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The Greek Orthodox Church and the economic crisis since 2009

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 13; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1474225x.2013.793055

1747-0234

Gerasimos Makris, Dimitris Bekridakis,

Religion and Society Interactions

Abstract In the midst of the raging socio-economic crisis that has hit Greece since 2009 the Greek Orthodox Church, under Archbishop Ieronymos II, has admirably developed its network of philanthropic work and charity meals. Open to both Greeks and immigrants, this project seems to realise Eastern Orthodox Christianity's sense of caritas and civic duty. Low key and efficient, the Orthodox Church's response to the crisis has left behind the nationalistic cries and pietistic/didactic excesses of the recent past. This article asserts, however, that, by failing to grapple with the structural causes of the crisis in a politically relevant manner and by refusing to castigate specific policies and politicians at the national and European Union level, the Greek Orthodox Church has offered a much needed palliative, but in the end has remained discursively distant from theological and political criticism of a rapacious neoliberal system and from effective engagement with Greek modernity. Keywords: Greek Orthodox ChurchIeronymos IIGreek economic crisisGreek national identitycivic dutycharity mealsEuropean UnionneoliberalismGreek modernity Notes 1 Some argue that the correct date is 1830 when the London Protocol was signed. 2 For synallilia, see CitationTroianos, 'The Hellenic Specificity'. 3 Practically, this means that its prelates and priests are public servants and that the Church is legally shielded from what could be termed religious competition. 4 For the formation of Helleno-Christian ideology, see CitationGazi, The Second Life of Three Holy Hierarchs. 5 For a detailed analysis of Christodoulos' era, see CitationOulis, Makris and Roussos, 'The Orthodox Church of Greece'. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid., 207. 8 This is not synonymous with the previously mentioned Helleno-Christianity, but to all intents and purposes Christodoulos and many in the church hierarchy used it interchangeably, indirectly alluding to a conflation of early Christianity with Eastern Orthodoxy through a discursive strategy of allochronism. This extends Eastern Orthodoxy back to the roots of Christianity, i.e. centuries before the Great Schism of the eleventh century, thus equating the two, whilst ascribing to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism a derivative and hence less authentic status. For the absence of a Greek self-identity among the Byzantines, see among others CitationBaker, Social and Political Thought in Byzantium; CitationRunciman, The Last Byzantine Renaissance; and CitationMango, Byzantium: The Empire of New Rome. 9 This may pernit the use of the term fundamentalism, in order to characterise Christodoulos' discourse. See Oulis, Makris, and Roussos, 'The Orthodox Church of Greece'. 10 Among the many instances, which substantiate this claim, see CitationZoumboulakis, 'Archimandritism'. 11 CitationBauman, Liquid Modernity. See also his Citation Postmodern Ethics and Citation Does Ethics Have a Chance , especially his introduction and chapter 2. 12 CitationHochschild, Commercialization, 8. 13 CitationAugi, 'Solidarity'. 14 See http://www.mkoapostoli.com/ 15 See CitationNET, 'Meeting' and CitationAndriopoulos, 'Praises'. But cf. CitationAntoniadou, 'Power Games'. 16 CitationDOL Newsroom, 'Against Xenophobia'. 17 In the same period, the Leftist opposition SYRIZA party, tipped to win the next elections, had organised a conference on the crisis with Slavoj Žižek as key-note speaker. Seizing the opportunity, a party official declared that 'to deal with the crisis Samaras asked the assistance of the Holy Spirit; we asked the assistance of Žižek'. 18 The bibliography on this is vast, from CitationDebord's classic Society of the Spectacle to works by Baudrillard, Lyotard, Barth and Benjamin. See also previously mentioned works of Bauman. Contrast with CitationFord, Retail Therapy. To broaden somewhat the picture, one should not forget that consumerism concerns religion as well. See CitationCavanaugh, Being Consumed, CitationMiller, Consuming Religion and CitationCarrette and King, Selling Spirituality. 19 This is the title of a very well-known book written in 1882 by Alexandros Papadiamantis, an emblematic Greek Orthodox Christian writer and intellectual. The book describes the barbarity of the twelth-century Venetian and Genovese merchants whose lust for wealth destroyed the life of the ordinary Greek people who lived on the Aegean Sea islands. The expression Merchants of the Nations has acquired proverbial status in contemporary Greek language. 22 CitationIeronymos, 'Untitled', 20. 20 CitationBonatsou, 'Infighting'. 21 See CitationVeerkamp, 'Judeo-Christian Tradition on Debt' on the distinction between the mainstream Roman Catholic Church emphasis on the individual and the charitable 'in contrast to the political and structural foci of Liberation Theology' (179) and his proposed solution through the welding of the ethical with the political (180ff). 23 See CitationPapathanasiou, 'Two Books for the Economic Crisis', 101–4. 24 CitationIeronymos, 'Usury'. 25 CitationIeronymos, 'More Sinful'. 26 CitationButler, 'Afterword', 279. 27 CitationProto Thema, 'Change of Mentality'. 28 Statistics taken from http://www.iaath.gr/index.php?option = com_content&view = section&layout = blog&id = 9&Itemid = 68; http://www.skai.gr/news/greece/article/190283/antigrafotouoloi-mazi-boroume-sugedrothikan-150-tonoi-trofima-kai-epetai-suneheia-/ (accessed January 7, 2013). 29 See CitationIoil, 'Church and Crisis', for a detailed presentation of the Church charity activities in relation to the crisis. 30 See http://www.mkoapostoli.com/ 31 See CitationSkalidakis, 'Hunger' and http://gak.eyv.sch.gr/Drast/Ekpaid/peina.pdf (accessed January 7, 2013). 32 See some photos here and juxtapose them with the current situation in CitationKathimerini, 'Athens during the Occupation', http://lh3.ggpht.com/_QW_USKRkIzk/S2H40FyhASI/AAAAAAAAjqQ/n5851zVoLeM/%C2%94%C2%B7%C2%BC%C2%BF%C3%84%C2%B9%C2%BA%C3%8C%20-%20%C3%83%C3%85%C3%83%C2%AF%C3%84%C2%B9%C2%BF%20%201948%5B5%5D.jpg (accessed January 7, 2013); http://p-nstatic.doldigital.net/taneawebstatic/445F0A8CCB5218FDA40EF243426C5D30.jpg (accessed January 7, 2013); http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EXvSy1YREBs/TInyrq3ncnI/AAAAAAAARFY/wrjvoLMnepY/s1600/%CE%B9%CE%B5%CF%81%CF%8E%CE%BD%CF%85%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%82+%CF%83%CF%85%CF%83%CF%83%CE%AF%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%B1.JPG (accessed January 7, 2013); http://topontiki.gr/img/imagecache/300x204_132812192985.jpg (accessed January 7, 2013); http://www.goodchannel.gr/uploads/48834-532-1(1)-960.jpg (accessed January 7, 2013); http://images.newsnow.gr/7/74681/gemise-me-syssitia-oli-i-ellada-1-315x236.jpg (accessed January 7, 2013); http://www.dimokratianews.gr/sites/default/files/syssitio279.jpg?1321388989 (accessed January 7, 2013). 33 See, for example, http://www.fourwinds10.net/resources/uploads/images/Merkel%20as%20Nazi%20-%20Greek%20poster%201.jpg (accessed January 7, 2013). The same fate has visited members of the Greek government who have been associated with her. See http://1.bp.blogspot.com/srQMKVIGcmo/TzEl_SZMXGI/AAAAAAAAAc4/8hbUxSdVYfQ/s1600/DSC02184.jpg (accessed January 7, 2013); http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5VijeBh_4og/UEXqpu7rc1I/AAAAAAAACAY/N-oaUtWoZek/s1600/samaras+merkel+matonei.jpg (accessed January 7, 2013). 34 The reference here is to the 1999 crash of the Greek Stock Exchange, in which millions of small-holders lost their money. It is alleged that government ministers of the time were involved in the affair. 35 Interviews with priests and lay people involved in the organisation of charity activities in two Athens dioceses. The interviews were conducted in September 2012. 36 Cf. Bauman, Does Ethics Have a Chance?, 26, on the relationship between objective and subjective responsibility, which could be used to interrogate the interplay between blame, guilt, responsibility and charity. 37 CitationFassin, 'The Humanitarian Politics of Testimony', 547. 38 Cf. CitationStark, The Rise of Christianity for the charity profile and character of the early Church. 39 CitationArgyropoulos, The Revolutionary Message and Citation'Untitled'; CitationPapathanasiou, Social Justice and Orthodox Theology; CitationPetrou, Social Justice. 40 CitationSt Basil, Works, 309. The first house for the poor in the Christian world, Vasileiada, was established by St Basil in Caesarea during the days of the 367/8 famine in the area. The establishment was open to all people irrespective of creed or ethnic identity. See CitationPapadopoulos, 'Monument of Love'. Significantly, St Basil personifies the Greek Orthodox Santa Claus. See CitationBekridakis, 'Cultural Symbol'. 41 CitationGregory Palamas, Works, 365. Though the theology of hesychasm has been construed as acosmic and supporting a retreat from world affairs, it also extols and promotes social justice. Unfortunately, hitherto the Greek Orthodox Church has marginalised this side thus spiritualising hesychasm. See also, Citation'Anthologio', 5–12 for the views on wealth of St Gregory of Nyssa, St John Chrysostom, St Greogry of Neocaesarea, Asterios of Amasseia, St Maximus the Confessor, Elias Meniates and Nicolai Berdyaev. 42 See note 8. 46 CitationBarth, Church Dogmatics. See also John Milbank's views on the economic crisis and on liberal democracy in CitationMilbank, 'On the Economic Crisis' and Citation'Democracy into Tyranny'; CitationGoudzwaard, Capitalism and Progress and Citation Hope in Troubled Times ; CitationHauerwas, A Better Hope; CitationGoodchild, Capitalism and Religion and Citation The Theology of Money , and also his discussion on money as a belief system in CitationGoodchild, 'Money and Theology'; also the views of liberal pastors such as CitationCampolo and his Red Letter Christians. Cf. CitationConnolly, Christianity and Capitalism. Interestingly, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, mentioned CST, along with Ignatian and Benedictine spirituality as very influential to his understanding (see CitationTelegraph, 'First Address'). 43 CitationO'Brien and Shannon, Catholic Social Thought. See also CitationBenedict XVI, Deus Caritas est as well as his last Citation'World Day of Peace Message'. 44 See CitationGutierrez, Theology of Liberation; CitationBoff and Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology; and CitationRomero, Violence of Love. For the Church's criticism, see CitationRatzinger, 'Liberation Theology'. It would be misleading, however, to assume that such criticisms simply 'proved' the Vatican's political conservatism. 45 See CitationGregory, Unintended Reformation, especially chapter 5. 47 See the official web site for the external relations of the CitationRussian Orthodox Church on 'The Basis of the Social Concept' and the Department for External Church Relations of the CitationMoscow Patriarchate site on the 'Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church', which revealingly includes photos of Russian Church dignitaries with, among others, President Putin and the European Commission President J. Barroso, one of the architects of the EU's neoliberal policies and an advocate of the stark austerity measures that have been imposed on much of southern Europe. For a critical review of the Russian Church's positions, see Novik, 'Social Doctrine: Will the Russian Orthodox Church take a Daring Step?'. 48 See CitationStratoulis, 'Budget 2013'. 49 See CitationNikas, 'Deep Recession'; CitationPapastathis, 'ELSTAT'; and CitationDaratos, 'In Deep Recession'. 50 See CitationPapathanasiou, 'Foreword', 4; Argyropoulos, The Revolutionary Message; CitationArkadas and Bekridakis, [Tough words]. 52 The two priests were interviewed in November 2013. 51 As well as beggars – since the bishoprics assume that each parish could and should fend for itself. 53 Veerkamp, 'Judeo-Christian Tradition on Debt', 183ff.