Greeting
Rev. Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythera & Antikythera
at the honorary event of the presentation of the Honorary Volume
for the late Metropolitan of Kythera
Thessaliotis and Fanarioferralon KIRILON
Your Eminence Saint Timothy of Thessaly,
Your Eminences Saints of Levadea and Larissa,
Holy Fathers, political leaders, and Brothers in the Lord,
Blessed, peaceful and joyful is the new salvific year of 2025.
On your modest celebration today of the presentation of the Honorary Volume of the ever-memorial Bishop of Thessaly and Fanariofersalon, Mr. Kirill, and my Venerable Predecessor, on the completion of 10 years since his demise to the Lord, Not being able due to exceptional circumstances to attend in person, as I wished, I send this greeting through the General Archpriest Commissioner of the Holy See of the Holy See. I am sending this message to the General Archbishop of Kythera, Prot.
I greet and congratulate wholeheartedly my dear brother and colleague in the Lord, Metropolitan of Thessaly and Fanariofersalon, Mr.Timotheos, for his commendable initiative to publish an Honorary Volume in honor and memory of the late Metropolitan Kirillos, who previously served for about seven years as Metropolitan of Kythera & Antikythera and my immediate Predecessor.
The saint of Thessaly and his companions in the Lord, following the exhortation of the Apostle Paul. «render all debts ... to honor honor honor honor honor» (Rom. 13, 7), organized this honorable event to honor his esteemed and grateful Predecessor and my Predecessor, Mr.Cyril.
I remember the unforgettable Metropolitan Kirillon from our high school years (at the first high school of Karditsa), where we attended, he as a Deacon in the fifth and sixth grades of high school and I as a student in the first and second grades of the same high school.
I remember him serving as Deacon of the Metropolitan Church of St. Constantine with modesty and dignity. In the Rizarion Ecclesiastical School of Athens, where I served for 6 years, the blessed one served as Chaplain and the School's Shepherd, who worked in this spiritual nursery of clergy candidates and created good memories and an admirable model of a clergyman for the students and in general for this prestigious seminary. We have since then been associated with this Holy Metropolis of ours, which was chosen by the holy figure of the holy Hieromartyr Seraphim, Archbishop of Fanari and Neochori, ...who, as First Bishop and my humble self as Deacon, for three years, lived together in the Metropolitan House, under the blessing of our admirable and martyr Metropolitan, Mr. Constantine. Blessed and full of spiritual life and activity!
After this, the Grace of the Holy Spirit elevated him to the episcopal rank, by electing and ordaining him Bishop and Bishop of Kythera and Antikythera. Joy of God, peace and blessing to this bordering southward God-given Province, which was much tried by the previous ecclesiastical situation.
His serene, calm, gentle and cheerful figure contributed greatly to the rehabilitation of the Local Church of Kythera and Antikythera, whose ship was badly rocked. He spread everywhere love, peace, hope and optimism. In joys and sorrows he was always present to his hospitable flock. He developed the social, charitable and spiritual work of the Holy Metropolis of Kythera and Antikythera.
After 7 years of successful pastorate in Kythera and Antikythera, he was appointed Bishop of the vacated Holy Metropolis of Thessaly and Fanariofersalon, to the great regret of the people of Kythera and Antikythera, who loved him very much.
In Karditsa and the rest of the Metropolitan Region, His pastoral ministry and His social and charitable work are well known, which I believe will be extensively and thoroughly mentioned by the speakers of this meeting, local residents and experts, so my reference to this issue is therefore superfluous. Let me emphasize that his ministry in general was important and theophilic, despite the fact that he fell ill early on and had his well-known motor problems. But, in spite of all the difficulties of His health, He never ceased to offer and care for His sane flock until the end.
May His memory be eternal and long-lived!
In concluding my present greeting, I congratulate once again my dear Brother and colleague, Metropolitan Timothy of Thessaly and Fanariofersala, and the Scientific Committee of the compilation of the Honorary Volume for the late Metropolitan of Thessaly and Fanariofersala, Mr.Cyril II. May we have His blessing and blessings.-
† Seraphim of Kythera & Antikythera
Clarifications to the complaints of the Mayor Mr.Efstratios Harhalakis (in the text of his thoughts on the Kythira the late Metropolitan of Thessaly, Mr KYRILLOS)
In his thoughts about the unforgettable Metropolitan Kyrillos, Mr.The Mayor expressed his respect and honor for His Holy Person, referring in detail to His Pastoral Ministry and His administrative gifts, which were evident during His 7-year Archpriesthood in the God-fearing Holy Metropolis of Kythera and Antikythera, he expressed judgments and made comparisons for the ecclesiastical situation before and after Him. The Mayor and everyone has the right to make judgments, criticisms and comparisons to persons exercising public office, and, when they are objective, truthful and well-intentioned, they are welcome and constructive.
However, I, too, as Metropolitan of Kythera and Antikythera, have the right and the obligation to give the necessary explanations and clarifications, because otherwise any inaccurate and incorrect information will disorient and scandalize the flock of our Local Church, and not only, to which I have been appointed Pastor by the Sovereign and Great High Priest Jesus Christ.
First of all, let me state that I have known my late Predecessor since the early ’60s, since my high school years, as I note in my brief greeting above, and my respect and honor for His venerable person was and is great and great, since He was also the Spiritual One who gave me the Canonical Confession to become a Clergyman. I agree with the Mayor about the gifts, the merits and the abilities of the admirable Hierarch Kirillos. However, Mr. Mayor does not know everything, so he would be able to get information from the close environment of the ever-mortal.
I will not go into all of the Mayor's criticisms and insinuations against me. For that would require me to write a whole text. I will focus the reader's attention on two or three key issues.
- His Eminence Cyril was a wise and intelligent man., And not naive and frivolous, to be led astray by one and the other. He would never have made an appeal to the S.T.C., if he had not been convinced of the irregularity and unconstitutionality of the law of the administration and management of our Holy Shrines by the Domestic. When the late President of the Republic, Mr. K. Stephanopoulos, during his pilgrimage to Our Lady of Myrtidiotissa, was informed by our fellow citizen Mr.George Kasimatis, the Constitutionalist Professor, about the administration and management that the Home (E.E.P.K.A.) practices in the Holy Shrines of Kythera, and asked the present Metropolitan Kyrillos. «And what is your role in the Shrines, Your Eminence?» my late Predecessor replied with a bitter grin: «to appoint the priest...».
When in June 2005 the blessed Kirillos was transferred to the Holy Metropolis of Thessaly and my humility was elected to succeed him as Bishop of Kythera, at a lunch he gave me to inform me of my new duties, he also spoke to me about the peculiar regime of the management of the Holy Shrines and the existing irregularity. He was superior in money and was not so much concerned with the financial as with the spiritual and antichristical part of the question.
Therefore, His Eminence Kyrillos knew what the Holy Canons say about the Holy Monasteries and the Holy Shrines and what the laws say, especially Law 590/1977, Article 59 and the Charter of the Church of Greece which is part of the Greek Constitution, and that is why he made the appeal to the Council of State consciously and not «under great pressure from well-known local circles».
Specifically, in its letter No 257/30-5-2003 to the Council of State, it wrote: «Of decisive importance in favour of the Church's views is Article 59 of Law 590/1977, by which it is stipulated «in amendment of all previous provisions that: 1. The administration and management of the Holy Shrines within the territory of the Church of Greece is determined, of which, irrespective of their hitherto legal form and status, they have been exposed to public worship, by decisions of the D.I.S. (Permanent Holy Synod), approved by the I.S.I. (Holy Synod of the Hierarchy) and published in the Government Gazette. 2. The presidents of the Ecclesiastical Institutions, as well as of the Holy Shrines referred to in paragraph I of the present Article, are automatically the respective Bishops’.
And concludes the Rev. Cyril concludes: «From this provision it is concluded that the Holy Shrines, which are located in the territory of the Church of Greece, are now part of it, regardless of their legal form until the entry into force of Law 590/1977, because they have been “voluntarily placed in public worship” and are therefore protected under Article 13 of the Constitution».
And while Article 59 of Law 590/1977, which was invoked by the blessed Metropolitan Kirillos, clearly resolves the issue of the Holy Shrines in favour of the Church, the same article was invoked by the legislator of Law 1416/1984 (on which the whole structure of the E.E.P.K.C.A. - Enchiorion is based) to modify it and say exactly the opposite. Here is what is written in the recent decision of the Council of State No 1475/2024, in paragraph 8: «Because Law 1416/1984, amending, in essence, Article 59 of the Charter of the Church of Greece (Law 590/1977), according to which the administration and management of the Holy Shrines is determined by decisions of the Permanent Holy Synod, and the Presidents of these are automatically the relevant Bishops, stipulated, in Article 84, that specifically, the management of the domestic property of the islands of Kythera and Antikythera, which includes the property of the Holy Shrines of the Virgin Mary of Myrtidiotissa, Aghios Moni and St. John of the ’in cremno’ and the chapels belonging to them, is the responsibility of the Domestic Property Committee, which is a legal person under public law, subject to the supervision of the State, as are local authorities«.
Thus, with this simple reference and finding, the Court of Justice answered and bypassed the obstacle of the claim of the unconstitutionality of the challenged legal provision. In other words: the law is good; but is it also in accordance with the constitutional law surrounding the Charter of the Church of Greece, which is a law of the Constitution of the Hellenic State? Like the bill passed a year ago on gay «marriage» is a law, but not a constitutional law, i.e. it is not in accordance with the Constitution of the Greek State.
Obviously, this Supreme Court was convinced by the litigant that the H.E.P.C.C.A. is an old historical institution and the «tradition» of the place wants the Holy Shrines to be dependent on it, in the sense that they should be administered and managed by the Home. But, tradition true and respected for a place do not create the decrees of the conquerors (Venetians, English, etc.), when these heterodox beings (Roman Catholics and Protestants) decide for our Orthodox Monasteries or Holy Shrines, as the Bavarians did under Otto, or the Turks, who for 400 years dominated our Homeland, but the Local Greek Orthodox Tradition, which is recorded in the Codes of the Orthodox Bishops of Kythera, of Cypriot origin (from 17ο - end of 19no century).
The same issue was addressed by the late Metropolitan Kyrillos in his previous letter (No 255/27-5-2003) to the Council of State, where, among other things, he writes: «...We do not think that customs and laws that prevailed during the period of Venetian and English rule, alien to the Tradition and the Canons of the Orthodox Church, should still be in force today». Is it possible that foreign decisions and contrary legal provisions take precedence over the Greek Constitution?;
- Referring to the Mayor, then, to the venerable person of His Eminence Kirill, he notes: «... never thought of «punishing» the Pilgrimage of Myrtidiotissa (phew!), nor did he withdraw the priests, nor did he stop or reduce the sacraments with funny pretexts, because for him the Virgin Mary was above worldly matters, the Altar of Myrtidiotissa stood in his conscience much higher than their persons and their egos and also than the decisions of the Courts, which he nevertheless respected and did not attempt to degrade them with foolish excuses about «invisible hands», attempting unsuccessfully and implicitly to photograph and accuse the present Bishop of my humility.
However, because the Mayor is not well informed about the past and the present, I consider it my obligation before God and my Shepherd to give the following explanations on the issue of how the Holy Shrine of Our Lady of Myrtidiotissa was served during my Predecessor Cyril and during the 20 years of my High Priesthood.
a) The late Rev. Kirillos was enthroned in Kythera on 28 November 1998., with parallel ministry in parishes of Kythera (Mylopotamos, Kalokairines), was the current Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Saint Theodoros Archimandrite Peter Kasimatis. Fr. Peter confesses that until August 2001, when he was ministering in Myrtidiotissa, operated on Sunday rather than Sunday (every 15 weeks). Christmas, Easter and Pentecost were celebrated in his parishes. It was functioning in Myrtidiotissa on the Monday of Christmas Day (Feast of the Assumption), only once he made a Resurrection there and on the Monday of the Holy Spirit. (These were also true before, since 1993, when he took over the Chaplaincy of Myrtidia).
b) Fr.Peter Kasimatis was succeeded in the Chaplaincy of Myrtidia by the Romanian priest Fr.Dimitrios Katrinei. Fr.Demetrios, who is now serving in the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, was not appointed by the State, but was receiving a salary from the Holy Pilgrimage of Myrtidia, which provided for him. And while he had this employment relationship with the Myrtle Monastery, however, with the blessing of Mons. Kirill, from October until Easter (Good Friday and Resurrection) It was open every 15 days in Myrtidiotissa, Sunday after Sunday and on the other two Sundays it served empty parishes (Pitsinianika, Kalisperianika etc.).
c) When I was enthroned in Kythera (30 July 2005), Fr.Demetrios asked me for a diploma for the Holy Metropolis of Thessaly & Fanariofersalon, where the blessed Kirillos was transferred. After a few months he left for Karditsa.
My humility made sure from the first moment, not taking into account the past of the Holy Shrine of Myrtidia, that the Monastery was lit every Sunday and feast day. In the beginning, and until the spring of 2007, when I was ordained Archimandrite Peter Sklavos, I did not have a permanent priest, but there was an Abbot from Hydra (Fr Theologos) and an old student of mine, a retired High Priest - Head of the Religious in the Army (Fr Niphon). But, with the support of our Priests, the Monastery of Myrtidiotissa was functioning every Sunday and on major holidays. It is true that this displeased some priests in the authorities, who asked for the previous regime to continue, but I was adamant, saying that the first Holy Altar on our island cannot not be operated.
This is what I was saying and defending even when, after our appeal to the Council of State (March 2017), the administration of the H.E.P.C.A. decided to stop the subsidy of the Holy Shrine of Panagia Myrtidotissa in the Holy Metropolis, which covered its liturgical expenses, and this interruption lasted for about 4 years. I never put the money above our Blessed Mother Myrtidiot's Blessed Sacrament. Further on, in the familiar position, I will explain why my decision has been modified today.
From 2007 to August 2024, Fr. Peter Slavos consecrated the Holy Pilgrimage of Myrtidia with zeal and self-denial., and with much love and devotion to Myrtidiotissa, despite his constant health problems. Last September he was absent for a month for the treatment of his foot and when, at the beginning of October 2024, he returned to Kythera and settled in his house in Guadianika, disappointed by the arbitrary actions of the Committee with the well-known dinners and the bell ringing in Myrtidia, which took place despite the refusal of the Bishop. He served at Myrtidiotissa on Sundays and holidays and then returned home. From the moment they were installed the marble slabs with the indication: The Municipality of Kythera and Antikythera (left) and the Property Committee (right) was deeply affected by the arbitrary, irregular and illegal action of two persons (Mayor and President of E.E.P.K.A.), without an official decision of the relevant bodies (Municipality - City Council and the Church - Board of Directors) and after giving a two (2) week deadline for the removal of these plaques of shame and empathy, he declared that he will not return to the Holy Shrine, as long as these plaques exist at the entrance of our Holy Shrines, but will be limited to his parishes. If then his just protest would be heard and these plaques would be removed, as there has never been anything similar in our Monasteries (only the M.M. Myrtidia Monastery existed and exists at the central entrance) the operation of the Monastery of Myrtidia would have continued normally and unhindered. Let those responsible feel and assume their serious responsibility and not blame the priests and the Bishop.
δ) The decision to install marble slabs with the above characteristics has plunged the Metropolitan and our Saints into deepest sorrow. It is an act of grave disrespect and disparagement to the Holy and ancient Monasteries, the first one of more than 600 years and the second one of more than 300 years (that of Agia Moni), the present Holy Shrines, which are Holy Monastery buildings unused, intact and out of any transaction, according to the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court and the Council of State on Holy Monasteries and Holy Shrines. They are not secular lodges, shops or municipal and domestic businesses. That is why these plaques are unacceptable.
Ο 24os Rule of 4of Ecumenical Council is clear: «The Monasteries established once, in the opinion of the Bishop, remain in perpetuity (forever) Monasteries and the things belonging to them are to be kept and not to become secular dungeons; and those who forgive them are to become so (= those who are not to become so). (those who allow it to be done), subject to the reproaches of the Canons» (to the reproaches of the Holy Canons).
Apart from the fact that these Monastery Buildings are Holy, they do not have ownership and property over them, nor does the Domestic, which only has the administration of the serving staff and the management of their movable and immovable property (estates, houses, shops, but not the sacred buildings within the Monastery precinct and the sacred objects of the Holy Church). The Municipality of Kythera and Antikythera now, as long as the Home Church exists and operates, has no say in the administration and management of the Holy Shrines, however, after any decision by its members to dissolve itself, the administration and management of the movable and immovable (as above) property, and not the ownership and possession of the property, shall be vested in the Municipality of Kythera and Antikythera.
Article 17 of the current PD 5/2017 «Transfer of domestic property» It is clear:
«1. The transfer of all domestic property to the Municipality of Kythera is allowed after a decision of the Commission, which is approved by the Municipality of Kythera and by the Coordinator of the Decentralized Administration and published in the Government Gazette. In the decision stipulates that the Municipality of Kythera undertakes to the administration and management of the property of the Holy Shrines of Article 84 par. 1 b of Law no. 1416/1984».
Therefore, now the administration and management of the Holy Shrines is in the hands of the H.E.P.K.A. (and not the ownership and property of the Shrines) and after its eventual dissolution, the administration and management is transferred to the Municipality of Kythera and Antikythera (without the ownership and property). See these marble slabs, which show two dominant forms in parallel, have no place at the entrance of the Holy Shrines, since this is not provided for the above reasons in the PD 5/2017, nor in the recent decision of the Council of State (1475/2024), which in paragraph 11 refers (based on Law 3852/2010) to «...transfer of this (the property of the Holy Shrines) to the Municipality of Kythera, manifestly in the sense that the municipality in question will acquire the right to administer and manage it» (i.e. (i.e. when Article 17 of the Law 5/2017 on «transfer of domestic property» was applied).
ε) Why, then, today, after about 20 years of my Archpriesthood, has my original decision been changed and we have returned to the ecclesiastical regime of the time of the blessed Metropolitan Kirill (i.e. the Sunday by Sunday, every 15 weeks, service of Myrtidiotissa)? What changed?;
After the abominable event of the arbitrary, provocative and irregular installation of marble slabs at the entrance of our historic and wrestling Monasteries - Monastic Shrines, which was condemned with deepest regret by our Saints and the Bishop, the decision was taken to implement the program of the liturgical ministry of Myrtidiotissa, which was in force during the time of the late Cyril.
The joint action of the Mayor and the President against our Holy Shrines was considered as a disparagement and a grave disrespect, but also an insult and a degradation of them, as if they were public establishments and businesses, as is done in similar cases. It was my personal wish and position that the Convent of Myrtis should be celebrated Sunday after Sunday and Saturday after Saturday (i.e. once a week, until further notice) and until this serious mishap is rectified.
However, since the question of priestly conscience was raised, I could not oppress my Brothers and Co-workers on such a delicate matter. In no way do our Saints tolerate this authoritarian action and the great insult to the Holy Monastery Shrines of our island to be characterized as the property of secular entities (Municipality and Enchorios) and with this attitude they protest strongly for the anti-clerical and untraditional behavior of the named. They believe, and rightly so, that if we do not now care about this unexpected and unjustifiable event (the installation of the plates), this will set a bad precedent with unforeseen consequences for the future of our Holy Shrines.
This serious issue, which has arisen as it should have, with its parameters, has been duly reported to our Supreme Ecclesiastical Authority, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, and we await its inspired guidance on how to proceed.
If our protest has been well received by the authorities, which caused the issue, and remove these plaques, which neither the individuals, nor the forms, which they represent, but neither the island of ours, but only expose it in the eyes of pilgrims and visitors and the Panhellenic, then the Holy Shrines will immediately reopen better than before. and the philochristian people of Kythera, as well as those others who have been informed of the event, will be at peace and will praise the All-Holy God and our Myrtidiotissa. We wish and long for it.
†K.S.
