funeral today

Funeral for Greece's church head

Archbishop Christodoulos was a popular public figure in Greece

The funeral of the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, is due to be held in the capital, Athens.

The archbishop died on Monday, aged 69, after suffering from cancer.

The funeral, with full state honours, comes after four days of official mourning across the country.

Thousands of people have already paid their last respects to the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, whose body lied in state at Athens' cathedral.

Aborted surgery

Archbishop Christodoulos was a colourful and controversial figure, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Greece.

He defended the church's pre-eminent role in the state and upheld Hellenism - the national character and culture of Greece, our correspondent says.

They [the government] are trying to take away our society's Christian and Orthodox identity... because they hate God Archbishop Christodoulos

But critics said that under Archbishop Christodoulos, Greece remained a country which discriminated against those who were not Orthodox, including Catholics and worshippers of other branches of Christianity.

The archbishop was diagnosed with cancer of the liver and large intestine in 2007.

He was treated in the US for 10 weeks, but a liver transplant operation last October was aborted as the cancer had spread.

He died at his Athens home on Monday morning. Church officials said he had refused hospital treatment in the final weeks of his life.

The Holy Synod, the church's top decision-making body, has now less than 20 days in which to elect the archbishop's successor.

Controversial remarks

Elected as church leader in 1998, Archbishop Christodoulos was known as a fierce and outspoken defender of Greece and the role of the Orthodox Church within it, our correspondent says.

The archbishop once said that when ancient Greeks were creating the lights of civilisation, Europeans were living in trees.

Archbishop Christodoulos paid a historic visit to the Vatican in 2006

He said Greeks lived in paradise compared to other Europeans because they had a strong faith, built churches, followed traditions and resisted globalisation.

Archbishop Christodoulos opposed Turkey's efforts to join the European Union, describing the Turks as barbarians.

The archbishop clashed with the Greek government when the authorities wanted to remove religious status from identity cards.

"They are trying to take away our society's Christian and Orthodox identity, using various groundless arguments, because they hate God and want to marginalise the Church," he said.

The democracy of death

By Pantelis Boukalas

A death, even when expected, is still a death. It is “Untaught material” (as Kiki Dimoula tells us in her “Ode to a Desk Lamp”) for the departed and for those who remain, however many times we have been witness to the mystery of death and as equipped as we believe ourselves to be, others by philosophy and reflective poetry, who insist on the naturalness of the event, and others by their faith and the promise of an afterlife. The death of Nonna, the mother of Gregory Nazianzinos, was also expected, but this did not stop the great theologist from composing 51 inscriptions for her funeral in an effort to digest an event which, despite his intellectual acuity and the ideological preparedness that he gained from his faith, he could only see as a terrible loss.The death of Archbishop Christodoulos was also expected. And this liberated the ambitions of his hopeful successors, ambitions his closest associates deem insulting. Arguing that priests are also only human cannot compensate for the feeling of hubris provoked by the factionalism, even if briefly and tactfully expressed in public. The human qualities of the archbishop do not appear to have been taken into account in the long pre-prepared flattering (though not short of hypocrisy) obituaries. Future assessments will show whether the head of the Church of Greece for the past 10 years made history and in what manner. All we can say now is that he was a part of history, political and ecclesiastical. He was among the most profoundly political of bishops, passionately serving the ideal of a national Christianity that does not arise from the scriptures – and perhaps this is what touched so many people. “Which is king or soldier, rich or poor, righteous or sinner?” asks a Byzantine hymn. A harsh lesson on the “democracy of death,” but how better to sum up man’s lot?

from kathimerini

Archbishop Christodoulos dies

Leader of Orthodox Church passes away aged 69 after fight with cancer; state funeral planned for Thursday


















YIORGOS KARAHALIS/REUTERS

A worshipper (left) kisses the face of Archbishop Christodoulos, whose body lay in state at Athens Cathedral yesterday, as hundreds of Greek Orthodox faithful waited outside the church (right) to pay their last respects to the head of the Church of Greece who died after a long battle against cancer. Christodoulos was 69.

The head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, passed away yesterday at the age of 69, less than seven months after being diagnosed with cancer.

One of the most popular archbishops in Greece's history, credited with opening up the Church to society and mending ties with the Vatican, Christodoulos died at home shortly after 5 a.m. He had rejected doctors' attempts to transfer him to hospital following a sharp deterioration in his health over the past weeks.

His body was laid out on public display in Athens Cathedral where it will remain until tomorrow ahead of his funeral which is to be held at the capital's First Cemetery on Thursday. There was no discussion yesterday about a successor to Christodoulos, which will be decided next Thursday - February 7 - by the Holy Synod.

Hundreds of black-clad citizens crowded around the cathedral yesterday to pay their last respects as authorities declared four days of public mourning. Flags flew at half-mast on all public buildings and schools as messages of condolence flooded in from politicians and other public figures in Greece and abroad.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis praised Christodoulos as an «enlightened» cleric and «a significant religious leader... who reinforced the role of Orthodoxy in the world.»

Karamanlis was referring, in part, to Christodoulos's efforts to mend ties with the Catholic Church following centuries of tension. In 2006, Christodoulos became the first head of the Greek Orthodox Church to visit the Vatican for talks on rapprochement. Prior to that, in 2001, the archbishop had welcomed the late Pope John Paul II to Athens despite vociferous protests by Greek Orthodox hardliners.

Christodoulos broke with tradition in many other ways, welcoming youngsters to come to church «as you are, earrings and all.»

This attempt by Christodoulos to open up the Church - in contrast with his predecessor Serapheim who was more private and reserved in character - received widespread praise yesterday. «He strove his whole life to bring people closer to the Church, to the unique ark of salvation,» said Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios.

Christodoulos had a strained relationship with Vartholomaios - the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox faithful, clashing several times over the management of several dioceses in Greece.

The archbishop's direct and open style also triggered disputes with politicians. The most famous occurred in 2001 when Christodoulos divided public opinion by calling for a crusade against the state over the - then PASOK - government's decision to delete reference to religious persuasion on Greek citizens' police identity cards. The archbishop's initiative, which was ultimately unsuccessful, earned him strong criticism, particularly among liberals and left-wingers.

But Christodoulos continued to express his opinion on political and social issues, causing waves. He suggested that the 2001 terrorist attacks on the USA had been provoked by «divine wrath.» In 2004, he upset gays by calling homosexuality a «handicap.»

Christodoulos also criticized the European Union regularly, particularly as regards its accession talks with Turkey whose people he described as «barbarians.» Again his comments provoked protests.

But criticism of Christodoulos faded after his illness became public and he received visits from prominent left-wingers.

Many said this was largely due to the stoical way in which the ailing archbishop handled his illness.

«The way he dealt with his disease and imminent death moved us, sending a unique message of courage and dignity,» President Karolos Papoulias said.

This sentiment was echoed by Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis. «Up until the final moments of his life, he stood tall with unparalleled strength of soul, Orthodox spirituality and admirable dignity,» Kaklamanis said.

this is absurd too...

Academic sentenced over Ataturk

By Sarah Rainsford BBC News, Istanbul

Ataturk is widely revered in Turkey

A Turkish court has handed down a 15-month suspended jail term to an academic found guilty of insulting the state's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Professor Atilla Yayla said the trial highlighted the limits on free speech and academic debate in Turkey.

His crime was to suggest in academic discussion that the early Turkish republic was not as progressive as portrayed in official books.

His lawyers say they will lodge an immediate appeal.

Professor Yayla told the BBC he was prepared to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

"I want to emphasise again and again that Turkey's most pressing problem is freedom of expression," he said.

Turkey should evolve into being a country where people are not punished because of their thoughts Prof Atilla Yayla

The prosecutor had asked the judge to impose a five-year prison sentence.

This trial has become a test of academic freedom in Turkey, which is pursuing a long-term ambition to become an EU member.

Mr Yayla had also warned that, as Turkey moved closer to Europe, Europeans would inevitably question why Turks displayed so many pictures and statues of Ataturk.

The professor was vilified by parts of the Turkish press, suspended from work at an Ankara university, and brought to trial.

Mr Yayla, a well-known liberal, denied the charge of insulting Ataturk and argued that academics must be guaranteed freedom of expression to pursue their research.

'Insulting Turkishness'

The Turkish parliament is preparing to debate amending another law that restricts free speech.

Article 301 on "insulting Turkishness" has been used to prosecute dozens of writers and intellectuals, including Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk.

"Many foreign observers concentrate on Article 301, but there are other laws and articles in different laws, which have the potential to restrict freedom of expression, as it is in my case," Mr Yayla told the BBC.

"What is important is that Turkey should evolve into being a country where people are not punished because of their thoughts. And to achieve this we ought to make reforms in the whole legal system and also change the mentality in the judiciary. Otherwise Turkey will go on suffering."

The EU has been pressing for a change to Article 301 for well over a year, but the government has faced stiff opposition from nationalists, both within the ruling party and in the opposition.

But changes to the law which protects Ataturk are not up for discussion.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Archbishop Christodoulos, who died Monday aged 69 after a seven-month battle with liver cancer, was a charismatic orator who captivated and divided Greek society with his strong views on nationalism and church-state relations.

Born Christodoulos Paraskevaides in the northeastern Greek town of Xanthi, the dynamic cleric was consistently among Greece's most loved public figures, on a par with the nation's president.
He was also one of the youngest candidates ever elevated to the leadership of Greece's powerful church and among its most popular archbishops, having previously held the strategic post of secretary of the Holy Synod, the church's supreme body, during the military junta period of 1967-74.

Elected archbishop in 1998 by the Holy Synod, Christodoulos initially broke new ground by famously extending youths a "come as you are" invitation to attend sermons -- torn jeans and earrings and all.
But hopes of a new-look church soon fell by the wayside when Christodoulos picked a fight with the ruling socialists in 2000 after they decided to delete the compulsory mention of religion from Greek citizens' ID cards.
The move was designed to better integrate Greek Catholics, Jews and Muslims, who often face discrimination in a country that is over 90 percent Orthodox.
But Christodoulos suspected a plot to turn Greece into a lay state and reacted furiously, encouraging mass protests and demanding a referendum on the issue.

The challenge failed, but the archbishop remained on the warpath for other perceived threats to Greece's religious and national identity, including globalisation, European Union edicts and Turkey's candidacy to join the EU.
"The barbarians cannot join the family of Christians because we cannot live together," Christodoulos said of Turkey in a 2003 sermon.
He also made headlines in 2004 by terming homosexuality a "defect" and stirred up a storm of criticism in 2001 by saying he had discerned "divine wrath" behind the September 11 attacks in the United States.

On religious issues, Christodoulos' term was marked by a major rapprochement with the Roman Catholic church and efforts to mend a schism which has divided the two churches since 1054.
A trained lawyer and theologian, the archbishop ignored the wrath of Orthodox hardliners by welcoming then pope John Paul II to Athens in 2001, and in 2006 became the first head of the Church of Greece to visit the Vatican.
But his reign was also troubled by disputes closer to home, as tension rose with the Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos, spiritual head of the Orthodox Church, over the management of a number of dioceses in Greece.

Christodoulos' image was tarnished in recent years by a high-profile church corruption scandal uncovered under his watch.
Starting in 2005, a number of senior priests were implicated in a series of sex and embezzlement scandals, including a case of tampering with judicial processes to influence rulings.
The highest-ranking casualty of the scandals was the former bishop of Athens, who received an eight-year suspended jail sentence for embezzling tens of thousands of euros.

Doctors discovered Christodoulos had liver cancer in June when he underwent surgery to remove an abnormal growth known as a polyp from his large intestine.
The archbishop travelled to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami in the United States in August to receive a transplant for hepatoma, or liver cell cancer.
But although a donor was found, the archbishop could not undergo the operation because the cancer has spread to his abdominal cavity, his chief doctor in Miami, Andreas Tzakis, had said.

from JERUSALEM POST

JPost.com » International » Article

Jan 28, 2008 8:43 | Updated Jan 28, 2008 8:48

Archbishop Christodoulos dies at 69

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Greece

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Shape public opinion: What's this?

Greece's Orthodox Church leader, Archbishop Christodoulos, who eased centuries of tension with the Vatican but angered liberal critics who viewed him as an attention-seeking reactionary, died Monday at his home of cancer, church officials said. He was 69.

In this file picture from 1998, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, prepares to give his enthronement address in Athens' main cathedral.
Photo: AP

Regularly named Greece's most popular public figure in opinion polls, Christodoulos headed the church, with 250 million faithful, for a decade and reached out to opponents during his illness.

He was first hospitalized in Athens in June before being diagnosed with cancer of the liver and large intestine. He spent 10 weeks in a US hospital in Miami, but an October liver transplant operation was aborted when doctors discovered the cancer had spread.

He refused hospital treatment in the final weeks of his life. His condition began deteriorating rapidly in the past few days, and church officials said he died before dawn in his home in the Athens suburb of Psyhico.

Senior clergy began arriving at his home as soon as news of his death early Monday was released.

It is unclear who will succeed Christodoulos as head of Greece's Orthodox Church. A meeting of the Holy Synod, the church's top decision-making body, was called for Monday afternoon; a decision on when elections will be held to chose the archbishop's successor must be made within 20 days, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Zakinthos said on Greek television before boarding a plan from the island of Zakinthos to Athens.

In this file picture from 2001, Archbishop Christodoulos, leader of Greece's Orthodox Church, right, greets Pope John Paul II at the entrance of the Athens Archdiocese in Athens, Greece, during the first visit by a pope to Greece in nearly 1,300 years.
Photo: AP

Christodoulos was elected church leader in 1998 and was credited with reinvorgating the vast institution that represents 97 percent of Greece's native-born population. He helped create church Web sites and radio stations, and frequently issued detailed checklists on how black-clad Orthodox priests should conduct themselves in public.

He made frequent televised appearances to weigh in on a variety of issues - in equal measure delighting the religious right and infuriating liberal and left-wing opponents.

"Today we don't have the right to judge him," said Chrysostomos. "The historical position that we have a right to take will be done in time."

In 2001, Christodoulos received the late John Paul II - the first Roman Catholic pope to visit Greece in nearly 1,300 years. They held the landmark meeting in Athens despite vigorous protests from Orthodox zealots.

The archbishop followed up in 2006 with an historic visit to the Vatican, where he and Pope Benedict XVI signed a joint declaration calling for inter-religious dialogue and stating opposition to abortion and euthanasia.

In one of his most vociferous campaigns, Christodoulos led a petition drive against the introduction of new state identity cards which stopped recording Greeks' religion. The church maintained its petition had gathered some 3 million signatures, or more than a quarter of the population.

"They are trying to take away our society's Christian and Orthodox identity, using various groundless arguments, because they hate God and want to marginalize the church," Christodoulos had said during the dispute, claiming he was fighting the "forces of evil."

His campaign ultimately failed, and Greeks' identity cards dropped the religion entry.

Politicians accused him of meddling in their affairs, angered by his vocal criticism on everything from homosexuality and globalization to Turkey's efforts to join the European Union.

"Clergymen are above kings, prime ministers and presidents," Christodoulos once said.

He insisted the church had an obligation to comment on public policy and popular social issues, and claimed critics ignored important church work in charity and promoting racial equality.

Liberals were lashed for trying to water down Greece's strong Orthodox heritage. He even proposed a Greek alternative to Valentine's Day and urged his supporters to buy Christmas cards with religious icons instead of Santa Claus and Christmas trees.

In a 2006 Easter message, Christodoulos said: "The church is our hope for the future ... It is the living and new resistance against the murderous world order which throws every independent voice, every protest of conscience and reasonable opposition into the meat grinder."

But public criticism of the church leader quickly faded after news of Christodoulos' illness spread, and prominent left-wingers visited him in hospital.

The archbishop was born Christos Paraskevaidis in 1939 in the northeastern Greek city of Xanthi, one of two sons of a wholesale food importer and devoutly religious mother.

He grew up in Athens, where was drawn to the priesthood from a young age. He was ordained at 22, and obtained consecutive degrees in law and theology from the University of Athens. His skills were soon spotted by members of the church hierarchy.

Christodoulos was appointed secretary to the Church's governing Holy Synod during a 1967-74 military dictatorship. The coup leaders had installed their own church leadership under the late Archbishop Ieronymos to help realize their strictly conservative social agenda.

In a television interview years later, Christodoulos famously asserted he had been unaware of widespread abuses carried out during the dictatorship because of his demanding religious studies.

After the junta collapsed, he was elected metropolitan bishop of a diocese based in the central city of Volos, where he remained until elected archbishop on April 28, 1998.

Church elders had sought for a remedy to years of administrative disorder under the leadership of the long-ailing Archbishop Seraphim, who had rarely appeared in public for years and died in 1998, aged 84.

Several of Christodoulos' mentors from the traditionalist wing of the Orthodox Church who had risen to the senior ranks helped him win a close election for archbishop.

In contrast to his predecessor, Christodoulos appeared on television daily, touring schools and churches, and watched his approval rating rise to 75 percent in opinion polls.

He remained popular, but his abrasive tactics also made him enemies in the church and the media, who openly called for his resignation when sex and corruption scandals broke out in the church in 2005.

CHRISTODOULOS DIES.

Are we happy- not really.
Public mourning and a rallying round a ghastly bigot
who has set his country back years and indirectly harmed a generation or more as well as those specifically bullied, tortured and victimised by the right wing remnant of a junta that still rules the military and police in Greece...

A friend wrote that he could think of not a single good thing about this man, and that is shocking when the man is head of the National church. Critics of the last Pope at least called him a saintly man- that word is significantly missing in the BBC obituary printed below!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greek Orthodox church head dies

Archbishop Christodoulos was a popular public figure in Greece

The head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, has died, aged 69, after suffering from cancer.

An attempted liver transplant in 2007 was unsuccessful, and the archbishop had grown steadily weaker recently.

Archbishop Christodoulos was a colourful and controversial figure, the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Greece says.

He defended the church's pre-eminent role in the state and upheld Hellenism - the national character and culture of Greece, our correspondent says.

But critics say that under Archbishop Christodoulos, Greece remained a country which discriminates against those who are not Orthodox, including Catholics and worshippers of other branches of Christianity.

'Lost will to live'

The archbishop of Athens and all Greece died at his Athens home on Monday night, church officials said.

They [the government] are trying to take away our society's Christian and Orthodox identity... because they hate God Archbishop Christodoulos

They said he had refused hospital treatment in the final weeks of his life.

"He lost the will to live", deciding to "give up his soul", Bishop Anthimos of Salonika told Greece's state television NET.

Archbishop Christodoulos was diagnosed with cancer of the liver and large intestine in 2007. He was then treated in the US for 10 weeks, but a liver transplant operation last October was aborted as the cancer had spread.

Senior Greek Orthodox clergy began arriving at the archbishop's home soon after his death was announced.

The archbishop's flag-draped coffin was later taken to Athens' cathedral, where his body will lie in state until the funeral on Thursday.

A four-day period of mourning has been declared in Greece.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis paid tribute to the archbishop, describing him as "an enlightened hierarch whose pastoral work brought the church near the society and contemporary problems".

The Holy Synod, the church's top decision-making body, will hold a meeting later on Monday. It has 20 days in which to elect the archbishop's successor.

Controversial remarks

Elected as church leader in 1998, Archbishop Christodoulos was known as a fierce and outspoken defender of Greece and the role of the Orthodox Church within it, our correspondent says.

Archbishop Christodoulos paid a historic visit to the Vatican in 2006

The archbishop once said that when ancient Greeks were creating the lights of civilisation, Europeans were living in trees.

He said Greeks lived in paradise compared to other Europeans because they had a strong faith, built churches, followed traditions and resisted globalisation.

Archbishop Christodoulos opposed Turkey's efforts to join the European Union, describing the Turks as barbarians, our correspondent says.

The archbishop clashed with the Greek government when the authorities wanted to remove religious status from identity cards.

"They are trying to take away our society's Christian and Orthodox identity, using various groundless arguments, because they hate God and want to marginalise the Church," he said.

He said it was a part of a plan to separate church and state, dreamed up by neo-intellectuals who wanted to attack Orthodoxy and tear at its flesh.

Vatican talks

In 2001, the archbishop incurred the wrath of ultra Orthodox believers when he met the late Pope John Paul II in Greece.

In 2006, he met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, as part of efforts to bring the two churches together - the first such talks between Greece's most senior cleric and the leader of the world's Roman Catholics.

Their meeting focused on attempts to end the Great Schism that dates from 1054.

The Greek Orthodox Church is an autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, branch of the Eastern Orthodox Communion, covering the territory of Greece.

a lottery about the time of death!

http://www.sync.gr/prezatv

Τρίτη, 15 Ιανουάριος 2008

Untitled

Unbelievable, dear WSEAS, some frauders try to predic when the Archbishop will died
and they give as prize PS3!

This is their Junk Web pages:
like: http://www.sync.gr/prezatv

It is a a great FAKE and great JUNK

Be aware of this Bogus

This is a Scam, it is a great SCAM

It is a Scandal and I cannot find how there are human kinds, dear WSEAS Members, to love some person to be dead

be aware of this http://www.sync.gr/prezatv
and do not forget our BELOVED ARCHIBISHOP: His is giving the great battle with the Death.

Who is CHRISTODOULOS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christodoulos

Why these people remain anonymous : http://www.sync.gr/prezatv
We love and we believe to Christodoulos

How they can organize a competition about the TIME of Christodoulos' death ??!!
They are giving as a prize a PS3!
This is a FAKE. This is JUNK Internet you know.

WSEAS Members & WSEAS Members, be away from this Junk.

WSEAS honors the religions of all people, of all nations, ...
We make research, papers, books , conferences.

The Impact of WSEAS is important. But the Junk Web pages about our "Great , Blessed and Beloved ArchiBishop Christodoulos" is only Junk
It is a Shame for the Human Kind

Many Thanks for hosting these comments in your block

Bessy J.

This is my comment to her:

Yes, it is a shame that people are marketing the Archbishop's death as some sort of lottery.
That said, the Archbishop has been a very divisive person, and my own experience of him was deeply negative. I approached him for help when a Turkish Christian was tortured by the Greek Coastguard for no other apparent reason than that he was turkish. The archbishop did nothing, and even when this man's assailants were proved guilty in court, the Archbishop remained silent. Indeed on the day I approached the Archbishop he made his famous announcement that "All Turks are Barbarians" which I took to be his response.
While I do not therefore approve of a lottery speculating about the death of his Beatitude, I hope his successor will be less enmeshed in Nationalist politics and try and remember that the Greek Orthodox Church also embraces members who are not ethnically Greek and have no intention of espousing Nationalist agenda. I am one of these. To his credit, however, when I suggested he institute a central Athens Liturgy in English or French, he gave up his own Chapel to do precisely this.
I hope the death of Christodoulos brings the Church to its senses, and allows clerics in Greece to reflect on the sorry events of his life - his involvement with the Junta, his campaign for ID cards, his hijacking of the media for all manner of ridiculous causes which brought shame on his office and compromised his authority. It is now time to campaign for the absolute separation of Church and State.

I have also said elsewhere that now the Archbishop is dying and in clear pain, he at last is in a position to share in the pain of those who were tortured by uniformed officers of the Greek State. One of those victims - one of the so-called Turkish Barbarians, wrote "we pray for the Archbishop in his pain, as he shares with us that pain. We pray that God in his Mercy will look kindly on the failings in his life and receive him into Paradise. This is a man who is a victim of culture and History. He needs our sympathy not our condemnation. NECATI"

17 Ιανουάριος 2008 4:10 πμ

Christodoulos and Church corruption

from Ekathimerini today:

Christodoulos

Archbishop Christodoulos, who turns 69 today, is increasingly frail, unable to eat much or communicate frequently with his family and aides, his spokespersons said yesterday. Meanwhile, debate about who will succeed the ailing archbishop intensified amid rumors that the telephone of an unidentified bishop had been tapped.

From Athens News 11/01/2008, page: A17

Uprooting corruption

YOUR article (Greeks expect increase in corruption, December 14) makes for hair-rising reading. With mark 5 representing the maximum of extreme corruption on the scale, an ordinary citizen addressing their political party for redress finds it penalised with the highest penalty of mark 4.1. Dealing with the taxman, they are confronted with mark 3.8 in wheeling and dealing. Turning to the legal system for assistance, blood freezes in their veins in finding its rating a bare 2 decimal points below the former, at mark 3.6.

Having lost faith, they turn to the spiritual for comfort and quickly find out that the brotherhood achieves a fair average of mark 3.1.

An obvious truth resides in such a case to implement the only treatment: cut off the rotting limb to save life. But again, how many limbs can be amputated? Maximum four.

Chou Chi

Hong Kong

Comment:

Christodoulos prepares to die surrounded as he was in life by corruption and suspicion. I suppose he can be confident that at least for a while he will be celebrated as a National hero, but I am sure the truth will dawn in time. It all depends on whether the Greek Church appreciates the mess it is in and makes an effort to get out of that mess... Who knows how many other Nationalists and bigots hide beneath clerical robes?

The local Greeks do not trust the Greek church, with the demagogue Christodoulos at its head, so maybe it is time to see the death of Christodoulos as time for serious change.

Tim

racist archbishop and cancer treatment

from Ekathimerini

HOSPITAL REFUSED

Archbishop Christodoulos says he wants to be treated at home

Archbishop Christodoulos has declined hospital tests, telling aides he wants to be treated at his home in Palaio Psychico, it was revealed yesterday. The head of the Church of Greece is suffering from liver cancer and continues to be in a critical but stable condition. Meanwhile, speculation about a possible successor to Christodoulos is intensifying. “I would say it shows a lack of respect but at the same time it is also human,” said Bishop Chrysostomos of Zakynthos.

Clearly, there is a need to find a replacement Archbishop who is not a xenophobe, racist or extreme Nationalist. While he is ill, maybe the Archbishop should step down. As his illness slows down his capacity to work, his successor will have a huge administrative task ahead of him quite apart from the need to repair so much damage done by Christodoulos.