Monastic Republic of Mount Athos

The monasteries of Mount Athos have a history of opposing ecumenism, or movements towards reconciliation between the Orthodox Church of Constantinople and the Roman Catholic Church. The Esphigmenou monastery is particularly outspoken in this respect, having raised black flags to protest against the meeting of Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople and Pope Paul VI in 1972. Esphigmenou was subsequently expelled from the representative bodies of the Athonite Community. The conflict escalated in 2002 with Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople declaring the monks of Esphigmenou an illegal brotherhood and ordering their eviction; the monks refused to be evicted, and the Patriarch ordered a new brotherhood to replace them.

After reaching a low point of just 1,145 mainly elderly monks in 1971, the monasteries have been undergoing a steady and sustained renewal. By the year 2000, the monastic population had reached 1,610, with all 20 monasteries and their associated sketes receiving an infusion of mainly young well-educated monks. In 2009, the population stood at nearly 2,000.[3] Many younger monks possess university education and advanced skills that allow them to work on the cataloging and restoration of the Mountain's vast repository of manuscripts, vestments, icons, liturgical objects and other works of art, most of which remain unknown to the public because of their sheer volume. Projected to take several decades to complete, this restorative and archival work is well under way, funded by UNESCO and the EU, and aided by many academic institutions. The history of the modern revival of monastic life on Mount Athos and its entry into the technological world of the twenty-first century has been chronicled in Graham Speake's book, now in its second edition, Mount Athos. Renewal in Paradise.[4]

In 2018, Mount Athos became an issue within the increasingly tense Greece-Russia relations. The Greek government denied entry to Russian clerics headed for the monastery, and the media reported allegations that the Russian government used the mountain as a base for intelligence operations.[5] Relations were worsened in October after the Russian Orthodox Church banned its adherents from visiting sites controlled by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, which includes Mount Athos.[6]

According to the constitution of Greece,[7] Mount Athos (the "Monastic State of Agion Oros") is, "following ancient privilege", "a self-governed part of the Greek State, whose sovereignty thereon shall remain intact", and consists of 20 main monasteries which constitute the Sacred Community, and the capital town and administrative centre, Karyes, also home to a Civil Governor as the representative of the Greek state. The governor is an executive appointee. The status of the Holy Mountain and the jurisdiction of the Agiorite institutions were expressly described and ratified upon admission of Greece to the European Union (then the European Community).

Diamonētērion from 1978

The Holy Mountain is under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I.

Athos is governed by the "Sacred Community" (Ιερά Κοινότητα – Hiera Koinotēta) which consists of the representatives of the 20 Holy Monasteries, having as executive committee the four-membered "Sacred Administration" (Ιερά Επιστασία – Hiera Epistasia), with the Protos (Πρώτος) being its head, while the current Protos or more correctly "Protepistátēs" is the Elder Symeon Dionysiates.

Civil authorities are represented by the Civil Governor, appointed by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose main duty is to supervise the function of the institutions and the public order. The current Civil Governor is Athanasios Martinos.

In each of the 20 monasteries – which today all follow again the coenobitic system – the administration is in the hands of the Abbot (Ηγούμενος – Hēgoumenos) who is elected by the brotherhood for life. He is the lord and spiritual father of the monastery. The Convention of the brotherhood (Γεροντία) is the legislative body. All the other establishments (sketes, cells, huts, retreats, hermitages) are dependencies of some of the 20 monasteries and are assigned to the monks by a document called homologon (ομόλογον).

All persons leading a monastic life thereon acquire Greek citizenship without further formalities, upon admission as novices or monks. Visits to the peninsula are possible for laymen, but they need a special permit known as a diamonētērion (διαμονητήριον), similar to a visa.

Of the 20 monasteries located on the Holy Mountain, the brethren of 17 are predominantly ethnically Greek. Of the other 3, brethren are drawn from monks of primarily other origins, who become Greek subjects. These are the Helandariou Monastery (Serbian), the Zografou Monastery (Bulgarian) and the Agiou Panteleimonos monastery (Russian).

Among the sketes, most are predominantly ethnic Greek. However, two are Romanian, the coenobitic "Skētē Timiou Prodromou" (which belongs to the Megistis Lavras Monastery) and the idiorrhythmic "Skētē Agiou Dēmētriou tou Lakkou", also called "Lakkoskētē" (which belongs to the Agiou Pavlou monastery). Another one is Russian, "Skētē Bogoroditsa" (which belongs to the Agiou Panteleimonos monastery).

Politics

Axion Estin icon used at the Mount Athos. It usually sits behind the altar of the Protaton church of Karyès, as hegumene of all the Holy Mountain.

Agiou Panteleimonos monastery, traditional home of Russian monks, was the main theater of the Imiaslavie dogmatic controversy during the early 20th century

The self-governed region of the Holy Mountain, according to the Decree passed by the Holy Community on 3 October 1913 and according to the international treaties of London (1913), Bucharest (1913), Neuilly (1919), Sèvres (1920) and Lausanne (1923), is considered part of the Greek state. The Decree, "made in the presence of the Holy Icon of Axion Estin", stated that the Holy Community recognised the Kings of Greece as the lawful sovereigns and "successors on the Mountain" of the "Emperors who built" the monasteries and declared its territory as belonging to the then Kingdom of Greece.

Political instability in Greece during the mid-20th century that affected Mount Athos included Nazi occupation from the Easter season of 1941 through late 1944, followed immediately by the Greek Civil War in a struggle where Communist efforts failed. The Battle of Greece was reported in Time magazine, "The Stukas swooped across the Aegean skies like dark, dreadful birds, but they dropped no bombs on the monks of Mount Athos".[8]

After the Nazi takeover of Greece, the Epistassia, Athos's four-member executive committee, formally asked Adolf Hitler to place the Autonomous Monastic State under his personal protection, and Hitler agreed. Mount Athos survived World War II nearly untouched, and for the remainder of the war, the monks of Mount Athos referred to Hitler as "High Protector of the Holy Mountain" (German: Hoher Protektor des heiligen Berges).[9]

Later a "Special Double Assembly" of the Holy Community in Karyes passed the constitutional charter of the Holy Mountain, which was ratified by the Greek Parliament. This regime originates from the "self-ruled monastic state" as stated on a chrysobull parchment signed and sealed by the Byzantine Emperor Ioannis Tzimisces in 972. This important document is preserved in the House of the Holy Administration in Karyes. The self-rule of the Holy Mountain was later reaffirmed by the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos in 1095.

Prohibition on entry for women

Sign at entrance to Mount Athos

There is a prohibition on entry for women, called avaton (Άβατον) in Greek, to make living in celibacy easier for men who have chosen to do so.[10] Monks feel that the presence of women alters the social dynamics of the community and therefore slows their path towards spiritual enlightenment. The ban was officially proclaimed by several emperors, including Constantine Monomachos, in a chrysobull of 1046.[11]

In the 14th century, Serbian Emperor Dušan the Mighty brought his wife, Helena of Bulgaria, to Mount Athos to protect her from the plague, but she did not touch the ground during her entire visit, as she was carried in a hand carriage all the time.[12]

French writer Maryse Choisy entered Mount Athos in the 1920s disguised as a sailor, and later wrote about her escapade in Un mois chez les hommes ("A Month with Men").[13]

There was an incident in the 1930s regarding Aliki Diplarakou, the first Greek beauty pageant contestant to win the Miss Europe title, who made headlines when she dressed up as a man and snuck into Mount Athos. Her escapade was discussed in a 13 July 1953 Time magazine article entitled "The Climax of Sin".[14]

In 1953, Cora Miller, an American Fulbright Program teacher from Athens, Ohio, landed briefly along with two other women, stirring up a controversy among the local monks.[15]

A 2003 resolution of the European Parliament requested the lifting of the ban for violating "the universally recognised principle of gender equality".[16]

On 26 May 2008, five Moldovans illegally entered Greece by way of Turkey, ending up on Athos; four of the migrants were women. The monks forgave them for trespassing and informed them that the area was forbidden to females.[17]

Female domestic animals such as cows or sheep are also barred, except for female cats.[18]

Greek is commonly used in all the Greek monasteries, but in some monasteries there are other languages in use: in Agiou Panteleimonos, Russian (67 monks in 2011); in Helandariou Monastery, Serbian (58); in Zographou Monastery and Skiti Bogoroditsa, Bulgarian (32); and in the sketes of Timiou Prodromou and Lakkoskiti, Romanian (64). Today, many of the Greek monks also speak foreign languages. Since there are monks from many nations in Athos, they naturally also speak their own native languages.

Today the 20 monasteries of Mount Athos are the dominant holy institutions for both spiritual and administrative purposes, consolidated by the Constitutional Chart of the Holy Mountain. Although, since the beginning of Mount Athos' history, monks were living in lodgings of different size and construction quality. All these monastic lodging types exist until today, named as seats (καθίσματα), cells (κελλιά), huts (καλύβες), retreats (ησυχαστήρια), hermitages (ερημιτήρια), caves (σπήλαια), sketai (σκήτες) and all of them are known under the general term "dependencies" (εξαρτήματα) of the Holy Monasteries. The term "cells" can be used under a more generalised meaning, comprising all the above but sketae, and following this term we can talk about three different kind of institutions in Mount Athos: monasteries, sketae and cells.

Monasteries

A map of Mount Athos with the monasteries indicated

A pilgrim/visitor to a monastery, who is accommodated in the guest-house (αρχονταρίκι) can have a taste of the monastic life in it by following its daily schedule: praying (services in church or in private), common dining, working (according to the duties of each monk) and rest. During religious celebrations usually long vigils are held and the entire daily program is radically reshaped. The gate of the monastery closes by sunset and opens again by sunrise.

Sketes

See also: Skete

A view of Nea Skiti.

Small communities of neighbouring cells were developed since the beginning of monastic life on Mount Athos and some of them were using the word "skete" (σκήτη) meaning "monastic settlement" or "lavra" (λαύρα) meaning "monastic congregation". The word "skete" is of Coptic origin and in its original form is a placename of a location in the Egyptian desert.[23] It is in the Egyptian desert where monasticism made its first steps.

The unknown author of the "History of the Egyptian Monks" (Historia Monachorum in Aegypto), perhaps Flavius Rufinus, visited the area at the end of the fourth century. He tells us: "Then we came to Nitria, the best-known of all monasteries of Egypt, about forty miles [60 km] from Alexandria; it takes its name from a nearby town where Nitre is collected... In this place there are about fifty dwellings, or not many less, set near together and under one father. In some of them, there are many living together, in others a few and in some there are brothers who live alone. Though they are divided by their dwellings they remain bound together and inseparable in faith and love". This is exactly the main idea of a "skete", the communal way, just between the eremitic way and the coenobitic way of monasticism, with all 3 coexisting until today.

In 1680 the ex-patriarch Dionysios III Vardalis built in the Saint Anne skete of the Holy Mountain a big central church to accommodate all the monks of the area and in 1689 an internal regulatory text was constituted by the monks and ratified first by the Monastery of Megisti Lavra and finally by the patriarch Dionysios V Haritonidis; and later again by patriarch Cyril V, who contributed in its evolution. Since then, more sketes followed on the same way, and gradually the term "skete" (within the Holy Mountain) came to be used only for the monastic settlements having an internal rule ratified by the Patriarchate.

Later on, some cells came to attract many monks, expanded their buildings and started functioning in the coenobitic way of the monasteries. Since the number of the Monasteries in Mount Athos was restricted to 20, a new term was introduced: the coenobitic skete (κοινόβιος σκήτη), while a skete of the traditional form was named idiorhythmic skete (ιδιόρρυθμος σκήτη) in order to underline the difference.

The first ones, both in architecture and lifestyle, follow the typical model of a monastery, that of a community living together, sharing and distributing work, and praying together daily. In contrast, the idiorrhythmic community (intermediary between the coenobitic community and the seclusion of a hermit) resembles a hamlet, and the daily life there is much like that of a cell. But there are also some duties for the community. Near the centre of the settlement is the central church called Kyriakon (Κυριακόν, that could be translated "for Sunday"), where the whole brotherhood meets for the Divine Liturgy service, on Sundays and on greater feasts. Usually there are also an administration house, a refectory for common celebrations, a cemetery, a library, storehouses and a guesthouse.

The Julian calendar, which currently has a difference of 13 days from the Gregorian calendar, is still used on Mount Athos. In 1923, as a means to eliminate the divergence existing between the religious and civil dates, after a synod in Constantinople, part of the Eastern Orthodox Churches dropped 13 days and adopted the Revised Julian calendar, which is synchronised with the Gregorian calendar, at least until 2800.[note 1] Although under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual head of the monastic state, nearly all the monasteries of Athos refused to follow the revised calendar and finally, for the sake of uniformity, the patriarch asked the single monastery that used the revised calendar to revert to the Julian.

Also in use is Byzantine time, in which the day commences at sunset as does the liturgical day[note 2] and not at midnight as in the reckoning of civil time, and the difference between the two varies according to the season of the year. Because the time interval from sundown to sundown is not constant, clocks showing the Byzantine time require continual manual readjusting which in current practice is done weekly, on Saturday, if the sky is clear; where the summit of Athos is visible, 12:00 is set when the last rays of sunlight cease to shine on the tip. Some monasteries also have a clock showing civil time since boat schedules run thereon (and on the civil calendar) as well as for pilgrims who may be disoriented by Byzantine time reckoning.

The Friends of Mount Athos (FoMA) is a society formed in 1990 by people who shared a common interest for the monasteries of Mount Athos, and a registered charity in the U.K. (Registered Charity No. 1047287). Timothy Ware, Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, is the President of the society. Among its members are Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Charles, Prince of Wales, Heir Apparent to the British throne, who is the royal patron of the society.[24] Although founded in the U.K., the society has an extensive international membership, including a large membership in the Americas.

The objective of the society, as stated on its official web page, is described as: "the advancement of education of the public in the study and knowledge of the history, culture, arts, architecture, natural history, and literature of the Orthodox monasteries of Mount Athos and the promotion of the religious and other charitable work of the Holy Community and monasteries of Mount Athos." To that end, the society works to advance education by studying and providing information on the history, culture, arts, architecture, natural history, and literature of Mount Athos. To achieve this, it produces publications, arranges lectures, and organizes conferences and exhibitions devoted to Athonite themes.

The society also supports and promotes the religious and other charitable work of the monasteries and their dependencies as well as other religious communities with links to the Holy Mountain. FoMA acts as a group of concerned friends and supporters, providing assistance where possible, in consultation with the monastic authorities. Appeals may be launched from time to time if funds are needed for specific purposes, but the assistance mainly takes the form of expertise, liaison, or equipment needed by the monks. The society's American membership founded in 2017 a parallel charitable foundation, The Mount Athos Foundation of America.

As a service to the monasteries and to pilgrims, the society clears and maintains the ancient footpaths of Mount Athos, many of the stone-paved (Kalderimi) paths dating back to the Byzantine era. It also provides on its website detailed footpath descriptions with GPS tracks, and a regularly updated report on the condition of the paths. FoMA member and cartographer, Peter Howorth of Christchurch, New Zealand, working with the society's footpath team, has recently published a new Pilgrim Map[25] which incorporates modern mapping technology with study of early maps of Mount Athos.

Among the society's publications are its annual bulletin (Friends of Mount Athos Annual Report) offering articles, book reviews and other features related to Mount Athos. Past issues are available from the society's web site. It also publishes A Pilgrim's Guide to Mount Athos in both printed and continuously updated digital forms,[26] as well as a yearly directory of members.

• The Friends of Mount Athos
• Former official website