Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece participated in an online event called: “The contribution of the Boeotian Church and the importance of the struggle of the Boeotian Fighters in the Greek Revolution” that took place this afternoon, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence.
The event was co-organised by the “Diachronika” Centre for Research and Study of Boeotia Region, whose president is the Archbishop of Athens, as well as by the Educational Association of Levadia and the “Synthesis” Community.
“Historically speaking, the establishment of the new Greek state certainly did not come out of the blue. It is rooted in the collective consciousness of an enslaved people, who had a deep sense of identity,” the Archbishop of Athens said in his greeting.
“The dozens of revolutionary movements that took place from the fall of Constantinople to the Palingenesis are the very proof. The plethora of Patriarchs who lost their lives violently during the Ottoman rule clearly shows that Faith plays a major role in slavery; Faith was cultivated among the Greeks who were covered with blood. Faith revived and formed their self-consciousness and set the criteria. The majority of teachers in the schools that operated during the Turkish occupation, when they could operate smoothly, were clergymen. The important work of St. Cosmas of Aetolia, who founded dozens of schools, has been deeply engraved in the collective memory of the people. In addition, the offering of the New Martyrs was also very important since they were the bright stars in the darkness of slavery. Ordinary people, bishops, priests, monks and laypeople sacrificed their lives for the holy chalice of Faith and Freedom of their homeland. A list of known and invisible heroes who had a vision for the sake of the Orthodox Christian Faith and their Homeland and gave a new meaning to the lives of a whole nation,” he added.
The Archbishop also pointed out that the Church, and especially the Boeotian Church, accompanied the people during the Greek War of Independence. Many people sacrificed themselves, such as militants, foreign diplomats and others, who fought to set the nation free.
Metropolitan Georgios of Thebes and Levadia also participated in the event along with other prominent figures, who spoke about the Greek War of Independence of 1821.
