Greek Police are reportedly ready to evacuate a monastery on the semi-autonomous monastic community of Mount Athos that has been occupied by monks not recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople for nearly two decades. Previous such attempts have been unsuccessful and controversial.
The brotherhood of monks at the ostensibly squatted monastery in question, Esfigmenou, has been involved in numerous court and legal battles over the years with the Greek state, the ecclesiastical administration of Mount Athos and a new brotherhood recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate – which considers the former as “schismatic”.
Members of the current brotherhood occupying the monastery, the northern-most on the northern Greece promontory of Mount Athos – are also considered as Old Calendarist Orthodox Christians, meaning they follow the Julian calendar.
For any operation to proceed, police must first receive approval by the rotating administration comprised of the canonically recognized Orthodox Monasteries of Mount Athos.
At last report, the monks within Esfigmenou are barricaded within the building.
