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| Europe |
| Monk vs. Monk |
| 2006-12-20 |
| Violent clashes between two groups of Greek monks at a disputed monastery in Mount Athos left at least four monks in hospital, local police said. Fighting reportedly broke out when monks loyal to the Orthodox Patriarch attempted to enter a monastery occupied by a rebel faction. Four monks were hospitalised after the clash in which crowbars and fire extinguishers were used as weapons. The rebel monks have ignored court and Church orders to leave the monastery. Religious schism Esphigmenou monastery has been the scene of a long-running dispute between Orthodox Church authorities and dissident monks who are bitterly opposed to the Orthodox Church's efforts to improve relations with the Roman Catholic Church. The rebel monks view relations between the two churches as tantamount to heresy. In the latest incident both sides blamed each other for provocation. The rebel monks have been occupying the site since 2003 and have ignored eviction orders from both the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I and Greece's supreme court. Mount Athos is one of the holiest sites in Orthodox Christianity. In October a Greek court gave two-year suspended custodial sentences to nine Esphigmenou monks for continuing their illegal occupation of the monastery. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #1 My brother can beat up your brother. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2006-12-20 20:52 |