His All-Holiness will be in the country from October 20th to November 6th, and he will preside over a major environmental symposium in New Orleans. Then, he will visit various parishes and institutions, and finally he will go to Washington for a series of high level meetings, including with President Obama (more info on page 8). This official visit is also celebrate Archbishop Demetrios’ ten fruitful years as primate of the Greek Orthodox Catholic Church in America. The Patriarch’s decision to appoint (actually propose to the Patriarchal Synod) Demetrios as Archbishop is considered by many one of his wisest if not the wisest move.

Ecology and protection of the Environment has been a priority for this Patriarch from the very beginning. It’s not a coincidence that his historical (from the 4th century AD) title “Ecumenical” (of all inhabited universe) and “ecology” (study, care of the inhabited universe) have the same root (“oikos”- residence). It’s not a coincidence either that in the Bible and the liturgical texts, the environment and our relationship with it, provide some of the most fundamental metaphors: Christ, “the sacrificial lamb”, is the good shepherd, His people the flock. His church is compared to the vine that grows and gives fruits, while in the Eucharist His body and blood are represented by wine, water and bread (grains). And I’m sure there are many more that I either can’t recall right now or I’m not familiar with. Between man and the universe or oekoumene, there has to be a relationship not just of respect or respectful exploitation but of love and care. Environment is a precious gift given to us by our ancestors which we have to pass to our descendants intact.

Most of us living in major urban centers lack the kind of sensitivity towards nature that people living closer to it have (I’m not referring to Qaddafi and his tent). For us, it is something that we can just use and abuse to our benefit, without any qualms whatsoever (same way Dick Cheney understands the Constitution). It is thus of great symbolic importance, that the primus inter pares (first among equals) bishop of the historical Christendom has officially proclaimed the environmental abuse a sin, something against God’s will. And a sin can only be redeemed through repentance, “metanoia” in Greek, that – contrary to what most of us think – means “change of mind, attitude”. Taking into consideration the legalistically-driven mentality of our western societies, the Patriarch has masterfully pointed to us the need to change course.

The recent election in Greece was in many ways a green one, not just because the color of PASOK, the winning party, is green, but because the issue on the environment played higher in comparison to previous ballots. George Papandreou, the American-born son and grandson of Greek prime ministers, had an easy ride, managing to surprise even his most optimistic friends, actually even himself, by winning over his opponent and now former Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis (himself a nephew and spiritual son of a former prime minister and head of state) by a margin of 10 percentage points! Just two years ago, Papandreou had suffered a humiliating defeat, seeing his party’s percentage going lower and himself seriously challenged within his own party. He managed however to overcome, to boost his image and political speech, and thanks to his opponent’s unwillingness to govern or take any kind of risk other than supporting his failed ministerial choices even when it was clear to everybody that they were guilty of a number of ethical – to say the least – wrongdoings, Papandreou took the lead in the polls last year and the rest is history, as history is Karamanlis at this point, since he announced his decision to step down as New Democracy Party chief.

There is however, a serious discussion under way within his party of …canonizing him! Not only is he, like Jesus, the son of god (his uncle and spiritual father Konstantinos Karamanlis is publicly referred to as “god”) but he performed a necessary (to canonization) miracle of resurrecting a man (Papandreou) from the (political) dead!

Seriously now, this 180-degree change in fortunes, proves again that in politics nothing should be taken for granted. Despite the image-making schemes and devices, the multi-faceted propaganda, people can still see through and, if not reward, at least punish those who are perceived as violators of the public trust. President Obama, the first foreign leader who called to congratulate Papandreou, should draw at least one lesson from this Greek election: Karamanlis lost mainly because he failed in doing what people elected him to do: govern and implement his promises. Obama, trapped in his own popularity and stardom, too seems slow in acting, in taking the country by storm as he did as party and later presidential candidate. In the name of his noble, some would say, effort to continually build consensus in everything, he has fallen back to a very slow pace which doesn’t take long before it’s perceived as weakness or even incompetence. Unless his intention is …sainthood by resurrecting the now defunct Republican Party…he needs to move forward faster and to do it now! The opportunity for a good start might be the Patriarchal visit. Obama must speak in unequivocal terms when it comes to the fundamental obligation of Turkey to allow the Ecumenical Patriarchate to freely exercise its duties.

When the president visited Turkey, earlier this year, he only saw the Patriarch in his hotel for a few minutes, while his staff tried to play down the meeting, delaying even to release photos, so that his hosts, the Turkish government, would not be …offended! That incidence served as a clear example of the damage the previous administration has done to the country on the international level. Because of a series of failed decisions, Turks have suddenly become so important, that the visiting American president must have their approval whom to meet and for how long!

Now that the Patriarch is here, President Obama has the opportunity to speak clearly and demonstrate that the new, gentler image in the American foreign policy should not be misconstrued as weakness.

In closing, and going back to Papandreou’s victory, I think he got the mandate he wanted – actually it went beyond his wildest expectations – in order to make some of the long overdue changes Greece is in need for. People are so fed up and disappointed by the previous administration that I think they will be willing to let him try and even fail here and there. Let us hope that Papandreou will learn at least one lesson from his predecessor: in government, not doing is not an option.

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DEMETRIOS RHOMPOTIS
dondemetrio@neomagazine.com