In an interview with the radio station TEAM FM, Metropolitan Evgenios of Rethymno spoke of the “instrumentalisation” of the whole situation and of other “interests” behind the issue of Hagia Sophia.
“Hagia Sophia is a treasure that belongs to all humanity and a place where everyone can meet,” he said. “The Wisdom of God, to which it belongs, helps humans find their lost humanity and we must not use it to be divided but united, as it has been the case for the last hundred years,” he added.
The Metropolitan of Rethymno spoke of people in the neighbouring country who oppose the changing of the status of Hagia Sophia. “All these people, who are neither Orthodox, nor Christian, nor Greeks, speak rationally,” he said.
However, the Metropolitan also referred to some opinions expressed in our country “that are not very flattering for us.” In particular, he referred to incidents of vandalism of churches in Greece, and said that “above all, one must have self-respect so as to demand respect.”
Moreover, the Metropolitan of Rethymno once again referred to the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist, which is a non-negotiable issue, and said that the recent controversies on the matter were as if we were “committing hara-kiri in our faith.”
“The faithful of other religions defend their views, which are considered as sacred and non-negotiable. On the contrary, we are degrading and underestimating thoughts, our history, and our tradition that have been sanctified over the centuries,” he said. He also wondered “whether all that was beneficial or it was only about making noise and nothing else.”
In addition, the Metropolitan said, “We will not stop doing what we have learned from our fathers” as “no one has ever fallen sick and will never fall sick by receiving Holy Communion from a common spoon, as we have been doing over the last centuries.” Finally, he recommended that “we must stop using pretexts in order to trigger differences of opinion.”