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"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution"
(II Timothy, 3:12)

Welcome to www.EsphigmenouMonastery.com.

This website was put together by friends of the Holy Esphigmenou Monastery, which is located at Mount Athos/Agion Oros (Greece). The main purpose of this site is to provide general information for people about the monastery, and more importantly, to bring attention to the struggle faced by the fathers at Esphigmenou.

For the last several decades, the fathers at Esphigmenou have increasingly become persecuted and pressured by the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch, and by commemorators of the Patriarch, including the Greek Government. The reason for this persecution is because the monks are Zealots (non-commemorators), who in the 1960s broke off communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople and stopped commemorating him at their services.

At that time, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras wilfully lifted the anathemas from the Roman Catholic Church, and pursued policies of adogmatic ecumenical activity (the unification of all churches and religions). Subsequent Ecumenical Patriarchs have continued to further pursue the heresy and goals of ecumenism. Although a significant amount of monasteries protested against the Patriarchate and for a time were Zealots, eventually over the years they all returned to commemorating the Patriarch. Today, only the fathers at the Holy Monastery of Esphigmenou (and some fathers living in various Sketes) continue to be Zealots at Mt Athos.

To this day, the 117 fathers of Esphigmenou continue to be pressured and persecuted. Last year, all banking privileges for the Monastery had been frozen and checks sent to the Monastery were not being honoured. Police officers have repeatedly harassed the Monastery, at one point they started a siege lasting over six months. There have also been reports that ferryboat access to the Monastery has been discontinued. Finally, visitors who proclaim that they are visiting Esphigmenou are refused entry visas into the Mt Athos peninsula. At present, new forms of persecution continue to plague the fathers.

On Wednesday December 18 2002, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople ordered the eviction of all fathers of Esphigmenou. The fathers were expected to vacate the monastery by the end of January 2003. Since the expiration of that deadline, a complete embargo has been placed on the monastery by the Holy Community of Mt Athos, while the fathers have taken their eviction case to the Greek courts (click here for more details).

Detailed articles and websites containing information regarding the Zealot movement, on the Holy Esphigmenou Monastery, and on Mt Athos in general, can be found under the [ Links ] tab (left column on the screen). In addition, information on how to help the fathers at Esphigmenou can also be found under the [ Support ] tab.

Please contact the webmaster (webmaster@EsphigmenouMonastery.com) if you have any information to add to this website. In particular, we are interested in any newspaper articles (or personal testimonies) documenting the persecution of Esphigmenou monks. Pictures of the monastery are also welcome.