Pro-American Underling in Greek Foreign Ministry Fucks Up… Denies Entry to Athos for Putin during Holy Week

President Vladimir Putin (1952- ) on a previous visit to the Holy Mountain 

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The Kremlin’s strongly dissatisfied with the Greek Government, after its refusal of the request of Vladimir Putin to visit Mount Athos and Vatopedi Monastery during Holy Week. In particular, Russian leader expressed his personal desire to make a quick day-trip to Mount Athos in Holy Week, and to see Abbot Ephrem of Vatopedi Monastery as part of his visit. In rejecting the application, however, the Greek government gave the Kremlin the excuse that the government of the country would be on holiday at that time. The Kremlin expressed its deep displeasure at the postponement of Putin’s planned trip due to this refusal by the Greek government.

Statement of Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Grigoris Delavekurasa:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is always welcome in our country. Moreover, beyond the historical friendly links between our two countries, it’d be a distinct honour for Greece to be the first country to host Mr Putin after his recent election as President of the Russian Federation. We’ll be glad to welcome him, and we hope that he’ll visit our country as soon as possible, as early as Easter; he can officially go to Mount Athos or to anywhere else that he desires.

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The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement stating that the Minister first learned of the planned trip to Mount Athos of PM Vladimir Putin from media reports. According to Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekurasa, they didn’t receive a request for a visit to Mount Athos from the Government of the Russian Federation, so, therefore, there’s no problem with any such request. The official also said that the Greek side would always be pleased to host the Russian Prime Minister and President-elect, according to the “Amen” news agency.

5 April 2012

Ρομφαια (Romfaia)

http://romfea.gr/epikairotita/12148-arnithikan-ston-putin-na-paei-sto-oros

Sedmitza.ru

http://www.sedmitza.ru/news/2900820.html

Editor’s Note:

This has George Stephanopoulos’ fingerprints all over it. All Russian Orthodox people in the diaspora know how he interfered in the ROCOR reconciliation in the early 2000s through the agency of his sister, who was a nun in the ROCOR (along with other US diplomatic types who intervened directly, such as Herbst). Obviously, he got some pro-American lickspittle underling to reject VVP’s application… and that underling is going to walk the plank, no doubt about it. Don’t cry for them, though… Langley will take care to see that they don’t starve or go without… after all, Langley has to show their patsies that the rightwing radicals are “better” than the Left. What’s interesting is that such people are cut adrift if the rightwingers win… you see, the bottom line’s important. You expected “conservatives” to show human feelings and gratitude… silly wabbit…

BMD

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Abba Ephrem of Vatopedi Freed from Prison and Returned to His Monastery

The god-pleasing Abba Ephrem of Vatopedi (1955- ) no longer sits in a prison cell… there IS a God in Heaven...

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Late Friday night, Archimandrite Ephrem, the Abbot of Vatopedi Monastery, returned to Mount Athos after a three-month detention in Korydallos Prison. On Saturday, Aleksandr Gatilin, a spokesman for the Foundation of St Andrew the First-Called told our Interfax-Religion correspondent that yesterday the Appeals Board of the Athens City Court decided to change the measure of restraint of Fr Ephrem. He went on to say that after Fr Ephrem posted bail and filed the necessary documentation, Fr Ephrem went by car to the port of Ierissos, more than 600 kilometres (@372 miles) from Athens, where he boarded a boat. His monks and his spiritual children accompanied Abba Ephrem, and a crowd of about 700 people greeted him at the pier of Vatopedi Monastery. The boats in the harbour tooted their horns and the crowd gathered about Igumen Ephrem sang spiritual songs. The clergy of the monastery were in full festive vestments. The brotherhood, its employees, and pilgrims held lit candles and formed a living “corridor” through which Fr Ephrem passed as he headed a procession to the monastery.

Gatilin told us, “The many believers gathered there celebrated; an Easter atmosphere prevailed that evening in Vatopedi. Before entering the monastery grounds proper, the brotherhood vested Fr Ephrem in his Igumen’s mantle. The bells tolled as the Abbot entered the monastery grounds and went to the Cathedral of the Annunciation, where he served a short molieben”. Addressing the gathering, Fr Ephrem said, “I left on 26 December, the day of the Most Holy Mother of God, and I’m back again on her day (the Orthodox feastday of the Praises of the Most Holy Mother of God). Whilst I was in custody, when I called upon the name of the Most Holy Mother of God, I immediately received the strength that I needed”. Igumen Ephrem spoke of how the inmates gave him “great love and respect”, and how he heard the confessions of almost all the prisoners in the wing of the prison where he lived, along with the confessions of many of the prison staff, too. Abba Ephrem noted, “A devout Christian told me yesterday that I’d be released. I asked him why he thought so. He replied that he had a dream, how he came to the prison, and found no one there, but he met a woman in dark robes, who said, ‘Do not seek Elder Ephrem, he’s here at my house, in Vatopedi’”. He acknowledged that he was grateful for every thing that happened to him, that he forgave everyone, and that he did his best to keep his soul pure, “not provoking a single thought directed against anyone”.

As reported in December 2011, a Greek court ordered Fr Ephrem’s arrest in connection with an investigation of real estate transactions between Vatopedi and the Greek state in 2008. In late December, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias wrote a letter to Greek President Karolos Papoulias asking for Archimandrite Ephrem’s release from custody, expressing surprise at his pre-trial incarceration as “[Fr Ephrem] doesn’t pose a threat to society and repeatedly expressed his willingness to cooperate with the investigation”. Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP DECR, described the arrest of Fr Ephrem as an attack on Athonite monasticism in particular and on Orthodoxy in general. Previously, influential Russian politicians, the MP, the RF MID, as well as the Foundation of St Andrew the First-Called voiced support for Igumen Ephrem. This was in recognition of the fact that Abba Ephrem was part of the delegation from Vatopedi Monastery that brought the Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God to Russia for a stay lasting from 20 October to 28 November, going to various cities throughout the country, where nearly 3 million people venerated the relic, including top political leaders. Commenting on the current changes and Fr Ephrem’s current freedom, the Found of St Andrew the First-Called expressed its support for Abba Ephrem and voiced the hope that “justice and fairness will prevail in the end, with Archimandrite Ephrem cleared of all charges”.

31 March 2012

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=44863

27 January 2012. Don’t Forget Abba Ephrem! He’s Been in Prison for a Month Now!

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More Than 100,000 People Signed Online Petition Demanding the Release of Archimandrite Ephrem

THIS is why Abba Ephrem’s in prison… he brought the Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God to Russia, and millions of believers bowed before it, including leaders of the state… and the American special services wanted to punish him for that. You have a choice… you can support the godliness embodied in Holy Rus, or, you can support the demonic Evangelicalism (a religious apologia for the radical rightwing) regnant in the USA, which is Satan’s simulacrum of Christianity. Reflect on this… Paffhausen’s chosen the latter, not the former, course… interesting, no?

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According to a website favourable to the release of Igumen Ephrem, the Abbot of Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos, more than 100,000 people signed a petition calling for his release from custody in a Greek prison for dangerous criminals. The website “Free Elder Ephraim” has a petition that you can sign to appeal to the President and Prime Minister of Greece, as well as the Supreme Court (Areopagus) for the release of Igumen Ephrem. A portion of the protest posted on the site reads, “We’re convinced that the decision to remand a respected spiritual elder to preliminary custody is a political provocation, with the aim of undermining the authority of Holy Mount Athos and the Church in general”. A counter of signatures on the site shows that the number overtopped 100,000 on Thursday, reaching 103,155 on Thursday evening. This document is available in Russian, Greek, Serbian, Georgian, Bulgarian, English, Romanian, French, and German.

19 January 2012

Pravoslavie.ru

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/news/51076.htm