Abbot Efraim of Vatopedi, the defeated victor

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Monk Moïsis the Athonite

The Abbot of the Monastery of Vatopaidi, Archimandrite Efraim, is under suspicion of being about to flee abroad or of being likely to continue a series of other “crimes” and so has been ordered into preventative detention.

The vast majority of people consider this decision unjust: that it is a political game, a ruse, an attempt to divert attention, while pretending to be a purge, a purification and a fair punishment.

Experienced judicial circles have said that the decision is unsafe, unfounded, arbitrary and imposed from above.

The injustice is aimed not only at the abbot, but also against the Church and impugns the honour of the monastic habit. It may be thought to be the beginning of persecution and pain.

The judges are always judged themselves. There can be no blatant intervention in the justice system.

The honourable judicial body itself must directly ensure the power of the Greek system of justice to enjoy limited independence.

Both Greek and foreign experts agree that, in the present instance, the justice system has been influenced by outside pressures.

It is certainly astonishing that the decision was taken on Christmas Eve and this requires particular attention and interpretation.

It is as if they were saying: “What are you Christians doing going to church tomorrow? Can’t you see the terrible state of its representatives, even an abbot of Mount Athos? Don’t have anything to do with them. They’re a disaster for the nation”.

Certain journalists, who have been shown up for what they are, revelled in their success, despite being charged with and then found guilty of making false statements.

Alas, however, at this critical time, there have also been some clerics who have rejoiced over this decision against the abbot. Some of them, indeed, actively promoted it.

How is their gloating to be understood? Perhaps only in psychological terms.

It is not my intention to extol the abbot, to flatter or to comfort him.

But it is impossible for me not to side with him, even were we to suppose that, in some respect, he may be to blame.

The brotherhood of 120 God-fearing souls certainly needs support.

Despite the volleys of charges aimed at the person of their Elder, they remain of one mind, firm and resolute, united.

How is it possible for people who are supposed to be spiritual to remain unmoved and indifferent in such tragic circumstances?

As I have written elsewhere, I have been struck by the manner in which his problem has been dealt with: with confidence and hope in God and His Mother, with unfeigned sobriety and a spirit of genuine forgiveness.

A plan was set in motion to hancuff an Athonite abbot, the arrest being made in front of lots of cameras. Thereafter he was to be taken to a transit department, to be mocked, derided as a thief, a criminal and a swindler. And all this on Christmas Eve.

News reports claim that the Holy Mountain was under guard from land, sea and air so that Abbot Efraim would not escape.

Is all this supposed to be serious? Where can we complain? Who will listen? The main accusation is that the Abbot did his level best to maintain the value of the property of the monastery of which he had been put in charge!

Had he not, he would have been open to charges of dereliction of duty. I fear that by their actions, those who have condemned the Monastery and its abbot actually want to damage the Church, to prevent its being a persistent thorn in their side.

They want to weaken it and restrict it to its purely charitable work;  work which in fact  Abbot Efraim has been engaged upon for years now, in a dignified, caring and unsung manner.

I feel sure that those who have contributed to this decision will sleep with an easy conscience. Saint John Chrysostom says that he sleeps best whose conscience is light. I hope that those who judge will be at peace and that those who are at odds will rest well.

But peace and rest cannot prevail without purity, sincerity and candour.

God exists, and continues to regard the depths of our hearts and to render what is just and worthy in due time.

The Holy Mountain is not a club, a retreat, a recent construct or a modern philosophical talking-shop. It has its history, contribution, tradition; it has produced saints and been served by men of virtue.

It deserves respect and attention. A public prosecutor, an upholder of the law, cannot ignore the institutions of our holy place. He cannot simply avoid presenting himself to the Holy Supervisory Body, go to the Monastery of Vatopaidi without being accompanied by one of the supervisors, and not recognize the authority of the Holy Mountain. He cannot come to the Holy Mountain as an executioner, accompanied by dozens of armed policemen.

Who is arresting the robber barons, the chief Mafiosi, the terrorists, the human traffickers, the drug dealers and the war criminals? Is this a return to the Middle Ages? Is this whole scenario an attempt to tear down holy institutions?

The Holy Community is right to react, as are many bishops, leading lawyers and a whole host of personalities and believers both in Greece and abroad.

It is true that those who expected to increase their popularity have actually reduced it significantly.

Even people who have their doubts about the whole affair and have been influenced by some of the mass media today have seen through the unholy plot against the abbot, who will reap the reward of his labours.

Those who oppose him will be judged severely, will be weighed, measured and discarded. Herod in Bethlehem performed his task and the blood ran freely throughout Judea.

Salome danced amazingly well and won the head of Saint John.

It looked as though they won, but in the end, they lost.

Sometimes the defeated are the real victors, as Christ was on the Cross, after which resistance follows.

This case will end in a spiritual victory.

But I grieve for the conceited provocateurs.