The barrenness of pastoral work

Protopresbyter Dionysios Tatsis | February 27, 2026

 

 

It always troubles the worthy clergyman and the conscientious Christian that most people remain unaffected by the work of the clergy of the Church and of lay theologians. The causes are many; however, there exists a principal cause related to the effectiveness of the work of the clergy, who fall short in both their words and their deeds. Although the laborers in the vineyard of the Lord are many, the fruits are very few. We see this in society, where people have distanced themselves from the Church and provocatively follow the commandments of the devil, without fear of God and without the slightest trace of hesitation.

The present reality stands in complete contrast to that of the era of the holy Apostles, who were twelve in number, yet their work was great and worthy of every admiration. Saint Philotheos Zervakos would say — with bitterness and indignation — concerning this matter:

“The holy Apostles were only twelve, but because they first healed themselves, they healed myriads of people from all nations, both unbelieving and foreign. We Greeks, with many hierarchs, thousands of priests, preachers, theologians, and so forth, successors of the holy Apostles, not only do not benefit the wild and foreign nations, but not even our own people and fellow believers, our compatriot Greeks. Why? Because we did not take care to heal our own passions, or at least to do those things which we teach.”

And he would draw the sorrowful conclusion when preaching:

“In all the commandments and injunctions of our Savior and God Jesus Christ, we are transgressors and despisers. Only in words are we pious Christians, but in deeds and actions we are transgressors and despisers, worse than the heathen and the unbelievers.”

The attitude and behavior of certain clergymen within the church during the time of worship, as well as outside the church through their various unrelated activities and their careless manner of life, causes provocation and scandal. And not only this. They anger the people when they appear to possess authority secured for them by the laws of the State.

These particular clergymen also employ in their work destructive hypocrisy, which, when it is exposed, causes a tectonic earthquake in the hearts of well-intentioned Christians, and every trust in their priestly office and in their words is destroyed. And this occurs more frequently among clergymen who possess education, academic degrees, and many worldly talents.

Here we must make a beneficial comparison between parish clergy and virtuous elders. The former labor with many means at their disposal, yet with very few spiritual fruits, whereas the elders, without resources, without studies or academic degrees, without assistance from anywhere, without money, without buildings, without costly vestments, without worldly power, and possessing only an open-air reception area in deserted places where their cell is located, shepherd — one might say — the people of God in the simplest manner and with their sole qualification being their virtuous life, which attracts, inspires, convinces, and establishes others in the spiritual life. Those who have become connected with virtuous elders have acquired a precious spiritual treasure, which they preserve in the treasury of their soul and make use of throughout their life.

More rarely, something similar also occurs with virtuous clergymen who serve in parish churches and are trusted by well-intentioned Christians.

Clergymen who lack spiritual experience remain indifferent to the absence of spiritual fruits in their flock. They lack sensitivity, they are not troubled, and they do not accept counsel from other fellow clergymen, whom they avoid and slander. The responsibility for the negative condition we describe belongs primarily to the bishops who ordain unsuitable persons, tolerating the impediments to the priesthood possessed by the candidates. The improvement of this situation is not an easy matter; for this reason, many hierarchs avoid dealing with unworthy clergymen, who daily cause scandal through their actions and behavior. Thus, unfortunately, the destructive work of the instruments of the devil continues…

 

Greek source:

https://orthodoxostypos.gr/%e1%bc%a1-%e1%bc%80%ce%ba%ce%b1%cf%81%cf%80%ce%af%ce%b1-%cf%84%ce%bf%e1%bf%a6-%cf%80%ce%bf%ce%b9%ce%bc%ce%b1%ce%bd%cf%84%ce%b9%ce%ba%ce%bf%e1%bf%a6-%e1%bc%94%cf%81%ce%b3%ce%bf%cf%85/