A tragic loss

The Orthodox archbishop of Athens and Greece, died on January 28 at the age of 69 in his home in Athens. He was sick with liver cancer. State funerals will be held tomorrow, January 31st, after three National mourning days. The funeral service will be attended also by a Holy See delegation, as announced by the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. The Holy Synod is called to elect his successor within 20 days. The death of the Greek-Orthodox primate is mourned by the Catholic Church in the Country and by Europe’s Bishops Conferences. The CCEE, the European Bishops Conferences Council sent a letter of condolences to the members of the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church conveying “spiritual closeness” to the Greek People and “especially to the Orthodox Church in Greece”. Memorable steps. The letter, bearing the date of January 28, and signed by His Eminence Cardinal Peter Erdö , Ccee President, on behalf of all the Presidents of Europe’s Bishops Conferences, brings to mind the joint underwriting of Pope John Paul II and archbishop Christodolus of the Common Statement on May 4 2001, affirming “mutual commitment in fraternal cooperation and testimony for the protection of Christian identity in the European Continent”. That meeting marked the birth of “a new era in the relationship between the Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church in Greece”, which continued with the archbishop’s attendance to John Paul II’s funerals and with the official audience with Pope Benedict XVI. “This audience could never have taken place without the fraternal compliance of the Holy Synod of the Venerable Orthodox Church of Greece and the yearning for dialogue of archbishop Christodoulos. It was a memorable step for ecumenism in Europe and in the relations between our two Churches”. A sign of contradiction. “He brought the Church from the sacristy to the people. Never in Greece was the Church followed by so many believers like during the 10 years of Christodoulos’ pastoral ministry”. Msgr. Franghiskos Papamanolis , President of Greece’s Bishops Conference expressed his “bereavement for the death of the Primate of Greece’s Orthodox Church”. “He used to define himself a sign of contradiction. He was opposed by many, but there was a large number of faithful who extolled him. To him we owe the progress of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. He brought the Church out of the sacristy and draw people closer to it. Some considered him conservative and traditionalist, but his tradition was that of the Gospel. Now, we what the Spirit stirs up in the continuation of the ecumenical path already begun and in which there is no going back”. The People’s Church. “A tragic loss for the Orthodox Church in Greece and for ecumenical development. His Beatitude was a key player in the development of good relations between the Orthodox and the Catholic Churches”. This is the memory of Msgr. Nikolaos Printezis , archbishop of Naxos-Tinou and Secretary general of the Bishops Conference in Greece. “He considered us brothers in episcopacy, Catholic bishops were received by him two times at least. He always sought new ways for a rapprochement. In the last days of his illness – added Msgr. Pintezis who attended the same school with Christodolous in Athens run by the Marist Brothers – gave a strong testimony of faith and self-abandoning to God. In these months, his preaching was more intense. He tried to bring the Church closer to the people, especially to the youth. He was a good pastor and a firm upholder of ecumenical dialogue”. For Christian roots. According to the Catholic archbishop of Athens, Msgr. Nikolaos Foskolos, “Christodoulos opened the doors of Greek Orthodoxy to other Christian Churches and religious confessions. He displayed some resistance to united Europe which he then accepted, and was deeply committed in the recognition of the Christian roots of Europe, in line with the Catholic stand”. “There were also dissensions, as when he promoted inserting individual religious status in identity cards, a stand which Catholic Bishops disagree with”, Msgr. Foskolos claimed. “Moreover, he went a long way to improve relations with the Catholic Church. The audiences with John Paul II and Benedict XVI, had a positive impact on faithful, despite the opposition of fundamentalists who considered him a traitor of Orthodox and of his homeland”.