Greece: 160-pct increase in prices - "high prices and poor services"
WolfWolf
The government is mulling action against food retailers after Development
Ministry officials found that the price of fruit and vegetables has
increased an average of 50 percent compared to last year. Price hikes ranged
from 2.3 percent to 158.6 percent, according to ministry inspectors. In
July, year-on-year inflation was 3.3 percent. Meanwhile, yesterday the
Consumer Protection Center (KEPKA) wrote to Development Minister Akis
Tsochadzopoulos calling for more tourist police officers to be sent to the
resort area of Halkidiki, in northern Greece. KEPKA said there are only two
tourist police officers and three trainees in all of Halkidiki. It said it
had received hundreds of complaints regarding high prices and poor services
in the area.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100018_20/08/2002_199
58
pyrsos27
? "WolfWolf" <em...@address.net> ???a?e st? ľ???ľa
news:akbg55$shk$2...@nntp-m01.news.aol.com...
Instead of wasting your time on Greek fruits it is better if you dealt with
your own...fruits.
Turk arrested for alleged rape of German boy
http://www.hri.org/news/greek/apeen/1999/99-06-21_1.apeen.html
A Turkish truck driver was remanded in custody on Monday charged with
raping a 14-year-old German boy on a ferry en route from the Italian port of
Ancona to the
western Greek port of Patras, police said. Yildiz Aygun, 33, was arrested on
board the "Superfast 4" ferry early on Sunday after the boy, identified only
as H.A., told ship's officers of the
incident.
The boy said Aygun had dragged him into his cabin and, with the threat of
physical violence, forced him to perform "indecent acts" and then sodomised
him repeatedly over a period of three hours.
The boy managed to escape from the cabin when Aygun fell asleep and he
returned to his parents, who went to the ferry's bridge together with the
boy and informed the officers on duty of the incident.
The ferry's captain was immediately alerted, and the captain, with a group
of ship's officers, isolated Aygun in his cabin and turned him over to port
authorities when the ferry docked in Patras.
The boy, who was travelling from Ancona to Patras with his parents for a
holiday, was examined by a doctor, who confirmed he had been sodomised.
Aygun, who claims he does not remember anything because he was drunk, was
taken before the Patras public prosecutor today and charged with raping a
minor.
Aygun was remanded in custody and given to Wednesday to prepare his defence
before the examining magistrate.
>
Nevzat Akdemir
>
> ? "WolfWolf" <em...@address.net> ???a?e st? µ???µa
Greek priest convicted on sex assault charge :
By Olivia Hill-Douglas The Age (Australia), August 3, 2002
Section: News Page: 14
A Greek Orthodox priest who indecently assaulted a 17-year-old
parishioner confessed to his
congregation during a ceremony for Greek Easter, a Melbourne court
was told yesterday. Andreas
Papadimitropoulos, 55, was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates
Court to two months' jail after
pleading guilty to one count of indecent assault. The jail term
was wholly suspended. During the
sentencing, magistrate Peter Lauritsen said that he could ``not
imagine a greater betrayal of trust from a
priest". The court heard that on April 25 this year,
Papadimitropoulos had been with a 17-year-old girl
from his parish, and had kissed her, licked her neck and touched
her breast through her clothing. The
young woman asked him to stop and the priest then asked her not to
tell anyone what had happened,
the court was told.
Nevzat Akdemir
Published by Zenit, July 2, 2002
Greek orthodox panel to examine accusations against cergy
ATHENS, July 2, 2002 (Zenit) -- The Holy Synod of the
Greek Orthodox Church has decided to set up a commission
to examine complaints against the sexual behavior of
members of the clergy.
The decision follows on the heels of accusations and
scandals that have made recent headlines.
Complaints will be examined by the commission, comprised
of three bishops and two laymen (a theologian and the Holy
Synod's legal counsel), which will advise Archbishop
Christodoulos of Athens.
Accusations will be discussed by the Holy Synod and
presented to ecclesiastical courts "without the pressure of
television methods," a statement from the Holy Synod last
Thursday indicates.
The Church stated that it "condemns, rejects and execrates
in the most categorical way all depraved forms of men's
carnal life, which reduce man to a bestial situation."
Nevzat Akdemir
Published in the Boston Globe, May 18, 2002
Cardinal Law declines honorary degree from Hellenic College
By Michael Paulson
Globe Staff
BOSTON, May 18, 2002 (BG) -- Cardinal Bernard F. Law has decided not to
accept an honorary degree today
from Hellenic College in Brookline in the face of protests by students
and faculty members at the Greek Orthodox
institution.
"It is Cardinal Law's desire that the graduates and their families
enjoy the joyful occasion free of distraction," said
Donna M. Morrissey, Law's spokeswoman.
"His Eminence has informed officials at Hellenic College of his
decision, and he is grateful for their kindness and
understanding during these difficult days."
Law's decision not to attend the commencement or accept the degree
completes an embarrassing graduation
season for the embattled Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston, who
previously announced that he would not
attend the Boston College commencement after students objected, and who
canceled a speech at Pontifical College
Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, because of worry that his presence would
detract from the commencement at the
seminary.
In Brookline, the faculty at the small school had voted 2-0, with two
abstentions and three absences, to withhold
its support for an honorary degree for Law. Some said they would
boycott the commencement rather than
participate in a ceremony honoring a man who has been criticized for
his failure to remove from ministry priests
accused of sexually abusing minors.
Then a majority of students at the school signed a petition objecting
to the degree.
But officials at Hellenic College said they had intended to award the
degree to Law, and that the decision to
withdraw was his own. School officials had wanted to honor Law for his
long commitment to bettering
Catholic-Orthodox relations; the college's board is chaired by
Archbishop Demetrios, who is the primate of the
Greek Orthodox Church in America, and the board includes Metropolitan
Methodios, the presiding hierarch of
the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Boston. "The Board of Trustees accepted
the cardinal's decision with sincere
regret since the trustees' intent was to honor Cardinal Law for his
long record of improving relations between
Orthodox and Catholic Christians, both locally and internationally, for
his extraordinary work for affordable
housing, and for his significant contribution in enhancing worship of
God as a basic component of Christian life,"
the college said in a statement.
In a brief telephone interview, the president of Hellenic College, the
Rev. Nicholas Triantafilou, said, "We offered
this with good spirit, and that good spirit still remains for the work
he has done. We pray for peace and
reconciliation for everyone."
A faculty member who had objected to the honorary degree, psychology
professor John T. Chirban, said he was
pleased by Law's decision. "This is a time to embrace Cardinal Law and
to offer him counsel - that is Christian and
right - but this is not a time to honor him," Chirban said.
"There are very serious issues about the abuse of children. I'm aghast
by the number of people that have been
shaken and destroyed - morally, spiritually, and psychologically - by
these abuses, which he has seemingly
permitted.
"The action of his coming to commencement would not bring honor to our
institution."
The issue was particularly troubling for Hellenic College because the
undergraduate institution, along with the
affiliated graduate seminary, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of
Theology, had been racked by its own sexual
abuse scandal five years ago. At that time, the schools' president and
three faculty members were fired, allegedly
for refusing to cover up sexual misconduct by a Greek Orthodox priest.
The resultant furor contributed to the ouster of the then-Greek
Orthodox archbishop of America, Spyridon.
Two years later, the four faculty members were reinstated.
Nevzat Akdemir
Published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 10, 1999
Hellenic College Reinstates 4 Professors in Wake of Archbishop's
Resignation
By BETH McMURTRIE
Four faculty members at Hellenic College, in Brookline, Mass., were
reinstated Thursday, two years after
they were ousted by the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of America, a controversial
figure who has since resigned.
The four, including the college's president, were fired, demoted, or
reassigned to clerical duties in July
1997. Some on the campus speculated that they had been punished for
investigating allegations of sexual
misconduct by a priest. At the time, Archbishop Spyridon said he had
fired the president to end
"year-long internal conflicts."
Hellenic College, which runs the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of
Theology, is the only Greek
Orthodox college in the country. It enrolls 172 students. The
archbishop has significant control over the
campus. He is chairman of the Board of Trustees and heads the Board
of Corporate Members, which is
empowered to appoint and remove the president.
Those and other personnel changes prompted a review by the New
England Association of Schools and
Colleges, which sustained the college's accreditation this spring
after its officials promised to revise the
college's bylaws and its policy on academic freedom.
Archbishop Spyridon resigned from his post in August, ending a
stormy three-year tenure. His critics said
he was an autocrat who did not appreciate the concept of academic
freedom. He was replaced by
Metropolitan Demetrios Trakatellis of Greece, a former professor at
the Holy Cross Orthodox School of
Theology and at Harvard Divinity School. He is expected to arrive in
the United States next week.
Bishop George of New Jersey, administrator of the Archdiocese until
Archbishop Demetrios arrives,
called the reinstatement decision "courageous and fair."
"This unfortunate episode," he said in a statement, "has caused a
great deal of pain to the hearts of many
people."
In a news release, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said
that the decision had been made in
response to the findings of a special committee of Hellenic's Board
of Trustees, which was assigned last
year to investigate the matter.
Following are the four reinstated professors, all of whom are
priests who taught at the theology school:
The Rev. Alkiviadis C. Calivas, the former president. He had
been removed from his post and
returned to the faculty as a professor of liturgics. He has been
on sabbatical for the past year and
will resume his teaching post this fall.
The Rev. Emmanuel Clapsis, an associate professor of dogmatic
theology. He did not have
tenure and was told in 1997 that his contract would not be
renewed. He has been working as a
parish priest in Marlboro, Mass., and will resume teaching this
fall.
The Rev. George Papademetriou, the college librarian and an
associate professor of theology.
He will continue teaching this fall.
The Rev. Theodore Stylianopoulos, a tenured professor of the New
Testament. During the past
two years, he had no teaching responsibilities but continued to
receive his salary. This fall, he
will return to the classroom.
None of the four professors could be reached for comment Thursday.
Nikki Stephanopoulos, director of
news and information for the Archdiocese, referred all questions to
Hellenic College. James Skedros,
acting dean of the college, did not return telephone calls seeking
comment.
Nevzat Akdemir
Queens priest nixes plea deal on teen-sex charges
By Jessie Graham NY Post May 15, 2002
A Queens Orthodox priest [Pangratios Vrionis], accused of molesting a
teen parishioner, rejected a plea
deal yesterday, vowing to fight the charges against him even now that
several more alleged victims
have come forward, authorities said.
Nevzat Akdemir
Published by the New York Post, May 12, 2002
Defrocked bishop's evil guest
By Jessie Graham and Dan Mangan
NEW YORK, May 12, 2002 (NYP) -- An Orthodox archbishop with one child
sodomy conviction, who faces new
kid-sex assault charges, had a molester working as a guest priest at
his Queens church, The Post has learned.
Archbishop Pangratios Vrionis, 58, founded the Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of Vasiloupolis after the Greek
Orthodox Church of America defrocked him in 1970.
An accuser has told authorities he recognized Samuel Greene, also known
as Father Benedict, who had worked at
the church, from a picture on a Web site that tracks molester Orthodox
priests. In 2000, Greene pleaded guilty to
molesting an 11-year-old boy.
In March, The Post revealed that Vrionis pleaded guilty in 1970 to
sodomizing two 14-year- old boys in Harrisburg,
Pa. After that article, a Queens boy, 17, told cops the archbishop
molested him three years ago.
Vrionis was charged in April with third-degree sexual assault and
attempted sexual assault and released on a
$1,500 bond.
Since his arrest last month, another person is in the process of
contacting authorities, a law-enforcement source
said.
Vrionis' lawyer could not be reached for comment.
* * *
Copyright 2002, The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
Nevzat Akdemir
Clerics are trapped on sex chatline
By Paul Anast in Athens
(Filed: 18/03/2002)
A GREEK Orthodox priest who used hidden
cameras to catch church staff embezzling
Sunday collections and bugged a telephone
line used by priests to call sex chatlines has
won the supreme court's approval.
After a case lasting five years the court has
ruled that Father Lambros Rinis acted in the
public interest and had not broken the law.
The priest had discovered that £85,000 in
cash and valuables, including jewellery,
donated by the congregation and pilgrims
had disappeared from the Agia Paraskevi
Church in the Valley of Tempi, a popular
destination for tourists in central Greece.
He also received a telephone bill for £4,500
for the sex calls. A bug revealed that priests
and monks were responsible for the calls and
the camera recorded the treasurer of the
shrine's committee stuffing money under his
shirt.
The accused went to court, saying their
privacy had been violated and the tapes and
camera film had been tampered with to
incriminate them.
The court's ruling could prompt controls on
thousands of Greek churches.
Nevzat Akdemir
Orthodox Christian News Service, Inc.
Sex Case Unsettles Abbey and Cuts into Profits
By Zeke MacCormack
BLANCO, TEXAS, February 17, 2002 (San Antonio Express-News) --- The
faithful still flock to the celebrated
"weeping icon" at Christ of the Hills Monastery, where bearded monks in
black robes conduct several services
each day in a tiny chapel. But revelations arising from a recent sex
scandal at the abbey belie the aura of serene
spirituality.
Two monks stand convicted of indecency with an 11-year-old novice monk,
and a settlement of nearly $1 million
was recently approved in a lawsuit brought by the victim. The monks say
they're grateful the embarrassing and
costly episode is behind them while expressing doubts that the abuses
ever occurred.
"What we have to do is struggle, with God's grace, to live the monastic
life as best we can, and we leave the rest up
to God," said Father Pangratios, abbey spokesman.
While molestation was the most public offense, church records and sworn
depositions assembled for the civil case
also contain allegations of homosexuality, blasphemy, violence and
pot-smoking, as well as unabashed capitalism.
The documents offer a rare glimpse inside the renegade abbey, where
monks displayed unwavering loyalty to a
huckster-turned-holy man named Sam A. Greene Jr.
Greene, known as Father Benedict, still lives on the monastery property
despite pleading guilty to indecency. He
was sentenced to 10 years probation in 2000.
Father Pangratios, a follower of Greene for two decades, sees no
problem with the presence of a child molester.
"If he is guilty, he has admitted it publicly, and he is repenting of
it," he said. "That's what a monastery is all
about."
Greene still wears the black robes of a monk, but claims he no longer
wields any authority.
"Pray for me," said the portly convict as he shuffled up a ramp to his
double-wide trailer, leaning on a walker and
breathing heavily from an oxygen tank. He refused to answer any
questions for this report.
Lasting alliance
Greene, 57, first came into prominence as a real estate broker whose
catchy pitches filled San Antonio airwaves in
the 1970s.
Before that, he operated a home for wayward youths in Wilson County
called Galilee Boy's Ranch. It was there
that he forged a lasting alliance with a runaway teen named William E.
Hughes.
In 1972, the men formed a nonprofit corporation, Ecumenical Monks Inc.,
with Hughes as president and Greene as
secretary/treasurer. The corporation has served as their spiritual and
financial vehicle as they shifted affiliation
from one organized religion to another.
At the time they bought 105 acres outside of Blanco and opened Christ
of the Hills in 1981, they claimed to be
Eastern Orthodox Christians.
The modest monastery gained fame in 1985 when scented oil began
appearing beneath the eyes of a painting of the
Virgin Mary. More than 100,000 "pilgrims" trekked up the rutted dirt
road some years to witness what the hopeful
call a miracle but others dub a sham.
Drawing on Greene's business expertise, a sophisticated marketing
campaign was launched using fliers, billboards,
Web pages and solicitation letters.
As much as $750,000 a year in donations poured in for Ecumenical Monks
Inc., Internal Revenue Service records
show. And profits at the abbey gift shop regularly top $100,000 a year.
Donors received letters of thanks generated
by computer but designed to appear as personal responses that included
cotton wetted with icon "tears of myrrh."
But donations declined sharply after the scandal, with $185,373 netted
in 2000, the most recent tax records show.
Visitations are also down, said the monastery's official greeter,
80-year-old Wally Brown.
"It's coming back a little bit, but it's very slow, probably about 200
a week," said Brown, sitting in a chair in the
dusty parking lot.
The brotherhood
In 1991, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia admitted the
monastery as "a brotherhood" into its
Eastern Diocese. Greene, who'd been cultivating a relationship with the
church for years, won backing from
Archbishop Laurus of New York during a three-hour visit in 1990.
"They live without special comfort, very sparely, rather simply and
primitively," Laurus reported of the Blanco
monks. "At the same time, one senses in them a good disposition and the
desire for spiritual progress."
Hughes, who goes by Father Vasili, was appointed abbot of the
monastery's 18 monks. It now has eight monks,
including Greene.
Greene previously used the title of bishop, but the Russian church
refused to recognize his ordination, so they
named him the "spiritual leader" in Blanco. He initially charmed church
officials, records show, but he later came
into focus as a foul-mouthed taskmaster who ruled in Blanco with a mix
of tenderness and terror.
Other aspects of abbey life were worrisome even before it joined the
church. A priest who visited Blanco in 1990
advised superiors in New York that he was "rather cautious concerning
the authenticity of the icon."
And, his letter said, "There is far too much solicitation based upon
the icon and its alleged miracles."
The monks say nothing is done to make the icon "cry."
When serious problems later arose, the church found itself powerless to
enforce its will in Blanco because, unlike
its other abbeys, Greene's group had not given its property to the
church. The Russian church, which was accused
of negligence in the boy's lawsuit, severed relations with the
monastery in 1999.
The monks quickly joined a Ukrainian Orthodox Church based in Kiev,
said Hughes. But the abbey's Web site and
brochures still cite ties to its former New York church.
Crime and punishment
In June 1993, a rambunctious 8-year-old called "SSG" in court records
moved from Houston to the abbey, where
his parents had wed and he had been baptized. The boy had struggled in
school and she was single, his mother later
testified, so she turned to the monks for "one-on-one instruction and
some fathering."
Greene impressed her as "a very charismatic individual who had a warm
and open heart," said the woman, who
declined to be interviewed for this report. Ironically, Greene's
magnetism helped spawn his legal woes when he
lobbied those opposed to letting the boy stay at the abbey.
"Father Benedict, being the salesman that everybody talks about,
convinced us all that the kid needed help, and we
were stupid enough to go along," recalled Hughes, 51, last month. "It
turned everybody's life upside down the day
that boy arrived."
The Holy Angel School, now closed, opened under the direction of
Jonathan Hitt, known as "Father Jeremiah."
SSG donned the robes of a novice, a monk in training.
"He really wanted to become a novice," his mother later testified. "I
thought he was too young to make that
decision."
That view was shared by the Russian church, which later banned novices
under 18, and by Robert L. Nichols, a
history professor at St. Olaf's College in Minnesota.
"The whole thing sounds to me to be so irregular," said Nichols, an
authority on Orthodox churches in Russia. "It's
awfully strange to have an 8-year-old boy there."
That was just one aspect of monastic life in Blanco that Nichols found
troubling upon examining church records
for the Express-News.
"They don't even seem to behave as monks," he said.
'Elder house'
SSG sometimes stayed in a hillside trailer called the "elder house,"
with Hitt and Greene's mother, Carolyn. It was
there that Hitt climbed into the boy's bed and repeatedly kissed and
molested him starting in June 1997, the
youngster testified at Hitt's trial two years later.
"I felt it was really wrong, but I didn't say anything," the boy, now
16, told jurors. "I was scared."
The youth confided the abuse to no one, he testified, but Greene soon
called him to his trailer to discuss it. "He
said it was perfectly OK and not to tell anybody, especially my mom,"
he said.
Not only did the abuse by Hitt continue, the boy told authorities, but
Greene began summoning him to lie atop him
in bed and be groped. Sensing that her son was being "polarized"
against her, the woman withdrew him in late
1997. "I felt like he had been very brainwashed," she later testified.
SSG made his complaint one year later, after hearing kids at his new
school discuss homosexuality in a derogatory
manner. Hitt denied wrongdoing and called SSG a chronic liar at his
1999 trial in Johnson City, just north of the
abbey.
But jurors believed the boy and witnesses who testified that they saw
the two in bed. Hitt, now 41, was sentenced to
10 years on eight counts of indecency.
The monks saw the verdict as proof of their contention that a fair
trial was impossible in the county where they
had long complained of hostility and vandalism. Hughes says that's why
Greene agreed to the plea bargain that
netted him a sentence of 10 years deferred adjudication. That means his
record will be wiped clean if he completes
his probation.
Despite Greene's sworn admission in court that he molested SSG, Hughes
said, "I personally want to believe that it
did not happen.
"He's still here and we still love him, and that love for him will
never disappear."
The church investigates
The Blanco monks long professed absolute loyalty to the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, but they
repeatedly disobeyed church directives and stymied its attempts to
investigate them.
And while church leaders claim that the seriousness of problems in
Blanco weren't known until SSG spoke up,
records show they reacted slowly to clear signs of trouble.
Seven months before the first abuse of SSG, the church was warned that
the "abusive" atmosphere in Blanco was
cause for scandal.
That assessment came from Father Gregory, who spent three years at the
Blanco abbey after transferring there
from Milwaukee in 1993. In a Nov. 4, 1996, letter to a superior in New
York, he said Greene exhibited "two very
distinctive personalities."
"He can be a very sweet and loving grandfather-type, showering great
affection on those entrusted to his care,"
Father Gregory said. "And almost immediately, he could lose all control
and fly into a rage; becoming verbally
abusive and using a great deal of foul language to the point of
terrorizing those usually younger and weaker."
Child Protective Services should be called in to protect SSG, he
suggested.
Father Gregory also addressed the issue of spirituality, saying,
"Making money and work assignments seem to be
more important than the prayer life."
SSG's attorney, Larry Doherty, called the letter a "smoking gun" for
his 1999 suit against the New York church
and the monks. He sought $270 million in damages for SSG on the grounds
of negligence, fraud, assault and the
intentional infliction of distress.
Doherty called Christ of the Hills Monastery "a sham," and said of its
monks, "They talk the talk, but they don't
walk the walk."
He claims that Greene assumed the monastic lifestyle since it is
"conducive to his sexual preference." Citing his
right against self-incrimination, Greene refused to say during sworn
depositions if he is homosexual.
Hughes bristled at the "sham" label and blamed much of the monastery's
troubles on church politics.
"We are an Orthodox monastery and the higher, larger groups of
orthodoxy use their power to squelch the smaller
groups all the way down the line," Hughes said. "History proves that,
and that's what's going on now."
That scenario was dismissed by Professor Nichols.
"It seems to me that the Russian Orthodox Church was willing to sponsor
them, but then (the Blanco monks)
wouldn't accept any kind of discipline or supervision," Nichols said.
"You don't get to do whatever you want."
Beside the drugs and sexual allegations, which he called bizarre,
Nichols said the continued ownership of land by
Greene, the real estate license still held by Hughes, the commercialism
and the monastery's power structure are all
outside the norm.
"What struck me was that the person who seems to be running the show
there is Father Benedict, not the abbot,"
Nichols said.
Church officials reached the same conclusion during their
investigations of Blanco.
Greene, who served as a church ambassador of sorts, repeatedly eluded
direct questioning by claiming ill health,
records show.
And, to the end, he vigorously denied any wrongdoing in letters to
church leaders. He dismissed Father Gregory's
criticism as the work of a disobedient rumor monger, while touting his
value to the church in a land dispute in
Israel.
"With the assistance of then-president of the United States, George
Bush (who is a personal friend of mine) ... I
was successful in receiving the assurances from the highest elected
official in Israel that the status quo regarding
our properties in Jerusalem would be maintained," Greene wrote to
officials in the church.
First victim?
SSG was the first to get Greene into court on sex abuse charges, but
records show he wasn't alone in making such
an allegation.
Decades earlier, Hughes accused Greene of improper sexual conduct with
him at the boys ranch. He now says that
he concocted a false charge out of anger, drugs and peer pressure. But
the account, reflected in the deposition of a
Wilson County constable taken after SSG's case arose, still dogs
Greene.
And Hughes' claim that he never had sexual relations with Greene is
called into question by a man who says he
also was at the boys ranch at the time. In a sworn statement dated June
1, 1999, Anthony F. Cortez said he once
interrupted Hughes and Greene as they engaged in sex at the ranch in
the early 1970s.
Cortez also claimed that Greene gave him drugs and made unwelcome
advances.
"It really screwed up my life," Cortez said. "I'm sure there were many
other kids who's life (sic) were messed up
due to Sam Greene's sickness."
More recently, a second novice at Christ of the Hills shared troubling
accusations against Greene with Russian
church officials. The youth, who spent a year in Blanco, described
regular sessions in 1998 where select monks
gathered to smoke pot and listen as Greene heard confessions over a
speaker phone.
"Father Benedict would ask the priests and the monks to give a kiss to
one of the other monks," the youth said.
"When this came to me, I would turn away, and I was told that I was
homophobic."
Greene's response to the accusation ? a mixture of indignation and
remorse was typical of the Blanco monks'
replies to inquiries by church leaders.
"While the preposterous charges and innuendo contained in this letter
are utterly false, malicious and with no
merit whatsoever, at the same time I must repent and beg forgiveness
for my sins," Greene wrote.
Hughes also flatly dismissed the boy's account.
"I don't think any minors here are, or ever will be, in danger of
anything immoral or illegal," said Hughes, who
signed off by saying, "I am a worm and not a man. I am guilty of all
these kinds of sins and more."
Tensions escalated in June 1998 when two priests dispatched by church
officials in New York were turned away
because the Blanco monks objected to talking to married clergy. But
sordid allegations shared with the priests by
locals, including claims by monks that Greene is clairvoyant, set off
alarm bells.
"To be frank," one priest reported to his superiors, "(Greene) has all
the qualities of a cult leader and has
spiritually damaged many innocent people and may continue to be a
scandal to our church."
The church suspended Hitt and Greene in late 1998, but efforts to
install new leaders in Blanco were rebuffed. The
bishops then voted to dissolve the monastery, but attempts to reassign
the monks met with flat refusal in May
1999.
Not the only crime
Law officers say that the molestation of SSG wasn't the only serious
crime committed at the elder house in 1997.
A caretaker for the late Carolyn Greene reported finding bruises that
March around the ailing woman's breasts
and vagina, said Blanco County Sheriff Bill Elsbury. The sexual assault
complaint was validated by the Texas
Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
An agency investigator who questioned the monks reported finding the
Beatles' hit "Let It Be" on his voice mail
upon returning to his office in San Marcos. Elsbury said the case was
closed, in large part, because of the stabbing
death of a crucial witness, caretaker Joyce Mulvey, in May 1997.
The 80-year-old victim was unable to name her attacker due to mental
incompetence, officials said.
James Tenney, Mulvey's husband, was convicted of murdering her at their
home. He was sentenced to 65 years.
Tenney had been a familiar face at the abbey, where he was the
handyman.
The settlement
An agreed judgment for $912,500 was entered by the parties to SSG's
lawsuit Dec. 13 in state district court in
Travis County, where the case was awaiting trial. The victim received
$500,000 under the settlement, with
$412,500 going for his legal services and related expenses. Court
records don't reflect the individual obligations of
the defendants ? the monastery, Ecumenical Monks Inc., the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Greene,
Hitt and Hughes.
The church's insurance carrier paid the full amount after a court
dismissed its argument that the damages weren't
covered by its policy written in New York, said Richard Jacobs,
attorney for the Russian bishops. The insurers are
appealing that decision.
Jacobs said church leaders were confident they could convince a jury
that Greene, whom he termed "a hustler,"
had misled them about activities in Blanco. But rather than risk a
large award at trial, he said the church settled for
what was a nominal amount compared to the $40 million requested by
SSG's lawyer in mediation.
Hughes admits that pot-smoking and other indiscretions occurred at the
abbey, but he denied any knowledge of
sexual misconduct by monks. He said being sued made the monks realize
"that there were a lot of things that we
really did need to change, and those things have been changed to the
best that everybody can."
Still, Hughes said, the scandal unfairly tainted everyone there and
nearly bankrupted the abbey, which paid out
more than $130,000 in legal fees.
But the unsavory affair hasn't deterred "pilgrims" such as Richard
Jaimes from seeking miracles and spiritual
solace at the abbey.
"I'm aware of it, but my faith is intact," said the 80-year-old San
Antonian. "I wouldn't blame the whole religion.
We're all sinners."
He visited the weeping icon with his sister-in-law from Dallas ? who
hasn't spoken since suffering a stroke three
years ago ? in hopes that it would restore her voice.
"One thing's for sure," Jaimes said, "it can't hurt."
Cotton balls below the so-called weeping icon soak up "tears of myrrh."
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of
Russia recognized the monastery, although a visiting priest said he was
"rather cautious concerning the
authenticity of the icon." Another said, "Making money and work
assignments seem to be more important than
the prayer life."
The views expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily
represent the views of Orthodox Christian News Service, Inc.
Copyright © 1999, 2000 Orthodox Christian News
Service, Inc. All rights reserved.
Story content is Copyright the various content
owners.
Nevzat Akdemir
RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS
Monitoring news media reports about religion in Russia and other
countries of former USSR
Copyrighted material. For private use only.
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Archive of News Items
Metropolitan threatens "freeze" in relations with Vatican
HOLY SYNOD TO MAKE OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO VATICAN'S ACTIONS
Religiia v Rossii, 12 February 2002
On 12 February a session of the Holy Synod will be held in Moscow in
connection with the Vatican's decision on
"elevating the apostolic administrations for Catholics of the Latin Rite
in Russia to the dignity of dioceses." This was
announced to a reporter from Strana.ru at the Department for External
Church Relations of the Moscow
patriarchate.
Meanwhich, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations
of the Moscow patriarchate,
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, commented on the
"Vesti" program about the decision of the
Vatican to change its structures on Russian territory that "most likely
all contacts between the Russian Orthodox
church and the Vatican will be termporarily suspended," ITAR-TASS
reports.
The metropolitan said that the actions of the Roman Catholic church
"will have most negative consequences
between RPTs and the Vatican." "This decision strikes a blow at the
barely noticeable improvement of relations
between our churches," Metropolitan Kirill emphasized. "Now we need a
bit of a time-out in order to grasp what is
happening, because we don't have anything to say about it," he said.
(tr. by PDS, posted 12 February 2002)
ORTHODOX ANGRY AT VATICAN'S PLANS FOR DIOCESES IN RUSSIA;
by John Daniszewski,
Los Angeles Time, 12 February 2002
The Vatican announced Monday that it will establish four formal dioceses
within Russia, touching a theological nerve
and sparking a round of condemnations from the Russian Orthodox Church,
which accused the Roman Catholics of
violating its "canonical territory."
The decision may prompt a temporary freeze in relations between the two
churches, said Metropolitan Kirill,
chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church's external relations commission.
He said it was "absolutely clear that the decision has dealt a blow to
the improvement of the relationships between
our churches that had just started to take shape."
Catholic emissaries had privately informed the Orthodox patriarchy of
the plan Friday, but the decision to form
dioceses in place of "apostolic administrations" established by the
church during Soviet times was formally
announced Monday. At the Vatican, church spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls
said the move was prompted by "the
need to improve the pastoral assistance to the Catholics present in that
vast region, as they have insistently
requested."
"Today's decision of the Holy See to raise the apostolic administrations
[in Russia] to the level of proper dioceses is
just bringing the structure of the Catholic Church in Russia back to
normal. Nothing else," said Archbishop Tadeusz
Kondrusiewicz, the Catholic apostolic administrator in Moscow.
An Infringement of the Orthodox View
An estimated 1.3 million Catholics live in Russia, according to the
Vatican, but Kondrusiewicz put the figure at about
500,000 within Russia's population of 144 million.
Most Catholics in Russia are of German, Polish, Lithuanian or
Belarussian descent; some in Siberia descended from
political exiles in czarist and Soviet times. A smattering of foreign
Catholics, including Filipinos, Koreans and
Africans, work or study in Russia.
But for the Orthodox hierarchy, the establishment of dioceses is an
infringement of its view of Russia as its own
"canonical territory." From the Orthodox perspective, there cannot be
dual spiritual authorities in a given place.
"If in the past there was only some moderate presence of the Catholic
Church in Russia, then starting today there in
fact is an alternative church here, a new church," said Archpriest
Vsevolod Chaplin, an Orthodox spokesman. "Our
attitude toward this move is exactly the same as the Catholics would
have to us appointing an alternative pope of
Rome."
Kondrusiewicz pointed out that the Vatican has been amenable to Orthodox
dioceses being established in
predominantly Catholic countries.
"Take Poland, for instance," he said. "I cannot say exactly how many
[Orthodox] dioceses there are now today, but
there are about half a dozen."
Even though only about 200 Catholic parishes are scattered across
Russia, compared with well over 10,000 Orthodox
communities, the Orthodox fear that the Catholic Church intends to
recruit new members.
A range of sharp disagreements between the two churches has prevented
Pope John Paul II, 81 and ailing, from
fulfilling an often expressed wish to pay an ecumenical visit to Russia
during his papacy. The Russian Orthodox
patriarch, Alexy II, has refused to issue an invitation and protested
last year when John Paul dared to visit Ukraine
and Kazakhstan without the Orthodox church's consent.
President Vladimir V. Putin said last month that he would host the pope
if the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox
Church ever managed to resolve their disputes, but Orthodox leaders say
that is increasingly unlikely.
Historical Distrust Seen as One Root of the Rift
Geraldine Fagan, a correspondent in Moscow for the Britain-based Keston
Institute, which monitors religious
freedom in the former Soviet Union, said the two churches' rift is
fraught with historical distrust.
For one thing, she said, the Russian Orthodox Church considers all
Russians part of its flock, whether or not they
espouse a belief in God or attend church regularly. Any contact between
Russians and the Catholic Church,
therefore, is considered proselytism.
Another friction has been the rapid resurgence of the Catholic Church in
Ukraine. Since the fall of communism 10
years ago, the Eastern-rite, Greco-Catholic Church has been reclaiming
believers, churches and property that had
fallen into the hands of the pro-Moscow Orthodox church in western
Ukraine after that region came under Soviet
control during World War II. To the Catholics, it is a correction of a
historical injustice; to the Russian patriarch, it
amounts to Catholic expansion.
Decision Seen as One More Insult
A religious affairs expert with the patriarch's publishing house said
that, for the Orthodox, Monday's announcement
was one more insult by the West against Russia.
"The way the Catholic Church acted falls in line with the traditionally
harsh policies of the Vatican toward the
Russian Orthodox," said the expert, who asked not to be identified.
The animosities reach back centuries, Fagan said.
"It sounds almost ridiculous, but if you talk to those Russian Orthodox
who are virulently anti-Catholic, if you ask
them why, within a couple of minutes they will be telling you about the
Crusades of 1204. They are not looking at
today, at the modern world--they immediately go back to the Middle
Ages." (Copyright 2002 / Los Angeles Times,
posted 12 February 2002)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Pope creates Catholic dioceses in Russia; angers Orthodox
VATICAN NEGATES "SISTERLY LOVE" POLICY BY ACTIONS
Religiia v Rossii, 11 February 2002
Despite protests on the part of the Russian Orthodox church, on 11
February the Vatican formalized its presence on
Russian territory in the form of full-fledged Catholic dioceses, that
is, it elevated the status of its presence in the
country. After a mass that was completed at 1200 local time (1400 Moscow
time) Pope John Paul II himself made the
announcement about the "creation in Russia of a 'church province' of the
Roman Catholic church."
Before that moment the Catholic church was represented in Russia by four
apostolic administrators in the south and
north of the European part of Russia, as well as in western and eastern
Siberia. According to Vatican assertions, this
form of presence "is selected in countries where historically there have
developed unpropitious circumstances for the
functioning of the Catholic church, and it is viewed as a transitional
stage in advance of the formation of full-fledged
dioceses." What the creation of Catholic dioceses on the canonical
territory of the Russian Orthodox church means
was reported to Strana.ru by a representative of the Department of
Inter-Christian Relations of the Moscow
patriarchate, Archpriest Andrei Eliseev. "The issue is the elevation of
the status of the presence of the Catholic
church in Russia, since having administrators is a kind of direction of
operations that does not officially aim at
converting the Orthodox population to Catholicism, but only providing
spiritual nurture for those people who already
have embraced Catholicism or are foreigners," Fr Andrei reported.
The representative of the Department on Inter-Christian Relations of MP
noted: "The creation of dioceses says that
the Catholic church has changed the direction of its actions and is
practically declaring its missionary interests in
Russia."
The Russian Orthodox church adheres to the canonical arrangement within
its own church, that is, the canonical
subdivision of territories. "Historically it has developed that the
Orthodox church is the church of the majority in
Russia, and thus the presence of another church, for example, the
Catholic, with its own dioceses and administrative
division, which in their essence duplicate the dioceses of the Russian
Orthodox church, is impermissible, especially in
light of that warming of relations that had taken place in the last
thirty years between Orthodox and Catholics,"
Archpriest Andrei Eliseev noted. "The Russian Orthodox church does not
have dioceses in other countries. There
are bishops who administer parishes on certain territories, but they do
not identify themselves by the names of the
territory and they retain the title of a Russian diocese. In this case,
the issue is that the dioceses will be named
according to local designations."
Such actions by the Catholic church must be viewed as a veiled pretense
for missionary activity, that is, activity
directed to the conversion of Russian citizens to Catholicism,
regardless of what denomination they belong to. As
the representative of the Moscow patriarchate noted: "Creation of
dioceses is an unprecedented act because even in
imperial Russia there were twelve Catholic dioceses on the territory of
the whole empire, but the greater part of them
were located in western regions of the country, that is, on territory
belonging now to Poland or connected to Ukraine
and Belorussia.
Since now the Catholic church extends into the area of central Russia
and even eastern and western Siberia, that says
that it clearly does not have the goal of nurture of Polish Catholics or
other foreigners residing in Russia. This is
blatant missionary intent aimed at the Russian population." (tr. by PDS,
posted 11 February 2002)
VATICAN PLAN IRKS ORTHODOX CHURCH
by Philip Pullella
Reuters, 10 February 2002
The Vatican plans to formalize its presence in Russia into full-fledged
Catholic dioceses, a move that has irritated the
Russian Orthodox Church and may delay an eventual visit by the pope to
Moscow.
The plan, which Vatican sources said Saturday is expected to be
disclosed officially soon, has already been rejected by
the Russian Orthodox Church, whose consent would be crucial for any
papal trip.
The plans call for the Vatican to transform its current four "apostolic
administrations" into dioceses.
The Vatican uses apostolic administrations in countries where situations
for the Catholic Church are difficult for
historic reasons. They are considered a stop-gap measure.
Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Vatican had apostolic
administrations in a number of countries in Eastern
Europe, but they were later upgraded to dioceses, which are a more
permanent and formal form of representation.
In Russia, the Vatican has four apostolic administrations -- Southern
European Russia, Northern European Russia,
Western Siberia and Eastern Siberia.
The Roman Catholic Church around the world has 2,846 dioceses,
archdioceses, patriarchates and other territorial
groups, as opposed to only 13 apostolic administrations.
The Russian Orthodox Church, which has had sometimes icy relations with
the Vatican since the fall of communism
in 1989, has already said no.
On its web site, the Orthodox Church said one of its archbishops had
received the Vatican's ambassador to Russia,
Archbishop Giorgio Zur, last Wednesday.
While the statement made no specific reference to dioceses, it said Zur
told the Russians of steps "the Vatican plans
to take to change fundamentally the canonical order of the Catholic
Church in Russia."
It slammed Vatican plans as "violations of the canonical principles and
norms of inter-church relations" and warned
that if the Vatican went ahead, it would constitute "serious obstacles
for the development of dialogue between the two
churches."
For the past 12 years, the Russian Orthodox Church has accused Catholics
of using their new-found freedom and
legal status to poach believers.
The Vatican has denied this, but there have lingering problems
concerning the restitution of Catholic property
confiscated from the Catholics during Stalinism and given to the Russian
Orthodox Church.
In places such as Ukraine, disputes between Catholic and Orthodox
believers have spilled over into violence over
repossession of churches and other buildings.
The pope, 81 and in frail health, has made no secret of his desire to
visit Moscow to push for unity between the
western and eastern branches of Christianity, which split in 1054.
President Vladimir Putin favors a papal visit and is said to have been
putting pressure on Patriarch Alexy II to
consent to such a visit.
But Alexy has refused to even meet the pope until an end to what he has
called Catholic attempts to seek converts in
Russia and other Orthodox states in the former Soviet Union.
VATICAN STRENGTHENS CATHOLIC CHURCH IN RUSSIA DESPITE PROTESTS
Agence France Presse, 11 February 2002
Pope John Paul II announced on Monday the Roman Catholic Church was
strengthening its presence in Russia,
triggering a swift protest from the country's Orthodox Church.
The Vatican said it was creating four permanent dioceses, covering the
whole of Russian territory, adding that it
hoped the change would help heal the 1,000-year schism with the Orthodox
church there.
But the Moscow patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox church accused the
Catholic church of seeking new recruits
and warned the move would "complicate" talks between senior Orthodox and
Catholic officials due to take place in
Moscow later this month.
Relations are tense between the Holy See and Moscow patriarchate, which
accuses Catholic priests of proselytising in
the Orthodox heartlands of Russia and Ukraine. The Vatican said the
restructuring involved elevating Russia's four
Catholic administrative districts -- the north and south of European
Russia and the west and east of Siberia -- to
full-fledged dioceses.
"(The Vatican) hopes, thanks to this new organisation, to improve
dialogue and collaboration with the Russian
Orthodox Church, which it has never stopped supporting," spokesman
Joaquin Navarro-Valls explained.
Navarro-Valls said the creation of full dioceses -- in Moscow, Saratov,
Novosibirsk and Irkutsk -- was "a normal
administrative move triggered by the need to improve pastoral care for
Catholics in this vast region, who have
insistently requested it".
Apostolic administrations were temporary structures and it was normal
for them to be transformed over time into
permanent dioceses, he said, adding that the Russian government had not
opposed the upgrade.
He said the change was "motivated by the same pastoral concerns that led
the Russian Orthodox Church to create
dioceses and other organisational structures for members of its own
faithful living outside its traditional territory".
But Igor Vyzhanov, a spokesman for the patriarchate's office for
relations with other churches, said the move was
"an attempt by a certain wing of the Catholic church to pursue its
missionary work" in Russia.
"(It) is based on the assumption that the Catholic communities in Russia
will continue to grow and develop,"
Vyzhanov told Moscow Echo radio. He said there were only a small number
of Catholics in Russia. "To create such
powerful, exhaustive structures for them is beyond understanding," he
added.
Retorting on Monday, the Vatican said its new recruits had not been
poached from the Orthodox Church. In any
case, it added, "the Church's missionary duty cannot be classed as
proselytism".
The Holy See said it had consistently supported the Orthodox Church,
notably through Catholic organisations that
have donated some 17 million dollars (about 19 million euros) to it over
the last 10 years.
It said there had been 1.65 million Catholics in Russia in the 1920s,
before the faith was banned by Josef Stalin in
1946. The ban was lifted in 1989, two years before the collapse of the
Soviet Union, and the Vatican said there were
probably around 1.3 million Catholics in Russia now, contesting Russian
figures that put the number of Catholics
there at only 500,000.
Either way Catholics represent a tiny minority of the country's 145
million citizens, the majority of whom considers
themselves Orthodox.
The creation of the four dioceses comes less than two weeks before the
Vatican official in charge of relations with
other Christian Churches, German Cardinal Walter Kasper, is due to hold
talks with Orthodox Patriarch Alexis II on
healing the long-standing religious rift.
Vatican ecumenical sources believe Kasper, who will visit Russia on
February 21 and 22, could try to convince Alexis
II to consent to the first papal visit to Russia, something which one
described as a "mission impossible" given the
fractious relations between the Churches.
The 81-year-old pope made a controversial visit to Ukraine last June to
call for "reconciliation and unity" and has
made no secret of his wish to go to Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 1 he would welcome a
papal visit.
"But the pope, if he comes to Moscow, wants the visit to be an important
event, a breakthrough in relations with the
Russian Orthodox Church. Unfortunately this does not depend on me,"
Putin said. (Copyright 2002 Agence France
Presse, posted 11 February 2002)
RUSSIA SAYS VATICAN'S NEW DIOCESES ARE "MISSIONARY PLOY"
Agence France Presse, 11 February 2002
The Russian Orthodox church described as an "unfriendly act" Monday a
Vatican decision to strengthen its presence
in Russia and accused the Roman Catholic church of seeking converts in
Russia.
The Vatican announced earlier in the day that it was creating four
permanent dioceses covering the whole of Russian
territory, adding that it hoped the change would help heal the
1,000-year schism with the Orthodox church there.
But a spokesman for the patriarchate's office for relations with other
churches told Moscow Echo radio the move was
"an attempt by a certain wing of the Catholic Church to pursue its
missionary work" in Russia. Spokesman Igor
Vyzhanov said the Moscow patriarchate viewed the move as an "unfriendly
act ... that does not take into account the
Russian Church's interests."
Such decisions "should be discussed by the churches instead of being
taken unilaterally," he said, warning that the
Vatican's announcement would "complicate" talks between Orthodox and
Catholic officials scheduled for Moscow
later this month.
The establishment of Catholic dioceses on Russian territory pushes back
the possiblility of a meeting between
Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II and Pope John Paul II, he added, referring
to the pope's long-proclaimed desire to visit
Moscow.
"The development of a full-scale structure of the Catholic church in
Russia does not conform to the genuine clerical
needs of the Vatican. It aims at further missionary activities among the
people of our country, which has never been
Catholic," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
The Holy See announced on Monday it was elevating the four Catholic
administrations in Russia to the status of
fully-fledged dioceses.
The four are based in Moscow (covering northern European Russia),
Saratov (covering southern European Russia),
Novosibirsk (covering western Siberia) and Irkutsk (covering eastern
Siberia).
Vyzhanov disputed the current estimate that there are between 500,000
and 600,000 Catholics living in Russia.
"There are not as many Catholics in Russia as that and to create such
powerful, exhaustive structures for them is
beyond understanding."
Moreover, he added, there were "no territories in Russia where Catholics
form a compact population, as in Lithuania
or western Belarus and western Ukraine".
The decision to restructure the Catholic church's administration was
"based on the assumption that the Catholic
communities in Russia will continue to grow and develop", Vyzhanov said.
(Copyright 2002 Agence France Presse,
posted 11 February 2002)
VATICAN CREATES DIOCESES IN RUSSIA; ORTHODOX CHURCH DENOUNCES THE MOVE
Associated Press, 11 February 2002
The Vatican said Monday it has set up dioceses in Russia, raising the
profile of the Roman Catholic Church in that
country but triggering a rebuke from the Russian Orthodox church.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls described the creation of four
dioceses in Russia as normal administration
prompted by "the need to improve the pastoral assistance to the
Catholics present in that vast region, as they have
insistently requested."
"With today's decision the Holy See has done nothing but equate the
organization of the Catholic community in
Russia with that present in other parts of the world, as foreseen by
church law," Navarro-Valls said. He said the
Russian government had not made any objections.
But the Russian Orthodox church in Moscow said the Vatican's decision to
formalize its presence in Russia by
elevating its "apostolic administrations" into full-fledged dioceses was
an attempt to encroach on the Russian
Orthodox Church's traditional territory.
"The dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic
Church is facing extremely serious
difficulties that are the Vatican's fault," Russian Orthodox Church
spokesman Viktor Malukhin said.
After the Vatican's move, "the possibility of Pope John Paul II's trip
to Russia has become even more hypothetical,"
Malukhin told The Associated Press.
Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, the chief Roman Catholic Church
representative in Russia, said there are about
600,000 Catholics in Russia today, in 212 parishes with nearly 300
smaller unregistered communities. Some 275
priests, mostly foreigners, serve the parishes. About 15 percent of the
priests are Russian, he said.
In announcing the new dioceses, Navarro-Vallis said the Orthodox church
in Russia has always done the same for
Russian Orthodox who live in the West, namely, set up dioceses.
"The Catholic church hopes, thanks as well to its new reorganization, to
be able to improve dialogue and
collaboration with the Russian Orthodox church," the Vatican spokesman
said.
The Orthodox in Russia accuse the Catholics of aggressively trying to
win converts in the years following the fall of
Soviet bloc communism that ended repression of the Catholic church.
Catholics there in turn have been battling to win back buildings and
other property that went to the Orthodox under
communism.
Last month, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II,
said he would not meet with the pope if he
comes to Russia because of alleged proselytizing by Catholics.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he would be eager to
invite John Paul to Russia if the Vatican and the
Russian Orthodox Church could patch up their differences.
About two-thirds of Russia's 144 million people consider themselves
Orthodox believers, though only about 2
percent attend church regularly, according to Britain's Keston
Institute, which monitors religious issues in the
former Soviet Union. The Russian Orthodox Church itself does not release
figures on its followers. (Copyright
Associated Press, posted 11 February 2002)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Alternative Orthodox leader on trial
AUTONOMOUS METROPOLITAN CHARGED WITH LOVING CHILDREN
by Elena Rostova
Kommersant-Daily, 8 February 2002
Recorded on videotape
Yesterday in Suzdal district court began the review of the case of the
chairman of the bishops' council of the Russian
Orthodox Autonomous church (RPATs), Metropolitan Valentin of Vladimir
and Suzdal (secular name, Anatoly
Rusantsov), about whose activity Kommersant-Daily has already often
written. The metropolitan is accused of
corrupting minors and forcing them to perform acts of a sexual nature.
The accusation on three articles of the criminal code of RF was
preferred against Fr Valentin in a criminal case
begun last spring involving incidents of perverting minors in the Suzdal
parishes of RPATs. The clergyman was
charged with forced actions of a sexual nature (art. 132), compelling
actions of a sexual nature (art. 133) and
enticement of a minor to commit antisocial actions (art. 151). The
accusation entails six episodes, five of which are
forced sodomy of minors and one of which is enticement of a minor to
drunkenness.
By ten o'clock yesterday morning approximately 200 followers of the
clergyman had assembled around the district
court building, including almost all of the Suzdal clergy of the
autonomous church. Across from the demonstrators
who were holding placards in support of Fr Valentin fifteen policemen
lined up, greeting passersby with slight grins.
However in each case one of the law enforcement officers was holding a
police dog and police vehicles stopped traffic
along the street on which the district court is located. By the
beginning of the session the defendant himself arrived
in a jeep, blessed the flock, and went into the court.
The demonstrators conducted themselves quite peacefully and soon began
singing prayers. The sweet sounds of the
music spread far away, since this was the day Orthodox believers observe
the feast of the icon of the "Soothe my
sorrows" Mother of God. This amazing spectacle, almost a prayer service
taking place on the steps of the district
courthouse, was observed by a small number of passersby and patients of
the district clinic located next door.
However about a half hour later workers of the court asked the
parishioners to sing more quietly or, better, quit
altogether. The elderly women who constituted the majority of the
demonstrators went to warm themselves on the
first story of the courthouse; nobody besides the trial participants was
allowed into the session itself, which was
declared closed.
At the same time there occurred on the street an extraordinary incident;
the secretary of the synod of RPATs, Fr
Arkady, discovered that some ill-wishers had punctured two tires on his
auto VAZ-2104. Police officers began
writing up a report and the public undertook to accuse opponents of
Metropolitan Valentin, one of the most famous
people of Suzdal. In the spring of 1990, when he was rector of the
church of Emperor Constantine in Suzdal, he tried
to run for deputy on the city council, but he did not get the blessing
of the Moscow patriarchate for this. Soon he was
received into the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
(ROCOR), and a year later became the
ROCOR bishop of Suzdal, which signified his complete break with the
Moscow patriarchate. In the RPATs that he
heads there are around sixty parishes in Russia, the republics of the
former USSR, Great Britain, and USA. In Suzdal
district alone 21 churches belong to RPATs.
The hierarch's unpleasantness began in the summer of last year. One of
the former priests of his church, Andrei
Osterov, accused his chief of abhorrent sins and even made a short video
on this matter. On the tape he presented to
the prosecutor, testimony against the metropolitan was given by minors
whom the clergyman supposedly forced to
commit sexual acts. Many of them, however, subsequently renounced their
words. Nevertheless investigators of the
Vladimir prosecutor's office decided that the Rusantsov case fully
merited taking him to court. The metropolitan
himself, as before, insists that he is a victim of slander and he does
not admit any guilt.
Yesterday's court session lasted all day. Kommersant-Daily will follow
the course of the trial. (tr. by PDS, posted 8
February 2002)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Mixed results for conscientious objectors in FSU
LATVIAN DRAFTEES HAVE GOOD ALTERNATIVE
by Alexander Ushakov
Kommersant-Daily, 7 February 2002
Yesterday the government of Latvia approved the draft law "On
alternative service." Latvian draftees now will
receive the right to work for the good of the country instead of two
years of military service. For this they even are
promised pay of almost $100 a month.
This is not the first time that alternative service has been introduced
in Latvia. At the very beginning of the 1990s
for a short time a resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR
was in effect, which permitted young people of
draft age to refuse service in the army. In such a case they were
supposed to work as drivers of public transportation,
janitors, or medics. However after Latvia became independent, the
liberal decision was rescinded. Since the country
wanted to join NATO, it needed its own army.
The Latvian government has returned to the alternative service question
only now. Yesterday the government of the
country approved the draft of the law which, in the words of its
authors, should determine the procedure of
performing alternative service and provide the freedoms guaranteed by
the constitution. A conscript has the right
not to bear arms for religious, pacifist, or other convictions, which
pertain to the order of basic rights of residents of a
democratic state. The only thing that a young person who does not wish
to serve in the army has to do is announce
his choice to the draft commission. At the same time, the conscientious
objector has the right at any time to transfer
into the military service.
It is proposed that the length of alternative service be 24 months, that
is, twice that of ordinary service in the army.
An exception is made for graduates of higher educational institutions
with a bachelor's degree; they would serve 18
months. People with master's degrees are not drafted into the army at
all in Latvia. Also exempt from alternative
service are those recognized as unfit for ordinary military service.
Subsequently the government will have to establish a list of
institutions in which conscientious objectors will be able
to work. The law specifies that these can be state or municipal
institutions or commercial societies that are engaged
in fire fighting, rescue work, social protection, medical care, or
customs matters. One can perform alternative service
while living at home.
The draft law specifically addresses financial support: the
conscientious objectors will receive a minimum of 60
Latvias (almost $100) in addition to medical services and social
insurance.
After approval by the government, the draft has to be confirmed by the
Sejm of Latvia and it is not likely that it will
evoke strong opposition among deputies. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 February
2002)
ARMY TIRED OF GOING TO COURT
by Sergei Sorokin, chairman "Movement against violence"
Vremia novostei, 4 February 2002
A clarification in the courts of relations between military committees
and young people who requested alternatives to
service in the army began soon after the appearance of such a juridical
standard in state documents. The right to
alternative civilian service was affirmed in November 1991 in the
Russian Declaration of the Rights of the Individual
and Citizen. In April 1992 this was included in the old constitution of
the country, and this standard was emphasized
in the new constitution from the very beginning.
The case of Alexander Pronozin came first. In January 1992 the Chertanov
district court indicted him but the city
court did not find the young man a malicious "objector." In 1995 the
military won a review of the case and won the
case. Alexander did not wind up in the army only because by this time he
had been found unfit for service because of
his vision.
The second milestone was connected with the anarchist Alexander
Cherniav; for two years he ran from the military
committee and then he surrendered and submitted an application for
alternative service. In 1993 the Timiriazev
court acquitted him. A Jehovah's Witness, Pavel Nudel, at the very same
time, in a different district of Moscow,
Cheremushka, was found guilty of refusing to serve and received a year's
probation. Then Alexander Chizhikov
received a real prison term; he became the first to wind up behind bars
as a "conscientious objector." He was joined
by another young man requesting to substitute alternative service for
military service, Oleg Ostashkin, who would
certainly have had to serve his full sentence. But the reaction to his
case from abroad helped him. In the spring of
1993 an international conference in defense of human rights was held in
Vienna, at which both were declared
prisoners of conscience. Soon after this the Moscow city court reviewed
the two cases, and the young people were
released. Prominent trials were held constantly not only in Moscow. For
example, thanks to the support of the public,
in 1996 in Notinsk Vadim Gesse was acquitted.
In May 1996 a significant event occurred: the constitutional court
rendered a decision in one of the provincial cases
where it was again stressed that the constitution, providing the right
of alternative service, was superior to other laws
in which the possibility of alternative service was not provided. Thus
all subsequent court cases and indictments
seemed simply absurd. Many judges and official understand this;
practically all sentences were then rescinded by
courts of a higher instance. For example, the case of Dmitry Neverovsky
was widely known, who was indicted in
October 1999 and put into prison but then acquitted. Now in Moscow the
case of Yury Lebedev has been
"suspended;" the Cheremushka district court sentenced him to a fine in
October 2001, the city court vacated the
sentence and completely acquitted the young man, but for some reason it
did not issue its decision.
However the request for alternative service has not always ended in a
court case. Practice shows that from the start
military committees have tried to break a man with shouts and threats.
If the conscript insists on his rights and is
ready to present cogent proofs of his convictions and demonstrates
readiness to appeal to higher instances, district
military committees often prefer not to get involved and the simply
recognize the young man unfit by reason of state
of health. Thus there is less confusion and the statistics have not
declined. For instance, my son signed a declaration
for alternative civilian service last year. This fall they found he had
scoliosis. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 February 2002)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Kazakhstan cracks down on nontraditional religions
KAZAKHSTAN PARLIAMENT AMENDS RELIGIOUS LEGISLATION
Nezavisimaia gazeta, 4 February 2002
The upper house of the parliament of Kazakhstan adopted amendments in
the legislative acts on matters of freedom
of religious confession directed to the prevention of interconfessional
conflicts. The changes were also intended to
strengthen the control functions of the state and the regulation of
activity of nontraditional religious confessions.
More than 2,500 religious associations are active in the republic
representing more than 40 confessions. In particular,
Islam is represented in the republic by 1282 associations; Russian
Orthodox church, 233; Evangelical
Christians-Baptists, 269; Roman Catholic church, 68; Seventh Day
Adventists, 68; Jehovah's Witnesses, 108; and
new groupings, 167. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 February 2002)
related Keston report "Controversial religion law goes to president"
Russia Religion News Current News Items
If material is quoted, please give credit to the publication from which
it came.
It is not necessary to credit this Web page. If material is transmitted
electronically, please include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.
Nevzat Akdemir
NICOSIA - The Greek Orthodox Church here is wobbling to its very
foundations amid accusations of monks
sexually harassing nuns, the downfall of a bishop allegedly involved in
financial scams across the globe and priests
ditching their robes for Eastern European night club strippers.
Widely credited with preserving the Greek Cypriot community during the
dominance of numerous conquerors over
the centuries, the institution, an independent branch of the Eastern
Orthodox Church, is now the butt of crude jokes.
Onlookers say the mud-slinging is a feud pitting the "old order" of
bishops running the church like a personal
business against monks from a strait-laced order based in Greece whose
influence in Cyprus has grown over the
years.
The Church is reeling from claims that Elder Monk Paisios, from the
monastic commune of Mount Athos in
northern Greece sexually harassed nuns while he was in Cyprus 17 years
ago. The charges are being leveled by the
bishop of the western region of Paphos, a cleric powerful in his own
right and said to have significant sway over the
island's chief bishop, Chrysostomos, nicknamed "Tommis," who has ruled
the church since 1977. The Paphos bishop,
also named Chrysostomos, claims the monk made sexual advances in a
convent and sent a love letter to a nun in
which he professes his desire to spend the night with her. Excerpts of
the letter appeared in daily newspapers.
In the second official probe this year, sparing him the humiliation of
being defrocked, the Church last month
accepted the resignation of Chrysanthos, a long-time bishop of Limassol
for involvement in more than a dozen
cases of corruption. He was catapulted into the headlines by disclosures
that British police wanted to question him in
a fraud inquiry. The inquiry, which is continuing, centers on claims
Chrysanthos was behind a scheme offering
investors unrealistically high returns on their investments. The Church,
which carried out an inquiry of its own, also
accused him of damaging relations with Russia's Orthodox Church. It is a
widely held belief that behind the dispute
are attempts to control the Church, an institution with businesses
ranging from industry to broadcasting and real
estate worth millions. The Church acquired most of its wealth through
public donations by the rich but also from
peasants in bygone eras, but it now lacks the respect of many people and
critics see it as arrogant.
In Oct., Fr. Papayiannis was stripped of his standing in the church
after confessing to charges of abandoning his wife
and four children for a Romanian dancer. He has since returned to his
family. The priest's affair with the stripper was
front-page news after a TV channel showed a photograph of two
black-bearded priests dressed in traditional
ankle-length black cassocks leaving a brothel. The other priest, also
suspended, claimed he had only picked up
Papayiannis there to drive him home. Another village priest is awaiting
trial for possessing a pistol unlawfully.
AP, 2/14/99, 10/29/98, Reuters, 12/28/98
Nevzat Akdemir
Church vowed to name and expose gay senior clerics in the church after
he was defrocked by the Holy Synod on Thursday, Agence France Presse
reports.
Archimandrite Andreas Constantinides was defrocked when
the Synod found him guilty of conspiring to defame Limassol's
Bishop Athanassios as being gay. Holy Synod secretary Father
Marios Demetriou merely confirmed the decision had been
reached by a simple majority, but did not elaborate.
The decision was as swift as it was unexpected and generated
considerable discord within the church. Officials in Nicosia
hope, however, the decision will end one of the most
embarrassing and damaging chapters in the faith's recent
history.
Despire the Synod decision, Constantinides was adamant he
would not be silenced and vowed to continue his crusade to name and
shame "moral
deviants" in the church. "It is a regrettable decision which is both
cowardly and vindictive...the Synod is frightened of the truth," he told
reporters after the decision.
"My fight will continue against homosexual clerics
protected by the Church. God will judge those who
have sinned."
The decision could have easily gone the other way and
would likely have initiated a sweeping anti-gay purge
within the church hierarchy. The provocations initiated
by Constantinides in naming gay officials has the
support of a significant number of conservative
officials.
The influential Paphos Bishop Chrysostomos, for
example, said he was "not honored" by the Synod
decision and claimed the wayward cleric had done
nothing wrong. "I cannot see what offense he has
committed, there are those who have committed much
graver crimes and the Synod has done nothing."
Constantinides is the second archimandrite to be
defrocked in the church's "gay conspiracy" probe
which nearly tore apart the Cypriot Orthodoxy when if
got underway last year. Archimandrite Chrysostomos
Argyrides, the principle agitator was defrocked in
September.
The two clerics were banished from the Church for
their part in attempting to force the expulsion of Limassol Bishop
Athanassios on charges of being gay. The effort to leverage
Athanassios's out ended with last November's landmark Major Synod of
overseas bishops absolving the Limassol bishop of any moral wrongdoing.
-- Editor
pyrsos27
? "Nevzat Akdemir" <nev...@bellsouth.net> ?????? ??? ??????
news:3D696C53...@bellsouth.net...
>> The court heard that on April 25 this year,
Papadimitropoulos had been with a 17-year-old girl
from his parish, and had kissed her, licked her neck and touched
her breast through her clothing. >>>
The Greek priest kissed and touched a 17 year old **GIRL**, unlike the Turk
who sodomized a 14 year old **BOY**. Only a homo such as yourself cannot
tell the difference between the two.
JDMac
"pyrsos27" <cz...@otenet.gr> wrote in message
news:akcrd1$etv$1...@usenet.otenet.gr...
Read the other posts queer.
Nevzat Akdemir
Where will it stop? Today girls tomorrow boys.
There are a number of Greek Orthodox Priests who abused boys.
Read the other posts. There are many of them.
One of them resides in NYC. Maybe you sat on his lap.
Also, first, learn the difference between a man of the cloth and a truck
driver. Then, learn the glass houses are not shatter proof. And the
last, learn that you are a child of
a queer nation.
I think your mother delivered you thru her anus, you fucking tape worm!
WolfWolf
"Nevzat Akdemir" <nev...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:3D6A067B...@bellsouth.net...
> pyrsos27 wrote:
> >
> > ? "Nevzat Akdemir" <nev...@bellsouth.net> ?????? ??? ??????
> > news:3D696C53...@bellsouth.net...
> >
> > >> The court heard that on April 25 this year,
> > Papadimitropoulos had been with a 17-year-old girl
> > from his parish, and had kissed her, licked her neck and touched
> > her breast through her clothing. >>>
> >
> > The Greek priest kissed and touched a 17 year old **GIRL**, unlike the
Turk
> > who sodomized a 14 year old **BOY**. Only a homo such as yourself cannot
> > tell the difference between the two.
>
>
> Where will it stop? Today girls tomorrow boys.
> There are a number of Greek Orthodox Priests who abused boys.
> Read the other posts. There are many of them.
> One of them resides in NYC. Maybe you sat on his lap.
Nevzat, most certainly he is still sitting there. That explains his reaction
...
WolfWolf
The European
pyrsos27
> pyrsos27 wrote:
> >
> > ? "Nevzat Akdemir" <nev...@bellsouth.net> ?????? ??? ??????
> > news:3D696C53...@bellsouth.net...
> >
> > >> The court heard that on April 25 this year,
> > Papadimitropoulos had been with a 17-year-old girl
> > from his parish, and had kissed her, licked her neck and touched
> > her breast through her clothing. >>>
> >
> > The Greek priest kissed and touched a 17 year old **GIRL**, unlike the
Turk
> > who sodomized a 14 year old **BOY**. Only a homo such as yourself cannot
> > tell the difference between the two.
>
>
> Where will it stop? Today girls tomorrow boys.
> There are a number of Greek Orthodox Priests who abused boys.
Where was that you flamboyant tellak? I think you are confusing priests with
gay Turkish sultans and pashas.
OTTOMAN CULTURE
Ottomans ruled between 1299 and 1923 till the foundation of Turkish
Republic. They had been Moslems long before and they didn't have much from
their pre-Islamic period. Things were organized according to Islamic system,
from state system to social services. So the rules about sex were from Islam
too. Men could marry four women and even the way he should treat them were
mentioned in the Kur'an. But as there are only vague references to
homosexuality in Kur'an, it has never been an issue.Sleeping with men who
are usually referred as "boys" was very common.It was not something looked
upon.
The reputation of hamams (baths) in Turkey comes from this age. The
"tellaks" (young boys who helped men to have a bath) did not only work for
washing the men. They also served as male prostitutes. There is a book in
the Ottoman archives called "Dellakname-i Dilkusa" (The Record of Tellaks).
It tells about the most famous "tellaks" of Istanbul. The way they serve
their customers, their price, how many times they can make you reach orgasm,
the rate of their beauty and many more details are mentioned in this book.
Literature is one of the areas where there is eternal freedom of
homosexuality. ottoman Literature is called "Divan Literature". In Divan
Literature there are many poems written by male poets about their male
lovers. These poems were about how beautiful these boy lovers were. None of
these the poet talks about his boy lover and he complains that his beard is
starting to grow and because of this his beauty is going away. Boys were
maybe kind of substitutes for women who had smooth skin with no hairs. Those
poems are in a very old fashioned, hard to understand Turkish which is
called Ottoman and are in literature books for high school students.There
was no pressure from the authorities on the poets for writing such poems
about boys. Actually sex with boys were not legally forbidden and even the
sultans were engaged in sex with male boys.
Some of the sultans had famous affairs with boys. There was even a palace
for boys in Bursa. In this palace sultan kept many young boys who served the
men in the army. In the Ottoman Times the army was at war away from home for
months and sometimes years. It was not something logical to take women with
them.SO they took those boys from the palace. They could fight soldiers
during day time and at night they visited the soldiers` tents for their
special service.This tradition just like in other Islamic cultures was not
conscious homosexuality. These men were engaged in sex with women too and
sex with boys were just something pleasant for them and they thought they
really needed women. Because one of the main orders of Islam is to
breed.That's why they needed women.
This tolerance for homosexuality disappeared in the early 19th century with
the adoption of western culture. The sultans went on some renovations and
the source was France. With the changes in the governmental and social
system, the ideas were adopted too. Because of Christianity, male to male
sex was strongly refused in the European culture. This effected ottoman
society too and those kind of relationships were started to be looked
upon.But of course a tradition that had been going on for such a long time
didn't disappear. There is still a hamam culture which is still going on but
not as common as it used to be. And extreme nationalists who take great
pride in ottoman culture still deny
http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/europe/turkey/islamottoman.htm
Ja...@webtv.net
Age: 48 (64 without the tupee)
Height: 4' 3" (In the winter), 4' 5" (In the summer)
Weight: FAT....So fat, when he farts smoke alarm goes off
Color of Eyes: Shit Brown
Size of Nose: BIG.... due to small face
Education : What's that ?
Sex: He likes it with men a lot
IQ: N/A- Everytime doctors tried to measure his IQ by inserting
thermometer up his rectum it damaged his brain cells
Colege degree: B.S. (Bullshit), M.S. (More of the Same), and ph.D (Pile
High and Deep)
Occupation: Well seasoned Belly Dancer,and hamam Tellak-Ecevit's
favorite
Price: Due to the growth of the pony tail on his his ass, and the
extensive use by Turkish MP's, the price on his streched rectum has
dropped the value sharply- Bang one, and the second bang is 80% off
Source: Automan tellak archives
Jay-K
Nevzat Akdemir
>
> ? "Nevzat Akdemir" <nev...@bellsouth.net> ?????? ??? ??????
> news:3D6A067B...@bellsouth.net...
> > pyrsos27 wrote:
> > >
> > > ? "Nevzat Akdemir" <nev...@bellsouth.net> ?????? ??? ??????
> > > news:3D696C53...@bellsouth.net...
> > >
> > > >> The court heard that on April 25 this year,
> > > Papadimitropoulos had been with a 17-year-old girl
> > > from his parish, and had kissed her, licked her neck and touched
> > > her breast through her clothing. >>>
> > >
> > > The Greek priest kissed and touched a 17 year old **GIRL**, unlike the
> Turk
> > > who sodomized a 14 year old **BOY**. Only a homo such as yourself cannot
> > > tell the difference between the two.
> >
> >
> > Where will it stop? Today girls tomorrow boys.
> > There are a number of Greek Orthodox Priests who abused boys.
>
> Where was that you flamboyant tellak? I think you are confusing priests with
> gay Turkish sultans and pashas.
You think wrong, you son of a queer nation.
From Boston Globe to NewYork Times, newspapers all over the
world do not lie. Your priests are faggots and you practically grew up
on their laps. Even the word Greek is
synonymous with homosexuality.
arch
Hey Pyrsos! Why is it that much deep your interest about
homosexuality??? Have you ever read the autobiography of Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, who along with Diderot, Voltaire and others,laid the basis
for the French Revolution ...
(It is also considered to be one of the or maybe it is the first
example of the autobiographic literature.)
I know it is not wise to write you about such things and waste the
valuable time, but in any case lets stay with hope that it may still
help you to improve.
The time and effort spent for being constractive and destructive is
the same. I don't understand why people like you prefer to be
destructive??? Why don't you look at yourself from this point of view?
ARCH
==============================================================================
"pyrsos27" <cz...@otenet.gr> wrote in message news:<akfgo1$i2d$1...@usenet.otenet.gr>...
pyrsos27
Accept your Ottoman cultural backround and stop pointing your finger at
others. Nobody can beat the Turks in homosexuality and no matter what you
say, you are still the champions of backdoor action.
At least you can be proud that you excel in one domain.
pyrsos27
JDMac
> At least you can be proud that you excel in one domain.
>
> pyrsos27
>
>
>
Im glad you enjoyed it, come back for more anytime.
Ja...@webtv.net
..And what is your price Hi-Tech Tellak? : )
Jay-K
P.S. Slim Jim here wants to know if you accept MasterCard or Visa?
JDMac
<Ja...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:27620-3D6...@storefull-2334.public.lawson.webtv.net...
JayKoff, I wouldnt screw you with Pyrsos dick.
Slim Jim too slim to satisfy you?
Uzman
pyrsos27 wrote:
> Accept your Ottoman cultural backround and stop pointing your finger at
> others. Nobody can beat the Turks in homosexuality and no matter what you
> say, you are still the champions of backdoor action.
pardon me ...
what about old greek times? This thread is fully silly
and childish. Good enough, meanwhile, for under
developed minds on the both sides of the aegean
sea....and sexual abuse in every form exists in any
society.
by!
Ja...@webtv.net
back for more. ANYTIME. You Hear?"
Slim Jim here is not deaf. Also, he wants to know, what is your hamam #
?
Jay-K
Nevzat Akdemir
One obscure web site versus world respected newspapers.
I get my info from said newspapers and quote them here and you get your
so called information from an overnight-built web page. Why
should I accept what you put out? It is simply bull shit.
Because in old Turkish Clans, homosexuality was not tolerated
at all, It was severly punishable. If Turkish sultans practiced
homosexuality, probably, they copied it from homo
Greeks in Istanbul, just as they felt inferior in the light
of Byzantium Architecture and built those great mosques to excel as much
as Greeks did. On the other hand the common Turk on the plateau never
changed, they did not built great
mansions but they did not turn queer, like greeks, either.
But all in all it comes to this, I can put up about 20 web
sites like that you are giving as referance in a day's work.
No big deal and it has no value for the right minds. Please
pass. We ain't buying what you're selling.
>Nobody can beat the Turks in homosexuality and no >matter >what you
> say, you are still the champions of backdoor action.
>
> At least you can be proud that you excel in one domain.
>
> pyrsos27
Now isn't this the biggest bull the people ever heard of?
You can not hide it, you cannot deny it: Greek=HOMO.
Nevzat Akdemir
Say this must be a family affair for you eh?
Your mother is running a whorehouse in New
Orleans USA and
you are selling ass down you under.
Successfull business people.
pyrsos27
<<Nevzat's homosexual drivel snipped>>
> If Turkish sultans practiced
> homosexuality, probably, they copied it from homo
> Greeks in Istanbul, just as they felt inferior in the light
> of Byzantium Architecture and built those great mosques to excel as much
> as Greeks did.
Thanks for admitting that you Turks suffer from accute complex inferiority
syndrom. We have always suspected that but you are the first one to admit
it.
pyrsos27
Nevzat Akdemir
I said 'sultans'. I did not say Turks.
As far as inferiority complex concerns, both sides (Greeks
and Turks) suffered the same for different reasons, after the
fall of Istanbul.
Except Turks got rid of their problem rather quickly, in about hundered
years, after architect Sinan's creations
but Greek's ill still stands, even today.
Greeks are one hell of a psycho and a faggot nation.
And you grew up on the lap of a NYC Greek Orthodox Priest
which I think all of your problems are stemming from. Take
my advice and forgive the bastard. Otherwise you will destroy
yourself and your surroundings, won't even realize why.
Ja...@webtv.net
bla bla bla bla bla."
YEAH,YEAH, YEAH look who's talking!
nevzat akdemir_ he started his life as an Ottoman midget tellak boy ;
now he's a grown up fat Turkish male prostitute." HE HE HE
What's your price FAT BITCH?
Jay-K