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Mar 25th, 2025
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4 Days of riots which have spread to at least 27 cities and towns in Greece, buildings and cars set on fire, police stations attacked, and whole neighborhoods blockaded. I really think the government has to take off the kid gloves and deal with the rioters who are being led by extreme leftists and hooded anarchists, before innocent lives are lost.
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I am really at a loss to understand what is going on.
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Angry young people that have no reason to be angry...
A weak government that should have imposed a state of emergency days ago.
UTTER MADNESS!
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Maybe it's time to give King Constantine another chance (with the clear understanding that the Palace does not interfere in politics).
Fr. Serge
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What are they raising cain about? What is their issue?
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lanceg:
If I'm not mistaken, there was a 15-year-old who was shot by police at some point prior to the beginning of this wave or rioting. If I were to guess, this must have been the excuse for rioting--something that looks like a great deal of pent-up rage that had been building for some time. The reason(s). . .???????
BOB
Last edited by theophan; 12/10/08 07:38 PM.
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That the riots should have spread so far so fast would suggest all is not well in the land of Greece and that this has been simmering along for a while. Now there is to be general strike. Are they due for an election any time soon?
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According to police the 15yr old was killed by a warning shot that ricocheted. The policeman said they were under attack from a group of anarchists at the time. Some of those present dispute the testimony of the police involved.
I've looked at numerous photos online, and it clearly appears that the riots are being led by avowed anarchists and radical leftists, who are destroying private and public property and endangering lives. They set fire to a large Christmas tree displayed in Athens, and have even burned the flag of there country.
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They and their extremist mates have taken the protests to London and Berlin.
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I know this has nothing to do with the subject,in a way but.  My husband was a student at Kent State during the riots there. Why did they happen - exactly - left wing instigators from Chicago. So the above statements of 'anarchists' makes sence, because that is what happened there. God let your mercy and grace fall in abundance on this hurting land, for you glory Jesus and the protection of your people. Amen
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7776102.stmThis article states that there has been a lot of issues leading up to the recent riots. Not the least of which are financial problems.
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Pavel,
As I understand it, Kostas Karamanlis and his government will be out in three months, probably exacerbating the problems.
Alexis
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I haven't added much to this thread because it is complex...the Greeks are by nature a volatile people and some of it has to do with not wanting things to change...in public universities, students often spend five years leisurely spending the free education, and then get gvt jobs which are secure for the rest of their lives; The country has been under pressure to allow private universities accreditation. The students don't want that and see it as a threat to their cushy futures and to their jobs; Because of an incident at the onset of the military junta in 1967 at the university, the police are not allowed to enter the university so now they use that priveledge (which is insane in and of itself) to make molatov cocktails with others who are not students; The media eggs on the tension because it presents the events in a biased melodramatic way all day long and does not report in an objective manner. The Greek youth have always been fond of associating with and being active in the communist party and anarchist groups; no community mindedness; high unemployment rate; preference for socialism, etc., etc., etc.....as is the usual case in Greece, there is no rhyme or reason, other than the Greek penchant for self destruction.(for instance, how does destroying the livelihood of others, that in turn employs people help unemployment!)
In other words, it is everything, and it is nothing!
Anyway, on a more positive note:
A tale of one Greek anarchist youth
I would like to share a story which a Gerontissa at a monastery in Greece shared with me:
At the funeral of Archbishop Christodoulos of blessed memory, there was a woman wailing out loud and crying: "Father, why have you left us"...a person who knows Gerontissa was close by and asked compassionately, "are you a relative of His Eminence", to which the woman responded "no". She then asked, "are you a friend of His Eminence", to which the woman also responded "no"....but explained that he had returned her son to her. She explained further:
When her son was in his teens, he was one of these troubled, angry anarchists. He was never home, and was always in trouble. Every time the phone rang that he had been arrested, the parents would dutifully go to the police station and post bail for him. Eventually, they had run out of all their money doing this, and were at their wit's end, so the last time he was arrested they told him not to return to their home. The years passed and the mother did not know what had happened to her son, until one day the doorbell rang and she opened it up to see a well dressed, proper young man, devoid of previous ear piercings and such, at the door. It was her son.
Apparently, one night, when he was engaged in the destruction of some businesses by throwing rocks and molatov cocktails, His Eminence, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and all Greece, was passing by in his car and saw this activity. He asked his driver to immediately stop where the youths were. He grabbed the teen by his shoulders and, in his calm, charismatic, genuinely caring and loving manner, asked him why he was doing that. He then offered him some more words of comfort, understanding, and love to which the boy simply froze in his footsteps stunned at this brave and loving action towards him at that moment by the head of the Greek Church. The Archbishop then told the boy that he really would like him to come by his residence to talk some more. He gave him his phone number and told him that he would anxiously be awaiting his call. The boy took him up on this and went to see him. They spoke and the boy came to the understanding that what he was doing was wrong. The void of anger and whatever else propels these Greek youth to acts of anarchy was filled by the Holy Spirit. He wanted to have confession and be absolved of his sins.
The Archbishop told him that he could not absolve him of his sins until he did one thing first....he was to go to his parents and seek their forgiveness.
So, the young, well dressed man who suddenly found himself at his parent's door after years of not seeing them, fell to his knees and begged his mother's forgiveness at the moment that she opened the door, and a family was restored and healed. Glory to God for this miracle!
The Archbishop loved the youth and they felt it...it melted their anger and brought them closer to Christ. He told them to come to church in their jeans, he loved them and he enjoyed them. We should all take note of his charismas, and try to emulate them, because as icons of Christ, we can all change a young life by love.
The recent happenings are a stark contrast in emotion to the same overwhelming number of youth who took to the streets to attend the funeral of the late Archbishop last year.
May his memory be eternal.
In Christ,
Alice
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The Catholic News Agency reported that the Catholic Bishops Conference of Greece on Wednesday, December 10th, weighed in on the riots: Athens, Dec 10, 2008 / 10:54 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Greek Bishops Conference has issued a statement blaming the violent riots throughout Greece on a “moral void” resulting from a “detachment from Christian social doctrine and the abandonment of the common values of humanity.”
A policeman’s shooting of a student has sparked five days of rioting and a general strike in Greece. The 15-year-old boy was allegedly among youths who threw stones at police cars on Saturday in an area known for its political radicalism, Agence France Presse reports.
Though initial accounts claimed the student was hit by bullets three times in the chest, a post-mortem examination indicated he was killed by a ricochet.
The nationwide unrest includes clashes at the student’s funeral and street battles with police in which students throw firebombs, pavement slabs, and other missiles and police respond with teargas.
The two officers involved in the shooting were questioned before a magistrate at a courthouse, which rioters attacked with two petrol bombs.
Banks, schools, and hospitals have closed while demonstrators have surrounded the Greek Parliament, police stations, and some Greek embassies in other countries, the AFP reports.
On Tuesday the Greek Bishops Conference called for a “peaceful revolution of values” to escape the “blind alley” which is “testifying to the moral void that exists within the state and social institutions.”
The bishops expressed their sympathies for the dead student’s family and asked the State for “every humane care.”
“We are experiencing a deep crisis of values,” wrote conference president Bishop Francesco Papamanolis. “The detachment from the Christians social doctrine and the abandonment of the common values of humanity and the respect of life, of people, property and difference, as well as unbridled materialism, lead to what is happening in our country in these days.”
The bishops said the Catholic Church invites the government, political parties, trade unions, intellectuals, and citizens of any age, class, or ideology to cooperate for the peaceful revolution of values.”
“Only through a sincere dialogue, based on the common values of humanity, which are also Christian values, and on the respect of the human being will the further fall of values be stopped and will the right way out of this blind alley be found,” the bishops’ statement concluded.
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