot of discussion about the organisation of rallies and the position of the Church of Greece against them.The storm of statements,suggestions,incitements,ecclesiastical turbulence suggests,or rather confirms,that-unfortunately-and despite any clarifying approaches of the Holy and Sacred Synod of 26 January,we move to the dangerous limit of secularism and its devotion to our ecclesiastical ethos.And I will be more specific:
The Church of Greece,indeed,has in the past organised rallies and invasions,and although one could argue that at that time both the reason and the way of their organisation gave it some justification,however,they "redeemed" them several decades later,as being too expensive.It is not unjust to the historical accuracy if I assert that the reward "benefit" was fairly low in relation to the "struggle" and the damage quite high in relation to its aspirations.
In the current circumstances,however,the organisation of rallies is completely different and alien to the whole institution of the Church.Their organisation is moving in a turbulent environment,exploiting the indisputable and immovable position of the Greek people on the non-use of the name "Macedonia" for the neighbouring state of Skopje.That is why I dare to raise some questions and concerns in good faith:
Who are the "unscheduled" organisers of rallies?Presidents of organisations and groups who obviously represent a portion of the people.Is it allowed,therefore,to stand by the Church as a "therapist" next to them?Do we forget that the Church expresses the whole and not the part,with which it cannot be identified?
Who are the "unknown" co-organisers,who seek to use the institutional Church and "grab" it for the satisfaction of their own political desires,alibis and aspirations?*
I think,as everyone else,I respect the desire of every Greek citizen to participate in any rally to express in the most dynamic way the popular will for the specific issue of naming.But should the institution of the Church be sought,and indeed with the presence of its bishops?Such an expression is purely a secular perception of the functioning of the ecclesiastical body itself with the "things of this world" when this secularisation even entails,albeit inconspicuous for some,the protestantising of our ecclesiastical morality,so that we risk being eclipsed and degenerating into a "therapist" of various groups,often of unknown ideology,placement and principles,but also intended purposes.*
I therefore consider that any enthusiastic tendencies should be limited in order to preserve the institutional role of the Church in society.*
Let us take a little more thought and consider the future of the institution,not the evolution and satisfaction of our personal aspirations and visions!!
Messinia Chrysostomos +
Recently,on the occasion of the resurgence of diplomacy to resolve the bilateral disputes between Greece and the FYROM (irredentism,naming,erga omnes,and others that are equally serious and perhaps not public),there is also a lot of discussion about the organisation of rallies and the position of the Church of Greece against them.The storm of statements,suggestions,incitements,ecclesiastical turbulence suggests,or rather confirms,that-unfortunately-and despite any clarifying approaches of the Holy and Sacred Synod of 26 January,we move to the dangerous limit of secularism and its devotion to our ecclesiastical ethos.And I will be more specific:
The Church of Greece,indeed,has in the past organised rallies and invasions,and although one could argue that at that time both the reason and the way of their organisation gave it some justification,however,they "redeemed" them several decades later,as being too expensive.It is not unjust to the historical accuracy if I assert that the reward "benefit" was fairly low in relation to the "struggle" and the damage quite high in relation to its aspirations.
In the current circumstances,however,the organisation of rallies is completely different and alien to the whole institution of the Church.Their organisation is moving in a turbulent environment,exploiting the indisputable and immovable position of the Greek people on the non-use of the name "Macedonia" for the neighbouring state of Skopje.That is why I dare to raise some questions and concerns in good faith:
Who are the "unscheduled" organisers of rallies?Presidents of organisations and groups who obviously represent a portion of the people.Is it allowed,therefore,to stand by the Church as a "therapist" next to them?Do we forget that the Church expresses the whole and not the part,with which it cannot be identified?
Who are the "unknown" co-organisers,who seek to use the institutional Church and "grab" it for the satisfaction of their own political desires,alibis and aspirations?*
I think,as everyone else,I respect the desire of every Greek citizen to participate in any rally to express in the most dynamic way the popular will for the specific issue of naming.But should the institution of the Church be sought,and indeed with the presence of its bishops?Such an expression is purely a secular perception of the functioning of the ecclesiastical body itself with the "things of this world" when this secularisation even entails,albeit inconspicuous for some,the protestantising of our ecclesiastical morality,so that we risk being eclipsed and degenerating into a "therapist" of various groups,often of unknown ideology,placement and principles,but also intended purposes.*
I therefore consider that any enthusiastic tendencies should be limited in order to preserve the institutional role of the Church in society.*
Let us take a little more thought and consider the future of the institution,not the evolution and satisfaction of our personal aspirations and visions!!
Messinia Chrysostomos +
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Greek Churchman Strongly Defends Great and Holy Council,Ecumenical Patriarchate
A new book by His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Messinia,Greece has just been published in Greek," 'Significant' For the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church-the suppression and support in the preparation and the aftermath."His Eminence is a professor in the Theological Faculty of the University of Athens and well-known for his deeply theological and patristic style.For example,he concludes that:
Therefore,we should behave in a way that honours the Conciliar institution,and not contribute to its destruction,which is ultimately the destruction of the Church's own unity;recognising and accepting the work of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church as a project of unity,freedom,society,respect,solidarity,fairness,peace and ministry between peoples and nations.*
Among many other related points covered in his work are these,which may suggest the flavour of his book:
1.The Pan-Orthodox Synod seems to be a requirement of the times,and the course towards it was inexorable,as well as the closer communication of the Orthodox Churches then isolated from each other because of the various socio-political situations.
2.It should be admitted that in Crete (June 2016) an undisputed and essential step was taken to overcome the "autoimmune introspection" of some local Orthodox Churches,which for many centuries afflicted the Churches;while,at the same time,redefining the course towards a new operation of Synodality with timid but decisive steps.
3.Eventually,the case of the Holy and Great Council was critiqued by so-called fundamentalist circles,who do not make a constructive,legitimate critique,but try to break its collegial character by characterising it as a robbery or defeat,thus weakening the unity of the ecclesiastical body and devaluing the Conciliar institution,with the primary aim of challenging the important,coordinating and essential role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as first in the ministry of unity of the Orthodox Church.All of this leads to the development of a blatant scandal and unwarranted argumentation,while unity is disturbed.
4.The counterpoint to such a divisive tendency cannot be the diametrically opposed "ecclesiastical or religious" construct,but the collaboration of the Orthodox Christian Churches with the other Christian Churches,even with other religions,in order to cultivate a spirit of cohesion,solidarity and unity.
5.It seems that this,which we initially characterised as the "Cold War" of East and West in reference to the Holy and Great Council,is not far from the reality we face today.The political leader with theocratic concepts of a Christian ideal,medieval type,with the collaboration of ecclesiastical leadership and the "flag" of anti-Westernism,creates an ideological and spiritual counterpart to corresponding forms of theocratic leadership,for example,the theocratic Islamist regimes,which are not far from its method,exclusivity,pursuits and redundancies.
Therefore,we should behave in a way that honours the Conciliar institution,and not contribute to its destruction,which is ultimately the destruction of the Church's own unity;recognising and accepting the work of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church as a project of unity,freedom,society,respect,solidarity,fairness,peace and ministry between peoples and nations.*
Among many other related points covered in his work are these,which may suggest the flavour of his book:
1.The Pan-Orthodox Synod seems to be a requirement of the times,and the course towards it was inexorable,as well as the closer communication of the Orthodox Churches then isolated from each other because of the various socio-political situations.
2.It should be admitted that in Crete (June 2016) an undisputed and essential step was taken to overcome the "autoimmune introspection" of some local Orthodox Churches,which for many centuries afflicted the Churches;while,at the same time,redefining the course towards a new operation of Synodality with timid but decisive steps.
3.Eventually,the case of the Holy and Great Council was critiqued by so-called fundamentalist circles,who do not make a constructive,legitimate critique,but try to break its collegial character by characterising it as a robbery or defeat,thus weakening the unity of the ecclesiastical body and devaluing the Conciliar institution,with the primary aim of challenging the important,coordinating and essential role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as first in the ministry of unity of the Orthodox Church.All of this leads to the development of a blatant scandal and unwarranted argumentation,while unity is disturbed.
4.The counterpoint to such a divisive tendency cannot be the diametrically opposed "ecclesiastical or religious" construct,but the collaboration of the Orthodox Christian Churches with the other Christian Churches,even with other religions,in order to cultivate a spirit of cohesion,solidarity and unity.
5.It seems that this,which we initially characterised as the "Cold War" of East and West in reference to the Holy and Great Council,is not far from the reality we face today.The political leader with theocratic concepts of a Christian ideal,medieval type,with the collaboration of ecclesiastical leadership and the "flag" of anti-Westernism,creates an ideological and spiritual counterpart to corresponding forms of theocratic leadership,for example,the theocratic Islamist regimes,which are not far from its method,exclusivity,pursuits and redundancies.
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