By Sotiris Letsios*
It was early July 1905, and Greece was facing a number of serious challenges. Among the various reports appearing in the Greek press, readers were surprised to learn of a clash between Greek and Russian monks on Mount Athos. But what exactly had happened?
A Russian monk named Panteleimon had leased a skete from the Holy Fathers of Mount Athos, with the right of residence applying exclusively to him. However, he violated the agreement by constructing additional cells and allowing other Russian monks to settle there as well.
When the Holy Fathers of Mount Athos demanded that the skete be vacated, Panteleimon refused to comply. The Greek monks reacted and attempted to remove him by force, prompting his fellow Russian monks to rush to his aid.
“A bloody clash then ensued, resulting in the injury of 11 Greek monks and 4 Russian monks. As a consequence of these disturbances, which were provoked by the Russian monks, the Ottoman authorities dispatched troops to the area in order to restore order,” according to reports published on the front page of the newspaper Empros.
A few days later, a subsequent article in the same newspaper reported that the Ecumenical Patriarchate had annulled the agreement, stipulating that the dispute should be settled through legal proceedings. No compromise, however, was reached, and the dissatisfaction among the Greek monks continued to grow because of the new buildings “which the Russians had erected without permission,” as the newspaper’s correspondent pointedly noted.
The “notorious Russian kellion monk Panteleimon” traveled to Constantinople in an effort to meet with representatives of the Patriarchate and secure a settlement favorable to his interests. The Greek government did not remain inactive and requested more detailed information from the Holy Community of Mount Athos in order to determine the necessary course of action.
Tensions between Greek and Russian monks persisted for some time afterward, gradually easing toward the end of the autumn. The events of that summer were not a bolt from the blue. Similar acts of defiance by Russian monks had occurred on two other occasions in the early twentieth century.
In one case, Russian monks of the Skete of the Virgin Mary rebelled against the Dikaios (the head of the skete). In another, a dispute arose between the Russian-occupied Kellion of the Cross and the ruling Monastery of Karakallou over inheritance issues and the succession of the superior. In both instances, Russian diplomacy intervened openly in support of Russian interests on Mount Athos.
This was hardly surprising, as Russian foreign policy had already developed a strategy from the mid-nineteenth century onward to strengthen Russian monastic institutions and expand Russia’s presence on Mount Athos. The Pan-Slavic Society sought to transform kalyves (small monastic dwellings) into kellia (monastic cells), kellia into sketes (organized monastic communities subordinate to a monastery), and sketes into independent monasteries.
In practice, this policy became evident through the purchase of old monastic cells by Russian monks, who subsequently erected imposing quadrangular buildings and exceeded the strictly regulated number of residents by bringing in increasing numbers of monks from Russia.
“The conditions of depopulation on Mount Athos favored Russian plans. The massive influx of monks was also facilitated by the security guarantees granted to Russian monks under the Treaty of San Stefano (1878), although the increase in the Russian presence had begun several decades earlier, ultimately leading to their takeover of the Monastery of St. Panteleimon in 1875,” notes Dimitris Mouzakis in his extensive study of the monastic republic of Mount Athos.
Among the thousands of Russians who arrived on Mount Athos between 1829 and 1912 were a considerable number of individuals facing criminal charges. The policy of St. Petersburg on this matter was perhaps best summed up by Ambassador Ivan Alexeyevich Zinoviev, who famously declared: “Let Russians remain on the Holy Mountain—even if they are devils!”
By 1912, the Russians controlled not only the Monastery of St. Panteleimon and two sketes, but also 34 kellia and 187 ascetic kalyves and hermitages. The Monastery of St. Panteleimon had become the official center for coordinating Russia’s efforts to promote the Russification of Mount Athos.
Referring to the monastery, Mouzakis writes:
“It demonstrated this role openly and unabashedly during the vote on the historic resolution of October 3, 1913. It abstained from the vote, thereby expressing its opposition to the decision of the other nineteen monasteries that Mount Athos should be united with Greece.”
A New Crisis: The Name-Glorifiers
In 1912, a new crisis erupted within the Russian Orthodox Church over the heresy of the Name-Glorifiers (Imiaslavie), led by the hieromonk and former military officer Alexander Bulatovich of the Skete of St. Andrew on Mount Athos.
Its adherents believed that the name of God was not merely a designation but an actual manifestation of God Himself. This doctrine gained considerable support among Russian monks, leading to tensions and violent confrontations.
Both the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate condemned the movement. In 1913, a Russian military force entered the Monastery of St. Panteleimon and arrested 840 monks, who were subsequently transported to Odesa.
This marked the last major crisis involving the Russian presence on Mount Athos. From 1918 onward, and for many decades thereafter, the influx of Russian monks into the monastic republic of the Holy Mountain declined significantly.
*Republished from the newspaper Orthodoxi Alitheia.
