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This is in regards to the Pope's possible visit to Greece. It is my understanding that there is much opposition to his visit among the Orthodox in Greece. I have even heard that protesters have plastered posters saying things such as "Say no to the beast of the Apocalypse." I don't no if this is true or not, but thats what I have heard. Thus brings me to my question:

It is a fairly common belief among Protestant Fundamentalists that the Pope is the Antichrist, the beast of Revelation. Are there Orthodox believers that also believe this? I find this quite troubling.

Irish --

The situation is complicated. There is a lot of anger in Greece toward the Latin Church -- in many ways (rightly or wrongly), they blame the Latin Church for the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, and the subsequent disaster under the Ottoman Empire. There is, almost certainly, more pure anger at the Latin Church in Greece than in almost any other Orthodox country due to the strong connection to the Byzantine heritage there. Remember, the initial split was between Constantinople (of which the Greeks see themselves as the principle heirs) and Rome. It's important to remember in this that, for the most part, the venom is not directed against the person of John Paul II (who gets a lot of respect from many Orthodox), but against the institution that he represents.

As a result of the anger, a lot of epithets are thrown around by the more rabid -- "two headed monster" is one, "arch-heretic" is another. Yes, there are some Orthodox who have likened the Papacy to the Antichrist, and there are some who do that today. It's not a teaching of the Orthodox Church, of course, but there are some Orthodox who think that way.

The upcoming visits in Greece and Ukraine are, no matter what, going to be a public relations disaster for Orthodoxy. On the one hand, it will be an eye-opener to many regarding how very different the views of some Orthodox believers are from the present atmosphere in Western Europe and the rest of the West. But on the other hand, there will almost certainly be protests in both Greece and Ukraine, probably by the most rabid anti-catholic elements (the Churches are *not* supporting this officially, and are actually asking people *not* to do it) and this will play very badly in the Western media for Orthodoxy. These visits aren't going to be like the visit to Romania, I think.

Brendan

[This message has been edited by Brendan (edited 04-26-2001).]

Dear Brendan,

Actually, the Ukrainian Churches not in communion with Moscow, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Autocephalous Orthodox, have no problem with the Papal visit.

The Moscow Patriarchate does and this goes beyond the realm of religion and into that of national and imperial/colonial politics.

The Ukrainian government has also donated funds to refurbish St George's Cathedral in L'viv.

The Ukrainian intelligentsia, government and religious people of a wide range of Churches welcome His Holiness the Pope to their country.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church has had many New Martyrs of its own, martyred by the Bolsheviks, especially in the wake of the 1946 Synod.

The Pope is coming to beatify a representative group of them, including the Carpatho-Ruthenian Martyr Blessed Theodore Romzha.

There will always be those who demonstrate their religious uncivility during these kind of events.

They don't represent the majority of people of good will.

It is a shame the Moscow Patriarchate is among this group.

Perhaps it will have a change of heart by then?

Welcome, Your Holiness, many thank God for the Grace of your visit in the name of Saints Peter and Paul!

Alex

Alex --

I don't necessarily disagree, but there will be protests that will show Orthodoxy in a bad light, that's all. This isn't always the case (it wasn't the case in Romania), but I fear it will be so in Greece and Ukraine (perhaps worse in Greece).

Brendan

Dear Brendan,

You are right, sorry.

Alex