Political leaders come and go, but priests remain. Their relationships are often tested and go from spectacular friendship to the sort of animosity you cannot hide.
Setting aside the religious extremities of the antiquity (such as Iphigenia), these days we have instances such as the touring of icons and remains that are meant to cure incurable diseases. This phenomenon is so popular it even affected the royal family in Greece. In 1964 the icon of the Virgin Mary was brought over from Tinos to save the dying king Paul. There was no miracle.
The iconoclasts in our time and age have not been counted – after all, they lost to the iconolaters in the Byzantine era. Even though religious disputes are not usual in our times (for dogmatic affairs and not personal rivalries), the procession of icons for pilgrimage causes great tension amongst the classes.
In a religious community it is natural for disagreements to emerge even on dogmatic affairs. But the criticism from people who do not belong to the Church is not acceptable. Its interior matters are of concern.
Many Christians may disagree with the procession of icons and holy remains. One cannot dispute though the faith of hundreds of thousands of people who queue in endless line to worship.
Let us leave God’s matters in God’s hands and the Virgin Mary’s gaze maintain the hopes of millions of people.
Stavros P. Psycharis
Originally published in the Sunday print edition
