Published in Minneapolis USA 8:15pm Feb 01 2008 - London 2:15am 2/2
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“It is my eager expectation and hope
that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage
now as always Christ will be honored in my body,
whether by life or by death.”
(The Bible, Philippians 1:20 ESV)

By Gloriscope staff

Archbishop Christodoulos, the leader of the Orthodox church in Greece, was buried in Athens Thursday after an elaborate church service in the city’s cathedral. He was also given full civilian honors usually reserved for heads of state, including a military escort of the funeral cortege, a 21-gun salute, and the presence of the country’s top dignitaries during the funeral. Public institutions and schools in Athens were closed for the day and church bells were ringing during the funeral.

The body of Archbishop Christodoulos – adorned with a beautiful vestment, a tiara, and the Holy Bible between his hands – was lying in state at the Mitropoli Cathedral in Athens. Thousands of mourners had paid their beloved archbishop their last respects during the last four days of public mourning, many of them kissing his face in the open casket.

Funeral service

The funeral service was held in the Mitropoli Cathedral, in the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, other prelates of the Greek and international Orthodox church, President of the Greek Republic Karolos Papoulias, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and almost all of his cabinet ministers, members of the Greek parliament, politicians from the political parties, the Mayor of Athens, foreign diplomats, and other distinguished guests. A 12-person Catholic delegation from the Vatican was also present.

A large crowd of other mourners stood outside the cathedral, listening to the funeral service through public loudspeakers.

The funeral service was officiated by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians in the world. He said in his eulogy that the deceased archbishop had brought the church closer to the people and that his death was a great loss for the Orthodox church in the entire world.

Eulogies by other dignitaries also stressed that Archbishop Christodoulos brought the church closer to the people, particularly to young epople. The minister of education and religious affairs, Euripides Stylianidis, said that the late archbishop believed in the young generation, that he always wanted to be in contact with young people, that he talked with them in their language and that he succeeded to bring the church closer to them.

Mayor of Athens, Nikitas Kaklamanis, said in his eulogy that Archbishop Christodoulos was “impulsive, dynamic, fired up,” and that he led the church away from its traditional introverted perspective and opened the church to the wide society.

Funeral cortege and the burial

After the church service, the open casket was placed onto the carriage of a field gun. A large military guard of honor escorted the cortege along with clergy and a large crowd of other mourners. Many people followed the cortege on foot. Tens of thousands of people, many clad in black and waving Greek flags, lined the city streets along the cortege’s way to the cemetery.

A 21-gun salute was fired in Archbishop Christodoulos’ honor from the top of the Lycabettus Hill, the highest point in Athens. In the clear winter air, it was heard throughout the Athens metropolitan area of over 3 million people.

At First Cemetery in the center of Athens, the late archbishop’s staff removed the tiara from Christodoulos’ head and the staff and Bible in his hands. They covered his face with cloth, a rifle salute was fired by the military standing by, and after a Christian chant the coffin was lowered into the grave while the people standing around were singing the Greek national anthem.

Thus was honor given to the godly man who himself had given honor and glory to his Lord Jesus Christ, whose servant he was for so many years.

A successor will be chosen

The Holy Synod plans to elect a new archbishop of Athens and all Greece on its assembly on February 7. Choosing a successor will be a difficult task and being a successor to such a formidable leader as Archbishop Christodoulos will be an even tougher task.

Archbishop Christodoulos has raised the public profile of the Greek Orthodox Church and raised very much the frequency and depth of the archbishop’s involvement in the public affairs of the Greek nation. The new archbishop will face a very tough job description in this nation of about ten million Orthodox believers, where almost 100 percent of native Greeks are baptized into the Orthodox Church and where religious education is obligatory in public schools until the tenth grade.

Pope Benedict XVI and other church leaders said that they are praying that the Holy Spirit will guide the Greek Synod to find a suitable successor to Archbishop Christodoulos, The Synod will surely need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and people’s prayers in order to discharge its difficult responsibility of choosing a successor to the deceased archbishop of Athens and all Greece.

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Related stories:

Archbishop Christodoulos mourned by Greece and the world

Archbishop Christodoulos of all Greece: His biography and achievements

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TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!

Published in the U.S.A. Copyright © 4T4C News Corp. 2008. All rights reserved.