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Ieronymos to avoid politics

Orestis Panagiotou/EPA

Archbishop Ieronymos is seen yesterday at Athens Cathedral where he led his first service since being appointed head of the Church of Greece. Ieronymos pledged not to interfere in in-party politics, clearly differentiating his stance from his predecessor Christodoulos.

Archbishop Ieronymos yesterday pledged to avoid interfering in politics, distancing himself from his predecessor Christodoulos, during his first service at Athens Cathedral.

The 70-year-old moderate reformist, who was officially enthroned as archbishop on Saturday, also praised Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, who had frequently clashed with Christodoulos. Vartholomaios is “a man deeply rooted in tradition but who also understands the issues of our times,” Ieronymos said, calling for all Orthodox churches to rally around the Istanbul-based patriarchate. Reacting to the archbishop’s speech, Vartholomaios said he was “extremely moved” due to the occasional “misinterpretation” of his role.

But the new archbishop did promise to continue his predecessor’s efforts to open up the Church to young people, saying he would set up a youth council to advise him.

Ieronymos also pledged to cooperate with the state on fighting poverty, supporting disabled citizens and boosting the social integration of immigrants.

sirtaki

this is fun

from kathimerini

‘Your Christodoulos...’

By Nikos Konstandaras

Archbishop Christodoulos, blessed with great intellect and emotional intelligence, understood as few politicians and fewer clerics how to sense the pulse of the people, how to express their feelings and lead them where he wished. In his 10 years on the archbishop’s throne, he harvested the joys but also the bitterness that comes of a life in the public eye. With his unprecedented influence and popular support, he placed the Church at the center of public life, not flinching from an all-out clash with the government of Costas Simitis or with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He dreamed of seeing the Archbishopric evolve into a patriarchate. But he also saw people close to him get caught up in a scandal involving influence peddling between clerics and judges, in 2005, and he saw them pilloried on television. (And he learned that familiarity with the camera guarantees no immunity.)

Christodoulos was fully aware of the potency of the great machine of power that he commanded. But what gave him strength, what pushed him beyond the limits of his religious role, was not his position as a general but as a simple soldier. This was confirmed during his illness and with his death. The senior cleric gave way to the human being, and the human Christodoulos moved even his sternest critics. And he was moved by the simple, human love that the people showed him – a love unrelated to high office, to political influence, to dreams of leading the nation. This is the Christodoulos the crowds braved freezing temperatures to honor as he lay in state this week. They went for the man, not for the state funeral. But even such rituals have their unmistakable symbolic value: the dead archbishop, on the gun carriage, passed by the closed Parliament and the monument loved beyond all other by this nation – the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The tomb of the anonymous, the humble man, the only one who will not be forgotten.

funeral pictures. tributes but also mutterings about difficulties- patriarch etc..

Thousands flock to archbishop’s funeral

Petros Giannakouris/AP

The body of Archbishop Christodoulos is carried through central Athens, followed by senior clerics and politicians, at his funeral procession yesterday attended by thousands.

Thousands of Greeks filled the center of Athens yesterday to pay their last respects to Archbishop Christodoulos, who was given a state funeral following his death from cancer on Monday at the age of 69.

President Karolos Papoulias, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis as well as ministers, bishops and a 12-member delegation from the Vatican attended a requiem mass at Athens Cathedral, where the archbishop’s body had lain in state.

The mass was led by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, who flew to Athens from his base in Istanbul. “With his actions our brother enriched the Church of Greece... (his) death is a great loss for the Orthodox world,” said Vartholomaios, whose relations with Christodoulos had been strained due to a dispute over the management of certain Greek dioceses.

Petros Giannakouris/AP A group of Orthodox priests gather at the First Cemetery after the burial of Archbishop Christodoulos. Hundreds of clerics attended the funeral along with a delegation from the Vatican.

Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis also spoke about the archbishop, credited with opening up the Church to young people and mending ties with the Vatican.

“Today we bid farewell to an important Greek. We hope your work will find competent successors,” he said.

After the service a 21-gun salute boomed as Christodoulos’s open casket was carried through the city center to Athens’s First Cemetery. Hundreds of priests and a 900-soldier guard of honor escorted the gun carriage carrying the coffin, followed by thousands of Greeks of all ages. Mourners lining the streets cried out “immortal,” “martyr,” “farewell” as the coffin wound through Syntagma Square, past the site of the Temple of Zeus and on to the city’s historic cemetery.

Schools, courts and government offices remained closed as Christodoulos was granted honors normally accorded to heads of state. World political and religious leaders, including the Russian and US presidents, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain and Pope Benedict XVI sent messages of condolence.

The Holy Synod is to elect a new archbishop next Thursday. Contenders include Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki and Bishop Ieronymos of Thebes.