7 monks injured in clash over monastery

I'm sure it's very sad and unfortunate that people were injured in yet another religious dispute, but... this is frickin' hilarious. It sounds like something from a Steven Seagal movie. I'd like to especially show love for the following quote:

"[The] monastery is the scene of a long-running dispute between Orthodox Church authorities and rebel monks..."

Oh, to be the guy who got to type "rebel monks" in an article due to be released all over the world by the Associated Press. This is almost as cool as (ready for it, Maggie?!?!?!) my inclusion of "The Progressive Grocer" on my list of references for an International Econ paper (Because how often do you get to cite "The comphrehensive source for food retailers" when you're an int'l. relations major?) I had to write for the dreaded Prof. Cohen. May his Belgian-loving ego and brain rot in... Wallonie.

Somewhere in the world, another Brussels-lover is out there, hidden, having fallen off the face of the Earth (you all know I'm talking about our lovely Sof). But if our favorite Greek regularly accessed this blog, I know she'd be happy to see a willage - any Greek willage - being reported on by the AP. To any one who has even sporadic contact with Sofia, please notify her of the religious wars that are taking place in remote Greek locales. Thanks.

Happy Reading!

7 monks injured in clash over monastery

By COSTAS KANTOURIS, Associated Press Writer
Wed Dec 20, 5:38 PM ET

Rival groups of monks wielding crowbars and sledgehammers clashed Wednesday over control of a 1,000-year-old monastery in a community regarded as the cradle of Orthodox Christianity, police said.

Seven monks were injured and transported by boat to receive treatment. They were released after several hours, police said. No one was arrested but three monks were banned from re-entering the Orthodox sanctuary of Mount Athos, located on a self-governing peninsula in northern Greece.

Esphigmenou monastery is the scene of a long-running dispute between Orthodox Church authorities and rebel monks who occupy the facility. Both Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, leader of the Orthodox Christian church, and Greece's highest administrative court have ordered their eviction, but the monks have refused to budge.

The rebel monks vehemently oppose efforts to improve relations between the Orthodox Church and the Vatican.

The fighting Wednesday broke out between the rebel monks and a group of legally recognized monks who were outside. The outsiders attempted to force their way into the monastery's offices in Karyes, the administrative center of the monastic community, to begin construction of a new building.

Occupying monks attacked those outside with crowbars and fire extinguishers.

Esphigmenou's rebel abbot, Methodius, said his monks had been provoked.

"We were attacked and had to respond," he said. "They should be ashamed to call themselves men of the cloth."

In October, a court in the nearby city of Thessaloniki handed down two-year suspended sentences against nine monks and former monastery members for illegally occupying Esphigmenou's offices. Supplies to the rebel monastery are brought in by supporters using dinghies from the nearby island of Thassos.

Esphigmenou is one of 20 monasteries on Athos, where women are banned.