Christodoulos
Encyclopedia
Christodoulos was Archbishop of Athens and All Greece
and as such the primate
of the Autocephalous Orthodox
Church of Greece
, from 1998 until his death, in 2008.
, Thrace
, Northern Greece in 1939. His civil name was Christos Paraskevaidis. When he was two years old, his family moved to Athens to escape German and Bulgarian occupation of the area during World War II
. His father subsequently returned to Xanthi following the war and ran a successful bid for mayor.
Christodoulos attended high school at the Roman Catholic Marist Leonteion Lyceum of Athens. He then studied law at the University of Athens, graduating in 1962, after having been ordained a deacon
in the Orthodox Church in 1961.
He also attended a graduate school at the University of Athens for a degree in theology. Christodoulos was ordained a priest
in 1965 and graduated from the School of Theology in 1967. He worked as a parish priest in Palaio Faliro
, a suburb of Athens, between 1965 and 1974. During that time he also became Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. In 1974, he was elected bishop
of Demetrias
in Volos
, Thessaly
, a post which he held until his election as Archbishop of Athens in 1998.
Christodoulos was a Doctor of Theology, had a degree in French and English, and also spoke Italian and German. He was the author of a number of theological books and received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Craiova
and the University of Iasi. Due to Christodoulos' attending a Catholic high school, he felt open to dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches having experienced both sides.
to the seat of the Prelate of the Greek church in 1998. At 59 years of age, he was the youngest archbishop to head the Greek Church. His chief rivals in ballot were Metropolitan
Anthimos of Alexandroupolis and Metropolitan
Ieronymos
of Thebes
. The latter would eventually succeed him in 2008.
Supporting the existing Church social services, he launched new services to face social issues such as the welfare of drug addicts and immigrants, the support for single mothers and abused women, the care for the victims of trafficking, the establishing of a chain of nurseries and infant schools, the provided assistance to poor families and families with many children. He also established "Solidarity", a NGO of the Church of Greece, which allowed a humanitarian intervention of the Church on an international level in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. "Solidarity" caused several controversies, such as the case where it received 5.6 million Euros from the Greek State in order to send humanitarian relief to Iraq. Instead, "Solidarity" only spent 740 thousand Euros to buy food, which it kept in storage houses without ever sending it to Iraq, and kept the rest in a bank account. After the death of Archbishop Christodoulos, the Greek Church started an investigation of the financial activities of "Solidarity" and found gross irregularities.
In 2003, he fell out with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
over who should have the final say in the appointment of bishops in northern Greece
. As a result, Christodoulos' name was stricken off the Diptych
of the Church as a punishment. He was reinstated three months later, as the conflict seemed to be coming to a resolution. The rift was mended a month later.
The visit of Pope John Paul II
in Athens and Archbishop Christodoulos' visit to Pope Benedict XVI
in Rome
were significant steps towards the cause of Church unity.
. The beating was broadcast on live television; Poulios was arrested by Christodoulos' police bodyguards, but in the end he faced no charges.
of 1999 in which Greece, as a NATO member, played a significant, though largely non-interventionist, role. He also spoke out strongly against the intention of the Greek government under Costas Simitis
to follow EU
directives, especially where they clashed with what he regarded as traditional Greek policies. Shortly after his swearing in, Christodoulos stated that it was "a disgrace for the modern Greeks
to decide on the basis of what directives from Brussels
might ask, at one time or another.
did not consult with the Greek Church on the matter and claiming that it was part of a wider plan to marginalise the Church from Greek public life; he also stated that the decision was "put forward by neo-intellectuals who want to attack us like rabid dogs and tear at our flesh". The archbishop organised two demonstrations in Athens
and Thessaloniki
, alongside a majority of bishops of the Church of Greece
, supporting the inclusion of religious data on a voluntary basis, and asked for a referendum on the matter. For this purpose he was greatly supported as more than three million Greek citizens signed and asked for a referendum.
In 2001, Christodoulos prompted international criticism after claiming that the ID decision had been instigated by Jews. The Central Board of the Jewish Community in Greece subsequently sent him a letter on 20 March 2001, asking him to clarify the matter and expressing their opposition to the mandatory writing of religious status in identity cards. The Archbishop replied in a letter that his source was the official web site of the USA Jewish Community where it was stated that the US Jewish Community had asked the Greek Government to remove religious status from Greek identity cards. He also noted that in Israel, the writing of religious status in identity cards is mandatory.
The official position of the Greek Church became that the writing of religious status on identity cards should be optional. However, the Greek Government proceeded to remove the writing of religious status completely from new identity cards.
violations by the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
, because those seven years he was busy studying to become a priest, he had been present in the swearing-in ceremony of the new regime while he held the office of Arch-Secretary of the "Holy Synod
", the collective council of Metropolitan bishops of the Church of Greece
. At the same time, he was serving as chief advisor to Archbishop Hieronymus, a regime appointee and supporter.
to visit Greece. He commented that he would not "close the door" on the Pope, because he was coming to the country as a pilgrim. The two men met for discussions during the Papal visit in May 2001, though they did not pray together. Christodoulos' decision led to major controversy in Greece, where many Orthodox Christians regard the Pope (and the Catholic Church as a whole) as a schismatic
heretic
. He also consented in 2002 to the construction of a mosque in Athens, to end the fact that Athens is the only EU capital without a Muslim place of worship. On the other hand, he asked that the mosque will be outside the city center, a wish that was granted by the government who chose a site 20 km outside Athens against the wishes of the Muslim community. By 2009 the mosque hasn't been built yet.
Archbishop Christodoulos visited Pope Benedict XVI in Rome in 2006. They issued a common proclamation together that included the statement that: "We look forward to a fruitful collaboration to enable our contemporaries to rediscover the Christian roots of the European Continent which forged the different nations and contributed to developing increasingly harmonious links between them. This will help them live and promote the fundamental human and spiritual values for all people, as well as the development of their own societies"
under Kostas Karamanlis to discontinue the practice of allowing Greek Orthodox priests to use public schools for confessionary purposes. Until then, calling in priests to hold private confession sessions within schools, was at the discretion of local educational authorities; the sessions took place on a voluntary basis for children. Greek media reported that the Archbishop characterised the move a "hostile act" against the Church, while the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, presided by Christodoulos, sent a letter of complaint to the Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs
under Marietta Giannakou
. The decision, however, was applauded by representatives of the Greek Teachers' Association, who supported it as a measure that safeguarded freedom of belief and fostered respect for cultural and religious differences in schools.
, urging followers to "pray for the young kids" on the shows and to "turn off our television sets".
. In reference to the same issue, he has castigated the "yannisaries
" (i.e. traitors
to the Greek nation
) "who dare raise an audacious head and question unimpeachable things". The state issued textbook was later removed in 2007 by the Greek Government, after the Athens Academy, a Legal Entity of Public Law supervised by the Ministry of National Education and Religion, as well as a number of Greek historians and intellectuals also criticised the book for historical inaccuracies.
" and "a vehicle to Americanise
the life of all humankind". He has also claimed that "globalisation wants to turn us into gruel, soup, sheep, or better yet, turkeys, so that we may be led with a cane".
In 2002, he asked students in a Greek school whether they wanted to be "mince meat or meat", explaining that "foreigners want to turn us into the meat-grinder, while meat is a solid thing". On another occasion he stated that "the forces of Darkness cannot stand it [that Greece is a predominantly Orthodox country], and for this reason they want to decapitate it and flatten everything, by means of globalization
, the novel deity that has appeared alongside another deity called human rights
, and on account of which they expect us to curtail our own rights". In 2006, he decried the establishment of the monotonic orthography, as a "globalization
plot" to impose "cultural uniformity" and "support the sale of multi-national Olivetti
's typewriters". He also sarcastically referred to the lawmakers' "kindness of relieving our race from the darkness of Aristophanes
", with regards to the same matter.
also raised controversy. During a 2006 speech, Christodoulos stated that the Church is bound to "come into many conflicts with the movement for human rights", despite the fact "it not only does not oppose human rights, but supersedes them". His proposed reason for these conflicts is that "the Church cannot accept what the Lord of This World is promoting through the human rights movement : the abolishment of sin
". The archbishop has attributed human rights to a ploy by Satan
on a second occasion, stating that "the forces of Darkness cannot stand it [that Greece is a predominantly Orthodox country], and for this reason they want to decapitate it and flatten everything, by means of globalization
, the novel deity that has appeared alongside another deity called human rights
, and on account of which they expect us to curtail our own rights".
The Archbishop was also criticised for frequently judging the internal and foreign policies of the elected Greek governments, usually during sermons in the liturgy. In 1999, he complained during a sermon that the Education Ministries were "experimenting on students" with their continuous innovations on the educational system, causing the dissatisfaction of then Minister Gerasimos Arsenis
, who was pushing substantial changes in secondary education
at the time.
Enlightenment
", and which he contrasted to Christian values.
enter the European Union, calling the Turks "barbarian
s". Despite the fact a number of Greeks are also opposed to Turkey's entrance (as, indeed, are many other Europeans), Christodoulos' statements were seen as an unwarranted intervention in foreign affairs, based on a discriminatory and racialist logic. It has to be noted, however, that statements to the same effect had been made—and retracted—in the past by former Foreign Affairs Minister Theodoros Pangalos
.
The archbishop was accused of fusing ethnic stereotype
s and homophobic
ideas when, on another occasion, he proclaimed that "Because we are not German
, neither French
, far more not English
, but manful Greeks, we are Orthodox Christians". The statement reflects a tendency in Greek low comedy to depict the British, French, and German men as having a tendency towards effeminacy
, more frequently seen in burlesque comedy
rather than serious works.
and European culture
at large. In 1998 he declared that "when our ancestors gave the lights of civilization, they [Europeans] were living up in trees". In 2003 he claimed that "history teaches us Europeans were always out to harm us. Long before the sack of Constantinople
, Hellenism
had been subjected to the horrible experience of the Franks, who wanted to achieve, by any means possible, its extinction." The latter sentence seems to indicate that the Archbishop extrapolates attitudes of the excommunicated Western sackers of 1204 AD, to all Western Europeans, of all times.
on the World Trade Center
, parts of the public were shocked to hear the archbishop attribute the attacks to "despondent men" who acted "out of despair caused by the injustices of the Great Power
s". Critics attacked the archbishop for what they considered to constitute an underhanded justification of the terrorist act. Christodoulos denied the allegation and responded that he condemned the attacks. In the fifth anniversary of the attacks, in 2006, and while speaking to an audience of High School students, Christodoulos characterized the September 11, 2001 attacks "a hideous crime that cost the lives of thousands of innocent people" and attributed them to "man failing to discern between good and evil, and being unable to posit himself responsibly towards the problems of the world".
and diagnosed with colonic
adenocarcinoma
, hepatocellular carcinoma
in the right lobe of the liver. Following colonic tumor resection, transplantation
specialist Professor Andreas Tzakis, of the University of Miami
Miller School of Medicine, announced that the Archbishop would be transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital
in Miami, Florida
in order to undergo liver transplant. On 8 October 2007 the transplant was cancelled because of metastases
.
Following suggestions by his attending doctors, Christodoulos returned to Athens on October 26 for medical treatment.
In his final days, the Archbishop refused to be hospitalised, preferring to remain at his home in Psychiko
, where he died on 28 January 2008. After his death the Greek government announced a four day national wake during which his body lay in state at the chapel of the Cathedral of the Annunciation
.
His funeral was held on 31 January 2008. It was presided over by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem
, Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria
, Patriarch Daniel of Romania
, and was also attended by the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II and the Archbishop of America
Demetrios
. The election of his successor was carried out by the Synod of the Metropolitans of the Church of Greece
on 7 February 2008.
Despite the criticism, Archbishop Christodoulos proved to be one of the most popular archbishops in Greek history
, having a particular rapport with young people.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and as such the primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....
of the Autocephalous Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
Church of Greece
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
, from 1998 until his death, in 2008.
Early life and career
Christodoulos was born in XanthiXanthi
Xanthi ; is a city in Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi peripheral unit of the periphery of East Macedonia and Thrace.-History:...
, Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, Northern Greece in 1939. His civil name was Christos Paraskevaidis. When he was two years old, his family moved to Athens to escape German and Bulgarian occupation of the area during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His father subsequently returned to Xanthi following the war and ran a successful bid for mayor.
Christodoulos attended high school at the Roman Catholic Marist Leonteion Lyceum of Athens. He then studied law at the University of Athens, graduating in 1962, after having been ordained a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
in the Orthodox Church in 1961.
He also attended a graduate school at the University of Athens for a degree in theology. Christodoulos was ordained a priest
Priesthood (Orthodox Church)
Presbyter is, in the Bible, a synonym for bishop , referring to a leader in local Church congregations. In modern usage, it is distinct from bishop and synonymous with priest. Its literal meaning in Greek is "elder."-Holy orders:Through the sacrament of holy orders, an ordination to priesthood...
in 1965 and graduated from the School of Theology in 1967. He worked as a parish priest in Palaio Faliro
Palaio Faliro
Palaio Faliro is a suburb in the southern part of Athens, Greece. The area is famous for its beaches , forming Athens' nearest beach and Piraeus' only beach...
, a suburb of Athens, between 1965 and 1974. During that time he also became Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. In 1974, he was elected bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Demetrias
Demetrias
Demetrias was an ancient Greek city in Magnesia , near the modern city of Volos. It was founded by Demetrius Poliorcetes, one of the successors of Alexander the Great.-External links:*...
in Volos
Volos
Volos is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about 326 km north of Athens and 215 km south of Thessaloniki...
, Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
, a post which he held until his election as Archbishop of Athens in 1998.
Christodoulos was a Doctor of Theology, had a degree in French and English, and also spoke Italian and German. He was the author of a number of theological books and received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Craiova
University of Craiova
The University of Craiova is a university located in Craiova, Romania. It is an institution of higher education of complex integration, founded in 1947, with four faculties in the beginning, it has developed continuously, the number of specialization's increasing and today it meets the standards...
and the University of Iasi. Due to Christodoulos' attending a Catholic high school, he felt open to dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches having experienced both sides.
Tenure as Archbishop
Christodoulos succeeded Archbishop SeraphimSeraphim of Athens
Seraphim - born Vissarion Tikas was Archbishop of Athens and All Greece from 1974 to 1998....
to the seat of the Prelate of the Greek church in 1998. At 59 years of age, he was the youngest archbishop to head the Greek Church. His chief rivals in ballot were Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
Anthimos of Alexandroupolis and Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
Ieronymos
Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens
Ieronymos II is the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece and as such the primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece. He was elected on 7 February 2008.-Early life and career:...
of Thebes
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
. The latter would eventually succeed him in 2008.
Supporting the existing Church social services, he launched new services to face social issues such as the welfare of drug addicts and immigrants, the support for single mothers and abused women, the care for the victims of trafficking, the establishing of a chain of nurseries and infant schools, the provided assistance to poor families and families with many children. He also established "Solidarity", a NGO of the Church of Greece, which allowed a humanitarian intervention of the Church on an international level in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. "Solidarity" caused several controversies, such as the case where it received 5.6 million Euros from the Greek State in order to send humanitarian relief to Iraq. Instead, "Solidarity" only spent 740 thousand Euros to buy food, which it kept in storage houses without ever sending it to Iraq, and kept the rest in a bank account. After the death of Archbishop Christodoulos, the Greek Church started an investigation of the financial activities of "Solidarity" and found gross irregularities.
In 2003, he fell out with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I is the Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, and thus "first among equals" in the Eastern Orthodox Communion, since 2 November 1991...
over who should have the final say in the appointment of bishops in northern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. As a result, Christodoulos' name was stricken off the Diptych
Diptych
A diptych di "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. Devices of this form were quite popular in the ancient world, wax tablets being coated with wax on inner faces, for recording notes and for measuring time and direction.In Late Antiquity, ivory diptychs with...
of the Church as a punishment. He was reinstated three months later, as the conflict seemed to be coming to a resolution. The rift was mended a month later.
The visit of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in Athens and Archbishop Christodoulos' visit to Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
were significant steps towards the cause of Church unity.
Attack and beating by Old Calendarist
On May 20, 2001, Konstantinos Poulios (Κωνσταντίνος Πούλιος in Greek), an Old Calendarist, attacked Christodoulos and slapped him in the face, while the Archbishop was giving an interview to a TV crew outside the Metropolitan Cathedral of AthensMetropolitan Cathedral of Athens
Annunciation Cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, popularly known as the "Mētrópolis", is the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece....
. The beating was broadcast on live television; Poulios was arrested by Christodoulos' police bodyguards, but in the end he faced no charges.
Support for Serbia
The Archbishop played a leading role in supporting Serbia (a mainly Orthodox country), and stoking public opposition to NATO and the Kosovo WarKosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
of 1999 in which Greece, as a NATO member, played a significant, though largely non-interventionist, role. He also spoke out strongly against the intention of the Greek government under Costas Simitis
Costas Simitis
Konstantinos Simitis , usually referred to as Costas Simitis or Kostas Simitis, was Prime Minister of Greece and leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement from 1996 to 2004.- Biography :...
to follow EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
directives, especially where they clashed with what he regarded as traditional Greek policies. Shortly after his swearing in, Christodoulos stated that it was "a disgrace for the modern Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
to decide on the basis of what directives from Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
might ask, at one time or another.
Identity cards controversy
In 2000, a major clash between church and state erupted when the then Greek socialist government sought to follow a decision of the Greek Data Protection Authority, by removing the "Religion" field from the national ID cards carried by Greek citizens. Christodoulos opposed the decision, complaining that socialist prime minister Costas SimitisCostas Simitis
Konstantinos Simitis , usually referred to as Costas Simitis or Kostas Simitis, was Prime Minister of Greece and leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement from 1996 to 2004.- Biography :...
did not consult with the Greek Church on the matter and claiming that it was part of a wider plan to marginalise the Church from Greek public life; he also stated that the decision was "put forward by neo-intellectuals who want to attack us like rabid dogs and tear at our flesh". The archbishop organised two demonstrations in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
and Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, alongside a majority of bishops of the Church of Greece
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
, supporting the inclusion of religious data on a voluntary basis, and asked for a referendum on the matter. For this purpose he was greatly supported as more than three million Greek citizens signed and asked for a referendum.
In 2001, Christodoulos prompted international criticism after claiming that the ID decision had been instigated by Jews. The Central Board of the Jewish Community in Greece subsequently sent him a letter on 20 March 2001, asking him to clarify the matter and expressing their opposition to the mandatory writing of religious status in identity cards. The Archbishop replied in a letter that his source was the official web site of the USA Jewish Community where it was stated that the US Jewish Community had asked the Greek Government to remove religious status from Greek identity cards. He also noted that in Israel, the writing of religious status in identity cards is mandatory.
The official position of the Greek Church became that the writing of religious status on identity cards should be optional. However, the Greek Government proceeded to remove the writing of religious status completely from new identity cards.
Military junta
It emerged the same year that despite Christodoulos' claims that he had no knowledge of nor involvement with human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations by the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
Greek military junta of 1967-1974
The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, alternatively "The Regime of the Colonels" , or in Greece "The Junta", and "The Seven Years" are terms used to refer to a series of right-wing military governments that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974...
, because those seven years he was busy studying to become a priest, he had been present in the swearing-in ceremony of the new regime while he held the office of Arch-Secretary of the "Holy Synod
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod...
", the collective council of Metropolitan bishops of the Church of Greece
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
. At the same time, he was serving as chief advisor to Archbishop Hieronymus, a regime appointee and supporter.
Ecumenical relations
Christodoulos consented in 2001 to the Greek government's decision to allow Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
to visit Greece. He commented that he would not "close the door" on the Pope, because he was coming to the country as a pilgrim. The two men met for discussions during the Papal visit in May 2001, though they did not pray together. Christodoulos' decision led to major controversy in Greece, where many Orthodox Christians regard the Pope (and the Catholic Church as a whole) as a schismatic
Schism (religion)
A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...
heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. He also consented in 2002 to the construction of a mosque in Athens, to end the fact that Athens is the only EU capital without a Muslim place of worship. On the other hand, he asked that the mosque will be outside the city center, a wish that was granted by the government who chose a site 20 km outside Athens against the wishes of the Muslim community. By 2009 the mosque hasn't been built yet.
Archbishop Christodoulos visited Pope Benedict XVI in Rome in 2006. They issued a common proclamation together that included the statement that: "We look forward to a fruitful collaboration to enable our contemporaries to rediscover the Christian roots of the European Continent which forged the different nations and contributed to developing increasingly harmonious links between them. This will help them live and promote the fundamental human and spiritual values for all people, as well as the development of their own societies"
Role of the clergy in Greek schools
In 2006, Greek newspapers reported the archbishop's displeasure at a decision by the centre-right government of New DemocracyNew Democracy (Greece)
New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...
under Kostas Karamanlis to discontinue the practice of allowing Greek Orthodox priests to use public schools for confessionary purposes. Until then, calling in priests to hold private confession sessions within schools, was at the discretion of local educational authorities; the sessions took place on a voluntary basis for children. Greek media reported that the Archbishop characterised the move a "hostile act" against the Church, while the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, presided by Christodoulos, sent a letter of complaint to the Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs
Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs (Greece)
The Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs , formerly the Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs , is a government department of Greece...
under Marietta Giannakou
Marietta Giannakou
Marietta Giannakou is a Greek politician, member of New Democracy. She is the former Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs of Greece....
. The decision, however, was applauded by representatives of the Greek Teachers' Association, who supported it as a measure that safeguarded freedom of belief and fostered respect for cultural and religious differences in schools.
Greek politics
Christodoulos supported views on Greek politics and culture that were criticized by some as highly conservative and nationalist and supported by others as "standing up" for Greece and Greek culture. He led protests in 2002 against Greece's version of the television programme Big BrotherBig Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
, urging followers to "pray for the young kids" on the shows and to "turn off our television sets".
Greek history
The Archbishop attacked the authors of the Greek elementary schools' official state sixth grade history book, accusing them of attempting to "enslave Greek youth" and conceal the Church's role in defending Greek national identity during Ottoman occupationOttoman Greece
Most of Greece gradually became part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century until its declaration of independence in 1821, a historical period also known as Tourkokratia ....
. In reference to the same issue, he has castigated the "yannisaries
Janissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
" (i.e. traitors
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
to the Greek nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
) "who dare raise an audacious head and question unimpeachable things". The state issued textbook was later removed in 2007 by the Greek Government, after the Athens Academy, a Legal Entity of Public Law supervised by the Ministry of National Education and Religion, as well as a number of Greek historians and intellectuals also criticised the book for historical inaccuracies.
Globalization
The Archbishop was intensely critical of globalisation, to which he referred, on repeated occasions, in disparaging terms as a global, or alternatively, "foreigner" plot to deprive people of their national identities. In 2004 he criticized globalisation as a "bulldozer that is out to demolish everything, on account of those who want to rule the world without resistance or obstacles", adding that Greeks live in a paradise compared to other Europeans, because "they have a strong faith, they build churches, follow traditions, and resist globalisation". In 2006, he castigated globalisation as a "crime against humanityCrime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...
" and "a vehicle to Americanise
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the life of all humankind". He has also claimed that "globalisation wants to turn us into gruel, soup, sheep, or better yet, turkeys, so that we may be led with a cane".
In 2002, he asked students in a Greek school whether they wanted to be "mince meat or meat", explaining that "foreigners want to turn us into the meat-grinder, while meat is a solid thing". On another occasion he stated that "the forces of Darkness cannot stand it [that Greece is a predominantly Orthodox country], and for this reason they want to decapitate it and flatten everything, by means of globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, the novel deity that has appeared alongside another deity called human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, and on account of which they expect us to curtail our own rights". In 2006, he decried the establishment of the monotonic orthography, as a "globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
plot" to impose "cultural uniformity" and "support the sale of multi-national Olivetti
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, printers and other business machines.- Founding :The company was founded as a typewriter manufacturer in 1908 in Ivrea, near Turin, by Camillo Olivetti. The firm was mainly developed by his son Adriano Olivetti...
's typewriters". He also sarcastically referred to the lawmakers' "kindness of relieving our race from the darkness of Aristophanes
Aristophanes of Byzantium
Aristophanes of Byzantium was a Greek scholar, critic and grammarian, particularly renowned for his work in Homeric scholarship, but also for work on other classical authors such as Pindar and Hesiod. Born in Byzantium about 257 BC, he soon moved to Alexandria and studied under Zenodotus,...
", with regards to the same matter.
Human rights
Some comments by the archbishop on human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
also raised controversy. During a 2006 speech, Christodoulos stated that the Church is bound to "come into many conflicts with the movement for human rights", despite the fact "it not only does not oppose human rights, but supersedes them". His proposed reason for these conflicts is that "the Church cannot accept what the Lord of This World is promoting through the human rights movement : the abolishment of sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
". The archbishop has attributed human rights to a ploy by Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
on a second occasion, stating that "the forces of Darkness cannot stand it [that Greece is a predominantly Orthodox country], and for this reason they want to decapitate it and flatten everything, by means of globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, the novel deity that has appeared alongside another deity called human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, and on account of which they expect us to curtail our own rights".
The Archbishop was also criticised for frequently judging the internal and foreign policies of the elected Greek governments, usually during sermons in the liturgy. In 1999, he complained during a sermon that the Education Ministries were "experimenting on students" with their continuous innovations on the educational system, causing the dissatisfaction of then Minister Gerasimos Arsenis
Gerasimos Arsenis
Gerasimos Arsenis , is a Greek politician who served as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament and a Minister, in several Governments with the Panhellenic Socialist Movement.-Life:...
, who was pushing substantial changes in secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
at the time.
Enlightenment philosophy
Christodoulos frequently criticized the principles and values of what he characterized "the atheistAtheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
", and which he contrasted to Christian values.
Turkey and the European Union
Christodoulos created a major controversy in 2003 when he denounced proposals to let TurkeyTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
enter the European Union, calling the Turks "barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
s". Despite the fact a number of Greeks are also opposed to Turkey's entrance (as, indeed, are many other Europeans), Christodoulos' statements were seen as an unwarranted intervention in foreign affairs, based on a discriminatory and racialist logic. It has to be noted, however, that statements to the same effect had been made—and retracted—in the past by former Foreign Affairs Minister Theodoros Pangalos
Theodoros Pangalos
Theodoros Pangalos is a Greek politician and leading member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement. He currently serves as the Vice-President of the Greek government, responsible for the coordination of the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense and the new Economic & Social Policy...
.
The archbishop was accused of fusing ethnic stereotype
Ethnic stereotype
An ethnic stereotype is a generalized representation of an ethnic group, composed of what are thought to be typical characteristics of members of the group.Ethnic stereotypes are commonly portrayed in ethnic jokes.-Ethnic stereotypes:*African Americans...
s and homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
ideas when, on another occasion, he proclaimed that "Because we are not German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, neither French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, far more not English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, but manful Greeks, we are Orthodox Christians". The statement reflects a tendency in Greek low comedy to depict the British, French, and German men as having a tendency towards effeminacy
Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
, more frequently seen in burlesque comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
rather than serious works.
Relations between Greece and Europe
Christodoulos was also criticized for supporting what many Greeks feel to be an arbitrary, nationalist, and ultimately ahistorical division between the GreekCulture of Greece
The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, through the influence of the Roman Empire and its Greek Eastern successor the Byzantine Empire...
and European culture
Culture of Europe
The culture of Europe might better be described as a series of overlapping cultures. Whether it is a question of North as opposed to South; West as opposed to East; Orthodoxism as opposed to Protestantism as opposed to Catholicism as opposed to Secularism; many have claimed to identify cultural...
at large. In 1998 he declared that "when our ancestors gave the lights of civilization, they [Europeans] were living up in trees". In 2003 he claimed that "history teaches us Europeans were always out to harm us. Long before the sack of Constantinople
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, Hellenism
Culture of Greece
The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, through the influence of the Roman Empire and its Greek Eastern successor the Byzantine Empire...
had been subjected to the horrible experience of the Franks, who wanted to achieve, by any means possible, its extinction." The latter sentence seems to indicate that the Archbishop extrapolates attitudes of the excommunicated Western sackers of 1204 AD, to all Western Europeans, of all times.
September 11 attacks
After the September 11, 2001 attacksSeptember 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
, parts of the public were shocked to hear the archbishop attribute the attacks to "despondent men" who acted "out of despair caused by the injustices of the Great Power
Great power
A great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength and diplomatic and cultural influence which may cause small powers to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions...
s". Critics attacked the archbishop for what they considered to constitute an underhanded justification of the terrorist act. Christodoulos denied the allegation and responded that he condemned the attacks. In the fifth anniversary of the attacks, in 2006, and while speaking to an audience of High School students, Christodoulos characterized the September 11, 2001 attacks "a hideous crime that cost the lives of thousands of innocent people" and attributed them to "man failing to discern between good and evil, and being unable to posit himself responsibly towards the problems of the world".
Illness
In June 2007, Archbishop Christodoulos was hospitalised in Aretaeion Hospital of AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
and diagnosed with colonic
Colon (anatomy)
The colon is the last part of the digestive system in most vertebrates; it extracts water and salt from solid wastes before they are eliminated from the body, and is the site in which flora-aided fermentation of unabsorbed material occurs. Unlike the small intestine, the colon does not play a...
adenocarcinoma
Adenocarcinoma
Adenocarcinoma is a cancer of an epithelium that originates in glandular tissue. Epithelial tissue includes, but is not limited to, the surface layer of skin, glands and a variety of other tissue that lines the cavities and organs of the body. Epithelium can be derived embryologically from...
, hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...
in the right lobe of the liver. Following colonic tumor resection, transplantation
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
specialist Professor Andreas Tzakis, of the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
Miller School of Medicine, announced that the Archbishop would be transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital
Jackson Memorial Hospital
Jackson Memorial Hospital is a non-profit, tertiary care teaching hospital and the major teaching hospital of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida...
in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
in order to undergo liver transplant. On 8 October 2007 the transplant was cancelled because of metastases
Metastasis
Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...
.
Following suggestions by his attending doctors, Christodoulos returned to Athens on October 26 for medical treatment.
Death and burial
Psychiko
Psychiko is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filothei-Psychiko, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit.Psychiko is located to the south of the Olympic stadium...
, where he died on 28 January 2008. After his death the Greek government announced a four day national wake during which his body lay in state at the chapel of the Cathedral of the Annunciation
Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens
Annunciation Cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, popularly known as the "Mētrópolis", is the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece....
.
His funeral was held on 31 January 2008. It was presided over by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem
Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem
Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem is the current Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem...
, Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria
Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria
Theodore II is the current Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa...
, Patriarch Daniel of Romania
Patriarch Daniel of Romania
Daniel, born Dan Ilie Ciobotea is the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The elections took place on September 12, 2007. Daniel won with a majority of 95 votes out of 161. He was officially enthroned on September 30, 2007 in the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest...
, and was also attended by the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II and the Archbishop of America
Archbishop of America
The Archdiocese of America, better known as the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, is a jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It was formally constituted in 1922 and has had seven incumbents...
Demetrios
Demetrios, Archbishop of America
Archbishop Demetrios of America is the current archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.-Overview:...
. The election of his successor was carried out by the Synod of the Metropolitans of the Church of Greece
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
on 7 February 2008.
Despite the criticism, Archbishop Christodoulos proved to be one of the most popular archbishops in Greek history
History of Greece
The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern state of Greece, as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied much through the ages, and, as a result, the history of Greece is similarly...
, having a particular rapport with young people.
Quotes
- The Archbishop has been taped saying, referring to the Justinian era of Christianity: Early Greek Christians blessed and honored the Ancient Greek temples, in which pagansPaganismPaganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
and heathens dwelled, by recycling the materials (stones and dirt) from the Ancient Greek Temples to build Christian temples.