Greek European Culture

Europe - West, Islam, Orthodox Christianity

On the future of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
















As it was said in a post about Koran, without the Patriarchate Constantinople today would be just an overcrowded Turkish habitation, a city essentially similar to any other Turkish city, with nothing comparable even a little with the significance of Byzantium.

 
The Patriarchate faces three options: first, Turkey enters the European Union and freedom reigns everywhere; second, Turkey decides or is obliged to respect Orthodoxy, even without entering the EU; third, the Patriarchate moves to a friendly country, most probably Greece.

The second option can not be excluded, but the Orthodox community in Constantinople has already suffered much, and is now going to disappear entirely, i.e., the Patriarchate has no time to experiment with Turkey’s intentions or wait for the interest of the international community, already proven weak.

Between the remaining two options, Patriarch Vartholomeos chose the first, thinking, I suppose, that away from Constantinople the Patriarchate would suffer a loss of its esteem and Orthodoxy would be in danger of losing to some degree its memory and identity.

The important question then is: Orthodoxy and Christianity in general will lose less in a multicultural European Union than in a European Union where the Patriarchate is at Thessaloniki? Of course the European nations can choose the multicultural kind of ‘life’ anyway, but now we focus on the Patriarchate’s decision to support this kind of ‘life’.

I wonder: if Europe’s memory weakens enough to create a faceless mixture instead of a European Union, how will the Patriarchate be able to strengthen the Christian memory just by being in Constantinople? There is some paradox here, to support Christianity by going against it, to want the strengthening of an identity that we advise to be lost!

2 Comments

  1. Vasiliki, Melbourne Australia

    The problem with modern man is that he spends much time discussing … why don’t we just allow things to naturally fall in place … oh, and the reading of OT and NT helps …it helps to see our own history even that which has not occured – yet!

    All that is prophecied is prophecied because God knows what OUR choices will be … He knows before we make them, what political decisions we make that affect His Church … it is not so much what He does or doesn’t want, it’s more about how far He lets us continue with our own arrogance.

    At the end of the day … the decisions will end up being anthropocentric … we have a massive veil over our eyes these days … we fight over political nonsense … The US may have a lot of knowledge, hence why many of them think they are the centre of Orthodoxy, but they also have a lot of arrogance when they refuse to adopt the historical trail of the Church, the close connection to its Greek-Byzantine roots ….

    Pick up the New Testament and read Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians … Only within a few sentences do you realise what LOVE this Apostle has for the faith of the church in Thessaloniki … and if Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit .. then we should trust that the Holy Spirit has that affection and that love for the Greek nation, and the protection and service it has given to the Church for thousands of years …

    If Russia is capable of offering the same protection and love to the Body of the Church, then God will decide that through His Holy Spirit who will comfort the church and guide her… However, what if Russia is only wanting to be the spiritual leader because of political and strategic arrogance and interest? Same with the US …

    I say, the Powers that Be will make all these decisions anyway … The problem is .. it is the PEOPLE that used to make the shots in the past!

  2. Seldinis Peatrion

    I believe that the Ecumenical Patriarch should move to Thessaloniki, Greece. There is a historical reason for this decision. Thessaloniki was the co-capital of the Byzantine Empire while Constantinople was the official capital; therefore the Ecumenical Patriarch would simply be moving from one historically important Byzantine city to another thereby maintaining some historic continuity.

    But setting historic continuity aside, the Ecumenical Patriarch cannot remain in a city where the followers are dwindling in numbers and the government is indifferent and even hostile. The Turkish government periodically bans the Islamic party whenever it feels threatened by it, so why would they allow the Ecumenical Patriarch to flourish when they don’t even let the predominant religion of Islam any opportunity to grow?

    And even if Turkey joins the European Union or somehow becomes more enlightened towards its religious minorities without joining the European Union, it is doubtful that the Turkish government will allow any of these religious minorities, including the Ecumenical Patriarch, any opportunities to grow and prosper. Perhaps some oppression may cease on the surface but the oppression will quickly become more covert, which means it may even become more powerful. Any “religious liberation” in Turkey will be geared toward the Islamic masses not the Christian minorities.

    Should the Ecumenical Patriarch move to Thessaloniki, Greece, the Ecumencial Patriarch will be among the faithful in a nurturing environment. The Ecumenical Patriarch will be allowed to grow and funds (essential to any entity, even a spiritual one) will become more plentiful. A new, beautiful church could be built to accomodate the Ecumenical Patriarch and some of the historic architectural features of the historic Constantinople church could be relocated to this new church. The autocephalous Church of Greece could reunite with the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Ecumenical Patriarch would be free to pursue stronger relationships with the other autocephalous Orthodox churches (e.g., Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, even Russia).

    The spirituality of the Ecumenical Patriarch would only be enhanced because spirituality grows when there are more faithful followers. After all, the greatest strength of any religion lies not in its historic buildings but in its faithful communities. Why should the Ecumenical Patriarch be a historical religious minority institution in an indifferent nation when the Ecumenical Patriarch can be the flagstone religious institution in a supportive nation? The Ecumenical Patriarch is referred to as the Mother Church of Orthodoxy. Why not place our venerable Mother in an environment where She will be honored by her children?