I'm on trial because I served the liturgy...

Patras, October 7, 2021

I'm being judged ...

 

As announced earlier, a criminal case was opened against me and I must stand trial before the Sole Court for Administrative Offenses in Patras on October 11, 2021, because last year, on March 25, 2020, on the feast of the Annunciation, I performed my priestly and pastoral duty, following the dictates of our church tradition and our conscience.

Let me remind you that according to the government decree issued at that time (decree No. 2867/16.3.20, decree No.Δ1α/ΓΠ.οικ. 21285/28.3.20) from March 16, 2020 to April 11, 2020, the ministering of the Divine Liturgy was completely prohibited on throughout Greece (including monasteries and even the Holy Mount Athos!). Criminal liability was introduced even for the simple ministering of the Divine Liturgy, regardless of the presence or absence of believers in churches...

During 28 years of priestly ministry, I had four more cases when I was honored to be prosecuted and charged in court, because I did not succumb to outside pressure and wanted to protect the interests of the parish of the Church of St. Nicholas in Patras, where I was then chairman of the Church Council and was responsible for administrative and financial matters. The amount that was at stake at that time (1995-2000) was very high and equaled to about 100 million drachmas! All four times I was acquitted, and, in the end, the church was completely released from all claims that arose during those years of dispute.

If at that time very serious material interests were at stake, then in this case the subject of the trial is my personal honor and dignity - as a priest and as a person, the constitutional right of our people to freedom of religion, as well as the right to priestly service and the dignity of a Greek Orthodox priest.

As I noted last year in my explanations to the competent prosecutor on September 15, 2020 (see appendix), prosecution for such a “crime” is a special honor for a priest, and the highest honor and reward after the priesthood is conviction for fulfilling his priestly duty.

But, unfortunately, this honor is overshadowed by one unpleasant event: in our country, which marks the 200th anniversary of the overthrow of the Ottoman yoke this year, the legislative branch has authorized competent officials from the executive branch to completely prohibit the ministering of the Divine Liturgy, and the competent judiciary considers the ministering of the Eucharist a crime and calls priests who dared to serve as "criminals." As for the church leadership, it silently watches all this and, at best, is simply inactive!

When I think about the fact that such a provision of the law, criminalizing the ministering of the Divine Liturgy, after the death of Diocletian (A.D. 311) operated in Europe only in Albania during the reign of Enver Hoxha (1967-1990), and when I think that neither Muhammad the Conqueror nor his successors-sultans during 400-500 years of Turkish slavery, neither Lenin, nor Stalin, nor Ceausescu dared to show such wickedness to the Sacrament, expressing the very essence of our Church - the Divine Eucharist, which Greek government dared to in 2020, then, of course, I cannot rejoice as much as I would like in connection with the privilege of being prosecuted ...

In fact, I was very concerned about what I should do: should I defend myself before Greek justice or let it honor me with condemnation, because, acting in accordance with church tradition and my conscience as a priest, I served the liturgy on the feast of the Annunciation and did not obey absurd, impious and unconstitutional instructions of the state.

The only reason I chose to defend myself is that, while being condemned for serving the liturgy would be my highest honor, it is at the same time:

• direct challenge to the church consciousness of the faithful people of God;

• shame for the Greek state, which claims to occupy a place among modern democracies that respect the right of their citizens to freedom of religion, and, finally,

• is another temptation for believers and further undermines their confidence in the church leadership of our country!

After all, the highest duty of Greek justice is to protect the Greek state and its constitutional order...

Protopresbyter Anastasios Gotsopoulos,

cleric of the Church of St. Nicholas, Patras.

Appeal

to the prosecutor of the court for administrative offenses

Patras from 15.09.2020.

 

With regard to the preliminary consideration of the case dated 07.07.2020, which you appointed in connection with the ministering of the divine service in the Church of St. Nicholas in Patras on the feast of the Annunciation (March 25, 2020), I hereby inform you of the following:

1.    As an Orthodox Greek priest, it seemed to me absolutely unthinkable to submit and obey in this particular case, therefore I did not obey and did not submit to completely unnecessary, absurd, unhelpful, unconstitutional and, most importantly, impious and antichrist government decree numbered 2867/Υ1/16.3.20 (Government Gazette, vol. 2, 872/2020), which prohibited not only gatherings of people in churches throughout Greece, but also the ministering of the Divine Liturgy (even in monasteries and on the Mount Athos!), during the the period of Great Lent, which is of the greatest importance from a liturgical point of view (see appendices c, d, e).

A similar provision of the law, prescribing a complete ban on worship and criminalizing the ministering of the Divine Liturgy, was in force in Europe until AD 311 (the year of Diocletian's death) and in Albania under the reign of Enver Hoxha (1967-1990)! Neither Muhammad the Conqueror, nor Lenin, nor Stalin dared to show such impiety towards the Sacrament, which expresses the very essence of our Church - the Divine Eucharist, which the Greek Republic dared to do!

2. As an Orthodox priest, I am obliged to celebrate the Divine Liturgies and thereby serve the people entrusted to me by the grace of God, obeying my priest's conscience and, mainly, the commandment of the "Commander and Perfecter of the Faith Lord Jesus": "Do this in remembrance of me ... until I come" (Luke 22:19; 1Cor. 11:26). And to anyone, whoever one is, suggesting me to break the commandment of the Lord Himself, to despise the voice of my conscience and leave the ministry in my parish, I will repeat the apostolic words again and again: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5, 40), respectively, taking responsibility for all the consequences of my actions. Only a serious illness or some canonical punishment imposed over me on occasion by my bishop (a ban on the priesthood) can prevent me from ministering the Divine Liturgy. However, no government order in any way has the power and right to determine when and how I will serve!

3. There was not and could not be the slightest danger to the health of the population from the ministering of the Divine Liturgy in our church. During the six months while the virus was spreading in our country, there was not a single case of infection caused by participation in the Divine Liturgy, which fully confirms my statement and refutes any judgment contrary to it (see appendices a, b). In support of the above, I would like to inform you that on August 1, 2020, a new outbreak of coronavirus occurred in our country and the number of cases per day exceeded 370 (as of 10/09/2020), remaining a stable three-digit number for a long time. This was twice the daily number of cases from March to April 2020, when the maximum number of cases was 156 people per day (04/21/2020). Despite this, the ban on the ministering of the Divine Liturgy in August and September was not introduced, only the use of a mask in places of worship and other hygiene measures, including maintaining distance between people, were ordered (see decree No. 3162/31.7.2020). That is, much milder measures were prescribed than those that were introduced within two months, from March to April 2020, when half the number of cases was observed.

4. According to the Apostle Paul, to Christians “it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him” (Phil. 1:29). If this applies to ordinary believers, how much more does it apply to us clergy who have received the grace of the priesthood! In this regard, let me tell you with complete sincerity that it is a great honor for a priest to be persecuted, because, despite his shortcomings and weaknesses, he strives to be consistent in his priestly ministry, in the “sacred legacy” that he received at the time of ordination. Surely, the greatest honor for a priest will be any conviction for the same reason. However, what is honor and glory for a priest will become a direct challenge to the ecclesiastical consciousness of believers and a shame for the Greek Republic, which claims to occupy a place among modern states that respect the right to freedom of religion of its citizens!

5. I enclose and ask you to take into account the following:

a. My article entitled “Well, the end of the fake news coming from the state and near-state media has come. We do not get infected in the Church! " (08.29.2020) // «Ἐπιτέλους, τέλος στὰ κρατικὰ καὶ παρακρατικὰ fake news. Δεν μολυνόμαστε στην Εκκλησία! "

b. My article entitled “Between the Words of Prophets and False Prophets. God will save Greece! " (09.01.2020) // «Μεταξὺ προφητικοῦ καὶ ψευδοπροφητικοῦ λόγου. Ο Θεός θα σώσει την Ελλάδα! "

c. Appeal from 03.30.2020 before the State Council of Ms Chr. Manta against decree No. 2867/16.3.20.

d. Article by Professor K. Kyriazopoulos entitled “Temporary ban on worship for health purposes violates freedom of religion” (ROMFAIA, March 18, 2020) // “Η προσωρινή απαγόρευση της λατρείας

e. Article by K. Kakoyannis and El. Karnieti entitled “The decision of the ministry to ban liturgies is invalid, void and unconstitutional” (ROMFAIA, 03.23.2020)

 

Regards and best wishes,

Protopresbyter Anastasios Gotsopoulos.

 

 

Internet Source: Πρωτοπρεσβύτερος Ἀναστάσιος Κ. Γκοτσόπουλος. Δικάζομαι επειδή λειτούργησα...  https://www.romfea.gr/katigories/10-apopseis/45969-dikazomai-epeidi-leitoyrgisa?fbclid=IwAR1YY4ibiyNKdPHtXLQ9kYCbs_mdqX-l57GZBXKKTiInHoAolDsjW8tJqio

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz_wKCC_6R8

@ Translation "Pen of a Ready Writer", 2021.

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