Protopresbyter Dionysios Tatsis | May 17, 2026
We often read comments about
various secular activities of new metropolitans, undertaken in order to support
purposes which they themselves choose. Usually, they organize musical events in
order to satisfy their ambition, to present themselves before the people as
being concerned for them and standing by their side. At the same time, they do
not neglect to sell tickets for the needs of the institutions of their
metropolises!
In recent years they have been
transferring holy relics, sacred icons, or copies of them from various
well-known places of pilgrimage, so that the faithful may receive blessings
and, naturally, given the opportunity, may also drop their obol into the “sacred”
collection box.
Also, these particular
metropolitans accept sums of money from wealthy people who, evidently, do not
possess a Christian ethos, but seek through their donations to present
themselves to the people as religiously devout and philanthropic. The
metropolitans publicly bestow honors upon them, decorate them with
distinctions, and maintain social relations with them. They present them to the
people as examples to be imitated, while the people usually face many problems
in their lives!
Other hierarchs likewise have an
entrepreneurial spirit and make use of abandoned ecclesiastical pasturelands by
keeping animals and employing foreigners as shepherds and workers, exploiting
the difficult circumstances they face. Their pastoral work is livestock
farming!
Some progressive metropolitans
take the lead in creating Non-Governmental Organizations for various purposes
which have no relation whatsoever to their pastoral work. Their purpose is to
secure significant sums from various sources, which they manage as they
themselves wish, without any essential oversight.
These methods of financing the
metropolises must not be regarded as pastoral activities. They have a negative
impact on faithful Christians, who expect other things from their spiritual
fathers. The ever-memorable Elder Theokletos Dionysiates describes the
essential duties of the bishop as follows: “The Church is inconceivable without
a bishop; and if the unity of the bishop with the people, as an unbreakable
relationship, entails the direct transmission of the spirit of the former to
the latter, one easily understands how much responsibility the bishop has with
regard to what he transmits to his people. And naturally the greatest of
contradictions is produced when the bishop does not impel his children toward
higher spiritual ascents, through the traditional upbringing of unceasing
prayer, the study of the Holy Fathers, ascetic practice, humility, and love,
all of which presuppose a monastery and monasticism.”
The faithful do not want the
bishop to have close cooperation with politicians and to serve their transient
aims, that is, their reelection and the satisfaction of their various
interests. Nor should they themselves seek favors and funding from them. Dignity
does no harm, and respect for the person of the bishop is preserved when he is
the humble shepherd of the Church, who leads people on the path of God by his
word and his virtue. But if the bishop has a worldly mindset and regards his
office as worldly, which people must accept because it is authority, matters
become complicated, and the only way to be free from his activities is to
distance oneself from his environment. Faithful people do not want other
tyrants. They have the politicians, who continually trouble them and wound them
with easy promises for the improvement of their life, which, however, are never
put into practice. If the bishop also collaborates with them, woe! His metropolis
will be in decline, even if there are some works of social benefit. The chief
work of the bishop is spiritual and presupposes unceasing struggle. The high
office alone does not make the bishop either virtuous, or humble, or an
affectionate father.
Greek
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