Greek Orthodox Churches’ Discordance Over NATO Strikes

Panayote Dimitras

Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights Group - Greece

(31/3/1999, AIM Athens)

NATO strikes gave another opportunity to the various Greek Orthodox Churches to show how differently they perceive their role. Those functioning in multicultural environments have a more spiritual and conciliatory approach to world matters, while those functioning in basically mono-ethnic environments tend to be extremely intolerant. Five such statements were made or reported on Monday 29 March.

First, in an interview with the Athens daily «Eleftherotypia» (29/3/1999), Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew, warned against nationalism, which -he pointed out- «was branded a heresy by Orthodoxy as far back as 1872» and was on the rise again. He added: «even when nationalism invokes Christianity as a means to justify its ends, this does not make it any less of a heresy». Besides, in his traditional Easter statement, the Patriarch asked for an «immediate and permanent cease fire.» The Patriarch is considered the spiritual father of hundreds of millions of Orthodox around the world, belonging to large variety of European and non-European nations.

Likewise, the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, whose congregation includes Albanians, Greeks, Vlachs, Macedonians, Serbs, and Montenegrins, declared: «We wholeheartedly participate in the pain of those who are suffering because of injustice and violence due to the crisis in Kosova. We are not in a position to make eloquent speeches or easy statements in this extremely difficult situation. (…) We have already helped on a large scale and are continuously working to the best of our ability for the relief of the refugees of the conflict who take refuge in Albania.»

A thorough look at the media in Greece, including the state news agencies, would show that these statements went unnoticed and usually totally unreported, except for the Patriarch’s appeal for a cease-fire. Just as private and state media hardly mentioned Prime Minister Costas Simitis’ statements of 25 March with a comprehensive explanation of Greece’s related position both as a NATO member and as a Balkan country; or Foreign Minister George Papandreou’s 30 March stern condemnation of the murders of moderate Kosovo leaders. On the contrary, ample coverage was given to the statements of the Archbishops of Greece Christodoulos and of Cyprus Chrysostomos.

Athens News Agency reported: «Christodoulos blasted NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia, saying Orthodox Serbs had been wronged. Archbishop Christodoulos called on Greeks to uphold the country’s Christian tradition and rally around their spiritual leaders following what he called ‘an international injustice’ perpetrated against the Serbs. Adding that he had information that Orthodox monasteries in the Balkan country had been bombed on Saturday night, Archbishop Christodoulos said: ‘(NATO members) hate the Orthodox ... They hear about the Orthodox and they bristle because we are not easily subjugated.’»

The next day, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece announced a collect on this coming Palm Sunday (4 April) to help the Church of Serbia and the Serbs. Churches around Greece will also hold special prayers while a delegation of Bishops will go to Belgrade.

The Church of Cyprus launched a similar collect for Sunday. Its leader moreover went far beyond the usual anti-Western, anti-Muslim, and pro-Serbian positions, reminding everyone of another traditional Orthodox Christian trait, anti-Semitism.

According to Cyprus News Agency: «Chrysostomos denounced the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, and implied that the Jewish lobby in the US had played a role in this crisis. ‘By allying itself to Israel, Turkey has succeeded in using the Jewish lobby in the US which is very powerful and influences American politics,’ Chrysostomos remarked. He told the press that [U.S.] envoys sent to Cyprus to examine the Cyprus problem are Israelis [in fact, in Greek, he said Jews but the agency’s translation error reflects a usual confusion in Greek Orthodox countries between Jews and Israelis], pointing out that ‘this is the reason a solution has not been found.’ ‘The Jews on the other hand need Turkey because they are among Muslims,’ he said, adding that ‘Turkey makes false promises it will fight with them and be their protector.’ Archbishop Chrysostomos expressed grief for the bombings against the Serbs, and pointed out that they ‘are taking place because of the Muslim element’ in the region.

One can indeed wonder why the usually more realistic and cool-headed –when compared with Greeks– Greek Cypriots ran wild this time. It was in fact in Cyprus, not in Greece, that Parliament formally called all the country’s citizens to attend a rally on Saturday 3 April to condemn the strikes, in which the Speaker Spyros Kyprianou himself –a known hard-liner and nationalist– will deliver the keynote address. Speculation spread that Greek-Cypriots drew parallels, on the one hand, Muslim Turkish populated Northern Cyprus with separatist aspirations, and, on the other hand, Muslim populated Kosovo, also with separatist aspirations. Hence, the agency’s conclusion that Chrysostomos’ pointing the finger at the Muslim element reflected the prevailing attitude among Greek Cypriots.

Against such background one cannot be surprised that a related extreme, illegal, inhuman and fascist [as it is based on the principle of collective guilt] act in Cyprus, reported internationally by Reuters and the French News Agency, instigated hardly any serious reaction. On 30 March, Reuters reported: «A private Cypriot college has expelled its British and American students over NATO bombings of Yugoslavia, it said on Tuesday. The students, numbering fewer than 50, would be suspended as long as ‘their brutal governments’ continue the bombing of Yugoslavia and the ‘massacre’ of Serbs, Palace College said in a statement. Students who have one Greek Cypriot parent could stay. [This action] which college director Michalis Papachrysostomou said was ‘unfair –but compared to what they (their governments) are doing, this is nothing.’ The college said it plans to send Yugoslavia double the amount of all fees paid by British and American students for the current year. Suspended students will not be given a refund. ‘Of course not. That's the whole point,’ Papachrysostomou said.»

Otherwise, Greek and Greek-Cypriot intellectuals routinely and vehemently protest Samuel Huntington’s «Clash of Civilization» principle, according to which cultures based on Orthodox Christian tradition are radically different from those based on Catholic or Protestant Christian traditions …