Spiros Stathoulopoulos

“Meteora,” a film by Greek director Spiros Stathoulopoulos, has been selected to premiere in the prestigious International Film Festival Berlinale, which will take place February 9-19 in Berlin, Germany.  An additional nine world premieres will be screening in the Competition programme of the Berlinale 2012. Directors Billy Bob Thornton, Christian Petzold, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Benedek Fliegauf, Hans-Christian Schmid, Matthias Glasner, Miguel Gomes, Alain Gomis, Ursula Meier and Spiros Stathoulopoulos will all be competing for this year’s Berlinale Bears.

“Meteora” is set in Greece, and explores the dynamics of spirituality and human desire, told through the story of a Greek monk and a Russian nun.

On the first weekend of the Festival, Angelina Jolie will be presenting her directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele’s new cinema.

Here is the list of the ten films that will be competing for a Golden Bear:

Aujourd´hui 
France/Senegal
By Alain Gomis (L´Afrance, Andalucia)
With Saül Williams, Aïssa Maïga, Djolof M’bengue
World premiere

Barbara
Germany
By Christian Petzold (Yella, Jerichow, Dreileben)
With Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld
World premiere

Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die)
Italy
By Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (Padre padrone, La notte di San Lorenzo, La masseria delle allodole,San Michele aveva un gallo)
With Fabio Cavalli, Salvatore Striano
World premiere

Gnade 
Germany/Norway
By Matthias Glasner (The Free Will, Sexy Sadie)
With Jürgen Vogel, Birgit Minichmayr, Henry Stange
World premiere

Jayne Mansfield’s Car
Russian Federation/USA
By Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade, The King of Luck, All the pretty Horses)
With Billy Bob Thornton, Robert Duvall, John Hurt, Kevin Bacon
World premiere

L´enfant d´en haut (Sister)
Switzerland/France
By Ursula Meier (Tous à table, Des épaules solides, Home)
With Léa Seydoux, Kacey Mottet Klein, Gillian Anderson, Martin Compston
World premiere

Metéora (Meteora)
Germany/Greece
By Spiros Stathoulopoulos (PVC-1)
With Theo Alexander, Tamila Koulieva
World premiere

Tabu 
Portugal/Germany/Brazil/France
By Miguel Gomes (The Face You Deserve, Our Beloved Month Of August)
With Teresa Madruga, Laura Soveral, Ana Moreira, Carloto Cotta
World premiere

Csak a szél (Just The Wind)
Hungary/Germany/France
By Bence Fliegauf (Dealer, Rengeteg, Tejút, Womb)
With Lajos Sárkány, Katalin Toldi, Gyöngyi Lendvai, György Toldi
World premiere

Was bleibt (Home For The Weekend)
Germany
By Hans-Christian Schmid (Storm, Requiem, Distant Lights)
With Lars Eidinger, Corinna Harfouch, Sebastian Zimmler, Ernst Stötzner
World premiere

Berlinale Special

In The Land Of Blood And Honey 
USA
By Angelina Jolie (directorial debut)
With Zana Marjanović, Goran Kostić, Rade Šrbedžija, Vanesa Glodjo
German premiere

About Berlinale

The Berlin International Film Festival (German: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), also called the Berlinale, is one of the world’s leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978. With 274,000 tickets sold and 487,000 admissions it is considered the largest publicly-attended film festival worldwide. Up to 400 films are shown in several sections, representing a comprehensive array of the cinematic world. Around twenty films compete for the awards called the Golden and Silver Bears. Since 2001 the director of the festival has been Dieter Kosslick. The Berlinale has established a cosmopolitan character integrating art, glamour, commerce and global media attention.

Cruise Ship Costa Concordia after hitting a rock, offshore Tusan, Italy

Passengers leap into the sea and fought over life-jackets in panic when an Italian cruise ship ran aground and keeled over, killing at least three and leaving dozens missing.

In the chaotic aftermath of the Friday evening accident near the island of Giglio off the coast of Tuscany, Italian officials could still not say how many of the 4,229 passengers and crew on board the 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia were missing. According to the GM of Costa Crociere, The vessel’s operator, there were three Greek citizens on the cruise-ship. All three are in good health.
“People were trying to steal lifejackets from each other. We could only gets ones for children,” said a passenger.

An official involved in the rescue operation said two French tourists and a Peruvian crew member were dead. Around 70 people were injured.

Authorities opened a criminal investigation for possible manslaughter and Italian news agencies reported that the ship’s commander, Francesco Schettino had been detained by police.
The vessel’s operator, Costa Crociere, a unit of Carnival Corp & Plc, the world’s largest cruise operator, said it had been sailing on its regular course when it struck a submerged rock. In a television interview, the ship’s commander said the rock was not marked on any maritime charts of the area.

The vessel was left capsized on its side in water 15-20 meters deep, with decks partly submerged, not far from the shore. A large gash was visible on its side.

According to Italian officials there are twenty passengers still missing. They said the search would continue overnight although darkness and the cold seas would make the work difficult.
The ship was built in 2004-2005 at a cost of 450 million euros at the Fincantieri Sestri shipyard in Italy.

(With information from Reuters)

Little Mix became the first ever group to win The X Factor UK. The public voted for them to become the new X Factor champions on 11th December 2011. The band -mentored by Greek-Eglish Tulisa Contostavlos- were only put together during the closing stages of boot camp but gelled pretty much instantly and – despite some dodgy styling moments – soon became one of the series’ strongest contenders.

Little Mix (previously Rhythmix) are a four-piece girlband made up of Essex barmaid Jesy Nelson (20), High Wycombe waitress Leigh-Anne Pinnock (19), and South Shields students Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall (both 18). Originally known as Rhythmix, the band was formed at bootcamp from singers who auditioned as soloists. On 26 October 2011, Rhythmix announced that they would change their name following a dispute with a children’s music charity of the same name, after the programme tried to trademark “Rhythmix” in Europe.  It was reported that the band decided to make the change, despite no legal reason to do so, to avoid any difficulties for the charity. They announced that they would now be known as Little Mix on 28 October 2011 following on from this, the band said: “We all agreed on it, including Tulisa, because it just felt right”. Little Mix became the first girl band in the history of the The X Factor to make it to the final live show. They reached the final two on 10 December 2011, and won the show on 11 December 2011, making them the first group to win The X Factor.

Tula Paulinea “Tulisa” Contostavlos (born 13 July 1988), the X-factor judge that mentored “Little Mix” –   is an English singer-songwriter and actress of Greek descent. She is best known for being a member of the Camden-based hip hop group N-Dubz, with her cousin Dappy and their friend Fazer. Contostavlos was a judge on the eighth series of The X Factor and mentored the “Groups” category, including Little Mix, the first ever group to win the competition.

As a recording artist, Contostavlos has recorded three studio albums with N-Dubz, Uncle B (2008), Against All Odds (2009) and Love.Live.Life (2010). In 2011, she started work on a solo album.

Contostavlos was born in Camden Town, North London, to Anne Byrne (who, with her three sisters, was a member of the 1980s band Jeep) and Steve Contostavlos (part of Mungo Jerry).

Watch Litle Mix’s performance:

Vice President Joe Biden lights a candle with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Church of St. George at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey; December 3, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

On December 3rd Vice President Biden met with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Greek Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.

Following their meeting, the Vice President and the Ecumenical Patriach were joined by members of the Holy Synod, Metropolitans, and Greek community leaders for continued discussions – not to mention an abundance of the local dessert of choice, Turkish Delight.

Vice President Biden then had the opportunity to tour the Church of St. George at the Patriarchate with His Eminence Archbishop Demitrios Trakatellis, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of America, with whom the Vice President recently met in New York City. A beautiful day in Istanbul, the tour included a stroll through the Church’s mosaic adorned courtyard. It was a special honor to later light a candle at the Church with the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Immigrants in the center of Athens

As Europe scrambles to contain the financial crisis in the eurozone, another effort to deepen European unity is also being challenged, the Schengen passport-free travel zone.

Immigration, lax controls, corruption and sovereignty worries are undermining dreams of border-free travel.

Europeans now take for granted using the euro across the 17 countries sharing the currency. They also rarely think twice about crossing the borders of more than two dozen European nations without showing their passport. Launched more than a decade ago, the so-called “passport-free travel” Schengen zone now includes 25 nations, including some, like Switzerland and Norway, which are not part of the European Union.

European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who wants to set new rules for Schengen, argues its benefits are enormous.

“I think there is a general agreement about the importance of Schengen and the possibilities it gives for the citizens of the European Union and the Schengen member countries to travel freely, and we must really safeguard this fantastic achievement,” said Malmstrom.  “It is also something really important for business, and it has facilitated life, and it has brought us huge benefits.”

But today, Schengen’s viability is being questioned. Last week, its members blocked Romania and Bulgaria from joining because of concerns they were not doing enough to fight corruption, crime and illegal immigration. Immigration fears are also eroding support for Schengen in countries that already belong like Spain, Germany, Denmark and France.

France, for example, reinforced controls on its border with Italy earlier this year to staunch a wave of illegal immigrants from North Africa. It joined Spain and Germany in expressing concerns about handing the European Union more say over Schengen.

The bottom line, says Brussels-based immigration expert Hugo Brady of the Center for European Reform, is a lack of trust.

“The politics of the Schengen area is that everyone wants more control over other people’s borders while maintaining the same amount of control over their own… and that’s the paradox of the matter,” said Brady.

Today, anti-immigration politicians like European deputy Bruno Gollnisch of France’s far-right National Front Party, are gaining public support with arguments that Schengen must either be tougher, or scrapped altogether.

“In France, we already have millions of immigrants and many social problems, and I think the country is absolutely crowded now… [in] the suburbs and big cities and we should have a different policy. Not only about people who come, but to try to – by cooperating with the original country – to have some of them at least going back home,” said Gollnisch.

Greece, which is at the heart of the European debt crisis, also has Schengen’s most porous borders. Experts say the vast majority of illegal immigrants cross its border with Turkey. For the moment, the European Union’s Frontex border control agency has been shoring up the Greek border.  Athens shares no land border with other Schengen countries, hampering immigrants’ efforts to move on. (Don’t miss Greek Reporter’s Special Series on Immigration)
Even as Greece’s debt crisis has shaken European confidence, Brady says, so has its immigration problem.

“If the eurozone breaks up – which is now looking like a possibility – the resulting political and economic calamity would also spread to other major projects like Schengen,” noted Brady.  “They would say, ‘basically these people (the Greeks) have destroyed the next 10 years, how the hell would we trust them with something so sensitive as borders and immigration policy?’”

Brady believes European nations need to revamp Schengen and establish a better border monitoring system. While the prospects appear unlikely of dismantling the passport-free zone anytime soon, he says doing so would have a devastating impact on Europe’s tourism and economy, just as the region is trying shake off the financial crisis.

(Source VOA news)

Cathedral of Agia Sophia in Istanbul | Photo Credit: Rachel Portele

Constantinople, Byzantion, Poli, Istanbul. These are the names that Greeks usually use to refer to the once capital of Byzantium and today’s largest city in Turkey. Istanbul is a multicultural, modern city, and an attractive tourist destination that offers everything from ancient history to fabulous nightclubs. Turkish Airlines connects Istanbul with almost 200 destinations around the Globe, transporting millions of tourists to Turkey’s most diverse city.

A tourist destination for many Greeks or admirer’s of Greek ancient history, Istanbul is home till this day to about 3,000 Greeks.

In 685 B.C., settlers from the ancient Greek town of Megara chose to colonize the town of Chalcedon, in today’s Kadıköy district. Some years later, in 667 B.C., famous Greek King Byzas went on colonizing the European side of the Bosporus further, thus founding the city of Byzantion.

As Today’s Zaman mentions, two prominent examples of ancient Greek architecture are the Serpentine Column and Leander’s Tower.

Approximately 2,500 years-old, the Serpentine Column is said to be İstanbul’s oldest remaining Greek monument. Erected to honor the triumph of the Greeks over the Persians at Plataea, it originally stood at Delphi and was moved to İstanbul in 324 B.C. by Constantine the Great to mark the declaration of the new capital city of the then-founded Roman Empire under the name of Constantinople.

Surrounded by no fewer stories is Leander’s Tower, often referred to as Maiden’s Tower and located offshore in the Bosporus in the Üsküdar district. It was actually built in 408 B.C. by an Athenian general to control Persian ships sailing along the Bosporus.

Although the Greek footprints exist around every corner of the city some major sights that have great Greek interest include Hagia Sophia (Αγια Σοφία), Topκapi, the Patriarchate and Saint George Church, Halki School and Princess Islands.

Agia Sophia

Hagia Sophia or Saint Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, “Holy Wisdom”) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from the 29th of May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on the 1st of February 1935.

The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity, its dedication feast taking place on 25 December, the anniversary of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ.

It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician.

Topkapi Palace

The palace complex is located on the Seraglio Point (Sarayburnu), a promontory overlooking the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara, with the Bosphorus in plain sight from many points of the palace. The site is hilly and one of the highest points close to the sea. Topkapi includes a lot of Greek treasures including ancient artifacts, books and unique architecture.

View of Topkapi Palace from Bosphorus Sea

During Greek and Byzantine times, the acropolis of the ancient Greek city of Byzantion stood here. There is an underground Byzantine cistern, located in the Second Courtyard, which was used throughout Ottoman times, as well as remains of a small church, the so-called Palace Basilica on the acropolis have also been excavated in modern times. The nearby Church of Hagia Eirene, though located in the First Courtyard, is not considered a part of the old Byzantine acropolis.

The library is a beautiful example of Ottoman architecture of the 18th century. The exterior of the building is faced with marble. The library has the form of a Greek cross with a domed central hall and three rectangular bays. In 1928 the books of the Enderûn Library, among other works, were moved here as the Palace Library (Sarayı Kütüphanesi), housing a collection of about 13,500 Turkish, Arabic, Persian and Greek books and manuscripts, collected by the Ottomans. Located next to the mosque to the northeast is the Imperial Portraits Collection.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Patriarchate – Saint George Church

Constantinople has been the center of the Eastern Christian Church since Constantine moved the Roman capital there in the 4th century. To this day, the city remains the home of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who is recognized as the “first among equals” of all Orthodox spiritual leaders. The Patriarchate’s church is Saint George.

St. George

St. George had been part of a monastery before it welcomed the Orthodox Patriarchate. Over the centuries, it has been periodically damaged, the last time during the fire in 1941. Repairs began in 1989 and were completed in 1991.

The church’s main boast, aside from its association with the Patriarch, are its artifacts and relics, which include: the patriarchal throne, believed to date from the 5th century; three rare mosaic icons; the Column of Flagellation to which Jesus was tied and whipped; relics of Sts. Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom; and the tombs of three female saints.

The Patriarchate complex includes the Authorization Offices, the Patriarchate Library, the Financial offices, the public enterprises of Patriarchate and the Patriarchate Cathedral Church of Saint George.

Princess Islands

During the summer months the Princes’ Islands are popular destinations for day trips from Istanbul. In the past Princess Islands used to be home for thousands of Greeks but till this day there are a lot of Greeks living there. The largest island is Prinkipos where is also located the Orphanage of Saint George. As there is no traffic on the Islands, the only transport being horse and cart, they are incredibly peaceful compared with the city of Istanbul. They are just a short ferry ride from both the Asian (at Bostancı and also Kartal) and European sides (from Sirkeci/Eminönü, Kabataş and Yenikapı) of Istanbul. On the island of Halki there is the famous Greek Orthodox Theological School

Theological School of Halki

The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki (Greek: Θεολογική Σχολή Χάλκης), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki (now called Heybeliada), the second-largest of the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church’s Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until the Turkish government stopped its use in 1971. The theological school is located at the top of the island’s Hill of Hope, on the site of the Byzantine-era Monastery of the Holy Trinity. The premises of the school continue to be maintained by the monastery and are used to host conferences. Visitors can see the school and wander around the campus.  As of January 2011, an international campaign to reopen the theological school is entering its 40th year. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople is among the schools alumni.

How to get there:
Turkish Airlines offers many daily flights from Athens and Thessaloniki Airport. The award winning air carrier also offers international flights that connect most major international cities directly with Istanbul. New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo are only some of the cities that Turkish is flying directly. Turkish Airlines is flying in more than 200 destinations worldwide with an excellent fleet and unique services.

Where to stay in Istanbul:
Armada Hotel, is one of the best hotels in the neighborhood of Sultanahmet, inside the walls of the old city. The Hotel is situated  afew minutes away from the Blue Mosque and Agia Sophia. The hotel’s terrace often hosts wedding parties and offers breathtaking views of the old city, Bosphorus sea, Blue mosque and Agia Sophia.

Where to eat: Near Istanbul’s Taksim square at the neighborhood of Pera, there is Krependeki Imroz, a family restaurant owned by Greeks. The restaurant offers great ‘meze’ dishes in a great environment.

Georgiadis, a former member of the Greek Parliament, will meet with the Greek Consul General in Istanbul Mr. Vasilios Bornovas and will attend a Breakfast meeting hosted by DEREE for school counselors from prestigious schools in Istanbul.

Zografeion was founded in the late 19th century, as the growing number of Greek students proved to be more than the Zappeion and Panayia schools could accommodate. The community decided to build a new school, and donations were collected from a number of people. Christakis Zografos, who was living in Paris at the time, made the largest contribution, of 10,000 gold liras. In 1890, the Greek community decided that the school be renamed after Zografos. The school was inaugurated in 1893 and its first alumni were graduated in 1899.

The school, like all minority schools in Turkey, is a secular school. Many famous artists, architects, politicians and theologians of the Greek diaspora have studied at the school, including Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. Zografeion, like all minority schools in Turkey, applies the full Turkish curriculum in addition to Greek subjects: Greek language, literature and religion.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew conducted the divine liturgy in the morning hours. The liturgy was attended by the patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, and Archbishop Hristostomos II of Cyprus.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew issued the followed statement regarding the Day of the Protection of the Environment.

†BARTHOLOMEW
By the Mercy of God
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarchate
To the Plenitude of the Church
Grace and Peace from the Creator, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

* * *

Beloved children in the Lord,

God’s grace renders us worthy today to commence yet another ecclesiastical year, one more festive cycle, within whose blessed opportunities we are called to struggle spiritually in order better to evaluate the potential that we have been granted for growing “in the likeness” of God so that we also might become His saints.

However, today, on September 1st, the first day of the church year, is also dedicated – at the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – to prayer for the natural environment. This pioneering decision is by no means unrelated to the beginning of the new ecclesiastical year inasmuch as the spiritual struggle that brings about the good transformation of the human person contributes to the improvement of our relationship with the environment and the cultivation of our sensitivity for its protection and preservation.

Therefore, today, we praise the holy name of God for granting to humanity the gift of nature, which he preserves and sustains, as the most suitable environment for human beings to develop in body and spirit. A the same time, we cannot remain silent about the fact that humanity does not properly honor this divine gift and instead destroys the environment through greed and other selfish ambitions.

As we know well, our environment consists of land, water, sun, air, but also of fauna and flora. Humankind can take advantage of nature for its own benefit, but only up to a certain point, so that it may blossom and so that it may have the opportunity to propagate the consumed energy resources as well as the living, animal creatures. In any case, the proper exploitation of nature comprises a commandment of God both before and after the fall of Adam. Yet, the extreme exploitation – which is, unfortunately, a phenomenon of the last two centuries in human history – destroys the balanced harmony of nature and leads to the exhaustion and destruction of nature as well as of humanity itself, since we cannot survive in an ecosystem whose balance has been irreversibly injured. The result of this phenomenon is the appearance and proliferation of illnesses caused by the pollution of nutritional goods through human actions.

In our time, there is appropriate emphasis on the vast significance of forests and generally of plants for the flourishing of the earth’s ecosystem as well as for the protection of water resources. But we cannot undermine the crucial importance of animals, too, for the orderly function of the world. Animals have always been friends of humanity and servants of human needs, providing food, clothing, transportation but also protection and affection. Man’s relationship with animals has been very close, as demonstrated by the fact that they were created on the same day as Adam and Eve (Gen. 1.31) and by God’s commandment to Noah to save each species of the animals in pairs before the great flood (Gen. 6.19). It is characteristic that God reserves special care for the preservation of the animal kingdom. In the lives of the saints, there are numerous stories about the excellent relations between saints and wild beasts, which would not normally be associated with friendliness toward human beings. This, of course, is not due to an evil nature on the part of animals but to our resistance to God’s grace and the consequences of this for our relationship with the elements and animals. After all, one of the results of Adam and Eve breaking their relationship to their Creator God was the disruption of their relationship with the environment: “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken.” (Gen. 3.17-19) Man’s reconciliation with God results in man’s reconciliation with nature.

After all this, it is clear that our good relationship with the environment develops parallel to our proper relationship with God. We all know the story from the lives of the saints about the experience of St. Anthony the Great, who at the age of ninety decided, with the guidance of the Lord’s angel, to enter the deeper desert of the Nile in search of another hermit, St. Paul of Thebes, in order to benefit spiritually from the latter. After walking for three days and following the tracks of animals, he came across a lion that bowed before St. Anthony and turned around to lead him to St. Paul’s cave, where he found the hermit being served by animals. A crow would bring him his daily bread! In fact, on the day of St. Anthony’s visit, the crow brought a double portion so as to provide for the visitor!

These saints developed a good relationship with God, which meant that they also enjoyed a good relationship with all of nature. The creation of such a good relationship with God should become our foremost priority, while the attending good relationship with the animal, natural and inanimate world should flow spontaneously from this. In this perspective, love for animals will not simply comprise a sterile social expression of compassion for our favorite animals, which might even sadly be accompanied by indifference for suffering human beings, who are created in the image of God, but the result of our good relationship with the Creator of all.

May the Creator of the “very beautiful” universe (Gen. 1.31) and the wonderful earthly ecosystem inspire all of us to treat all the elements of nature with affection, with a compassionate heart for all human beings, animals and plants, just as Abba Isaac the Syrian once replied to the question: “What is a merciful heart?” “It is a heart burning for the sake of the entire creation, for men, for birds, for animals, for demons and for every created thing; and by the recollection and sight of them the eyes of a merciful man pour forth abundant tears. From the strong and vehement mercy gripping his heart and from his great compassion, his heart is humbled and he cannot bear to hear or see any injury or slight sorrow in creation.” (Ascetic Treatise 81)

Through such compassion toward the natural creation we shall honor our divine dignity as stewards of creation, concerned with paternal love for all its elements, which will obey us when they discern our benevolent disposition as they realize their own commission to serve our needs.

September 1st, 2011
Your fervent supplicant before God,
+BARTHOLOMEW of Constantinople

+ B A R T H O L O M E W
By the Mercy of God
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the Plenitude of the Church Grace, Peace and Mercy From the Savior Christ Risen in Glory

Beloved children in the Lord,Once again, in a spirit of joy and peace, we address you with the delightful and hopeful greeting: “Christ is Risen!”

The occurrences and events of our time may not seem to justify the exultation of our greeting. The natural destruction caused by seismic tremors and oceanic swells, together with the lurking devastation from possible nuclear explosion, as well as the human sacrifices resulting from military conflict and terrorist action, reveal our world to be in horrible torment and anguish from the pressure of the natural and spiritual forces of evil.

Nevertheless, it is indeed real and grants to faithful Christians the certainty – and to all humanity the possibility – of transcending the adverse consequences of natural calamity and spiritual perversity.

Nature rebels when the arrogant human mind endeavors to tame its boundless forces endowed by the Creator it its seemingly insignificant and inactive elements. In considering from a spiritual perspective the grievous natural phenomena that plague our planet repeatedly and successively in recent times, we appreciate and acknowledge the belief that these are inseparable from the spiritual and ethical deviation of humanity. The signs of this deviation – such as greed, avarice, and an insatiable desire for material wealth, alongside an indifference toward the poverty endured by so many as a result of the imbalanced affluence of the few – may not be clearly related to the natural occurrences in the eyes of scientists. Yet, for someone examining the matter spiritually, sin disturbs the harmony of spiritual and natural relations alike. For, there is a mystical connection between moral and natural evil; if we wish to be liberated from the latter, we must reject the former.

Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, the new Adam and God, constitutes the model for the beneficial influence of a saint on the natural world. For Christ healed physical and spiritual illness, granting comfort and healing to all people, while at the same time bringing calm and peace to stormy seas, multiplying five loaves of bread to feed the five thousand, thereby combining the reconciliation of spiritual and natural harmony. If we want to exert a positive impact on the current negative natural and political conditions of our world, then we have no other alternative than faith in the Risen Christ and fulfillment of his saving commandments.

Christ has risen and given new life to the perfect ethos of humankind, which had darkened this ethos. Christ became the first-born and pioneer of the regeneration of the world and the whole of creation. The message of the Resurrection is not empty of meaning for the quality of human life and the balanced function of nature. As we completely and profoundly experience the Resurrection of Christ in the depth our heart, our existence shall favorably impact upon all humanity and the natural world. The natural sciences may not yet fully have underlined the relationship between the regeneration of humanity and the renewal of creation, but the experience of the saints – which should be the aim our own experience – confirms the experientially proven fact that, indeed, a person reborn in Christ restores the harmony of the natural world disturbed by sin. In Christ, the saint can move mountains for the good of the world, while the sinful person, who opposes the ways of God, can shake the earth and raise destructive waves.

Let us approach the sanctity of the Risen Christ in order, through His grace, to calm the natural and moral waves that trouble our world today.

May the grace of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, beloved children in the Lord. Amen.

Holy Pascha 2011
+ Bartholomew of Constantinople
Fervent supplicant for all
before the Risen Christ

Theophane executed a great fight plan throughout the fight and from the opening round Theophane was connecting with over-hand rights that damaged Daws’ right eye which would slowly close over the course of the fight. Throughout the fight and especially in the early rounds Theophane produced a systematic body attack that slowed Daws down and allowed Theophane to get into his rhythm and start to take over the fight.

In the second part of the fight Theophane further took command and was getting stronger where his punches were taking their toll on Daws and busting him up.

In round 9 Theophane came out blazing, mixing his shots to the head and body behind a hard double left jab that set Daws up for a booming right hand that connected to the side of Daws’ head dropping him heavily face first to the canvas. Daws got up, barely beating the referees count and was on shaky legs, the referee let the fight continue and Theophane unleashed a monstrous barrage of punches to the head and body that dropped Daws again. Daws got up and showed the heart of a champion just barely beating the referee’s count; to Daws’ credit he survived the round and was trying to put up a fight.

In the last three rounds it was all Theophane as he completely out-boxed, out-punched and out-fought Daws, deservedly winning a clear cut action packed unanimous decision to capture the coveted Lonsdale British Title. ‘Lightning’ Lenny Daws, who has previously made two successful defenses of the British Title worked hard throughout the fight to hold onto his title but in the end, Theophane just proved to be the better fighter.

The “Treasure” had this to say right after the fight, “I’ll fight any top fighter in the world, I’m ready for any of them. I finally found myself and anyone who wants to step up and fight lets do it tomorrow”. He went on to say, “I hit Lenny (Daws) with some real hard shots and dropped him twice and he still kept coming and never quit, so i want everyone to respect him for staying in the fight. I was ready to do anything to win this fight and i did. Me and my team (CESTUS) worked too hard for this and I knew I couldn’t let anyone down. This win is special and i can’t explain how proud i am that i have finally won the British Title. I want to own the Lonsdale Belt outright and i will do whatever it takes to make that happen and like i said many times I’ll fight any top fighter in the world”.

English Greek Cypriot Mike Michael, Cestus Management’s Chief Adviser, said, “We are all ecstatic and very proud of our boxer, Ashley proved again that he is a world class boxer and is ready to fight the best in the world. He showed his all round superiority in the way that he won the fight and how hard he can compete. Lenny Daws is a tough kid but Ashley’s all round boxing ability and will to win was too much for him. This win is special for all of us at Cestus as Ashley Theophane is our first British Champion”

In closing, Michael said, “I would like to thank my good friend Jimmy “ZEEK” Hartofilis for his undeniable support, Hennesey Sports and most of all the fans”.