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Miami Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Leaders of historic Miami Orthodox church must hand keys to Texas diocese, judge rules
After a lengthy and tangled dispute over ownership of one of South Florida's oldest Christian Orthodox churches, its long-time leadership has lost a pivotal legal battle — and the keys to the sanctuary, at least for now. Former leaders of the Saints Peter & Paul Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church, a 70-year-old congregation that was once a mansion belonging to Miami's first mayor, have been ordered by a judge to vacate the property by Friday and open the doors to the Orthodox Church in America. The ruling from Circuit Court Judge Lisa Walsh comes after a nearly three-year-long dispute that has led to dueling lawsuits, allegations of fraud and the excommunication of longtime parish leaders. In an initial ruling in March, Walsh sided with the OCA, the largest of three Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical bodies in the United States. An appellate court later denied a request to stay her order from parish members fighting to keep the church independent from the Texas-based diocese. Then, late last month, Walsh set a June 6 deadline for the former parish leaders to leave the property and turn over any records, funds or property belonging to the parish. Walsh's ruling, which largely adopted proposed orders written by the OCA's attorneys, found Florida law forbids civil courts from ruling in ecclesiastical decisions of an archbishop within a hierarchical church. The diocese praised the decision and has rejected allegations from congregation leaders of a 'takeover' that potentially could lead to the sale of a historic property in an area undergoing upscale redevelopment. 'It was heartening to learn that the Circuit Court agreed with and ruled in favor of the Diocese of the South, which was not working to 'take over' the community of Sts. Peter and Paul, as has been incorrectly suggested, but rather to restore proper governance and oversight as established in our statutory documents and by canon law,' said Peter Robichau, the secretary of the diocese, in a statement. But lawyers for Sts. Peter and Paul argued that the matter isn't a religious dispute but more a question of real estate law and property ownership and the judge 'improperly deferred to the Diocese's self-characterizations' about the relationship between the parish and the Diocese. 'We believe the Court should have focused upon the church's own internal documents, including those regarding the founding and historical practices of the church, when assessing what kind of relationship existed between the church and the Diocese,' said Marco Farah, the attorney representing Sts. Peter and Paul leaders, in an email to the Miami Herald. 'We believe the Court's ruling is incorrect.' There is an ongoing appeal but, barring a reversal, the OCA is in control of the church corporation and the property. The OCA argued, in the lawsuit, that its longstanding religious ties with Sts. Peter & Paul give its bishops broad authority to seize control of church property — even though public records show the parish nonprofit corporation has owned the building since the 1950s before the OCA existed. Parish leaders argued in the lawsuit that they have always managed the churches' finances independently and have no financial or legal ties to the OCA. 'We were set up before they existed. We never accepted their bylaws, so that's what we're fighting for because that's how we work,' said Susan Homyk, one of the parish members named in the lawsuit. Legal experts told the Herald that such battles between Orthodox denominations highlight a gray area in American law between the constitutional separation of church and state but judges tend to defer to church authorities in many disputes. For Homyk and her husband Randy, the loss is especially personal. Both have long been active members and served on the elected parish governing council, volunteered and donated many personal items to the church. They say they have contributed thousands of dollars from their own pockets to help sustain the small parish and recruit a new priest from Ukraine. That last effort appears to have sparked the conflict with the OCA after years of friendly if — according to the Homyks and Deacon Georgios Zervos at least — arm's-length relations with a diocese based 1,300 miles away in Dallas. Alleging disobedience, among other claimed doctrinal infractions, the OCA excommunicated the Homyks and longtime parish council leader Priscilla Rivera. Zervos, the trio's ally, was suspended as a Russian Orthodox deacon (he says he now has the blessing of the Greek Orthodox denomination). The dispute has divided the congregation, which has been left without a priest and lost much of its already small membership. Representatives for the Diocese of the South, a branch of the Orthodox Church in America, said that the former parish council leaders are no longer a part of the church — a fact that has now been recognized by the courts. 'The Homyks and Ms. Rivera are not Parish leaders, and as the Court recognized, they have not been part of the Parish for approximately two years,' representatives for the OCA wrote in an email to the Miami Herald. As for the future of the parish, the OCA said it hopes 'to make services available to all who wish to worship under the Parish's proper leadership in good faith ....' Former Sts. Peter and Paul leaders have said, publicly and privately, that they feared that the OCA might sell the property, which has significant historic value, citing potential financial hardships within the dioceses. But OCA leaders have also said repeatedly that they wish to restore the church as an active place of worship. 'It is also discouraging that those improperly claiming to be the leaders of Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church have continued to wrongly assert that the events that have taken place happened because the Diocese of the South desired to sell and profit from the sale of the property in Little Havana. As noted before, both in the court record and to the Miami Herald, this is plainly untrue,' Robichau said in a statement. 'The Diocese of the South cannot and will not sell the property for its profit because it belongs to and exists for the faithful members of Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, a Parish of the OCA and Diocese,' he said. This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Nahar Net
14-05-2025
- Nahar Net
Greek cliffside monastery transcends country branches of Orthodoxy
by Naharnet Newsdesk 14 May 2025, 16:27 The medieval monastery clings almost impossibly to sheer cliffs high above the shimmering turquoise of the Aegean Sea. Rising from the rugged granite rock, its walls enclose a diverse Christian Orthodox community. The Monastery of Simonos Petra, also known as Simonopetra — or Simon's Rock — transcends country-based branches of the Christian faith, embracing monks from across the world, including converts from nations where Orthodox Christianity is not the prevailing religion. The monastery is one of 20 in the autonomous all-male monastic community of Mount Athos, known in Greek as Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain. The peninsula in northern Greece is no stranger to non-Greeks: of the 20 monasteries, one is Russian, one is Bulgarian and one is Serbian, and the presence of monks from other nations is not unusual. But Simonos Petra has the greatest range of nationalities. Spirituality transcends borders "Spiritually, there are no borders, because the Holy Mountain has an ecumenical nature" seeking to embrace all, said Archimandrite Eliseos, the abbot of Simonos Petra. This links back to the Byzantine Empire, he explained. "We say that Byzantium was a commonwealth ... in which (different) peoples lived together in the same faith." The monastery welcomes anyone who would like to visit — provided they are male. In a more than 1,000-year-old tradition, women are banned from the entire peninsula, which is deemed the Virgin Mary's domain. While men from other faiths can spend a few days at Mount Athos as visitors, only Orthodox men can become monks. Most of Simonos Petra's 65 monks hail from European countries where Orthodoxy is the predominant religion, such as Romania, Serbia, Russia, Moldova, Cyprus and Greece. But there are others from China, Germany, Hungary, the United States, Australia, France, Lebanon and Syria. Founded in the 13th century by Saint Simon the Myrrh-bearer, the seven-story Simonos Petra is considered an audacious marvel of Byzantine architecture. Renowned for its ecclesiastical choir, the monastery has become a symbol of resilience during its long history, recovering from three destructive fires — the most recent in the late 1800s — to embrace global Orthodoxy. A lifelong quest It was within these walls nearly 20 years ago that Father Isaiah — who like other monks goes by one name — found the answer to a lifelong spiritual quest that had spanned half the globe. Born in Vietnam to Chinese parents, the now 50-year-old monk grew up in Switzerland, where his family moved when he was a child. "In this Swiss environment, I was trying to understand what I'm doing, where I'm going, what is the meaning of life," he explained on a recent morning, standing on a fifth-floor balcony next to a winch used to bring supplies up in wicker baskets from the monastery's storerooms. "While searching I found some answers through virtue, and this virtue was connected to the image of Orthodoxy," he said, his fluent Greek bearing a hint of a foreign accent. Delving into this new faith, he found relationships based on love and a search for God, he said. His quest led him to an Orthodox monastery in France affiliated with Simonos Petra. That, in turn, led him to Mount Athos in 2006. "It was in essence a deep searching of spiritual life, which is the answer for the meaning of life," he said. Within the monastery, he found a brotherhood of monks from 14 countries. He decided to stay. "We gather together with some principles, which are those of love towards our neighbor and the love for God," Isaiah said. In the human and spiritual connections he experienced in Simonos Petras, "I found a deep answer to everything I had been seeking in my youth." Monastery life Life in the monastery — and across Mount Athos — has changed little in the more than 1,000 years of religious presence there. Days begin long before dawn and are punctuated by prayer services followed by daily tasks, which can include farming, carpentry, winemaking, cooking, art, clerical and ecclesiastical work. Set among forested slopes, nearly every inch of Simonos Petra's land is cultivated, with the monks tending to herbs, fruit and vegetables used in the monastery's kitchen. Electricity comes from sustainable sources such as solar panels. Embracing foreigners Father Serafeim, a Lebanese-Syrian who has lived in the monastery since 2010, said Eliseos and his predecessor as abbot, the Elder Emilianos, had always embraced foreigners. "You don't feel that you're a stranger, you feel from the start that you're an equal member of the brotherhood," said Serafeim, who joined the monastic community seven years after he first arrived in Greece to study theology in the northern city of Thessaloniki. "This spirit, this open spirit of the elder attracted many souls who were searching for a genuine, emphatic meaning of life," he said. One of the oldest non-Greek monks in the monastery is Father Makarios. The Frenchman's spiritual quest began in May 1968, when as a young man he experienced first-hand the social uprising sparked by student demonstrations in Paris. His search led him to Mount Athos for the first time in 1975. "I found this monastery and an embrace," he said. "I found people who understood and accepted me. They didn't judge me. It was very easy for me to decide that in the end, after I finish my studies, I will come to Mount Athos, I will try to see if I can become a monk." Converting from Catholicism to Orthodoxy on Mount Athos, Makarios is now the monastery's librarian. He has been living in Simonos Petra for 46 years. All (men) are welcome Eliseos, the abbot, stresses his monastery is open to all visitors. "We say we are open to people with love," he says. "Someone comes along and wants to visit Mount Athos, he visits it. … Does he want to take it further? We say: 'Let's discuss it, with your will'. What does he want? Does he want to participate in this life, does he want to enter into our spirit, embrace our values and our faith? We will accept that. We will not discriminate."
CTV News
14-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Clinging to a Greek cliff, this monastery welcomes people from around the world. No women allowed
Simonopetra, or the Simonos Petra Monastery, home of the all-male autonomous community Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain, stands on the peninsula of Mount Athos in northern Greece, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) MOUNT ATHOS, Greece — The medieval monastery clings almost impossibly to sheer cliffs high above the shimmering turquoise of the Aegean Sea. Rising from the rugged granite rock, its walls enclose a diverse Christian Orthodox community. The Monastery of Simonos Petra, also known as Simonopetra — or Simon's Rock — transcends country-based branches of the Christian faith, embracing monks from across the world, including converts from nations where Orthodox Christianity is not the prevailing religion. The monastery is one of 20 in the autonomous all-male monastic community of Mount Athos, known in Greek as Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain. The peninsula in northern Greece is no stranger to non-Greeks: of the 20 monasteries, one is Russian, one is Bulgarian and one is Serbian, and the presence of monks from other nations is not unusual. But Simonos Petra has the greatest range of nationalities. Father Kosmas, left, and Father Nyfmon walk in the Simonopetra, or Simonos Petra Monastery, home of the all-male autonomous community Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of Mount Athos in northern Greece, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/... Father Kosmas, left, and Father Nyfmon walk in the Simonopetra, or Simonos Petra Monastery, home of the all-male autonomous community Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of Mount Athos in northern Greece, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) Spirituality transcends borders 'Spiritually, there are no borders, because the Holy Mountain has an ecumenical nature' seeking to embrace all, said Archimandrite Eliseos, the abbot of Simonos Petra. This links back to the Byzantine Empire, he explained. 'We say that Byzantium was a commonwealth ... in which (different) peoples lived together in the same faith.' The monastery welcomes anyone who would like to visit — provided they are male. In a more than 1,000-year-old tradition, women are banned from the entire peninsula, which is deemed the Virgin Mary's domain. While men from other faiths can spend a few days at Mount Athos as visitors, only Orthodox men can become monks. Most of Simonos Petra's 65 monks hail from European countries where Orthodoxy is the predominant religion, such as Romania, Serbia, Russia, Moldova, Cyprus and Greece. But there are others from China, Germany, Hungary, the United States, Australia, France, Lebanon and Syria. Founded in the 13th century by Saint Simon the Myrrh-bearer, the seven-story Simonos Petra is considered an audacious marvel of Byzantine architecture. Renowned for its ecclesiastical choir, the monastery has become a symbol of resilience during its long history, recovering from three destructive fires — the most recent in the late 1800s — to embrace global Orthodoxy. A lifelong quest It was within these walls nearly 20 years ago that Father Isaiah — who like other monks goes by one name — found the answer to a lifelong spiritual quest that had spanned half the globe. Born in Vietnam to Chinese parents, the now 50-year-old monk grew up in Switzerland, where his family moved when he was a child. 'In this Swiss environment, I was trying to understand what I'm doing, where I'm going, what is the meaning of life,' he explained on a recent morning, standing on a fifth-floor balcony next to a winch used to bring supplies up in wicker baskets from the monastery's storerooms. 'While searching I found some answers through virtue, and this virtue was connected to the image of Orthodoxy,' he said, his fluent Greek bearing a hint of a foreign accent. Delving into this new faith, he found relationships based on love and a search for God, he said. His quest led him to an Orthodox monastery in France affiliated with Simonos Petra. That, in turn, led him to Mount Athos in 2006. 'It was in essence a deep searching of spiritual life, which is the answer for the meaning of life,' he said. Within the monastery, he found a brotherhood of monks from 14 countries. He decided to stay. 'We gather together with some principles, which are those of love towards our neighbor and the love for God,' Isaiah said. In the human and spiritual connections he experienced in Simonos Petras, 'I found a deep answer to everything I had been seeking in my youth.' Father Serafeim prays in the ossuary of Simonopetra, or the Simonos Petra Monastery, home of the all-male autonomous community Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of Mount Athos in northern Greece, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanass... Father Serafeim prays in the ossuary of Simonopetra, or the Simonos Petra Monastery, home of the all-male autonomous community Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of Mount Athos in northern Greece, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) Monastery life Life in the monastery — and across Mount Athos — has changed little in the more than 1,000 years of religious presence there. Days begin long before dawn and are punctuated by prayer services followed by daily tasks, which can include farming, carpentry, winemaking, cooking, art, clerical and ecclesiastical work. Set among forested slopes, nearly every inch of Simonos Petra's land is cultivated, with the monks tending to herbs, fruit and vegetables used in the monastery's kitchen. Electricity comes from sustainable sources such as solar panels. Embracing foreigners Father Serafeim, a Lebanese-Syrian who has lived in the monastery since 2010, said Eliseos and his predecessor as abbot, the Elder Emilianos, had always embraced foreigners. 'You don't feel that you're a stranger, you feel from the start that you're an equal member of the brotherhood,' said Serafeim, who joined the monastic community seven years after he first arrived in Greece to study theology in the northern city of Thessaloniki. 'This spirit, this open spirit of the elder attracted many souls who were searching for a genuine, emphatic meaning of life,' he said. One of the oldest non-Greek monks in the monastery is Father Makarios. The Frenchman's spiritual quest began in May 1968, when as a young man he experienced first-hand the social uprising sparked by student demonstrations in Paris. His search led him to Mount Athos for the first time in 1975. 'I found this monastery and an embrace,' he said. 'I found people who understood and accepted me. They didn't judge me. It was very easy for me to decide that in the end, after I finish my studies, I will come to Mount Athos, I will try to see if I can become a monk.' Converting from Catholicism to Orthodoxy on Mount Athos, Makarios is now the monastery's librarian. He has been living in Simonos Petra for 46 years. All (men) are welcome Eliseos, the abbot, stresses his monastery is open to all visitors. 'We say we are open to people with love,' he says. 'Someone comes along and wants to visit Mount Athos, he visits it. … Does he want to take it further? We say: 'Let's discuss it, with your will'. What does he want? Does he want to participate in this life, does he want to enter into our spirit, embrace our values and our faith? We will accept that. We will not discriminate.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Costas Kantouris, The Associated Press
Toronto Star
14-05-2025
- Toronto Star
Clinging to a Greek cliff, this monastery welcomes people from around the world. No women allowed
MOUNT ATHOS, Greece (AP) — The medieval monastery clings almost impossibly to sheer cliffs high above the shimmering turquoise of the Aegean Sea. Rising from the rugged granite rock, its walls enclose a diverse Christian Orthodox community. The Monastery of Simonos Petra, also known as Simonopetra — or Simon's Rock — transcends country-based branches of the Christian faith, embracing monks from across the world, including converts from nations where Orthodox Christianity is not the prevailing religion.
14-05-2025
On Greece's Mount Athos, a cliffside monastery transcends country-based branches of Orthodoxy
MOUNT ATHOS, Greece -- MOUNT ATHOS, Greece (AP) — The medieval monastery clings almost impossibly to sheer cliffs high above the shimmering turquoise of the Aegean Sea. Rising from the rugged granite rock, its walls enclose a diverse Christian Orthodox community. The Monastery of Simonos Petra, also known as Simonopetra — or Simon's Rock — transcends country-based branches of the Christian faith, embracing monks from across the world, including converts from nations where Orthodox Christianity is not the prevailing religion. The monastery is one of 20 in the autonomous all-male monastic community of Mount Athos, known in Greek as Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain. The peninsula in northern Greece is no stranger to non-Greeks: of the 20 monasteries, one is Russian, one is Bulgarian and one is Serbian, and the presence of monks from other nations is not unusual. But Simonos Petra has the greatest range of nationalities. 'Spiritually, there are no borders, because the Holy Mountain has an ecumenical nature' seeking to embrace all, said Archimandrite Eliseos, the abbot of Simonos Petra. This links back to the Byzantine Empire, Eliseos explained. 'We say that Byzantium was a commonwealth ... in which (different) peoples lived together in the same faith.' The monastery welcomes anyone who would like to visit — provided they are male. In a more than 1,000-year-old tradition, women are banned from the entire peninsula, which is deemed the Virgin Mary's domain. While men from other faiths can spend a few days at Mount Athos as visitors, only Orthodox men can become monks. Most of Simonos Petra's 65 monks hail from European countries where Orthodoxy is the predominant religion, such as Romania, Serbia, Russia, Moldova, Cyprus and Greece. But there are others from China, Germany, Hungary, the United States, Australia, France, Lebanon and Syria. Founded in the 13th century by Saint Simon the Myrrh-bearer, the seven-story Simonos Petra is considered an audacious marvel of Byzantine architecture. Renowned for its ecclesiastical choir, the monastery has become a symbol of resilience during its long history, recovering from three destructive fires — the most recent in the late 1800s — to embrace global Orthodoxy. It was within these walls nearly 20 years ago that Father Isaiah — who like other monks goes by one name — found the answer to a lifelong spiritual quest that had spanned half the globe. Born in Vietnam to Chinese parents, the now 50-year-old monk grew up in Switzerland, where his family moved when he was a child. 'In this Swiss environment, I was trying to understand what I'm doing, where I'm going, what is the meaning of life,' he explained on a recent morning, standing on a fifth-floor balcony next to a winch used to bring supplies up from the monastery's storerooms in wicker baskets. 'While searching I found some answers through virtue, and this virtue was connected to the image of Orthodoxy,' he said, his fluent Greek bearing a hint of a foreign accent. Delving into this new faith, he found relationships based on love and a search for God, he said. His quest led him to an Orthodox monastery in France affiliated with Simonos Petra. That, in turn, led him to Mount Athos in 2006. 'It was in essence a deep searching of spiritual life, which is the answer for the meaning of life,' he said. Within the monastery, he found a brotherhood of monks from 14 countries. He decided to stay. 'We gather together with some principles, which are those of love towards our neighbor and the love for God,' Isaiah said. In the human and spiritual connections he experienced in Simonos Petras, 'I found a deep answer to everything I had been seeking in my youth.' Life in the monastery — and across Mount Athos — has changed little in the more than 1,000 years of religious presence there. Days begin long before dawn and are punctuated by prayer services followed by daily tasks, which can include farming, carpentry, winemaking, cooking, art, clerical and ecclesiastical work. Set among forested slopes, nearly every inch of Simonos Petra's land is cultivated, with the monks tending to herbs, fruit and vegetables used in the monastery's kitchen. Electricity comes from sustainable sources such as solar panels. Father Serafeim, a Lebanese-Syrian who has lived in the monastery since 2010, said Eliseos and his predecessor as abbot, the Elder Emilianos, had always embraced foreigners. 'You don't feel that you're a stranger, you feel from the start that you're an equal member of the brotherhood,' said Serafeim, who joined the monastic community seven years after he first arrived in Greece to study theology in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. 'This spirit, this open spirit of the elder attracted many souls who were searching for a genuine, emphatic meaning of life,' he said. One of the oldest non-Greek monks in the monastery is Father Makarios. The Frenchman's spiritual quest began in May 1968, when as a young man he experienced first-hand the social uprising sparked by student demonstrations in Paris. His search led him to Mount Athos for the first time in 1975. 'I found this monastery and an embrace,' he said. 'I found people who understood and accepted me. They didn't judge me. It was very easy for me to decide that in the end, after I finish my studies, I will come to Mount Athos, I will try to see if I can become a monk.' Converting from Catholicism to Orthodoxy in Mount Athos, Makarios is now the monastery's librarian. He has been living in Simonos Petra for 46 years. Eliseos, the abbot, stresses his monastery is open to all visitors. 'We say we are open to people with love,' he says. 'Someone comes along and wants to visit Mount Athos, he visits it. … Does he want to take it further? We say: 'Let's discuss it, with your will'. What does he want? Does he want to participate in this life, does he want to enter into our spirit, embrace our values and our faith? We will accept that. We will not discriminate.'
