Special Riot Police "MAT" dispatched to Esphigmenou Monastery

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARMED GREEK POLICE PLAN TO FORCIBLY REMOVE PEACEFUL MONKS

MOUNT ATHOS, GREECE, September 24, 2012  – Today under the leadership of foreign minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, the Greek government deployed armed police in full riot gear to forcibly remove the monks of the Holy Monastery of Esphigmenou from their monastery home. The special riot police MAT and EKAM, which have been used against violent protestors in downtown Athens have now, unbelievably, been deployed to the peaceful monastic community of Mount Athos in northern Greece to assault peaceful and defenseless monks.

The government has authorized the use of force to resolve a religious dispute after failing to starve the monks into leaving their monastery during a decade-long blockade. In this time, they have denied the monks deliveries of food, medicine, heating oil, and access to medical attention while simultaneously subjecting them to a non-stop campaign of official harassment and intimidation.

This waste of taxpayer dollars has continued unabated during the financial crisis that has rocked Greece and the rest of the European Union and crippled social services to the poor in Greece. Under the Greek Constitution, the Greek foreign minister is responsible for the administration of government on Mt. Athos and has ultimate authority on the orders to use armed police there.

The monks have repeatedly requested dialogue with the Greek government as well as Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul to resolve this dispute. The Patriarch has refused to aid in the peaceful reconciliation of this dispute and has encouraged the government to move against the monks with force.

The expressed plan of the government is to forcibly remove the peaceful and defenseless monks and their long-standing Abbot Methodios from their monastery, and replace them with those who pray in accordance with the dictates of the Greek government.

Mount Athos is the autonomous spiritual center of The Orthodox Church, where the monks are considered defenders of the faith. The Esphigmenou Monastery established in the first millennium, is where the great St. Gregory Palamas was abbot, and where St. Anthony left for Russia to establish Orthodox monasticism. Its remoteness and rugged natural beauty attracts pilgrims and tourists alike, who come to see the art and architecture of the Byzantine Empire.

For over a thousand years the monastery has provided a place of prayer and peace for those who chose the monastic life.  It is now threatened with extinction.

For more information please contact John Rigas +1-617 524-4724, or visit: www.esphigmenou.com.