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- [00:01]
A
This evening's lecture, of course, deals with important issues of identity crisis in society as Greece goes through a very traumatic debt crisis. Historically, of course, Greek identity has been an issue in which the Church has had a central core role. For many, the Church has defined who the Greeks are socially. The Church has also offered support in times of great hardship. No one can doubt the social costs of the current crisis in Greece. By a range of measures, we could emphasize the depth of the social crisis that attaches to the debt crisis in Greece. We could think of the number of firms that have gone bankrupt. We can think of the increased taxation, the reduction in salaries, sadly, the rise in suicide rates, and certainly the increases in the level of unemployment. The levels of unemployment we previously thought were unthinkable.
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B
So.
- [01:25]
A
So the depth of the social crisis is something that is incontestable. Alongside this, of course, the world's media has drawn attention to the protests in Greece, to the dramatic rise of extreme nationalism in Greece. We think of the establishment of golden dawn as the third largest political party in Greece. Its message, its Neo Nazi identity, of course, threatens notions of social unity and of social tolerance. Our issue tonight then is how is the Church, a veritable bastion of Greekness, to respond to these contemporary challenges? What can the Church do amidst this seemingly all encompassing social crisis? We're delighted to host our speaker this evening. His Eminence, Metropolitan Ignatius of Demetreus and Almiros is well known to many Greeks from his television appearances. He's also headed a number of special commissions of the Church of Greece into a number of social issues. His Eminence is also presence of the Board of Directors of the Wallace Academy for Theological Studies. And last year I had the pleasure of visiting the Wallace Academy, and I must say I was tremendously impressed by the facility, but also by the work that the Academy is doing in terms of drawing people into the life of the Church and showing the relevance of the Church to contemporary social issues. So we look forward very much to what His Eminence has got to say this evening. We have agreed that His Eminence will deliver the lecture mostly in Greek, but we also have an interpreter to help us, Father Bathrelas, to speak. And at the end of the lecture, there will be time for questions and answers. So you will have the opportunity of responding to the lecture as well. So any introduction after you've just smashed a glass on the floor seems really rather disappointing. But can I ask you please to join me in welcoming our speaker this evening, His Eminence, Bishop Ignatius.
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C
Thank you very Much theo filestate prosopeto archepskopo. Your Graces, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, I have to try to read my speech only for the first paragraph for you in English. But after Father Demetrius return, it's better for you and for me, really.
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D
Thank you.
- [04:41]
C
To begin, I would like to thank the Hellenic Observatory of the London School of Economics, and particularly it's director, Professor Kevin Featherstone, for giving me the honor to sharing some thoughts and reflections with you on a serious and burning issue, the economic crisis in Greece and the stance of the Orthodox Church. I hope that I can contribute in some small way to a better understanding of the Church theology and practice in a time of crisis. And that your comments will help me to rethink and refine my thoughts so that together we can provide a more authentic witness to the gospel of the Coulderbury and the world. I feel humbled to stand here this evening before such a distinguished audience and to now take the podium that has been occupied by prominent politicians and academics, as well as spiritual leaders such as His All Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartolome. I therefore must clarify before I begin that I shall speak as a simple bishop and pastor of the Church of the Orthodox Church of the Greece. Now, please, Father, help me.
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B
I'll read the rest then. Thank you. So, one introduction for several years now, the economic crisis has remained at the center of international interest, affecting in a particularly negative way the daily lives of thousands of people, even in the very heart of the industrialized Western world. As we all know, one of the European countries most affected by the crisis has been Greece, which continues to experience its tragic consequences, which sorely tried the Greek people's social cohesion and unity and led to hopelessness and despair. For many, official surveys conducted by different government institutions and economic institutes paint a bleak picture. About one and a half million unemployed out of a total population of 11 million. That is approximately 27% of the total active workforce. Among young people, the news is even worse, with the unemployment rate at an astronomical 60%, a figure unprecedented in the Eurozone. According to the same surveys, since the beginning of the crisis, Greeks have lost 30 to 40% of their income. A recent report from Eurostat for the year 2013 lays out the tragic figures of the crisis in a particularly vivid way. 35% of the population, I.e. 4 million people, lives close to the poverty line, 23 survives on a meager income in spite of the various social benefits that are provided, and 20% is unable to cover the expenses for the most important material goods, including debt repayment. A nutritious diet and heating. Another recent report, this time by UNICEF, reveals that about 750,000 children in Greece are living in poverty and many of them are malnourished, highlighting another aspect of the various problems brought about by the economic crisis, with the victims, this time being children of school age, with unemployment, the recession and the precipitous decline of all economic indicators. Tens of thousands of people have lost their health insurance overnight and are now without medical care, while the city centers have witnessed an increase in the number of homeless people, a shocking development for a country that had never had a homeless problem. Due to its famously strong family ties, much of the population is struggling to cover the heavy tax burdens imposed by the state over the last three years to try to feed the dead and also meet the requirements of its lenders and the troika, that is the European Commission, the European Central bank and the International Monetary Fund, who are determining the country's financial direction. The market's unreasonable demands and the draconian austerity measures imposed by the troika have often brought the exact opposite of the intended results, furthering the burgeoning economic crisis and leading to a severe breakdown in the business environment. Greek companies have thus often been cut off from the banks and this lack of liquidity has caused them to suffocate economically and in many cases, ultimately to close down. This in turn leads to further unemployment and contributes to the country's economic and social disintegration. Furthermore, many of the country's major public hospitals are facing dramatic cuts in their budgets and are unable to provide complete and safe health services. Many young physicians and scientists in other disciplines are migrating abroad, seeking not so much better working conditions as simply decent ones. Moreover, scientific institutes and research centres are shrinking or even closing. For its part, the church, the largest and most important locus of volunteer work in Greece, has struggled mightily to perform its philanthropic work since the growing impoverishment of a large portion of the population has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the faithful contributions on which the church primarily relies for its social and philanthropic work. In response to the crisis, European governments are trying, not always successfully, to implement austerity measures. The problem, however, is that this divisive and one sided nature of these measures ultimately contributes nothing to overcoming the crisis and restoring social balance and citizens dignity. The inability of the political authorities to deal effectively with this painful situation has raised the crucial question of whether there is an alternative approach for overcoming the crisis. At the same time, it has forced the church, and specifically the pastors of the faithful, to take a position and assume some responsibility for navigating this complex problem. Of course, one may wonder whether the Church should be involved in political and economic issues such as the financial and debt crisis plaguing Europe, whether, in other words, the Church, which has a spiritual mission, should deal with worldly problems and issues. Such an objection, however, while legitimate, faces two problems. First, it ignores the fact that the current economic crisis has serious consequences for all Greek citizens and therefore for the Church's flock. Secondly, it seems to forget that the very identity and mission of the Church is best encapsulated in the biblical I quote the world but not of the world, end of the quote, namely, in the dialectic between history and eschatology. What will come at the end of time? The Church, of course, is not a secular institution. It is focused on the eschatological vision of a new heaven and a new earth, a new human being and a new creation, but not for the purpose of exhibiting a smug rejection of or contempt for the world and its history. Rather, being faithful to the theology of the Incarnation, the Church is called to make each time and place its own, transforming the world's problems in Christ. AS Metropolitan John C.S. ulas has aptly noted, I quote incarnate like its Lord in time and space, the Church takes upon itself and and makes its own flesh the sorrows and pains and problems of its people. The Church does not turn its face away from the hunger, illness and distress of people, even in their struggles for freedom, which are occasionally bloody. End quote Having said this, I by no means wish to suggest that the Church can shape economic and social policies better than the Greek state or the European Union. I simply wish, in response to the kind invitation of this august academic institution, to share with you my reflections on the economic crisis, as well as provide you with a picture of the response of the Orthodox Church in Greece to its dramatic consequences. My position stems from my pastoral concern and my theological orientation and is not intended to offer easy answers or ready made solutions to all our problems. On the contrary, with a humble sense of responsibility as a bishop of the Church of Christ, I will attempt to lay out some parameters for the different approach to the economy which places at its center the human being made in the image of God and not the homo economicus who is ruled by finances and consumerism. In the remainder of this talk I will briefly outline some basic aspects of this different theopolitical understanding and describe some specific actions that the Church has implemented from the beginning of the crisis in response to the urgent needs and challenges of our people the overall picture, however, would not be complete if not accompanied by a sincere attitude of self criticism for the wrongs which unfortunately found their way even into the body of the Church. As faithful Christians we are called not only to denounce the domination of the markets and social evil, but first and foremost to examine our own mistakes and omissions and become united for the good of our social cohesion. Ultimately, we must also become creative, proposing realistic steps for exiting the crisis and for a spiritual restoration of the human person. Two elements for an orthodox theological approach to politics 1. It is no coincidence that the early Christians used the political term ecclesia to identify themselves, a term borrowed from the political practice of ancient Athenian democracy, in order to emphasize their awareness of belonging to a body, a community and a society, while also pointing to the social or bodily nature of Christian existence. As Father George Florovsky, perhaps the greatest Orthodox theologian of the 20th century, rightly noted, I quote christianity is essentially a social religion. Christianity is not primarily a doctrine or a discipline that individuals might adopt for their personal use and guidance. Christianity is exactly a community, namely the Church. The whole fabric of Christian existence is social and corporate. All Christian sacraments are intrinsically social sacraments, namely sacraments of incorporation. Christian worship is also a corporate worship. To build up the Church of Christ means therefore to build up a new society and by implication, to rebuild human society on a new basis. End quote again, according to Florovsky, I quote again, the early Church was not just a voluntary association for religious purposes. It was rather the new society, even the new humanity, a polis or polyteva, the true city of God in the process of construction. 2. There is perhaps no more striking example of this social and political dimension of the ecclesial event than the sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrament of unity and communion in the Body of Christ, the Church's sacrament par excellence, the sacrament that makes the Church. Indeed, the Eucharist is for the Church a sacrament of equality and sharing, a brotherhood with God, our fellow human beings and creation, since the Eucharist relativizes every natural bond and hierarchy, every form of created and perishable division according to sex, race, nation, language, culture, social class, hierarchy and origin, as one contemporary Orthodox theologian has observed, I quote the oldest and most representative example of this is provided by the well known passages from Acts referring to the worship and life of the early Christian community of Jerusalem. According to Acts, the first Christians were dedicated to the teaching of the apostles and to their communion with one another, to the celebration of the Eucharist and to prayer and had everything in common. Without this eucharistic and eschatological foundation, common ownership and social engagement in general lose their sacramental depth and are reduced to the level of activism and romantic pipe dreams, while the Eucharist, without its social verification and dynamic, ceases to be a foretaste of the eschaton, an act that transfigures the world and history, and instead becomes simply a religious gathering, a sacramentalistic rite, an individual expression of piety. 3 Let us now turn to Jesus Christ Himself. It is clear that His Church, if it wishes to be faithful to his example, must not just preach to the poor, the hungry, the foreigner, and the marginalized, but must be identified with him and his cross. As heavy as it may be, the texts of many Church fathers consider the poor as God's friends par excellence. St. Gregory Palamas, the preeminent saint of deification in the Orthodox tradition, even goes so far as to say that there can be no salvation in Christ if we do not welcome the poor into our lives. Thus, for Christians, solidarity and social justice, suffering and struggling together with the victims of history, is not simply another duty that must be fulfilled in order to enjoy God's favor on the Day of Judgment, but rather constitutes a way of life demonstrated for us by Christ Himself, who explicitly taught us to recognize him in the face of the list of our brothers and sisters, in the face of our neighbor, whoever he or she may be, we need to look no further than the well known biblical parables of the Good Samaritan and the Day of Judgment in order to form an adequate picture of how love, solidarity and justice are to be understood from the Christian perspective. As the Russian Christian philosopher and revolutionary Nikolai Berdyaev wrote, I quote, bread for myself is a material question. Bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question. End of the quote. The Church cannot close its eyes to any kind of injustice or provide theological justification for social exploitation and unequal distribution of wealth. On the contrary, it must, in both word and deed give witness to the new life of love and justice that Jesus Christ inaugurated and which we are all called to follow. In the words of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Church can never be reconciled with injustice, with all those anti personal forces that erode social cohesion. It always resists proposing the social content of the Gospel, exercising its ministry of service and charity. The experienced communal aspect of Orthodoxy constitutes a tangible provocation for the individualism of contemporary humanity, its demand for individual rights, and its narcissism of individual salvation. The Church's ascetic ethos proposes an alternative way of life for a world that idolizes having instead of being and identifies happiness with a multiplication of individual gratification. 4 the above presuppose a radical shift from a model of life that glorifies consumption, greed, and speculation to an eminently sacrificial mode of existence which values voluntary asschesis, sharing and solidarity. This new meaning of life based on the word of the Gospel cannot, however, become reality if the church does not come face to face with the real problems and needs of the contemporary world. The people around us are hungry, suffering and suffocating, often possessed by despair. They are looking for refuge. The church, with its parishes, the cells of ecclesiastical life where the church's pastoral work is realized and becomes incarnate in its fullness, must respond to the best of its ability to these urgent needs without, however, forgetting that its final destination is the eschatological kingdom, as the Lord Himself reminds us, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. The parish can serve as the counterpoint to the situation that has been created by the globalized capitalism of late modernity, with its abstract and idealized universality pitted against the life of actual people living in local communities. In this perspective, the parish can again become a eucharistic gathering of people who live together, who share their food and goods and refer them back to God and trust each other with their problems, their difficulties, and the sadness in their families, each confident in the knowledge that they are not bearing these burdens by themselves but always in solidarity with others. Section three Aspects of the Church's Practical Response to the Current Economic Crisis Moving now to specific actions that the Church has undertaken in response to the economic crisis, I would like to highlight the following 1. Everything that we have just discussed in the more theological part of the talk helps explain and interpret the speed with which the Church of Greece responded to the painful problems brought about by the unprecedented economic crisis. The Church has set up soup kitchens and food distribution centers, given out clothing and shelter, and provided financial aid, medicine, and free medical care. The Church has also provided psychological treatment and, more broadly, pastoral and spiritual support for the ever increasing number of needy. It has established help centers for legal, judicial, social, economic and tax issues that affect the victims of the crisis, as well as prisoners and immigrants. As one clergyman recently stated, I quote from the beginning of the so called financial crisis the Church in its entirety has taken to the streets, feeding and quenching the thirst of thousands of our fellow human beings. End of the quote and this irrespective of whether they are believers or non believers, Orthodox or non Orthodox, Greek or foreign, natives or immigrants. Thanks to this, the church's charitable work now enjoys widespread recognition, even by organizations and political parties that have not traditionally maintained friendly, friendly relations with the institutional church. With these charitable and social activities, the Orthodox Church in Greece is simply trying to remain faithful to its theological and ecclesial identity as well as the tradition of solidarity that has characterized Orthodoxy throughout the centuries. The official text of the Third Preconcellular Pan Orthodox Conference in Geneva, 1986, speaks quite clearly to this I quote Hunger not only threatens the sacred gift of life for entire peoples in the developing world, but also totally crushes the dignity and sacredness of the human person. Economically developed nations, with their unjust and frequently even criminal distribution management of material resources, insult not only the image of God in every human being, but also God, who clearly identifies himself with the hungry and needy, saying, as you did to one of these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me. End of the quote. Therefore, any form of apathy or indifference on the part of every Christian and the Church in general before the horrific contemporary phenomenon of hunger afflicting entire nations is tantamount to betrayal of Christ and the absence of living faith. Consequently, it should be the foremost obligation of all Orthodox churches to declare themselves in solidarity with the poor and mobilize their support in a direct and efficient manner. We must not deceive ourselves. Hunger and the gaping inequality besetting our world today condemns our age both in its own eyes and in the eyes of the God of fairness and justice. God's will today, which is none other than the redemption of every individual person here and now, obliges us to serve humanity by addressing its specific problems. Without the element of apostolic service, faith in Christ loses all meaning. Being Christian means imitating Christ and being prepared to serve Christ in the person of the vulnerable, hungry, oppressed, and generally underprivileged. Any other effort to behold Christ as a real presence without any existential relation relationship with the needy is nothing but mere theory. 2 All this charitable and social work done by the Church is provided almost exclusively by volunteers and through the financial contributions of the faithful as well as by institutions and people who do not necessarily have close ties with the Church but trust its social work and its charitable network, and often offer even from their own savings to help their suffering fellow human beings. As noted earlier, the Church, through its parishes, constitutes the oldest, largest, and most active volunteer network and social welfare system which extends even to the furthest reaches of Greek territory, the most isolated village or island, where the state itself is often absent, unable to fulfill even its basic medical obligations. Unfortunately, very little of these efforts can be supported by the Church's property, which is often imagined as immense. In fact, since the establishment of the Greek state, 96% of all the property once held by the Church has passed into the hands of the state through either joint agreements or unilateral, coercive state action. Of the 4% that remains, 3% is tied up for various reasons and cannot be used. Therefore, besides the volunteer work and the contributions of the faithful, the Church's philanthropic work is supported by only a very small fraction of its property. In just the year 2010, for example, the various institutions of the Orthodox Church of Greece spent 96 million euros on their charitable and social work. In 2013, this figure rose to to 122 million euros. The church could offer even more to society, and in a much more dynamic and modern way, if it were free to use its property. Handicrafts, ecotourism, livestock and specialized agricultural production are just some of the areas in which the Church could invest that would be beneficial for the whole church society. A third point has to do with the Church's program to equip and operate soup kitchens and food banks. One of the most direct and basic activities undertaken by the Church to combat the economic crisis has been the provision of daily meals at both the central level, namely the Archdiocese of Athens, the individual metropolises, the NGO Apostolin, as well as, on the local level, parishes and monasteries. Pastors, together with networks of volunteers comprised mainly of lay people and especially women, are offering food daily throughout Greece, realizing practical solidarity with those in need. Currently, more than 200 such places are operating, providing about 50,000 free meals per day. The number of those in need continues to rise, but fortunately, so does the Church's response. Additionally, food banks operate under the Church's edges in several areas, providing free food to families that are economically and socially vulnerable. They are estimated to serve 2000 people per year just in the Athens area. 4. Free medical clinics and medicine this is a need that arose as the crisis unfolded, as a large number of people found themselves suddenly unemployed and thus without medical insurance. To address this acute problem, the Church, in cooperation with volunteer physicians, as well as relevant institutions such as the local medical and pharmaceutical associations, set up free medical clinics and centers for distributing free medicine. These actions, together with others initiated by the local government or by individuals, contribute to stemming and perhaps partially redressing this serious problem. 5. Many metropolises in major urban centers, in collaboration with local authorities, have also created or upgraded shelters to house the homeless. In this way, the Church is trying to deal with a situation that is not simply economic but also has broader humanitarian implications. Inasmuch as fundamental human rights such as housing, employment, etc. Have fallen prey to the rapacious appetite of the market, which has now become autonomous from politics and society and does not hesitate to exploit every aspect of human life for financial gain. The economic crisis, the prolonged recession, the drastic spending cuts, and the state medical insurances inability to pay their debts have put many charitable institutions, nursing homes, orphanages, homes for the terminally ill, etc. In a financial bind verging on collapse. Very often these institutions are unable to meet their obligations and call on the Church for aid Only in the city of volos, where I, that is the bishop, serve a city of about 140,000 residents, our church supports in various ways four such institutions a nursing home, an orphanage, an Alzheimer's foundation, and the foundation White Butterflies for children with special needs. 7. Citizens Advice Centers A further consequence of the crisis is the inability of many of our fellow citizens to resort to specialized legal and tax services for urgent and pressing problems. In some cases, such as in the city of Volos, where our metropolis is headquartered, the local church, with the help of professional associations of lawyers, accountants and tax consultants, has worked to provide these services for free to those involved in business. 8. Psychological support for Victims of the Crisis in addition to the considerable material assistance that the Church has offered to the people, there is also a need for corresponding psychological support and, more broadly, spiritual aid. Since the Christian approach involves the whole human person and cannot be limited to just the spiritual or physical aspect. Since the victim of the crisis is the whole human person, the Church must not treat just the bodily wounds, but also the psychological, emotional and spiritual trauma that has arisen or was exacerbated by the situation. To this end, some parish priests are receiving training in psychological support from specialized psychologists. Moreover, since there has been an increase in the number of people coming to the Sacrament of Confession and for consultation with the Church's spiritual fathers, an attempt is being made to keep priests better informed and prepared to deal with with psychological problems from the spiritual side. Our main goal is to give people hope for a better future, to stand beside them and try to help them through this difficult time by giving them a different perspective and by helping them envision a new course that will bring them out of the crisis stronger and healthier. I have related a little of what the Church has done in order to respond to the economic crisis and its attendant consequences, but due to time constrictions, I am not able to provide any further details, but I have to mention in passing some social welfare programs that the Church has operated long before the crisis and which, of course continue to operate today. These include nursing homes, boarding houses, houses for people with developmental disabilities and down syndrome, preschools and kindergartens, shelters for unaccompanied minors, courses in English tutoring, programs for children, Greek lessons for immigrants and refugees, sending books and stationery to remote areas, etc. Living in the midst of this crisis, the Church has tried from the beginning to function as a source of unity for the people, ensuring social cohesion and further strengthening those ties that held the Greek people united in other difficult circumstances throughout their history with its charitable and humanitarian work, as well as its preaching and missionary efforts. More broadly, the Church in Greece is attempting, with the personnel and resources available to it, to cope with this difficult situation, while also avoiding the danger of falling into ideological extremism which inflames the passions and cultivates hate between people. What is needed at this time is not empty promises, but acts of love and solidarity that will offer tangible hope for a better future. Having said all this, I do not wish to give the impression that everything has gone smoothly or that there are not any problems. And I certainly do not want to shy away from self criticism. We, the leaders of the Church, have not always risen to the occasion. Not to recognize our mistakes and omissions would demonstrate not only denial of reality, but also a lack of the ecclesiastical ethos of self reproach and self criticism. We have to admit that some clergy and officers of the Church have enjoyed luxurious living and cozy relationships with state power, and that this has resulted in their bureaucratization and professionalization. But this is not all that points to the loss of authentic theological criteria. It is also that this proximity to power did not allow us to suffer efficiently distance ourselves from the patron client mindset, from populism, and from the corruption of the Greek political system, so that we could warn the people about where we were headed with the deeply parasitic nature of the Greek economy and our consumeristic absurdity, which was funded by overborrowing and the long term mortgaging and consequent destruction of our country's future. Even though we had a privileged relationship with the State and had for years the ability to foresee at least some of what was coming, we did not bother to try to find, using meritocratic procedures, capable staff who could manage our highly sophisticated and complex contemporary issues, and thus help our Church address the challenges brought about by this crucial period of transition from a traditionally closed model to that of a pluralistic society. Either through negligence or because we became satisfied with mediocrity, we allowed the ecclesiastical organization to be taken over by those who exercised powerful influence, as Gregory of Nazensus put it, namely those who had the best access to political or ecclesiastical power before. However, we demand meritocracy and respect from the younger generation. We should first try to manage the responsibility that has been given to us in a way that will set a good and inspiring example. To ultimately emerge from this crisis. We need such examples. It would perhaps be worth noting here that the bishops and the leadership of the Church in general usually come from the poor and working classes and have direct contact with the people. This has always been integral part of the Orthodox tradition. Moreover, the Church's response to the economic crisis has mainly taken merely the form of emergency charity. It seems that the Church's preaching is lacking a more critical attitude towards the problem, an attitude which, faithful to the example of the Church Fathers, would examine the problem at its root and not just superficially, looking at the structures that produce poverty and social injustice and not just the symptoms. As a contemporary Greek theologian has rightly noted, the ecclesiastical organization, in order to appear seemly amidst the chaos brought about by the crisis, cites various texts by the Fathers of the Church which talk about charity. It neglects, however, to read on where the Fathers criticize the structures themselves and warn against transactions with the rich and powerful, condemn loans with interest and denounce withholding workers wages. As we all know, the economic crisis has exacerbated tensions, turned one social or professional group against the other, and showed anger, frustration, despair, division and hatred. It has also revived nationalistic sentiments and intensified for many people xenophobia, isolationism, conspiracy theories and anti Semitism, epitomized by the case of the neo Nazi party Golden dawn, which was mentioned in the professor's introduction. Despite its deeply anti Christian and pagan character, its ideas have found, that is, Golden Dawn's ideas have found resonance in a significant portion of the population. It is true that we the bishops, failed to react promptly and unanimously against such phenomena as some among us, although fortunately few have adopted an extreme rhetoric of nationalism and xenophobia. On the other hand, however, it should also be noted that the hierarchy of the Church of Greece denounced such ideas and practices as radically anti Christian and inhumane, proclaiming the gospel truth of respect for the human person irrespective of any divisions such as Those based on race, nation, class and origin. Christian truth transcends exclusion and embraces all people, leaving no room for the preaching of hatred. Eminent bishops such as the Metropolitan Paul of Sisanio and Siatista have consistently opposed the ideology of the neo Nazi movement, exposing its anti Christian character and deconstructing its public image. While the Church of Greece has supported, with the official endorsement of the Standing Holy Sedent, the anti racist bill recently brought to a vote by the Greek government in order to address such phenomenon. 4. Challenges and Prospects as we mentioned earlier, the current economic crisis can be a great opportunity to change. As the Archbishop of Athens and of all Greece, Hieronymus has rightly pointed out. I quote As I look. As I look on in shock at the economic measures being taken to end the crisis, I wonder what our country will look like when we emerge from the crisis. What long term impact will these measures have on families, working relationships, the dreams and aspirations of our young people? What social ethos will we see emerge tomorrow? It would be a fatal mistake to passively watch this process of forming the new landscape. Inasmuch as we all had a part, to a greater or lesser degree, in bringing about the crisis, we should also all have a part in bringing about change. We have both the ability and the duty to contribute to the formation of the healthier society that we all want and envision. Of course, in order to do this we need the appropriate spiritual equipment. The question is, will we seize this opportunity? End of the quote. The crisis also represents a significant opportunity for other reasons. The rise across Europe of Neo Nazism and fascism constitutes a broader threat and challenge for the Orthodox Church itself. To the extent that the reception and acceptance of the other, especially the poor and the foreigner, is a fundamental element of its own tradition and identity. The sacrament of the Brother is located at the center of Christ's teaching and this means that the Christian faith is by definition diametrically opposed to every racist, xenophobic or anti Semitic ideology that divides people according to race or other physical traits. The poverty, fear and unemployment brought about by the economic crisis has unfortunately intensified racist sentiments, but has also given the Church an opportunity to demonstrate its anthropological universality which respects and accepts every form of personal otherness. Moreover, the crisis and the Church's extensive social work, rendered without regard to religion or ethnicity, has led to a better relationship and understanding with the secular and leftist intelligentsia who now see the Church's contribution to society in a better light. Within the liberal milieu in Greece, as well as among the so called progressive intellectuals Orthodoxy's image has been tarnished by the fact that some representatives of the Church, in one way or another, have aligned themselves with a military dictatorship or other extreme ideologies which emphasized nationalist and anti European rhetoric. Apart from its inherently conservative roots, this clearly played a role in the extreme left's traditional hostility, the Church and the persecution Christians faced under leftist or communist regimes. It is hoped that this new rapprochement will help to further mutual understanding and to overcome mutual ignorance and suspicion. At the same time, the severity of the economic crisis seems to be reaching the established framework of the relationship between the Church and the State, in which the State, through parliament, legislates for the Orthodox Church, and the Orthodox Church, mainly for historical reasons, enjoys a status as a legal public entity. One of the measures, however, for the fiscal consolidation of the Greek economy has been the drastic reduction of new civil servants, since the Orthodox clergy are civil servants paid by the state, an obligation of the state arising from the confiscation of Church property. This specific restrictive measure has had a direct impact on the Church, which is now required to find alternative ways to staff parishes and pay the clergy. While some saw this as a dangerous change in the relationship between the Church and the state imposed by the latter on the former, I actually think that it could have a positive impact on on the life of the Church under certain conditions. First, despite the pressing economic problems it has created for us, the aforementioned measure seems to have kept the Church free of those seeking ordination for primarily financial motives, knowing that priests are paid by the state. Moreover, this restrictive measure awakened the body of the faithful to some extent at least, and will hopefully help overcome the complacency of the laity who are used to expecting everything from the state, since they know, since they now have an opportunity to take more responsibility for and to contribute financially to the life of the Church. In some dioceses, such as the metropolis of Demetrias in Volos, this situation has led to the ordination of volunteer priests who, while still practicing their profession, serve on Sundays and major feast days, filling in for parishes without priests. In any case, this measure is preparing us for the possibility of the separation of church and state and for the role our church will be called to play in the future as an integral part of society and as a co equal participant in the public space. Final section by way of conclusion, the economic crisis is a reality that will probably haunt us for some time to come. Despite our shortcomings, the Church has nevertheless played an important role in stemming the effects of this crisis, using every means at its disposal to provide an enormous amount of charitable and social work. What the Church needs to do now is further highlight within the public sphere the primacy of freedom and human dignity as a universal and fundamental fact of human existence, in direct opposition to the logic of market domination, profit that transforms the human person into a disposable economic unit. As aptly noted in the message of the primates of the Orthodox churches in 2008, I quote, the gap between rich and poor is growing dramatically due to the financial crisis, usually the result of money profiteering by economic factors and corrupt financial activity, which, by lacking an anthropological dimension and sensitivity, does not ultimately serve the real needs of mankind. A viable economy is that which combines efficacy with justice and social solidarity. End of the quote. The current European economic and debt policies not only contributed in their own way to the impoverishment of large segments of the population in Greece and other southern European countries, but also resulted in a new division within Europe, a division this time formed on the basis of the distinction between creditor states and debtor states, replacing the old political and cultural division between Western and Eastern Europe. As one contemporary theologian has noted, the unprecedented economic and financial crisis that we all face today could perhaps give us Greeks, as well as the other peoples of Southern Europe, an opportunity to repent and work on our spiritual, moral and political maturation. This crisis should also, however, be an opportunity for European leaders to reconsider their attitude and ponder the tragic and devastating effects that their imposed doctrinal, neoliberal economic and financial policies are having on human beings and social cohesion. As the Ecumenical patriarch in his April 1994 address to the European Parliament, reminds us, a united Europe cannot simply be some plan for a uniform financial development, some program for a uniform defence policy. From its very nature, its vision also demands a uniform social and political strategy of peaceful and productive cooperation among all European peoples. In the midst of such a situation, the Church, whose primary goal is the salvation of the human person, is called to fight with all its might in the struggle for the righting of injustice and the new balance between the human person in society, the individual, and the collective, while also recalling the irreplaceable value and importance of asceticism and perseverance, solidarity and love.
- [56:45]
C
Time to help you the last paragraph, dear friends. No, I have to read through something in English. I would like only to close now on an optimistic note, reading to you a portion of the Church of Greece Message to the people. The Church vis a vis the economic crisis our people have experienced before poverty and hunger, but withstood and defined them because it had a vision. We can help each other and together we can help many people. God gave us not the spirit of cowardice, but the power and the love. In this spirit, united around our large family, the Church, acknowledging our mistakes and searching for life's meaning in love, we can get through this difficult time. Thank you very much.
- [57:54]
B
Sorry for the time.
- [58:03]
A
Eminence. Thank you very, very much indeed. We're deeply grateful for your lecture and your inspirational words. We also thank the victories for the reading of the lecture. We have an opportunity for making comments, questions. We have a microphone. The importance of the microphone is that the lecture and the discussion is being recorded. So if you could please wait for the microphone to come to you and if you could simply say who you are and then please come to the question rather than a speech, because we don't have so much time. Could we take the gentleman in the senator, please?
- [58:52]
E
Hi, thank you for such a wonderful Talk. I am GetYourShare on Twitter, by the way.
- [58:57]
A
Sorry, could you put the microphone closer?
- [59:00]
E
Thank you for the Talk and I'm GetYourShare on Twitter. You have a conflict of interest. If society becomes wealthier, for example, has a national health service, ownership of land, resources, the land itself, free education, most importantly, human rights, then society automatically is free of poverty. Only in poverty does the Church rule. Absolute. So a wealthy country is automatically in your elite version of power and the Church, which is why the Church has given us 2,000 years of genocide, poverty, damning and most damning, absolutely no human rights. All you care about is your view of the Church and how it's perceived and to make sure that perception of the Church is maintained.
- [59:54]
A
I suspect we're coming to a question.
- [59:56]
E
You are the ultimate consumer and you are the ultimate political power over everybody's lives and even the dead. Thank you very much for your time. Sorry.
- [60:06]
A
Okay. Okay. We are inviting questions rather than comments. And we also operate on the basis of mutual respect.
- [60:14]
E
Thank you very much for your time.
- [60:15]
A
Could I invite other questions? Could we take the lady here, please?
- [60:22]
F
Hi, can you hear me? Yes, Lina Molakotos Liederman. My question is, you spoke a little bit about it, but how is the crisis affecting the Church itself, materially and otherwise, spiritually, also in terms of governance and also particularly its relations with the state. You alluded something about a potential separation of church and state in the long term. And I was wondering if you had any more thoughts on how the crisis is affecting the Church itself and its relation with the state.
- [61:06]
B
Thank you.
- [61:07]
A
Other questions? Could we take the gentleman.
- [61:13]
G
Thank you. It's Michael Cetropoulos from Queen Bay College. Well, first of all, thank you for your talk. And I have to say that for the Observatory standards, that it was a quite radical talk in a way, given the things that you said about the crisis and the remedy that is probably killing the patient. So my question is, you did refer to the early church a lot and this tradition of being a corporate body, or at least this community, the social religion. And I wonder to what extent are you ready to stand against the state? I mean, you did touch upon the issue, but what extent are you ready as a church to stand against the state and at least cut the ties, those ties that we all know existed and still exist between the political class, the political elite and the Church? Because in that case, you will have to stand against the state, even though you are civil servants. It doesn't matter. You still have to do it in a way.
- [62:18]
A
Your Eminence, would you like to respond?
- [62:20]
B
Yes, thank you very much for the questions. I tried to describe in my speech what the situation is in Greece and in the Church. We've been affected by the crisis and we are reconsidering many of our practices and have many new thoughts. We have realized that we are in fraud of a new period, both in terms of what we are and also in terms of our relationship with the state. First of all, we believe that the Church has to look carefully upon herself and also its relationship with the Greek people. And traditionally, in Greeks, we say that the Church is the mother of the people, given that the vast majority of Greeks are Orthodox Christians. So they are under the Orthodox Church, which has a unifying duty, the duty to bring unity to the people. It is true that the crisis has affected our relationship with the state. What is happening had not been foreseen by us before the crisis. The State quite often took the initiative of speaking about the separation of church and state, and the State itself was not very friendly towards the Church. But now, during the crisis, the state does no longer speak about the separation of church and state. The state remains silent because it recognizes that the Church does all this important philanthropic work to assist poor people. Nowadays, even the political parties, which have traditionally been critical of the Church or even against the Church, recognize with respect the Church's philanthropic work. And Greek people realize with some surprise that the leaders of the political parties are approaching both the Church itself, but also the leaders of the Church. To give you an example, for the first time, the leader of the Greek Communist Party paid a visit to the Greek archbishop in Athens. This does not mean that their ideas about the Church have radically changed, but the situation encourages politicians to be on good and friendly terms with the Church. But we do know that the future will bring more surprises, and we want to be ready for the prospect of the Church being freed from the state itself. Already the crisis is offering solutions to us regarding the clergy who are going to serve in the Church, and even the Greek archbishop himself is talking about the need to be ready to discuss with the state on a possible separation between the Church and the state and a redescription of their relationship. The Church, with its social philanthropic work, has regained the trust of the Greek people, and we hope that when we overcome the crisis there will be a climate of mutual trust which will enable both the Church and the state to reconsider their relationship. And one final personal we do not want the crisis to function as an opportunity for the Church to seize political power. Our work is to offer people the opportunity for communion with Christ and for gaining salvation. Our preaching is that every human being, regardless of origin, where he belongs, and so on, so forth, and is a living image of God. And this is what we want to put forward and serve in this difficult period. And we hope that after the end of the crisis we will be much wiser.
- [66:21]
A
Thank you very much. Opportunity for more questions Comments.
- [66:28]
B
Can we.
- [66:28]
A
Take the lady here.
- [66:33]
F
From Burberry College? Thank you very much for your talk and even though I belong to communities and groups that define themselves as hostile to church, I really think it was one of the most radical talks on the crisis I've heard, especially within the Hellenic Observatory. My question is mostly related with your idea on how do you think during the crisis, after the crisis, how would you define the relationship between the Church and the nation? I mean, in Greece, historically speaking, the way we understand the church is based on the nationality. It's a very nationalist based church. So we can criticize golden dawn or nationalism, racism. But apart from deconstructing or challenging something else, what new can emerge out of the crisis? How can you define the relationship with the nation state? Nation state? I'm sorry, Especially bearing in mind the majority of people, not autochthonous, non Greeks, immigrants living now in the country. How would you imagine the church serving the people when the people is not exclusively Greek?
- [67:56]
D
Thank you very much, your eminence for being here. It was wonderful listening to your speak and I would like to touch upon the question brought from the former speaker and ask you what do you believe that should be the role of the church preaching during the Everyday life. So you touched upon a lot of subjects like the measures of the troika and stuff like that. Do you think that the role of the Church in the Sunday's preaching, for example, is to address these issues or to focus more on the spiritual work of the Church and to broaden our horizons and make us think also for our other Christian brothers that suffer in the Middle east, like in Syria or in Libya. And if I may offer another question, you talked a lot about self criticism. Do you think that us that the people of the Church have done their self criticism?
- [68:57]
B
Thank you again for your questions. It is true that the Church in Greece has played also a national role. You know that this is a characteristic of the Orthodox Church in general. The Orthodox Church gave to the nations a part of their identity and this is why we have national Orthodox churches. So I want to explain that this is not a purely Greek phenomenon, but it's a Pan Orthodox phenomenon. Today we are realizing that this is the cross of Orthodoxy. And we also believe that this is a heavy cross, especially in this period. With regard to the Church in Greece, the Church will not stop to be a unifying factor in the Greek society. But in order to function as a unifying factor, the Church must serve all people living in Greece. Not only the Greek Orthodox, but also immigrants, refugees, people who used to come to Greece in the past. Because nowadays not so many people do come to our country. The more the Church is what it should be, namely Christ Church, the less people will succumb to xenophobia, racism and all the rest. Therefore, the work of the Church contributes also to the well being of those who are not Orthodox and can be served by the Orthodox people who feel secure about their own faith. But unfortunately, the phenomenon of Nazism is present in contemporary Greece. And as you know, this is not exclusively a Greek phenomenon. Nowadays this phenomenon is so strong in our country exactly because the financial crisis is equally strong. And on this point I apply to myself self criticism that the Orthodox people lack the necessary sense strength to resist xenophobia and Nazist ideologies. This means that we have to work much harder in this direction. Nowadays all Greek bishops know the truth about Nazism and about what golden dawn really stands for. Some Greek bishops are more vocal in their condemnation of Golden Dawn. Some are less vocal, but all believe the same. And we firmly believe that when the crisis is overcome, the Greek people will even more clearly see what is the destructive content of this Nazist ideology. And probably on this matter, all Christians from all European countries must join forces in order to combat this phenomenon.
- [71:59]
A
Thank you. I'm conscious of time. Let me bring things to a conclusion by doing two things, if I may. First, we hope that you've been inspired by the lecture, but also that your interest in Greece has been strengthened and it gives me the opportunity of making the advertisement for upcoming events. So? So, in this lecture Theatre we have two upcoming events. On the Tuesday 9th December, we have LSE Lambdas and former Prime Minister of Greece, Costas Semitis discussing the European debt crisis. The Greek case, Same week, Thursday the 11th of December. Again six weeks, 6:30. In this lecture theater we have lessons for Greece from the city of Thessaloniki by the mayor of Thessaloniki, Yanis Bertaris. Your Eminence. Father, we thank you very much for this presentation. And as we give you thanks for your lecture and your willingness to answer questions, could we express our thanks by giving you this small gift from the London School of Economics, which is a small plaque of the school.