Hellenic Electronic Center (HEC)
A Non-Profit Organization Registered in the US
with 37,000 Hellenes as members and 36 Hellenic
associations in the US and abroad
October 30, 2008
The following letter is in response to the October 26 article, "Greece denies rights to Religious minorities". This is an absurd allegation considering the fact that the government of Skopje found itself universally condemned by all Eastern Orthodox Churches for its false imprisonment of an Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church a short time ago. It appears that the organization making false allegations against Greece are as ignorant of Orthodox Canon Law and the Conciliar structure of Eastern Orthodoxy, as they are of Macedonian history and culture.
Under the Canon Laws of the Orthodox Church, there is only one Church in each place..(examples,Greece, Serbia, Russia etc...). Greek Orthodox Christians such as Archimandrite Nikodimos Tsarknias belong to the jurisdiction of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece. In addition, the Churchof Skopje which the writers make reference to belongs canonically and spiritually to the jurisdiction ofthe Serbian Orthodox Church with its own Patriarch in Belgrade. The Communist dictatorship ofMarshall Tito removed the Church of Skopje from the Serbian Patriarchate in 1967 in complete violation of Orthodox teachings in order to bolster Communist Yugoslavia's effort to undermine Greece's jurisdiction over the Northern Province of Macedonia.
The Church of Skopje has since 1967 been devoid of any legitimacy. It has been completely deprived of any recognition by any of the fourteen autocephalous Orthodox Churches since its establishmenthas been founded exclusively on the basis of politics under a government that was itself dedicated to atheism. The false allegations directed against Greece with regard to religion are destructive attempts to undermine the Orthodox Church of Greece and to instigate schism as has already occurred in the Church of Serbia by the Communist created Church of Skopje whose clergy are illegitimate owing to their lack of apostolic succession and invalid ordinations.
Finally, within the context of the Church issue, I feel it necessary to refer to Risto Stefov's recent falsestatements against the beloved Saints Cyril and Methodios of Thessaloniki. Mr. Stefov is a perfect example of the blatant extremism emanating from Skopje. His recent denials that the famed brothers known as the "Apostles to the Slavs" were Greek demonstrate the bizarre manner in which history is being systematically distorted for propaganda. Mr. Stefov has apparently never read the works of Byzantine scholars and historians such as Steven Runciman, George Ostrogorski, Dimitri Obolensky, or John Julius Norwich. If he and his associates were familiar with any sort of serious historical work whether it be ancient Greek history, medieval Byzantium, or contemporary Greek history they would recognize how utterly preposterous their claims are.
Totalitarian regimes typically distort history for their own ends. Such was the case of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and so it is with the government of Skopje which has continued to pursue the policies of Communist Yugoslavia. An injustice is being done both to Greece (a historical friend and ally of the United States which fought with Washington in two World Wars, Korea, and fought a bloody civil war with American help to avert a Communist takeover which would have led to Tito's seizure of Macedonia, a goal now actively being pursued by Skopje) and to the Orthodox Church of Greece which is being slandered by the authors of the October 26 article.
Theodore G. Karakostas
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Member of HEC Executive Council
Greece Denies Rights to Religious Minorities
United Macedonian Diaspora
Founded in 2004, United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) is an international non-governmental organization addressing the interests and needs of Macedonians and Macedonian communities throughout the world.
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Print ArticleUnited Macedonian Diaspora
October 26, 2008
Greece continues to deny the right to religious minorities to open up their own religious institutions. On Friday, October 24, 2008, the United Macedonian Diaspora sent a letter to Assistant Secretary David J. Kramer of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor regarding the continuous discrimination policies of the Greek state against The Very Reverend Archimandrite Nikodimos Tsarknias, a Greek citizen born and raised in Greece who is trying to start a Macedonian Orthodox Church.
Assistant Secretary David J. Kramer
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
U.S. Department of State
Harry S. Truman Building
2201 C Street, NW, Room 7802
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Assistant Secretary Kramer:
UMD is disappointed at the omission of the plight of The Very Reverend Archimandrite Nikodimos Tsarknias of Greece from the latest International Religious Freedom Report.
In 2004, Archimandrite Tsarknias, an ethnic Macedonian born and raised in Greece, was sentenced to three months in prison by a Greek court for performing religious services in the Macedonian language for a congregation of ethnic Macedonians in Greece. The sentence could not be appealed in Greece and is currently being appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Archimandrite Tsarknias´ case is well-known to the State Department and was addressed in International Religious Freedom Reports from 2004 through 2007. Moreover, in 2007 UMD organized meetings for Archimandrite Tsarknias with the State Department´s Greek Desk Officer and Human Rights Officer at which he personally described his plight.
The pending EHRC appeal is no reason to exclude this case from the report on religious freedom in Greece. On the contrary, the persecution of Archimandrite Tsarknias by the Greek government has fostered an on-going atmosphere of distrust and animosity not just towards him and his religious practices, but also towards ethnic Macedonians in Greece, and has further impeded on their right to freely exercise their religion.
In the torrent of anti-Macedonian hatred in which Greece has been enthralled since its veto of Macedonia´s NATO membership, Archimandrite Tsarknias was further abused by the Greek government and/or by Geek citizens. On April 3 and 4, 2008, Greek students from a local secondary school repeatedly vandalized Archimandrite Tsarknias´ home. Local police took no action to bring the perpetrators to justice or to prevent future attacks. When Archimandrite Tsarknias went to the local school to address the incident with the school administrators, he was met by a mob of students and teachers who verbally attacked and harassed him, telling him that he was not wanted in Greece and that he should "go back north", referring to the Republic of Macedonia. Most disturbingly, the teachers and administrators not only failed to prevent the students´ dishonorable behavior; they actually joined in the abuse and encouraged the students.
The harassment and attacks against Archimandrite Tsarknias are a clear reflection of Greece´s inclination to persecute any of its citizens who think differently and who speak a different language either in their daily lives or in the exercise of their religion. The right to free exercise of religion is a core freedom that must be protected in all free nations. UMD therefore urges the State Department to be thorough in its inclusion of such incidents in the International Religious Freedom Report, and to carefully monitor this matter until Greece ceases its religious persecution of not just Archimandrite Tsarknias but of all ethnic Macedonians in Greece.
Sincerely,
United Macedonian Diaspora
For more information, visit http://www.umdiaspora.org
Some news articles:
http://umdiaspora.org/content/view/320/1/
http://www.mhrmi.org/news/2008/april15a_e.asp
Assistant Secretary David J. Kramer
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
U.S. Department of State
Harry S. Truman Building
2201 C Street, NW, Room 7802
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Assistant Secretary Kramer:
UMD is disappointed at the omission of the plight of The Very Reverend Archimandrite Nikodimos Tsarknias of Greece from the latest International Religious Freedom Report.
In 2004, Archimandrite Tsarknias, an ethnic Macedonian born and raised in Greece, was sentenced to three months in prison by a Greek court for performing religious services in the Macedonian language for a congregation of ethnic Macedonians in Greece. The sentence could not be appealed in Greece and is currently being appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Archimandrite Tsarknias´ case is well-known to the State Department and was addressed in International Religious Freedom Reports from 2004 through 2007. Moreover, in 2007 UMD organized meetings for Archimandrite Tsarknias with the State Department´s Greek Desk Officer and Human Rights Officer at which he personally described his plight.
The pending EHRC appeal is no reason to exclude this case from the report on religious freedom in Greece. On the contrary, the persecution of Archimandrite Tsarknias by the Greek government has fostered an on-going atmosphere of distrust and animosity not just towards him and his religious practices, but also towards ethnic Macedonians in Greece, and has further impeded on their right to freely exercise their religion.
In the torrent of anti-Macedonian hatred in which Greece has been enthralled since its veto of Macedonia´s NATO membership, Archimandrite Tsarknias was further abused by the Greek government and/or by Geek citizens. On April 3 and 4, 2008, Greek students from a local secondary school repeatedly vandalized Archimandrite Tsarknias´ home. Local police took no action to bring the perpetrators to justice or to prevent future attacks. When Archimandrite Tsarknias went to the local school to address the incident with the school administrators, he was met by a mob of students and teachers who verbally attacked and harassed him, telling him that he was not wanted in Greece and that he should "go back north", referring to the Republic of Macedonia. Most disturbingly, the teachers and administrators not only failed to prevent the students´ dishonorable behavior; they actually joined in the abuse and encouraged the students.
The harassment and attacks against Archimandrite Tsarknias are a clear reflection of Greece´s inclination to persecute any of its citizens who think differently and who speak a different language either in their daily lives or in the exercise of their religion. The right to free exercise of religion is a core freedom that must be protected in all free nations. UMD therefore urges the State Department to be thorough in its inclusion of such incidents in the International Religious Freedom Report, and to carefully monitor this matter until Greece ceases its religious persecution of not just Archimandrite Tsarknias but of all ethnic Macedonians in Greece.
Sincerely,
United Macedonian Diaspora
For more information, visit http://www.umdiaspora.org
Some news articles:
http://umdiaspora.org/content/view/320/1/
http://www.mhrmi.org/news/2008/april15a_e.asp
