Rebel Monks Holed Up at Chapel in Greece
The title of this story is so cool, someone should blog it - so here goes. THESSALONIKI, Greece -- Police posted a guard Thursday outside a chapel at an Orthodox monastic sanctuary where rebel monks remained barricaded following clashes that left seven people injured.
Wednesday's violence involved rival groups of monks carrying crowbars and sledgehammers -- and is part of a long-standing dispute between legally recognized monks and a rebel monastery that opposes efforts by the Orthodox Church to improve relations with the Vatican.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians, has ordered the monks to leave Athos for refusing to recognize his authority.
Greece's highest administrative court has also ordered their eviction, but the monks have refused to budge.
Newdsday - story by By COSTAS KANTOURIS - Associated Press Writer
