Letter in the press on Vatopedi Monastery

By Olga Konaris Kokkinos,
Journalist

Everyone knows that when one is deliberately ignoring certain facts, one is equally guilty had he been falsifying them. And this is true of the press.
In the last twenty days, Cypriot papers have been isolating some quotations from a certain book written by Yeronta Iosif Vatopedinos regarding the virtue of obedience, and gave the false impression that “yerontas”, or elder, tries to take the position of Jesus in the monasteries, and that Jesus Himself is nowhere to be found! They also implied that, when Yerontas Efraim travels outside Ayio Oros , carrying with him the Ayia Zoni, of our Lady, for people to worship, he does so in order to promote his image as “The” elder and that  any donations offered by the faithful are misappropriated by the monastery.
Firstly,  read more…the miraculous Ayia Zoni, belongs to the faithful who have the right to worship it and pay their respects as often as possible. The elders, or abbots, knowing they have this duty towards God and His people, leave Ayio Oros and their peace, come out in the world to offer the Ayia Zoni or any other precious object to display, so that the faithful will be blessed.  Innumerable miracles are also performed. A book details the many miracles which are performed by Ayia Zoni in Cyprus and Greece, has already been published and a second book is on the line. These books are offered to people for free.
Secondly, any offerings which are given by the people remain in the churches in which these holy objects are displayed and are not misappropriated by the monasteries.
Thirdly, if one questions whether it is appropriate for the abbot to accompany these objects when they leave Ayio Oros, one only has to think how carefully one is looking after his children or his property or any other precious things he owns and he will recognize that this attention is more than due.
Fourthly, people are hungry for the true word of God and have an unmistaken sense of who conveys this Word, and it is they themselves who offer respect and honor to the one they think as worthy of this respect and honor and thus, call him “ yeronta” .
It is also given the impression that the monies collected by the church or the monasteries are kept in a closet and the abbots or the bishops keep counting them all the time and carry out businesses to increase their value. No one knows about the charity that is given out or the works that are carried out or the material or other help that many destitute people and their families, even whole parishes, receive from the monasteries and the Church because charity is by definition a secret deed. This is true of the Vatopedi Monastery and its metohi, especially the one in Porto Lagos, in Xanthi, which lies by the Visthonida Lake, where “the fuss is all about”….
As blessed Yerontas Paisios was saying: “Let’s not look for the smallest dirt to sit on like the flies, but let’s look for the flowers to harvest the pollen like the bees do.
Let us all, then, wait until the truth shines, rather than throw stones against one another and leave our minds open to doubt and suspicion.