Archimandrite Efrem ( Greek. Αρχιμανδρίτης Εφραίμ , in the world Vasilios Kutsu , Greek Βασίλει ουτσού ; b. , ) - Archimandrite of the Constantinople Orthodox Church , in a graph , in a white-out-a-day –-наст – наст-мен-39-‑-‑ one-а one figure ;
| Archimandrite Efrem | ||
|---|---|---|
| Αρχιμανδρίτης Εφραίμ | ||
 | ||
| ||
| c March 1990 | ||
| Church | Constantinople Orthodox Church | |
| Education | Athens University | |
| Birth | 1956 | |
| Father | Sotiris Kutsu | |
| Mother | Vasiliki Kutsu | |
| Adoption of holy dignity | 1983 | |
| Adoption of monasticism | 1982 | |
Biography
Born in 1956 in Famagusta in Cyprus in the large family of Sotiris and Vasiliki Kutsu. The family had five children and two from the first marriage of Sotiris with his first wife, Panteli. After graduating from high school he entered the seminary of St. Barnabas in Nicosia .
In 1974, after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus , the family was forced to move to the village of Tersefan, near Larnaca . A father and two brothers were captured by the Turks [1] .
From 1974 to 1978 he studied at the Theological School of the University of Athens , and after graduation he returned to Cyprus, where he taught at the seminary of St. Barnabas in Nicosia. In 1979, visiting Cypriot monasteries, he became acquainted with the Cypriot, the elder Joseph of Vatopedi , who, after the death of his spiritual mentor Joseph the Elder Hesychast, lived for some time in Cyprus at the monastery Iereon in Paphos . Becoming a disciple of Joseph Vatopedsky, Vasilios moved with the formed brotherhood to Athos , where he initially stayed in the monastery of Kutlumush , and in 1981 he moved to New Skit .
In 1982 he became a monk in the brotherhood of the elder Joseph in the New Skete on Mount Athos and in 1983 he was consecrated consecrated ordained to a hierodeacon and hieromonk .
Since 1987, the brotherhood of the elder Joseph took over the work of resuming monastic life in Vatoped , in this regard, with the blessing of the Patriarch of Constantinople, all the brethren were accommodated in Vatoped in 1989, and the cloister was transformed from idiorhythmic to cynical . In March 1990, Hieromonk Efrem was elected the first abbot (hegumen) of Vatoped [2] . In April 1990, Hieromonk Ephrem was ordained as an archimandrite and enthroned him in the position of superior. The celebration was attended by the Archbishop of Athens, Christodoulus , Metropolitan of Dimitriad, the governor of Athos, Konstantinos Lulis, the pro-epistatis of Athos, the elder Theoclitus of the Dionysiat monastery.
After his death in July 2009, the elder Joseph Vatopedsky, became the confessor of the Vatopedi brotherhood.
On December 24, 2011, after returning to Athos from Russia, where he participated in bringing the Belt of the Mother of God , he was detained by the Greek law enforcement services and on December 28, he was taken to Koridallos prison [3] . He was accused of the fact that in 2001–2008, the Vatoped monastery exchanged Lake Vistonida (since 890 the lake belonged to the monastery, but was then illegally selected by the Greek authorities) in northern Greece with adjacent land plots of state-owned property costing more than 100 million euros [4] . Representatives of church [5] , state [6] and public structures of Russia and Greece [7] appealed to the leadership of Greece, expressing concern about the coercive methods of solving the problem. The Greek Foreign Ministry, in turn, reacted negatively to the note of the Russian Foreign Ministry [8] . Regular spiritual support for Archimandrite Ephraim in prison was provided by Metropolitan Nikolai Mesogaic (Hadzhinikolau) [9] .
On December 30, in Moscow [10] and St. Petersburg [11] , the diplomatic missions of Greece began pickets of protest in support of the prisoner (preliminary detention on Greek law can last up to 1.5 years), and Mikhail Margelov , chairman of the committee of the Federation Council on international affairs, said the intention of Russia in January 2012 to raise the issue of the fate of the elder Ephrem at the PACE session, if until that time the issue is not resolved [12] . At the same time, the Patriarchate of Constantinople , in charge of which all Athos monasteries are located, called on the Russian Orthodox Church and other autocephalous churches not to interfere in the work of Archimandrite Ephraim [13] .
On March 29, 2012, the Court of Appeal decided to replace the measure of detention with a bail of 300 thousand euros. In addition, Hegumen Ephraim is forbidden to leave his monastery and leave the territory of Greece, and is also ordered to be regularly reported to the police [14] .
March 21, 2017 was fully acquitted by the court [15] .
According to The National Herald, published on October 12, 2018, visited the White House in Washington, where he met with officials of the White House office, as well as Samuel Brownbeck, ambassador for international religious freedom, and other members of the US State Department ; during the meetings he spoke about the problems faced by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the destruction of the churches and shrines of Cyprus by the Turks [16] .
In early February 2019, as a member of the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, arrived in Kiev on the enthronement of Metropolitan Epiphanius (Dumenko) , was hospitalized, on February 2 he was evacuated to Switzerland for a medical examination [17] .
Notes
- Ο Ηγούμενος Γέροντας Εφραίμ στον ΑΝΤ1 της Κύπρου . (Greek)
- ↑ Archimandrite Efrem Vatopedi .
- ↑ Abbot Vatopeda arrested, he was taken out of Mount Athos . Interfax .
- ↑ The Court of Appeal of Greece considers the Athos Archimandrite Efrem to be dangerous to the public . pravoslavie.ru .
- ↑ Message of the Most Holy Patriarch Kirill to the President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias . patriarchia.ru .
- The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the arrest of the abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery . RIA News, 12/28/2011.
- ↑ Greek hierarchs oppose the arrest of Hegumen Ephraim . RIA News, 12/26/2011.
- ↑ Greece asks the Russian Federation not to indicate to her in the question of the detention of Hegumen Ephrem . RIA News, 12/28/2011.
- ↑ Metropolitan Nikolai of Mesogaic: “Prisons are the glory of the Church . ” Orthodoxy and peace .
- ↑ A picket in defense of the abbot Vatopeda was held in Moscow at the Embassy of Greece . Orthodoxy and peace.
- ↑ In St. Petersburg today, supporters of the Greek Archimandrite Efrem rallied . Gazeta.ru
- ↑ Russia intends to raise the issue of the fate of the old man Efrem at the PACE session Archival copy dated January 14, 2012 on the Wayback Machine .
- ↑ The ROC should not interfere in the work of Archimandrite Ephraim, the Patriarch of Constantinople says . ITAR-TASS .
- ↑ The abbot of the Vatoped monastery Ephraim will be released from custody . RIA News, 29.3.2012.
- ↑ ΑΘΩΟΙ ΟΛΟΙ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΥΠΟΘΕΣΗ ΒΑΤΟΠΑΙΔΙΟΥ (Greek) . Romfea.gr . The appeal date is March 15, 2017.
- ↑ Kalmoukos Th. Elder Ephraim Visits the White House and State Department . The National Herald (October 12, 2018). The appeal date is April 20, 2019.
- ↑ Kalmoukos Th. Elder Ephraim of Vatopedi Transported to Switzerland for Medical Observation . The National Herald (February 5, 2019). The appeal date is April 20, 2019.