Friday, December 17, 2010

Greek Orthodox Church denounces "occupation by the IMF"

The Orthodox Church has denounced the lack of leadership and the moral sense that, by means of the crisis, has made Greece a country ”under occupation”. It ”carries out the orders of its creditors” from the IMF and the EU which ”appears to have lost its independence.” In a message to worshippers to be distributed on Sunday in all churches, the Holy Synod harshly criticises the country’s ”ruling class”, a general term which appears to include the previous centre-right government, as well as the current government under George Papandreou. According to the Bishops, it is not the state itself that is to blame for the current crisis but the political leadership. The leadership has not been able to modernise and is interested only in power. It ”has not been able to speak the language of the truth.” And it is has transformed itself into an agent of the creditors, imposing ”radical changes that only a short while ago would have disgusted Greece and which on the other hand has caused almost no reaction.” And this situation, according to the Synod, puts the real interests of the country and its people at risk, allowing them in fact to be governed by our creditors. The Synod points out that according to many economists, the global crisis ”is an artificial and instrumental crisis that aims to all the world to be controlled by non-philanthropic forces.” The Church denounces a moral impoverishment of society which, attracted only by easy wealth and wellbeing, has lived irresponsibly, moving away from the truth of things. It is ”contributing to the current crisis through selfish requests without control by the various sectors involved.” The Bishops conclude by urging the people to take advantage of the crisis to rediscover ”the strength and love” needed in the ”toughest moments”, offering solidarity to those in need to exit this difficult situation together and with the Church.
Source.

3 comments:

David said...

Interesting Article in Vanity Fair. http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/10/greeks-bearing-bonds-201010

I have noticed during my time having business dealings with Greek Americans with strong ties to the old country there seems to be a culture that allows for theft, failing to pay debt, and fraud. Other Greeks who were less tied to the old country (and the church) had much better business ethics. It has to be something cultural about the old country, it certainly isn't about race given my both positive and negative experiences. The difference was their connection to the old country culture. I became Orthodox in spite of my negative experience with such dishonest and prominent Orthodox Christians in the Greek community. I figure there is no better place for a crook to be than in church, maybe some day it will sink in.

Anthony said...

I am SO HAPPY to see the church speaking out against the evil IMF and EU.. Nations are losing their sovereignty and freedoms without even knowing it.. The EU accomplished what Hitler was trying to do without violence..

AP said...

Re the Vanity Fair article, which was written by an atheist, Fr. Matthew of Vatopedi wrote this refutation: http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/11/vatopaidi-monk-responds-to-vanity-fair.html


I'm a Catholic blogger who often checks Orthodox (and Anglican) news sites and blogs for information and I've long noticed this strange tendency of American Orthodox to be the first to believe the negative publicity in the secular and atheistic Western media about non-American Orthodox (especially the Greeks and the Russians). It certainly contrasts with what I see of the U.S. Catholic Internet community, which goes to great lengths to understand the reality behind the negative reports of the antireligious Western media instead of taking what it says as Gospel truth.