2351 Greek Newspaper Vilifies Priest Fighting to Provide Macedonian Church Service in Greece September 1, 2002 2351 Father Tsarknias, a Macedonian Orthodox priest, is fighting to reintroduce the centuries old tradition of Macedonian religious services to members of Greece's oppressed Macedonian minority. Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights Group - Greece http://www.greekhelsinki.gr Press Release Topic: Daily "Eleftherotypia" Slanders Macedonian Minority Priest but Does Not Publish Critical Letter Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and Minority Rights Group-Greece (MRG-G) release today a letter they sent for publication to the daily "Eleftherotypia,” on 18/8/2002, in which they criticized a news story published by that newspaper on 4/8/2002 (reprinted below), that was slandering minority Macedonian priest Nikodimos Tsarknias, but also homosexuals in general. The newspaper did not publish the letter, just as it had previously ignored GHM letters critical of an anti-Semitic and a xenophobic letters to the editor published by the paper (the related texts are being released separately in Greek only). For the anti-Semitic letter, GHM filed a complaint report on 1/8/2002, and the newspaper was immediately indicted for breach of the anti-racist law (see http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/english/organizations/ghm/ghm_13_08_02.rtf). The Letter to "Eleftherotypia" Mr. Seraphim Fyntanidis Director of "Eleftherotypia on Sunday” 18 August 2002 Dear Mr. Fyntanidis, We kindly ask you to publish the following letter with the purpose of restoring the truth and providing your readers with more complete information on this matter. Sincerely yours, Panayote Dimitras GHM Spokesperson Nafsika Papanikolatos MRG-G Spokesperson The article "Frock with a scent of espionage,” by Maria Papoutsakis ("Eleftherotypia on Sunday” 4 August 2002 - see translation below) contains material not customarily found in a newspaper that strives to correctly inform its readers and advocates the rights of national and sexual minorities. First of all, nothing in the article explains just what kind of espionage - a serious vilification - Father Nikodimos Tsarknias might be committing. Unless Ms. Papoutsakis considers espionage the advocacy of the right of respect of the Macedonian identity and the Macedonian Orthodox Church for members of the Macedonian minority in Greece. In other words, the author adopts the position of some ultranationalistic New Democracy parliamentarians, such as those she mentions in her article, rather than the one currently held by the Greek government. Secondly, Father Tsarknias' involvement with the human rights of the Macedonian minority in Greece does not date from 1997, as Ms. Papoutsakis claims, but began prior to his defrocking by the Greek Orthodox Church in 1993. In fact, the decision to defrock him was essentially for this particular enterprise; other reasons were employed simply as formalities. Nor did he leave Greece during the period of 1993-1997, as Ms. Papoutsakis also writes. Rather, he was present and was hauled into court 12 times for usurpation of church authority precisely because he wore the frock, as a priest of the non-recognized by the Greek state Macedonian Church. This unprecedented prosecution provoked an international uproar, which, typically, was suppressed in Greece. Annual reports by Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights Group-Greece, along those by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the International Helsinki Federation (IHF) and Amnesty International (AI) - as well as those by the U.S. State Department - made mention of this problem through his first acquittal in May 1996, which set the precedent for his subsequent acquittals. IHF and AI also sent observers to some of these trials. Furthemore, there was a joint condemnation of these prosecutions by all the Balkan Helsinki Committees, and comments on the matter appeared in the International Herald Tribune. Also, if all that Ms. Papoutsakis writes about the refusal to issue a license to operate a house of pworship was accurate (Father Tsarknias has ceased providing us with information, choosing instead to slander us…), then Greece's invoking its refusal to recognize the "national Macedonian minority” as one of its reasons could only create additional problems for the country. Because similar grounds for refusal to legally recognize the "Home of Macedonian Culture” led to the condemnation of Greece by the European Court of Human Rights in 1998 - with a ruling that essentially recognized the minority. Finally, Ms. Papoutsakis' uncritical presentation of the "charge of cinaedismos” [obsolete Greek term for homosexuality meaning "shameful behavior” -from kino = incite, and aidos = shame- still used by the Church for homosexuality in an extremely pejorative way] and the "shocking photographs, accusations and testimonies,” which were employed as one - but not the only - reason for Father Tsarknias' defrocking constitutes unbelievable obscurantism and indicates extreme homophobia. At the time, this material made the front page of the fascist newspaper "Stochos.” It can be legitimately assessed, after all the aforementioned, that this was the successful work of the Greek secret services, the authenticity of which, moreover, was officially and competently verified by FBI labs (!!) skilled in the employment of such methods since the Hoover years. We would never have imagined that a journalist of the "Sunday Eleftherotypia” would feed, after all these years, this kind of character assassination of Father Tsarknias. "Eleftherotypia's" Slandering Article "Eleftherotypia on Sunday” - 4/8/2002 [translated by GHM from the original in Greek: http://www.enet.gr/online/online_p1_text.jsp?dt=04/08/2002&c=112&id=27689744] N. Tsarknias: Frock with the scent of espionage By Maria Papoutsaki A former cleric of the Greek Orthodox Church, who was defrocked because of his "dishonorable” lifestyle, continues to wear the frock, using it to carry out highly anti-Hellenic activities in northern Greece. This person is none other than Nikolaos Tsarknias, who served as archimandrite under the ecclesiastical name of Nikodimos. This man "scandalized” the community with his lifestyle and peculiarities. He was accused of cinaedismos” [obsolete Greek term for homosexuality meaning "shameful behavior” -from kino = incite, and aidos = shame- still used by the Church for homosexuality in an extremely pejorative way]. The Church took him to court, where, as the ecclesiastical actors who knew him in the early 1990s relate, the photographs, accusations and testimonies presented were shocking. The then-Father Nikodimos was spiritual child of the Bishop of Florina Avgoustinos and was nurtured in an environment of strict ecclesiastical ideals. Nothing had indicated the turn he would take. The Defrocking **Mr. Tsarknias performed services in a church in the Aghios Athanasios town that belonged to the Bishopric of Kilkis. But very quickly, rumors and information abounded concerning his lifestyle. **The local police were the first to go to Bishop Apostolos (who was in charge of the area where Mr. Tsarknias was officiating), with charges against him for leading a "scandalous life.” **The accusations reached the Holy Synod, which immediately took Mr. Tsarknias to court. **After the first-level court, the second-level court examined the case in 1993. Mr. Tsarknias was then defrocked and returned to the laity. The Church thought it could now relax. But no such thing happened because Nikodimos Tsarknias continued appearing as a cleric - only now he belonged to another church. **He made contacts with Skopjans (some also speak of contacts with Bulgarians) and placed himself in monasteries in Skopje, Australia and Canada. **But soon, Nikolaos Tsarknias left Greece, with no one knowing why. **He showed up again in Greece in early 1997, in the Aridaia region. From there he submitted an application to the Ministry of Education, declaring himself a spokesman for the "Human Rights Movement for Macedonians in Greece.” **With this "qualification,” he requested a license to construct a holy church "for the devotional needs of both the members of the movement as well as of nationally minded Macedonians.” The "Application” That was what he wrote in his application, which otherwise had no accompanying supporting documents. The explanation Mr. Tsarknias gave for what he believed to be the need to construct the church was that the members of the movement be able to celebrate the liturgy and all the divine mysteries in their mother tongue - i.e. "Macedonian.” **The case began taking on larger dimensions: Education Minister Gerasimos Arsenis immediately gave the order for the so-called cleric to receive a negative response to his request. Mr. K. Kondoyannis, then the head of the Ministry's ecclesiastical division, worded the response, stressing that the request was rejected for the following reasons: "First of all, the request cannot be satisfied because there are no preconditions on the basis of article 13 of the Constitution and its relevant provisions for a license to found and operate the requested place of worship.” He also especially stressed to Mr. Tsarknias that no "national Macedonian minority” exists or is recognized in Greek law and order. The only minorities are those religious communities with members having a religion or dogma other than the dominant one. Finally, Mr. Kondoyannis pointed out that it was not possible to ignore the fact that Mr. Tsarknias had been reinstated in the laity. What's more, his defrocking, Mr. Tsarknias was smartly reminded, had been for serious misdeeds. **But Mr. Tsarknias wasted no time. He started hanging around international conferences on the protection of human rights, at which he condemned Greece. In Aridaia A few days ago, this man, whose "direction” in life raises, at the very least, questions, made the news yet again: ** Mr. Tsarknias showed up in the region of Pella, this time as a "bishop” of the Church of Skopje. He discovered an old building on the outskirts of the town of Aridaia, which was being used as a warehouse. He transformed it into a church, built windows in the shape of a cross, installed an altar, sanctuary, icons and seats, and began conducting services. In fact, it's said that the faithful were brought by private buses from Skopje and Bulgaria to attend Tsarknias' first "liturgy.” **Two New Democracy deputies, Iordanis Tzamtzis (Pella) and Evgenios Haitidis (Serres), tabled a question to Parliament in which they note that in the same warehouse space "another service will be held to celebrate the anniversary of the Bulgarian "Ilinden.” **Sources say that the Ministry responded with the same argument it had given Mr. Tsarknias in 1997.
