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