Armed Monks Clash Over Vatican Ties

(AP)  Rebel monks remained barricaded inside a chapel at the Orthodox monastic sanctuary of Mount Athos on Thursday following clashes that left seven people injured.

Wednesday's violence involved rival groups of monks carrying crowbars and sledgehammers — and is part of a longstanding dispute led by a rebel monastery which opposes efforts by the Orthodox Church to improve relations with the Vatican.

Police posted a guard outside the chapel Thursday to prevent further clashes, while government officials urged calm.

"We condemn these clashes and hope that calm will prevail," Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said.

Three monks who were detained by police after receiving hospital treatment Wednesday were freed on the orders of a public prosecutor.

Monks at the rebel Esphigmenou monastery in northern Greece have turned against other monasteries on the all-male, self-governing peninsula.

They have been declared schismatic and ordered to leave Athos after refusing to recognize the authority of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, who is based in Istanbul, Turkey.

Greece's highest administrative court has also ordered their eviction, but the monks have refused to budge.

The Athos dispute was inflamed three weeks ago, when Pope Benedict XVI visited Turkey and met Bartholomew. The ecumenical patriarch visited Athos in October, and urged the rebel monks to reconsider their position.

Wednesday's clashes occurred between Esphigmenou monks and church-appointed replacements at a chapel and offices of the monastery at Karyes, monastic community's administrative center.

Video footage recorded by cell phone and broadcast on Greek television showed monks using sledgehammers to try and break into the compound where the rebel monks are holed up.

Violence broke out as the rebel monks attacked the intruders with crowbars and fire extinguishers.

Esphigmenou's rebel abbot, Methodius, said his monks had been provoked.

"We were attacked and had to respond," he said. "They should be ashamed to call themselves men of the cloth."

In October, a court in the nearby city of Thessaloniki handed down two-year suspended sentences against nine monks and former monastery members for illegally occupying Esphigmenou's offices. Supplies to the rebel monastery are brought in by supporters using dinghies from the nearby island of Thassos.

Esphigmenou is one of 20 monasteries on Athos, where women are banned.

Five rebel monks remained inside the compound Thursday.

Esphigmenou monastery, one of 20 on Athos, has been the scene of a long-running dispute between Orthodox Church authorities and the rebel monks, who get their supplies from supporters using dinghies from the nearby island of Thassos.

[sandycat2]

I don't read the bible. I try to follow the teachings of Jesus. The world would be a better place if everyone tried to follow the teachings of Jesus. Jesus said you should be greedy and chased the money people out of the temple. He said when others wanted to stone the adulterous woman, "He, who is without sin, cast the first stone." He told people to love your enemies and to forgive people their faults. Jesus's teachings were the best. Some people just take religlion too far when it is meant to help people live a better life.

[bellal-2009]

Ourtomorrows, thank you for your posts, you have restored my faith in the American race.

Picture #2 is really cool looking.

[akarsno]

Why do people just rescpect each other's religion's and just believe in what is good and not practice the bad part about it and the world would be a better place.

[ourtomorrows]

I would also like to point out something in regard to the Bible. Anyone who has read it knows the vast difference between the old and new testaments. The Old Testament has a far more vengeful God. The New Testament has a God of peace, love and forgiveness. That, to me at least, makes sense. Christ suffered for all of our sins and with his death cemented a new convenent between man and God.

Everyone should applaud the efforts of the Pope in reaching out to the Muslim world and to the Orthodox flock. John Paul II made momentous changes in the world during his pontificate, many of which no one can deny the value of. He was for example, instrumental in the fall of communism in Poland, I don't know of anyone who thinks Poland was better off under the communist yoke. All belief systems have blood on their hands, but that does not inherently outweigh the good that many have done.

I am not a Catholic, but I have deep respect for what Benedict XVI is trying to do and I would argue that there is a place in the world today for belief systems. I would also argue that it is not the faith itself that makes people do what they do. It is, in many cases, the frailities of the men and women who preach it or the weaknesses of those who try to follow it.

[ourtomorrows]

jhindson1

Regarding an earlier post you made, I would not be too quick to see the decline of the importance of reglion in everyday life in Europe emblematic of anything except the current situation in Europe. In African and Latin America Catholicism is growing by leaps and bounds. Islam is continuing to grow and there are new Protestant sects poppping up everyday. And that only accounts for TWO of the hundreds of relgions and belief systems in the world. Belief systems are as old as human history and many still in existence today are far older than Christianity, Judaism being a prime example but also Zoroastrianism which dates back hundreds of years before Christ and many others. For every belief system that has vanished (the Greco-Roman Pantheon perhaps) others have survived and thrived. You may have no belief system, but the vast majority of people in the world do. I would also point out that Europe is not emblematic of the 100s of millions of people in the rest of the world.

translation of the bible is what starts wars.....not what is actually written

[jhindson1]

tinker 3478

At least I will be with all my friends..

That is the trouble with Religion. The only response from Religion about obvious flaws with the Bible is to quote the Bible.

The Bible says that all non-believers must be killed (stoned to death) - Deuteronmy 13:7-11.
Take the Lod's name in vain - punishment is death (Leviticus 24:16) Adultery - punishment is death (Leviticus 12:10) Cursing ones father or mother - death (Exodus 12:17) Working on the Sabbath - death (Exodus 21:17). If these directives from the Bible are not true, (Christian Moderate)then the Bible cannot be the Word of God.

These are certainly not the words of a merciful God.

One cannot pick and choose from an infalable text, unless, of course the text is not infalable.

There is nothing about morality or ethics in the Bible that non Christians are incapable of following.

One can still practice and believe anything they like as long as it is a private belief and kept totally out of politics, government, institutions, laws and out of the lives of those who beleive otherwise or choose not to believe at all.

Believe in Zeus or Apollo or the Easter Bunny if one likes - as long as one does not impose these beliefs on others. Which is why the world is in such a mess today - Religion is a root cause.

[squiz2]

Tinker, I think what you fail to recognize is the fact that when people like yourself start telling others that they are going to hell, passing judgement, and presenting your religion as fact, it tends to push people away from organized religion. Telling someone who does not believe in heaven or hell that they are going to burn is basically talking to a brick wall. How can we go to hell if we don't believe such a place exists? There are many different religions that think many different things about the after-life. Why is yours the only right one?

[nothappyatall]

A religion based on VIOLENCE will eventually self destruct just as Christianity is, good riddance as far as I'm concerned!

[tinker3478]

You probably don't have a Bible but here is my argument. When the people asked the Apostle Peter what they needed to do to be saved:

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Unless you have this experience, regardless of your religion or lack of it, you will go to hell when you die. Whether you believe or disbelieve is immaterial. Claiming to be an atheist or agnostic will not give you grace and pardon. That was superceded by the death of Jesus Christ at Calvary.