Gov't on relations within Church, comments by Evert
Athens, 17/10/2003 (ANA) -
Responding to questions regarding a crisis in relations between the Ecumenical
Patriarchate in Fanar and the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece, acting government spokesman Telemahos
Hytiris on Thursday advised ''cohesion, cooperation and calmness, in a spirit that takes history and Orthodoxy
into account''.
He called on all sides to make an effort to find ways to deal with the problem within the Church, while
cautioning against statements that bred ''polarity and acerbity''.
Asked to comment on Wednesday's statements by main opposition New Democracy MP Miltiades Evert, a former leader
of his party, Hytiris said the comments of individual MPs were not the issue but rather the official stance
adopted by ND, while he urged reporters to direct their questions to ND's headquarters.
He also noted that there was no plan to appoint a mediator.
Evert, while stressing that he respected and honored the Istanbul-based Patriarchate above all, had argued that
"national interests" mandated that the Church of Greece retain administrative control over bishoprics in northern
Greece and the eastern and northern Aegean.
A DEEPENING CHASM
http://www.mpa.gr - Athens, 18 October 2003
The chasm between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Archbishopric
of Athens is deepening, as, according to a Patriarchate announcement on Friday, it condemns the statements of
former ND President M. Evert, and asked politicians not to involve themselves in Church matters. A plan by
ecclesiastic circles to reduce the Patriarch was denounced by Mr. Vartholomeos, attributing the current crisis to
human ambitions and bad counseling of the Archbishop. “I prefer peace, but if I am challenged to war, my quiver
is full”, said the Patriarch in his television interview.