This programme contains discriminatory language.
On Greece’s Mount Athos, the most holy site in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, lies a rift in the faith. For more than 20 years, a banned monastery has operated illegally and at times violently towards their sacred community. For Heart and Soul, Nikos Papanikolau visits these excommunicated monks ready to become martyrs in order to protect their ultra-orthodox way of life.
The inhabitants of Esphigmenou monastery are known as Greece’s "rebel monks". Living on a remote peninsula in the north of the country, they are holed up in their fortress-like monastery, emblazoned with a banner reading "Orthodoxy or Death". This schismatic brotherhood broke away from the mainstream church decades ago, an act which has led to their excommunication and violent clashes with police after attempts to evict them from their monastery.
Nikos Papanikolaou travels to Mount Athos (know as the "holy mountain") to meet Esphigmenou’s leader, Abbot Methodios. He’s come to hear about their radical interpretation of the faith and learn more about what’s being done to resolve the situation.
Presenter: Nikos Papanikolaou
Producer: Hester Underhill & Hunter Charlton
Executive Producer: Ant Adeane
Image: Abbot Methodios standing outside Esphigmenou’s chapel (Credit: Nikos Papanikolaou)
On Greece’s Mount Athos, the most holy site in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, lies a rift in the faith. For more than 20 years, a banned monastery has operated illegally and at times violently towards their sacred community. For Heart and Soul, Nikos Papanikolau visits these excommunicated monks ready to become martyrs in order to protect their ultra-orthodox way of life.
The inhabitants of Esphigmenou monastery are known as Greece’s "rebel monks". Living on a remote peninsula in the north of the country, they are holed up in their fortress-like monastery, emblazoned with a banner reading "Orthodoxy or Death". This schismatic brotherhood broke away from the mainstream church decades ago, an act which has led to their excommunication and violent clashes with police after attempts to evict them from their monastery.
Nikos Papanikolaou travels to Mount Athos (know as the "holy mountain") to meet Esphigmenou’s leader, Abbot Methodios. He’s come to hear about their radical interpretation of the faith and learn more about what’s being done to resolve the situation.
Presenter: Nikos Papanikolaou
Producer: Hester Underhill & Hunter Charlton
Executive Producer: Ant Adeane
Image: Abbot Methodios standing outside Esphigmenou’s chapel (Credit: Nikos Papanikolaou)