The decision to arrest a clergyman renowned world wide for his charitable work and spiritual mission a few days before Christmas comes to add to the woes which have plagued Greece since George Papandreou and his band of merry men came into power. This past weekend, Greece's judicial council decided to remand Abbot Efrem (head of the Vatopedi Monastery) in order to ensure that he will not leave the country. And we ask... you remand a criminal, how can an Abbot pose a threat to society? Besides what is he actually charged with? According to the council of judges, Efraim is pending trial on charges of money laundering and embezzlement and this is where the laughter sets in... what money laundering? What embezzlement? Before we analyze this last statement for you we here at hellasfrappe just want to say that this was a totally uncalled for and useless decision that hits the heart of the Orthodox Church on the eve of the most sacred holiday year round. We were dumbfounded with the news, as were millions of believers, because we have been following this case for well over two and a half years now and know that there is no evidence of a scandal whatsoever. Nonetheless, we are concerned that there is evidence of "western" influence on this case.
In ancient Greece they used to say "itheste kai patheste" which means you get what you deserve, and in such a framework our judicial system should keep in mind that Abbot Ephraim who leads the largest monastic order in the Orthodox Christian world, has strong links to the royal family in the United Kingdom, among others, and his supporters will protest for his release because there are three things Christian Orthodox Hellenes will not stand for: a hit to their nation, their families and their religion! "Patris, Thriskeia, Oikogenia". The attack against the Orthodox Church is apparent and we will not stand for this.
The decision to arrest him might have been issued on Christmas Eve, but because of a serious illness the elder entered the Korydallos maximum security prison on Tuesday night. It is extremely provocative, to say the least, to put the Abbot of the Vatopaidi monastery into prison when many PASOK politicians who have confessed to accepting bribes are still at large! PASOK does not want to be constantly reminded about its own closet skeletons so we will do this for them by noting that many people in its party accepted bribes from Siemens, which they either put in their pockets (as in the Manteli case) or in the party coffers (as in the Tsoukatou case). Yet when it comes to politicians in Greece the justice system finds a monk as a target for their purging; a monk whom for a long time they hold hostage to political intrigue without any evidence as to his personal involvement in any issue under investigation. In this indescribable Greek reality show, monk Efrem is judged as ‘likely to leave the country’ and is remanded into custody. Totally ridiculous!
As for money laundering and embezzlement... well its simpler to look towards the Greek Parliament for culprits since no one has ever been accused or found guilty or imprisoned for this nation's degradation! We cannot forget the news that there are over 650 billion euros in Swizz accounts, or the other juicy story that claims that the Greek elite is ranked as the second largest depositer of funds in Switzerland. It was only a couple of days ago that the Vice President (and Minister of Finace) of the government, E. Venizelos told the plenary of the House of Representatives that any investigation into money laundering in Switzerland on behalf of MPs constitutes a mockery since "anyone can set up an offshore company rather than keeping a personal account". In our opinion he was actually admitting what a corrupt political system we have that allows the elite to continue to rob the country blind, set up offshore companies, allow politicians to ratify laws that safeguard these transactions and permits the easy stashing of money in Switzerland. He should of rather said go ahead... continue what you are doing because we will never tax you, we will never touch you and this is because our money is there too!
But of course the world is now safe because Efraim was finally arrested! - Who are they kidding?
So let's start analyzing why they put him in jail. The judicial council claims that they remanded him because they were afraid that he would leave the country... Hmmmmm..... Are they idiots? Since the issue broke out in 2008, this likely to leave monk, as they claim, has apparently visited several countries and given 48 presentations. If he wanted to escape, wouldn't he have done so already?
Now on to the charges. What is Efraim charged with? We already know that there was no money laundering or embezzlement involved in this case since numerous investigations have never proven otherwise.
So why was he arrested? This is where "western influence" comes in.
Ephraim himself said on Monday night that, “I am a monk and have to appear in front of the judges… I am not sorry for myself, but for those behind this conspiracy”. He is absolutely right! It is a conspiracy!
Both the Greek and Russian Churches, however, complained about the way Ephraim is being treated, while Igor Yakimchuk, the man responsible for the inter-Orthodox relations between the two Churches, spoke about a “flimsily cruel” and “exclusively political” decision. According to him, “this is about something unprecedented and our anxiety is natural. In Greece, countless voices against Ephraim’s arrest were also heard, such as the complaint made by the Apostolou Andreou Proklitou Institution.
Again... why was Efraim arrested? Simple... he is does not consider Russians and especially Russian Orthodox believers to be an enemy!
Wow... talk about a crime... bahahahaaaaaaa
It should be reiterated that recently Efraim visited Moscow at the invitation of the Russian President and Prime Minister. While there millions of Orthodox Christians payed homage to one of the most revered Orthodox relics, or the Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God, which is one of the priceless artifacts kept at Vatopedi. The Greek delegation of monks stayed in Russia for over a month or from October 20 until November 28 and reports said three million people venerated the relic, including top leaders of the Russian state.
Typically, once a year, the Vatopedi fathers take the reliquary with the Belt to one or another Greek city in response to urgent requests of the faithful. Previously, Vatopedi Monastery, the largest monastery in Greece, refused all requests from other countries to bring the reliquary there, particularly, from the United States and Romania. They made an exception for Russia.
Originally, the Belt was supposed to return to Mount Athos on November 23, but the Athonite fathers extended their stay in Russia because of the unprecedented scale of the pilgrimage to it. The record for the length of the queue to the shrine and the waiting time in it was in Moscow, where it was 6 kilometres (3.72 miles) long and people waited up to 26 hours. In St Petersburg, the queue stretched for 3 kilometres (1.86 miles), and in other cities, it averaged about 2 kilometres (1.25 miles) in length.
At the end of these visits, Elder Efrem returned to Greece and to the monastery even though he suspected that the outcome of his visit could be regrettable.
He was not the only one. Father Igor is perplexed that the new turn on this case began after Efrem triumphantly returned from Russia with the Belt of the Mother of God. ”Perhaps, is a coincidence, but many people see some political backgrounds here,” the interviewee of the agency said. The Foundation of St. Andrew the First-Called believes that such legal decisions can be explained only with “political engagement of certain circles of Greek establishment, which thus want to demonstrate the West that they are ready to refute principles pertaining the spiritual life fixed in the Greek Constitution.”
And why wouldn't Father Igor think so? When Efraim returned from Russia, he gave away all the money he had gathered from donations (made by the faithful) to the Greek dioceses and philanthropic soup kitches and canteens from the cities of Thessaloniki and Athens, to help Greek people who have been hit by the economic crisis.
While in Russia, the abbot visited and held a brief discussion with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. More exactly, Putin met with Father Ephraim when the Belt arrived in Moscow, and later at his residence, where the delegation from the Vatopedi monastery was invited. The second meeting consisted of harmless chit chat and was recorded, and as you will see in the video below. Unfortunately just the mere thought that Efraim met with Putin probably angered certain so-called allies of Greece. In comes the conspiracy.
Help from Russia to the poor Greek people? Shocking! What a crime! People would have a warm dinner this holiday season! Oh my... (Bunch of retards!)
Folks, whether some like it or not, Ephraim has been widely acclaimed as one of the most renowned personalities in Orthodoxy globally despite the "concerted smear campaign" we have seen over the past few years!
In fact the Greek television channel SKAI has been airing a special documentary series about this very issue over the past two months. If you search the word Vatopedi, SKAI on our search tab you can watch all the episodes that have been aired until now. What the documentary has proven is that there has been "no loss" to the Greek taxpayer and actually there has been no fraud involved in this case. Last night on SKAI channel Katerina Akrivopoulou, one of Greece's most respected journalists (and for good reason) analyzed the case the best way possible and she will tie it all together for you... as we have here on hellasfrappe. Indicative of this is the video below.
Any serious-minded person, or anyone with a sound mind, particularly anyone who is dealing with ecclesiastical issues, is well aware that such persecutions have identical motives with the ones used against righteous people throughout the centuries. Those who have over the centuries truly hurt the Greek society and the Orthodox Church have been signaled out over the centuries as having acted in their own interests in REAL scandals and not fake ones such as this. All that this will do is to piss off Greeks everywhere against western interference in their internal affairs and especially in affairs of the Christian faith. The whole thing stinks conspiracy and has all the hallmarks of a western intelligence operation against a pro-Russia cleric.
signed
hellasfrappe
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