Protopresbyter Dionysios Tatsis | June 26, 2026
It is a great thing to know the
truth about some serious event and to defend it with courage, disregarding the
reactions of the guilty. Unfortunately, most people know the truth, but they do
not defend it, thereby strengthening those who cover it up and, with great
audacity, seek to obscure it.
Truly, how fitting is it for a
conscious Christian not to defend the truth and to find repose in the falsehood
of others? Especially when people are easily led astray and become defenders of
falsehood? In the face of truth, silence is condemnable. The darkness of
falsehood must not prevail, nor must the lamp of truth remain extinguished.
The same also holds true for the
defense of the Faith, and especially in an age when her enemies have increased.
The Apostles and the innumerable multitude of the Martyrs of the Church give us
the example. An experienced bishop said concerning this: “Peter and John,
undaunted and with boldness, said to the chief priests: ‘We cannot but preach
those things which we have seen and heard.’ This is the witness of Jesus
Christ, the witness and defense of the truth, for which the Saints are led to
martyrdom even unto death.”
The martyric mindset does not
exist in all Christians. In its place are cowardice and fear. They know, and
they do not confess. “This is the cost-free and painless witness of Jesus
Christ: it costs nothing to know and not to know, to speak and not to speak, to
fight and not to be in danger. The most repulsive thing for the Faith and for
the witness of the truth is to be neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm.”
In our age the enemies of the
truth have multiplied. They are the antichrists who cannot and do not wish to
see the truth, although at times they appear as its defenders. They do this in
order to preserve their offices and their position in the conscience of the
people. “They are truly pitiable and tragic.” Such people, unfortunately, we
also see in the sphere of the Church. There are those who supposedly support
the truth, and the exactness of the Faith, in order to cover up falsehood. We
are speaking of a dynamic hypocrisy that is both hateful and dangerous. “To put
the truth forward in order to cover up falsehood. To appear holy in order to
conceal your impiety; to cry out the name of God in order to cover up the
presence of the devil. And this has become so common in our time that we need
much attention and ascetic struggle in order for us human beings to be able to
understand one another. It has become an art and a science, upon which the
great evil of the age is founded: propaganda, politics, and diplomacy. What,
then, is the truth after all?” the experienced bishop emphasized with pain.
The man who respects the truth of
the Faith, but also the truth of social affairs, often faces contempt and
sometimes even mockery. Unfortunately, some clergymen also cooperate in this
unpleasant tactic. They are those who criticize everyone except themselves!
The suppression of the truth
about the personality and ethos of a man is a frequent phenomenon in the
various events of honor that are organized, but also in the funeral orations
that are delivered.
Everyone is present, and only the
truth is absent. If history is based on these events, we have deception and, of
course, a degradation of the value that historical conclusions have concerning
persons, things, and activities.
Greek
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