MAY 2018 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 E-mail: vema@bigpond.net.au

THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN

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ÏÏ 1133ïïòò ÅÅððßßóóççììïïòò ××ïïññüüòò DDeebbuuttaanntteeôôïïõõ ÊÊïïëëëëååããßßïïõõ ““ÁÁããßßùùíí ÐÐÜÜííôôùùíí”” ,, ÓÓýýääííååûû

The oldestcirculating

Greeknewspaper

outsideGreece

‘Greece is in my blood’, says Prince Charles

IthacaOdysseu’s native island is as appealing to

travelers as his wanderings are symbolic totho-se seeking the meaning of life.

PAGE 16/32

Good deeds in the streets of Athensrewarded by THI Australia

OUR ARCHBISHOP’S VIEW

PEACE TO YOU Part 1PAGE 5/21

Tension surges across the

Middle East US President Donald Trump has

announced he is pulling the UnitedStates out of the Iran nuclear deal, ina move set to upset America’s Euro-pean allies and disrupt global oil sup-plies.

Mr Trump said the nuclear agree-ment was a “horrible, one-sideddeal” that “didn’t bring peace” and“never will”.

“I am announcing today that theUnited States will withdraw from theIran nuclear deal,” Mr Trump said atthe White House.

The main points in the 2015 dealaimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclearprogram in exchange for sanctionsrelief.

“In a few moments, I will sign a presidential memoran-dum to begin reinstating US nuclear sanctions on the Ira-nian regime.

“We will be instituting the highest level of economicsanctions.”

Renewing sanctions would make it much harder forIran to sell its oil abroad or use the international bankingsystem.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said there was ashort time to negotiate with other world powers, but iftalks failed Tehran was ready to resume its nuclear work.

“I have ordered Iran’s atomic organisation that when-ever it is needed, we will start enriching uranium morethan before,” Mr Rouhani said.

He said Iran would start this “in the next weeks”.Iranian state television said the US decision was “ille-

gal, illegitimate and undermines international agree-ments”.

European countries said they remained committed tothe deal and called on Washington not to prevent othercountries from implementing it.

“We urge the US to ensure that the structures of theJCPOA can remain intact, and to avoid taking actionwhich obstructs its full implementation by all other par-ties to the deal,” a statement provided by British PrimeMinister Theresa May’s office said.

The statement followed a phone call between Ms May,French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’sChancellor Angela Merkel.

The move to withdraw is a snub to the three nations,who had tried hard to convince Mr Trump to preservethe deal. Russia’s envoy to the European Union saidMoscow would also continue its efforts to keep the dealfunctioning.

UN chief ‘deeply concerned’

In a statement released shortly after Mr Trump’s an-nouncement, United Nations Secretary-General AntonioGuterres said he was “deeply concerned” by the decisionto drop the deal and reinstate sanctions.

“I have consistently reiterated that the JCPOA repre-sents a major achievement in nuclear non-proliferationand diplomacy and has contributed to regional and inter-national peace and security,” Mr Guterres said.

He urged all other parties to the deal to abide by thecommitments they made and to fully support the agree-ment.

Earlier this month, the International Atomic EnergyAgency (IAEA) reiterated that it had seen “no credible in-dications of activities in Iran” relevant to nuclearweapons development after 2009.

That finding came from a 2015 report into Iran’s nucle-ar activities. The agency made the comments after Israelclaimed it had evidence Iran defied the terms of the 2015nuclear deal.

The IAEA maintains Iran is still abiding by the deal, andthat its inspectors have been given access to all nuclearsites.

The heir to Britain’s throne has spoken of hislove for Greece during his official visit to thecountry on Wednesday May 9. “Greece is inmy blood and I have long had a fascination forher ancient culture and history,” said Charles,the Prince of Wales.

PAGE 11/27

The Hellenic Initiative Australia, a chapter ofthe global nonprofit institution formed bymembers of the Greek diaspora to providesupport to Greece during the crisis, announ-ced a donation of 23,000 euros (35,000 Aus-tralian dollars) for the Emfasis Foundation.

PAGE 2/18

Donald Trump announces US pulling out of Iran nuclear deal

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA2/18 MAY 2018

By Lina Giannarou - Kathimerini, Athens

The Emfasis Foundation is not well-known, eventhough it has been helping street people for the pastfive years – under the radar, in the city’s nooks andcrannies, far from the public eye.

Imagine the surprise of founding member Maria Kar-ra when she recently received a phone call from Nicho-las Pappas, president of The Hellenic Initiative Australia,a chapter of the global nonprofit institution formed bymembers of the Greek diaspora to provide support toGreece during the crisis.

The phone call led to a meeting, where THI Australiaannounced a donation of 23,000 euros (35,000 Aus-tralian dollars) for Emfasis. “To be honest, well done toTHI for even finding us,” says Karra. “We are the epito-me of a grassroots organization.”

It all fits in quite nicely. Emfasis was founded in 2013by a group of Greeks here and abroad. “We had tried tosend aid to Greece through donations to organizationsbut we weren’t happy with the rate that assistancereached the final recipient,” explains Karra, who lives inDubai. “We wanted the money to reach the beneficia-

ries directly, without unnecessary delay. We also had amoral issue. The usual practice is for assistance to be

given to people who ask for it. We wanted to do the op-posite. We wanted to reach out to people in need, with-out having to subject them to the ordeal of waiting inline or reporting to social workers. Not forcing them toask for help was a matter of respect for these people.”

The concept of street work was adopted from theget-go. “With two social workers, two psychologists andtwo sociologists, we scoured the neighborhoods ofAthens looking for street people. This is not just home-less people, but also those who spend a large part oftheir day in the streets because life at home is hard andthey need to get away, because they may be unem-ployed and haven’t admitted it to their families, or be-cause they are truants from school,” says Karra.

Over time, the Emfasis volunteers forged bonds oftrust with the people they reached out to. “We wantedto get our information from them. The fact that some-one isn’t wearing shoes doesn’t mean that is theirbiggest problem. We wanted them to express them-selves. They were suspicious at first, but started open-ing up as the relationship strengthened,” Karras ex-plains. “Many told us that the fact anyone was payingattention to them was the most important thing.”

Emfasis street work teams have been providing sup-port and counseling in central Athens for more thanfour years, while its mobile units distribute basic sur-vival goods around the capital and Piraeus.

“One of the biggest issues we see is people who wantto be reintegrated into society but can’t get any form ofidentification. We solved that. A lot of people also hadproblems with their teeth so we found volunteer den-tists and dental technicians to help them and to im-prove their appearance. Many were scared to get bloodtests, so we went to Interamerican and got them anEmfasis insurance card and, in cooperation with a cer-tain clinic, gave them access to medical checkups,” addsKarra.

The THI Australia donation will cover the costs of themobile units for a year.

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia Missionary Committee

SHARE WITH AFRICA Fifth Annual Charity Dinner

Pentecost Day 2018

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is once again holding a major fund-raising Dinner in Sydney to assist our African brothers and sisters. This year’s event will once again be held in the hall of St Spyridon Church, Kingsford on Pentecost, 27th May, 2018 at 5 pm. With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, all funds raised will be distributed equally for missionary and humanitarian work across the growing Orthodox Churches of:

1. Kenya (an English-speaking country where there are already over a million Orthodox faithful, three Dioceses, and over 300 priests)

2. The Democratic Republic of Congo (a French-speaking country that needs support for its new Orthodox University as a part of a vibrant Church in Central Africa)

3. Sierra Leone (which has some of the greatest humanitarian needs following a devastating civil war just over a decade ago and more recently the Ebola virus and massive floods devastations).

Your attendance will in itself be a great message of support. The first prize of the raffle is a return trip to Greece! Tickets are $70 per adult, $50 for pensioners and students, and $20 for children under 12 years of age. For Tickets contact your local Parish in the first instance or: Mrs Mary Stathos (Mob 0409 522 413) or Kyriacos Mavrolefteros (Mob 0425 222 012).

Good deeds in the streets of Athens rewarded by THI Australia

Emfasis founding member Maria Karra, THIAustralia president Nicholas Pappas, THI

director in Greece Michael Printzos and twovolunteers are seen in this recent photo.

The Greek Australian

VEMA

The oldest circulating Greeknewspaper outside Greece

Tel: (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033

Email: vema@bigpond.net.au

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/19MAY 2018

By Tom Ellis ‐ Kathimerini, Athens

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan clearly seeshimself as the leader of a regional superpower and as ahegemon of the Islamic world. As a result, the Turkishstrongman feels that he can do and say whatever hewants. This attitude is not confined to the domesticfront, where he has repeatedly extended the state of e-mergency, brutally violated all sorts of freedoms andrights, ordered the arrest of political rivals and threat-ened the detention of even more. This behavior also ex-tends beyond his country’s borders, as Turkey has in-vaded neighboring countries and threatened to invadeothers, and Erdogan has called for the revision, or “up-date,” of international treaties so that the country’s of-ficial borders can coincide with, as he put it, “the bor-ders of our hearts.”

Acting as a modern-day sultan, Erdogan does not hes-itate to attack the leaders of other countries.

After accusing German Chancellor Angela Merkel ofusing “Nazi practices,” after describing Europe as “fas-cist,” after threatening US forces in Syria with an “Ot-toman slap,” and after regularly criticizing Israel (hisknown anti-Semitism led to the infamous clash with Is-raeli President Shimon Peres at Davos in 2009), Erdoganrecently targeted Ramush Haradinaj, the prime ministerof Kosovo, a state which he clearly views as a Turkishprotectorate.

Erdogan slammed Haradinaj after the latter dismissedKosovo’s chief of intelligence and its interior ministerfollowing the deportation of six Turkish citizens withties to the Fethullah Gulen movement (which Erdoganblames for the attempted 2016 putsch), without hispermission. “Since when have you begun to protectthose who work to stage a coup against the Turkish Re-public?... You will pay for this. Your career is over,” saidErdogan, who in essence regards Kosovo as a Turkishprovince. The behavior of the Turkish president – giventhe expansionist tendencies that are fed by his collabo-ration with far-right nationalists and his aggressive infil-tration in the Balkans, which has strong religious char-acteristics – mandates that Greece be on the alert andprioritize the handling of its other unresolved issues.

Erdogan’s unpredictable character and authoritariandrift, combined with his strong influence and efforts toexport the Islamic element, create an explosive mix –and Greece finds itself right on the front line.

Early elections

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to call for snap elec-tions on June 24 is of direct consequence to Greece,more than at any other time, as the Turkish presidentincreasingly espouses a nationalist stance and invests inthe political gains this brings him.

His convergence with the far-right Nationalist Move-ment Party of Devlet Bahceli confirms that this explo-sion of nationalist fervor is a strategic decision made byErdogan. There is good reason why Athens and Nicosiaare troubled by the extreme stance he has adopted inrecent months, which is not restricted to rhetoric but isalso reflected in the military operation he initiated inSyria, as well as in the aggressive behavior in theAegean and toward Cyprus. More so as a pre-electionperiod offers itself for nationalist posturing and publicproclamations, and also moves of exaggerated patrio-tism by both the government and the opposition.

The stance that has so far been adopted by the Ke-malist opposition – which often raps Erdogan for beingtoo soft toward Athens and accuses him of “giving up”too many Aegean islands to Greece – is exacerbatingthe situation and confirms the fears of the Greek andCypriot leaderships. Regardless of whether all this is fordomestic consumption – as Erdogan sees it strengthen-ing him politically – or whether the Turkish leader trulybelieves that Turkey is a regional superpower that is“trapped” in the confines of its present borders be-cause of past international treaties that do not corre-spond to the “borders of his heart” and thus need to be

revised or updated, this outbreak of nationalism is cre-ating an extremely dangerous situation in the Aegean.

It is telling that even third countries, the UnitedStates among them, are publicly voicing concern overthe danger of an “accident.”

On the other hand, one could also argue that if theelections were to take place on November 3, 2019, asoriginally planned, the situation could become evenmore perilous in that this spike in tensions, in theAegean as well as in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone,

would have extended over a full 18 months.In either case, Greece’s only reaction to the volatile

environment that will take shape during the pre-elec-tion period in Turkey can be none other than keepingthe international community briefed on all develop-ments, maintaining close cooperation with its partnersand allies abroad, and, on the domestic scene, keepingthe armed forces in a state of operational readiness,while the political leadership must behave in a calm andresponsible manner.

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The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA4/20 MAY 2018

True story ‐ I’ve been waiting forever for you!

A few years ago, there lived a Yianni and Katina in abeautiful large town of Epirus.

Their three boys left for America to be near their rel-atives who helped them, and they soon prospered.They were hard-working and careful in their living.With the help of their relatives they married Greekgirls and had good families. They contacted their par-ents quite often and sent photographs of their wed-dings and baptisms of their children.

Their daughter Irene stayed with them in the villageand she looked after them as best she could.

Irene was married and her husband Costas, a cabinet-maker, respected her aged parents as though theywere his own. And they loved him as their own child.

The years passed peacefully. One after another thegrandchildren were born. Twins at first, and twomore later after three years. Yiayia Katina was filledwith joy when she hugged the children tightly, andespecially Katerinoula! Tears of joy.

Time rolled on.. The children grew and were going toschool. Every Sunday, all together, grandfather,grandmother, mother, father and the four childrendressed in their Sunday best went to the church of StKosma that was in their neighbourhood. From time-to time they had Communion. At the end of the litur-gy they received the antidoron from the blessed handof their priest and bidding farewell to friends and rel-atives, returned happily to their homes.

This happened every Sunday until something oc-curred that completely changed their lives.

That autumn, a very faithful teacher had been postedto their school. She spoke to the children with enthu-siasm about our faith, about Christ, about Panagia,about the Martyrs and the Saints. The children lis-tened intently. She spoke to them about Holy Com-munion and Confession. She said that with Confes-sion, the soul is cleansed from every sin and can thenreceive Christ in Holy Communion.

Her simple and persuasive words took root in the in-nocent souls of the children.

Little Katerinoula listened attentively and her darkeyes were opened wide as something passed throughher mind.

When she came home at lunchtime, her grandmoth-er asked, “How was school? What did you learn fromyour new teacher?”

“Some wonderful things, yiayia! She told us aboutHoly Communion and Confession. You know howbeautifully she speaks! I want to ask you - do youknow what Confession is yiayia? From what I learnt,Confession and Holy Communion go together. Do yougo to confession yiayia?”

“Let’s leave all this talk because it is time for lunch.We can talk about it later.”

That night, yiayia experienced something miraculous.Panagia appeared to her in her sleep. “I love you Ka-terina”, Panagia said to her. “It was I who made yourgrandchild speak to you about Confession. I havebeen waiting for you lovingly for almost 100 years!Take care to repent for whatever wrong you havedone and to confess. There are not that many moreyears of life.”

She woke from fear and was shaking. She rose, madethe sign of the cross, kissed the icon of the Panagia,even sipped a little agiasmo and calmed herself.

The next morning, she told her daughter all that hadhappened and asked her to ask where one could goto confess. She said the same to her husband.

Her daughter learnt form the parish priest that therewas a good spiritual father in Ioannina. They organ-ised things and the next afternoon, Costas and Irenetook yiayia in the work vehicle to the Spiritual Father.

Yiayia prepared as best she could and for the firsttime in her life confessed and lightened her soul fromall its burdens. With this opportunity, Costas andIrene also went to Confession. And the next day, thePappou also went.

That next Sunday, they all received Holy Communiontogether in the village church. They felt their heartlightened and jumping with joy. Their faces wereglowing.

At the dinner table the children were staring againand again at the bright faces of their elders and werenot content with what they were seeing.

At one point, their mother said, “Come on, eat yourlunch before it gets cold.”

“It doesn’t matter, mum”, said Katerinoula. “What wehave seen today is better than anything. I will tell myteacher tomorrow. But I can see that yiayia is not eat-ing. Why yiayia, on such a great day?”

“I am thinking how much I wronged myself for somany years, when I went to Communion without everConfessing.”

Forget most of this mother. Isn’t this what your Con-fessor told you? And remember what Panagia said toyou. She wants to be near you in that eternal happi-ness. As we say, prepare for Paradise!”

Yiayia did prepare. That next week, she departedready for that eternal journey!

Source: Adapted from Sotir, Issue 2173, pp. 141‐142.

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TO BHMA 5/21MAY 2018 The Greek Australian VEMA

Our Primate’s View

PEACE TO YOUPart 1

By ARCHBISHOPSTYLIANOSOF AUSTRALIA

The first word of Christ to the assembled Disciples afterthe Resurrection was not “rejoice” but “peace be untoyou”! Because peace includes joy, whereas every joydoes not include peace. “Peace be unto you” is, then,the first greeting of the Risen Lord.

These words encapsulate, as it were, and convey all thepower of the theandric presence to the disturbedhuman nature, which lives in insecurity since the timewhen it lost its heavenly orientation. At this point onlythe greeting ‘’peace be unto you” could remove thefears and hesitations that beset people, opening theireyes to the horizon of the Resurrection that is foreveraffirmed by the death of death through His Death.

Peace is, then, “the opening of the gates of paradise”.And as long as peace will remain the rarest gift in thisworld, paradise will also be transferred eschatological-ly in time. To know correctly the truth, the mind doesnot need sagacity or wisdom. And to feel what is reallygood, the heart does not necessarily need particularsensitivity and cultivation. Peace “which transcends allunderstanding” is sufficient for both these things.Whoever has peace internally, also has a guileless lookand a pure heart. Peace is the power that constitutesan unbreakable coherence out of the division of creat-ed things, gathering together anew the divided partsinto the straight line of God’s will. Only thus are thecrooked lines and evasions of the world are abolished,removing the obstacles to confusion and disorder. Wecould perhaps see better the meaning of peace, if werecall the etymological relation of the Greek words“coherence”, “peace”, ‘“joint”, “harmony”.

The first and supreme gift that the Church admits tohave received from the Risen Lord through the eyewit-nesses of the Resurrection is the “right spirit”. In theapolytikion of the New Sunday we chant very charac-teristically the following words:

“Whilst the monument was sea‐led, thou didst as the life arisefrom the grave, O Christ our God;and whilst the doors were closed,thou didst appear to they Disci‐ples as the Resurrection of all, andthrough them renewest a rightspirit within us, according to thygreat mercy”.

In this doxological confession of the Church, we shouldpay attention particularly to two points that decisivelycharacterise what kind of nature the “right spirit” has,since we have already said that it is the most essentialelement of peace. These points are:

(a) that one cannot expect the “right spirit” as the obvi-ous fruit of natural man. After his fall and disobedi-ence, the natural man does not have an incorruptible,but a corruptible nature. For this reason, if one regainsthe grace of having a “right spirit”, this will happen onlyas a renewal, as the beginning and inauguration ofnew life. This truth is clearly indicated by the participleof “renewing” in the hymn.(b) This “inauguration” and the renewal of the corruptman does not occur directly, but through the interces-

sions of the Apostles and of the Saints. This is why thehymn says “thou renewest through them a right spirit”:this condition is precisely set in order to make it clearthat it is a matter of grace and of a favour of which weare no longer worthy, yet we become worthy onaccount of the “intercession” of the Saints. But suchcharismatic nature offered by the “right spirit” isexpressed in even stronger terms by the final words ofthe above Apolytikion, wherein the measure and con-dition for the granting of such gift cannot be anyhuman effort or worthiness but only the “mercy” ofGod.

It is most characteristic that the “right spirit”, as charis-matic gift and presupposition of peace, is mentioned inour worship also at the moment when the Bishop,Liturgist par excellence, is dressed with his archpas-toral vestments in order to officiate. After having saidfor each vestment the appropriate verse of the psalmas a prayer and invocation, when he wears the pectoralimage that has the shape of the heart, he says: “Createin me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spiritwithin me”.

If the officiating priest does not have a clean heart anda right spirit, it is impossible for him to feel the fullmeasure of peace, and it is still harder for him to con-vey peace to others with the known blessing of “peacebe to you,” and “peace be to all”.

From all that has been said so far, it becomes clear thatthe “right spirit” is the first and main presupposition ofpeace. In other words, it means that the straight line isthe only blessed way, the unique way of salvation. I! isprecisely for this reason that the greatest of theProphets of the Old Testament, St John the Forerun-ner, in order to prepare the coming of the Messiah,who is the “prince of peace” par excellence, explicitlycommands: “Prepare the way of the Lord, makestraight his paths” (Mat. 3, 3). The straight path, how-ever, as a moral command, is primarily justice and fearof God. Nevertheless, man cannot judge by himselfwhat is right and what is wrong, because justice isessentially the balance of powers and the harmony ofthe moral world which reflects nature and the sanctityof God’s will. And man, who with his disobedienceoffended His will, damaged God’s order and conse-quently disturbed the moral balance by becomingunjust and transgressor. Precisely for this reason,God’s command through the mouth of the prophetIsaiah is more a censure than a mere moral command:“Learn righteousness, ye that dwell upon the earth” (Is.26, 9).

It is not only God, through the mouth of the prophets,that emphasises this lack of righteousness in thethought and life of the natural man - where after thedisobedience what was natural became unnatural. It isalso man himself that admits it in moments of humilityand prayer, when one of his primary requests is: “teachme your statutes” (Ps. 118, 12).

(To be continued)

Source: “Voice of Orthodoxy”(June 1990, Vol. II, No. 6)

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA6/22 MAY 2018

Returning to the paths of faith on Mount AthosBy Athos Dimoulas ‐ Kathimerini

“What do I like about Mount Athos?The people, to begin with. There’s thelandscape, of course, which is unique.And the smells. Like the smell of the re-fectory, which I remember from my firstvisit as a child. The formality also fasci-nates me, the way things are done, theway the monks enter the church, andhow they eat all together,” says photog-rapher Stratos Kalafatis, a regular visitor

to the historic monastic community innorthern Greece.

Kalafatis found something different:the inspiration for an ambitious artisticproject. Starting in 2008, he spent 5years photographing the place and itspeople for “Athos: The Colors of Faith,”which was presented at the time in thenorthern port city of Thessaloniki by theNational Bank Educational Foundationand released as a coffee-table book byAgra.

The photographer was drawn backagain last year, spending two consecu-tive weeks on Mount Athos and captur-ing new images that have been includedin a revised publication of the book, giv-ing it more variety and a more completefeel. In this project, Kalafatis depictsmonastic life on Athos through shadows,symbols, nature and faces. His portraitsexude a strange sense of familiarity,whe-ther they be of young students atthe Athonite Academy, all unaffected

sweetness, or the eldest of the monkswhose faces are marked by the signs ofan ascetic life. All were willing subjectsand went along with the photographer’sguidelines as he staged the ideal photo-graph.

Then and nowA show he organized on the project in

Halkidiki last year was attended by30,000 visitors, while the 16 shows todate of “Athos: The Colors of Faith” bothin and outside Greece have drawn morethan 200,000 in total. “It’s a subject thatintrigues people and one that has beenphotographed by some great photogra-phers in the past,” says Kalafatis, addingthat he is a propagator of this tradition,showing the community, “the MountAthos of the 21st century,” in a moremodern way.

How much has it changed since his firstvisit in 1979, when he was a 13-year-oldliving in Kavala? “It was completely dif-ferent back then,” says Kalafatis. “Theyhad a huge drought.

Most of the monasteries were in astate of decline in terms of infrastructureand most of the monks you met were el-derly and stuck in a different age. Still, ithad its charm.

“On Mount Athos today, most of themonks are young and educated – andthat is something very good – the mona-steries have been repaired and restored,and there are proper streets so distancesare covered much more easily. On theother hand, of course, the authenticityhas been lost in places,” he adds.

Kalafatis is currently in the process ofwrapping up a new project on Philippi,an archaeological site in eastern Mace-donia that was inducted into UNESCO’slist of World Heritage Sites in 2016. Hehas been taking photographs at the sitefor the past three years in an effort tolink the past to the present.

Last year, meanwhile, he published“Archipelagos” (also Agra), a beautifulcoffee-table book of photographs of theAegean that had been commissioned bythe Venice Biennale.

* This article first appeared in the magazine“K,” Kathimerini’s Sunday supplement.

“To sin and not repent is blasphemy

against the Lord”, Anonymous

Issue 15

Portion 15.1 The Sixth Commandment. The Sixth of the Ten Commandments, combining the Old and New Testaments, can be stated in summary as follows: Sixth Commandment: Do not kill. Portion 15.2 Transgressions of the Sixth Commandment. According to Saint Nicodemus: “In this Sixth Commandment transgressors are those who kill the body of someone by hand, or by some other means, or by advice, or by help and assistance. Also, those who kill someone in soul, as are the heretics, the false teachers, and those Christians who cause a scandal to others by the example of their evil life. Also, those who at a time of epidemic, knowing that they are infected, contact others and infect them. Also, those who kill themselves, and simply all those who become reckless. In this commandment are also related the vices of anger, envy, and the other vices that cause murder.” Portion 15.3 Reference points for the Sixth Commandment. According to Saint Nicodemus: “Perhaps my child you killed someone willfully or by accident? Perhaps you were envious and saddened by the goods your brother has?

Or perhaps you are happy for the evils and misfortunes of your brother? Perhaps you have towards someone enmity and rancor and desire to take revenge? Perhaps you slandered someone and betrayed them to the rulers? Perhaps you gave herbs to a pregnant woman to effect an abortion? Perhaps you became angry with someone and struck them? Perhaps knowing that you are infected you spread your disease to others?” Portion 15.4 Further points for the Sixth Commandment. According to Monk Agapius: “If you advise your neighbor to fornicate, or to kill, or to do some other sin you are a spiritual murderer of your brother.” According to Monk Damaskinus: “Nor have enmity or rancor towards some Christian, because this is also murder. If you love your friends only what credit is that to you? But if you love your enemies you have much reward from God.” Written by Metaphrastis

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 7/23MAY 2018

Taking Greece into the space ageBy Sakis Ioannidis ‐ Kathimerini

If there is one thing that StamatiosKrimigis yearns to do, it’s travel to the icyEuropa. “I would love to sit there lookingout at the colors of Jupiter and its moonsorbiting around it,” says the esteemedscientist and academic. “It is our solarsystem’s most spectacular planet,” headds as we gaze out at the rather mun-dane view of the city from the window ofhis Athens home.

Obligations as head emeritus of theSpace Department Applied Physics Labo-ratory at Johns Hopkins University in theUnited States and at NASA usually keepKrimigis away from his native Greece,but the next two years will see himspending a lot more time in Athens afterhe was appointed at the head of thenewly established Hellenic Space Agen-cy. The task at hand is to “build an agen-cy from the bottom up” by uniting dis-parate state agencies under one newbody, he explains.

“Excellence, meritocracy, performanceand ethos are our guiding principles,”says Krimigis, noting that it took himsome time to agree to the invitationfrom the Greek government. “I wantedcertain assurances that the principles Ihave described will be respected and ap-plied. Another reason I agreed was thatmany of my colleagues here asked me tohelp in this new endeavor and I felt itwas something I had to do. This is not anopportunity that comes around again.”

Since the 1980s, when he served as abusiness consultant, and as a member ofat least five different committees, Krim-igis has been championing Greece’s en-try into the burgeoning space sciencemarket – one in which several Greekcompanies are involved.

“It is everyone’s duty to the nation, theduty of all political parties, to supportthis effort,” he says, stressing thatGreece is a member of the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA) and needs to makeadvances in the field. “We’re not tryingto build a spaceship,” he says, addingthat the focus is on scientific instru-ments. “It is technology that is also im-portant to the country’s security and thisis the only way that we can acquire it.Our eastern neighbors figured this out 20years ago.”

In his recent book “Taxidi sto iliako sys-tima” (“Traveling in the solar system,”published by Papadopoulos), Krimigis de-scribes his experience as the only scien-tist in the world who has “traveled” toevery planet in the Earth’s solar systemthanks to instruments he has designed.

His first successful mission was thelaunch to Mars of the Mariner 4 space-ship for flyby exploration in 1964, but his50-year career hasn’t always been full ofhigh notes. He remembers, for example,“24 hours of anxiety and terror” whenthe New Horizons space probe, launchedin 2006, “went missing” on its long wayto Pluto, or how the Near Earth AsteroidRendezvous (NEAR) mission came closeto failing back in the 1990s because of atechnical glitch.

Today, every spaceship has thousandsof microchips conducting a constant digi-tal dialogue. Does all this technologyhelp? “There is always a huge possibilitynot of error but of unforeseen circum-stances, so we always use the first fewmonths of a space mission to see howthe spaceship is going,” he says. Voy-agers which have been transmitting datato Earth for the past 40 years, he adds,operate with simple commands and just70KB of memory.

Krimigis remembers the start of thespace age and the West’s shock at theUSSR’s launch of the Sputnik in 1957. Hefirmly believes that the space race savedthe world from a certain war and be-lieves that all future space missions willbe the product of international partner-ships, mainly because of their enormouscost. A planned 500 billion dollar man-ned mission to Mars is no exception.

“We will be stepping foot on Mars asexplorers, not as colonizers,” the expertstresses, explaining that the possibility ofinhabiting a planet that has almost no at-mosphere and radiation levels that arelethal to man are zero. “Who wants tolive below ground in order to be shieldedfrom the radiation and to have to learnto grow crops on that surface in order tosurvive?” he asks.

The solar system is a frontier that hasnot been sufficiently explored, says Krim-igis, adding that the space community’sfocus is now on the quest for planetsthat are friendly to man and on closer ex-ploration of worlds that have water, suchas Europa, Titan and Enceladus.

Krimigis was born on the easternAegean island of Chios in 1938, growingup into an A-plus student thanks to hismother’s insistence for high grades. Hestarted studying at the University of Min-nesota in the US in 1956, where a chanceencounter with Professor James VanAllen changed his life. The world-renow-ned academic saw something in theyoung student and invited him to hispostgraduate program at the Universityof Iowa, where Krimigis also went on todo his PhD. Among other tasks, Van Allenasked him to build a special piece of

equipment that would be used on theMariner 4 spaceship to Mars. “I finishedit just a month before the launch,” he re-members.

“Back then we always built two space-ships because one usually ended up inthe Gulf of Mexico,” says Krimigis, ex-plaining the fate of Mariner 3. “I was ter-ribly disappointed, but the engineeringteam spotted the mistake and built anew spaceship within three weeks that

went off to the Red Planet.”Success in this field, stresses Krimigis,

is not just about skill but also the resultof cooperation, an esprit de corps.“Space is collaborative,” he says, explain-ing that it is important for the public tounderstand that these teams workingday and night for years on end are notdoing so just because this is the job, butbecause “they are making history andgenerating future knowledge.”

‘Excellence, meritocracy, performance andethos are our guiding principles,’ StamatiosKrimigis says, noting that it took him some

time to agree to the invitation from theGreek government to head the country’s first

space agency.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA8/24 MAY 2018

TO BHMA 9/25MAY 2018 The Greek Australian VEMA

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA10/26 MAY 2018

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Greek city transforms bus stops into librariesA Thessaloniki municipal authority has installed libraries in bus

stops to improve local residents’ daily commute.Bookcases were built inside the stone bus shelters along the

number 64 bus route which connects Filyro with the centre ofGreece’s second city. The idea originated with the Pylaia-Hortiatimunicipality and was implemented with the Filyro Citizens’ Com-munication Movement.

Initially, four ‘library’ bus stops were created in Filyro and one inPanorama.

“The most important thing is that the citizens have embraced theinitiative and keep it alive. They have adopted the spaces and try tokeep them filled with books. We started off with one stop andmanaged to increase this to five,” Pylaia-Hortiati Mayor IgnatiosKaitezidis told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA).

The idea was launched about two years ago, with the first busstop starting with about 100 books. Later versions also hadbenches to sit on, spaces for newspapers and magazines plus no-tice boards for municipality events and activities. When they returnthe book they have borrowed, users are also encouraged to bringanother from their own collection to “keep it company” and bringjoy to other passengers.

According to organisers, not everyone is conscientious about re-turning books and some are actively destructive, but a balance isstruck by the many people that actively support them and fill themwith books again and again.

The municipality received a Best City Award for the idea in 2016,and it has since been adopted by many municipalities in Greece.

Bribie Island Retreat and Recreation Centre

An Activity of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

Bribie OPA Greek Festival – Sunday 1 July 2018

The Bribie OPA Greek Festival is scheduled for Sunday 1 July 2018, and we would love to see as many visitors as possible! Preparations are well under way & we are currently in need of volunteers who may be able to assist prior to & on the day. We would greatly appreciate if you can help – Please contact Emanuel per details below, or I to find out more:

Emanuel Kallinicos – 0418 196 904, emanuel@kallinicos.com.au

Donations

We are extremely grateful for donations and bequests which have been received to date. If you would like to contribute, please feel welcome to contact the Board of Management President - Mr Emanuel Kallinicos on 07 3391 1202, or the Coordinator - Matt Bender on 0419 509 935. In particular we are currently seeking donations & funding to contribute towards building of a Shower Block ($40,000 estimate), Multi-purpose sports court ($80,000 estimate) & upgrade to commercial kitchen ($25,000 estimate). These projects are crucial in future development of the Retreat & will rely on funding & donations to proceed.

Matt Bender, Coordinator – April 2018

Bribie Island Retreat and Recreation Centre - www.gobribieisland.org

The Greek Australian

VEMA

The oldest circulating Greek newspaper outside Greece

(Est. 1913)

Tel: (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 Email: vema@bigpond.net.au

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 11/27MAY 2018

The heir to Britain’s throne has spokenof his love for Greece during his officialvisit to the country on Wednesday May9.

“Greece is in my blood and I have longhad a fascination for her ancient cultureand history,” said Charles, the Prince ofWales in a Kathimerini newspaper inter-view.

The Prince of Wales and Camilla, theDuchess of Cornwall arrived to Greeceon Wednesday (9/5) for a three-day visit.The Prince of Wales spoke to Kathimeri‐ni, praising Greece and explaining thereasons why he is fascinated with thecountry.

“Apart from anything else, Greece is inmy blood and I have long had a fascina-tion for her ancient culture and history,not to mention the fact that I have beenso fortunate to have visited some ofGreece’s many beautiful and uniqueplaces,” the British royal said.

Charles’ father, Prince Philip, the Dukeof Edinburgh, was born in Corfu in 1921.

The three-day visit by Prince Charlesand the Duchess of Cornwall came asPrince’s Trust International expands itsoperations to Greece.

“Knowing that Greece, and so manyGreeks, have been going through such avery difficult time in recent years, I want-ed to find a way – however small and in-adequate – to help the young people ofGreece achieve their full potential,whether through skills training or assist-ing them to set up their own enterpris-es,” he told Kathimerini.

“This is something my Prince’s Trusthas been doing in the United Kingdom –and now, increasingly, overseas – for the

last 42 years, and so, feeling deeply forthe predicament facing the Greek peo-ple, I wanted to see if the experience wehave developed over all these yearsmight be of some assistance in overcom-ing the challenges confronting such avery special country,” Prince Charlesadded.

The royal couple’s visit started onWednesday (9/5) with laying a wreath at

the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in cen-tral Athens. After that they met withPresident Prokopis Pavlopoulos and laterwith Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

On Thursday (10/5), Prince Charles metwith Archbishop Ieronymos and laterthat day he visited Piraeus port for a tourof the HMS Echo and the HMC Valiant,which cooperate with the Hellenic CoastGuard in search-and-rescue exercises.

Later on Thursday, Prince Charles at-tended a meeting of the British Councilfor the International Higher EducationProgram at the Stavros Niarchos Founda-tion.

On Friday (11/5), the Prince of Walesand the Duchess of Cornwall travelled toCrete and visited the archaeological siteof Knossos and then visitet NGO officesfor refugees.

‘Greece is in my blood’, says Prince Charles

US ambassador Pyatt visits Mount Athos monastery

“Mt. Athos is a truly spiritual place,” USAmbassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatttweeted earlier this month, commentingon his first visit to the historic monasticcommunity’s Vatopedi Monastery.

“I profoundly thank Abbot Ephraim forintroducing me to the rich history ofVatopedi on my first stop here,” Pyattsaid on his visit to the UNESCO WorldHeritage site in northern Greece.

“I was also impressed by the Mona-stery’s innovative research and ideas onits organic herbal products,” he added.

Pyatt also said that he met withMetropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktosduring the visit.

“We had an important discussion onOrthodoxy worldwide and US supportfor the Ecumenical Patriarchate,” the USambassador said.

Drought ended Mycenean era, research shows

The Bronze Age civilization of the Mycenaeans collapsed due to an extendeddrought in the western Peloponnese, according to a study conducted by re-searchers Martin Finne and Karin Holmgren of the Navarino Environmental Ob-servatory in collaboration with archaeologist Shari Stocker.

The researchers drew their conclusions after examining a stalactite from acave on the uninhabited the islet of Schiza off the southwestern coast of thePeloponnese which yielded precise information on the weather conditions thatprevailed in the region from around 1200 to 1180 BC.

The Mycenaean civilization spanned the period from approximately 1600-1100 BC.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA12/28 MAY 2018

The Greek diet is regarded as one of the healthiest inthe world because it’s based largely around fruit andvegetables, wholegrains, fish and a small amount ofcheese and yoghurt.

When many people think of Greek food, pastitso,moussaka, souvlaki and baklava come to mind.

However, a traditional Greek diet is packed withgreens, such as xorta (wild greens) fasolakia (greenstring beans), bamies (okra), legumes including fakes(lentils), fasolada (beans), revithia (chickpeas), veg-etable dishes, fish and small portions of meat.

This array of foods looks a lot like what is regarded asa healthy, balanced diet.

Greeks are also famous for their love of olive oil,which is lower in saturated fat than butter, and there-fore a good choice for cooking.

The Seven Countries Study was the first to evaluatethe links between diet, lifestyle and the risk of heart at-tack.

From 1958 to 1970, the study observed men living incountries as diverse as Finland, Japan, Greece andAmerica. Dr. Ancel Keys and his team found that coun-tries with a varied diet based on monounsaturated fats,fruits, vegetables and legumes had a lower risk of heartdisease than countries whose diets were based onwheat, meat and sugar.

And the best of the bunch? Crete, where 40 percentof the diet came from healthy fats.

Recent evidence published by the PNAS (Proceedingsof the National Academy of Sciences) journal showsthat the combination of olive oil and leafy salad or veg-etables is what gives the Mediterranean diet its healthyedge, because the formation of nitro fatty acids be-tween the two food groups lowers blood pressure.

If you’re more concerned about your brain than yourbody: well, olive oil helps with that, too.

A study by Columbia University, published in 2015 in

the journal Neurology, demonstrated that those livingon a Mediterranean diet have more active and alertbrains. In fact, the diet reduces the amount the brainusually shrinks over time by five years.

Celebrity chef Cat Cora said of the Greek diet: “Youdon’t have to take a lot of supplements, you don’t haveto be on any yo-yo diets and things; you just eat alifestyle that promotes health naturally.”

British nutritionist and author Tonia Buxton is sug-gesting that the Greek diet could have anti-ageing prop-erties too. In an interview she claimed following the

Greek diet for just seven days can have a visible effecton your skin.

“Nutrition is the best place to start when you want tolook more youthful,” says Tonia.

She would spend three months each year in Greeceeating mainly seasonal vegetables, fruit, pulses andlashings of olive oil.

“Each time I went I noticed how great I felt and howmuch my skin glowed. So with my mum’s help I beganto cook my own Greek-inspired meals,” Buxton, authorof the book Eat Greek For A Week said.

Why the Greek diet is the world’s healthiest

Greece getting its first English undergrad program

Higher education in Greece is entering a new erawith the introduction of the country’s first English-taught four-year undergraduate program at a stateuniversity, which will be organized by the Universityof Athens and the International Hellenic University inThessaloniki, northern Greece.

The program will be dedicated to the study of thecountry’s greatest assets – archaeology, history, theGreek language and literature – and the aim is to at-tract students from beyond the European Union.

The BA Program in the Archaeology, History and Lit-erature of Ancient Greece will be offered as of thenext academic year at Athens University’s School ofPhilosophy. It will run for eight semesters over fouryears and be equal to all other bachelor’s degrees inGreece and elsewhere. Classes will be specially de-signed, while the professors will include PhilosophySchool educators, as well as distinguished academicsfrom other institutions.

The curriculum will also include seminars, educa-tional activities and fields trips to archaeological sitesand other locations of interest, as well as student par-ticipation in excavations.

The program will take up to 100 students a year,with annual tuition fees set at 8,000 euros.

The participation of the International Hellenic Uni-versity is also considered significant as it is the firsttime this institution will branch into an English-taughtbachelor’s degree; it currently offers master’s de-

grees in English.“Archaeology and Greek culture is the most impor-

tant scientific field where we need an English-lan-guage program addressed to foreign students,”Athens University Rector Thanos Dimopoulos toldKathimerini.

“The program is a very important and innovativeeducational, scientific and cultural initiative for thiscountry,” adds Athens School of Philosophy Dean

Eleni Karamalengou. “The core of the program wasdesigned by exceptional scientists from our school...and we look forward to a constructive collaborationwith the International Hellenic University.”

The program will soon be presented to the em-bassies of China, the United States and India, amongothers, while it is also expected to attract interestfrom other universities in Greece with a view to de-signing similar degrees.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 13/29MAY 2018

Greece is expecting an additional 2 million visitorsthis year, Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura estimatedon Friday, as the Greek Orthodox Easter sees thetourism season begin in earnest.

The minister told the Athens‐Macedonian News Agen‐cy that the excellent course of the last three years, withhistoric highs in all tourism statistics as she claimed,continues into 2018, with the trend being for a greatergrowth than any other year.

“In the first quarter of the year there was a 20 per-cent increase in international arrivals. In many areas ofGreece that had never had any winter tourism we haveachieved an impressive increase,” the minister said, cit-

ing Crete as an example “where a huge rise of 800 per-cent has been recorded in the year to end-March, withmore than 50,000 tourists visiting the island.”

She also pointed out that Greece can respond to thehugh demand and the increased flow of tourists, claim-ing that the country managed to attract new invest-ments of high added value in the period from 2015 to2017.

Kountoura specifically said that more than 25,000new beds were added to major four- and five-star unitsof over 300 beds each, according to the data of the min-istry’s Special Agency for the Promotion and Licensingof Tourism Investments.

Distribution of Red Eggs and Koulourakia (Easter Biscuits) at St Andrew’s Grammar (WA)

Every student and teacher at St Andrew’s Grammar were welcomed by Fr Elpidios with the paschal greeting (Christos Anesti - Alithos Anesti) as they returned fromtheir well deserved Easter Vacation Break.

Fr Elpidios and the Head of both the Primary and Secondary Schools visited every student in all classrooms throughout the entire school and gave a brief explanationon the symbolic meaning of the red egg. At the conclusion the traditional red egg competition took place in each class and every student received a koulouraki. It was agreat day for all. Thanks to our Greek school teacher, Mrs Katerina Reklitis, for baking over 400 koulourakia.

Greece expects an extra 2 million tourists in 2018

Perth Glendi 2018 a great success

Perth Glendi offered two days of Greek fun, mu-sic, dance and food, as thousands of Greek Aus-tralians and people who love Greek culture joinedthe event on Saturday and Sunday.

Organized by Live Lighter and held at ElizabethQuay, this year’s Perth Glendi included singing byMaria Stavropoulou and her band, mouthwateringcreations by pastry chef George Diakomichalis anddancing by the Hellenic Dancers of Brisbane.

Most of all it was fun for all the family and a joy-ous celebration of all things Greek.

TO BHMA14/30 MAY 2018The Greek Australian VEMA

Arts, Food & WineEditor: Imogen Coward

Mint Condition Part II:Shining examples

By Dr Taliesin Coward

There are small, commonplace artworks all aroundus. We carry and handle them almost everyday, and yetthey are so ubiquitous they often escape our notice:coins. As noted in part one of this series, beautiful coinsare prized by collectors the world over, and mints todayspecifically strike coins as objets d’art. Part two of thisseries takes a brief overview of these specially mintedcoins.

Beyond the mass produced coins for circulation or assimple bullion, coins struck at a mint come in severaldifferent standards, depending on manufacturing pro-cess, and the finish of the coin. The two main types arebrilliant uncirculated, and proof.

Brilliant uncirculated (sometimes listed as BU or B.Unc), refers to any coin which has not been circulated,and possess a ‘brilliant’ finish: the mirror-like shine of afreshly minted coin. Though higher quality than circula-tion coins, they can still posses minor flaws where theyhaven’t been handled quite so carefully, with a scuffmark here, and a little nick there. Regardless, these canbe quite impressive coins, particularly where a designtakes advantage of the mirror-like finish. Fine examplesof these are the fine silver £20 coins minted by the Roy-al Mint.

Proof coins are the cream of the crop, aimed at thosewho collect coins for their beauty. These coins are mint-ed from flawless blanks, and each die (sometimes handtooled) strikes a limited number of coins, with the diebeing regularly re-polished, ensuring the details on thecoin remain crisp and sharp. The dies are cleaned be-tween each coin, and each coin may also be struck sev-eral times at low pressure, so that maximum detail isimparted onto the blank. In addition, the dies are alsooften specially polished so as to produce different fin-ishes. Perhaps the most common is where the back-ground of the design (called the ‘table’) is kept smooth,whilst the design itself is blasted with sand and glass toproduce a frosted finish. In the right lighting conditionsand viewed from the correct angle, this can create thestriking effect that the design is hovering over a black-ened background. The time and care put into makingproofs means that far fewer are manufactured com-pared to other types of coins: England’s Royal Mintnotes that 3,000 bullion coins can be minted in thesame time it takes them to mint 50 proof coins.

Mints may also produce a number of novel effectsand finishes. For example, some silver coins are deliber-ately tarnished, to produce an ‘antiqued’ effect. Othersmay be struck in ‘high relief’, allowing the design to beraised higher from the coin and carry more detail. Somecome in novelty shapes (triangular, rectangular, convex,Australia-shaped, the list goes on). Others may boast anunusually high purity of metal content. Some are setwith precious gems or struck from a combination of dif-ferent metals. Others still may be coloured.

This last process can be done a few different ways.One way is colour printing, with the blank having a de-sign printed onto it. This has started to become com-mon in commemorative $2 coins which one might belucky enough to find in one’s change (for example, thecoloured Olympic coins, or the recent $2 coins featuringa delicately printed boarder of multi-coloured stars,framing characters from Mem Fox’s beloved children’sbook, Possum Magic). Perhaps one of the most fasci-nating and innovative ways of colouring a coin can beseen in the Austrian Mint’s ‘Silver-Niobium’ coin series.These silver coins feature a coloured (and sometimesmulti-coloured) centre. What is so fascinating about

these is that no dyes or inks are used. Rather, an ex-tremely thin and transparent layer of niobium oxidecovers the centre of the coin. This oxide layer, depend-ing on how it is made, reflects different colours of light(rather like a butterfly’s wings or a bird’s feathers), re-sulting in everything from pink and green, through togold and vibrant blue.

Whilst one can get collectible coins from all over theworld, either from dealers (such as Downies) or directlyfrom the mints themselves, within Australia (and notcounting the privately run mints) collectible coins areminted by the Royal Australian Mint and the PerthMint. The Royal Australian Mint is responsible for the

everyday circulation coinage we see, as well as somespecial coins (including proofs versions of the circula-tion coins struck in precious metal). The Perth Mint,along with striking the currency for many Pacific islands,produces bullion and collector coins, ranging fromcolour-printed novelties (such as Star Wars coins) andproofs, to coins with centres of inlaid opal. Whilst thesespecial coins never enter normal circulation, one doesfind the occasional coloured $2 coin released for nor-mal circulation (and even the occasional one which wasnot intended to be released). So next time someonehands you some change, don’t just put it in your purseor wallet, have a look: they mightn’t have given you justmoney, but a small work of art.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 15/31MAY 2018

It’s that time of year again in Queensland, where thousands of Greeks, Greek-Aus-tralians or just friends of Greece gather for the famous Paniyiri Greek Festival.

Scheduled for May 19 and 20 in Musgrave Park and The Greek Club, EdmondstoneSt, South Brisbane, organizers describe Paniyiri as a “kaleidoscopic cultural explosionthat is now legendary with over 50,000 Greeks and honorary Greeks”.

This year’s festival will mark 42 years – a landmark cultural and celebratory mile-stone. Over four decades Paniyiri has grown to become Queensland’s signature cele-

bration of all things Greek and the state’s largest cultural festival as well as the coun-try’s longest-running Greek festival.

It is a success story which began in 1976 when a group of passionate Greek Aus-tralians wanted to share their cultural traditions with Brisbane.

Fast forward to 2018 and more than 60,000 are expected to celebrate with a rangeof celebratory events in the lead up, and over the weekend of May 19 and 20.

All roads lead to Brisbane’s biggest Greek Festival

Ancient Greek city in Turkey to host special Orthodox Service

A special Orthodox religious service isto be held on Tuesday in the ancientGreek city of Ephesus, in modern-dayTurkey.

The liturgy in remembrance of SaintJohn; who is believed to have beenburied at the site in Aegean Turkey in100 AD, will be attended by EcumenicalPatriarch Bartholomew I and TheodoreII, Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria inEgypt.

The Basilica of St. John in Ephesus wasconstructed by Justinian I in the 6th cen-tury and was modeled after the formerChurch of the Holy Apostles in Istanbul.

Before the service, a series of culturalevents took place in Smyrna, highlight-ing the region’s Greek heritage; a stu-dents’ choir from Istanbul’s ZografeionLyceum gave a performance in Greekand Turkish at the Izmir Sanat culturalcentre.

Late last month, a Turkish town heardits first Orthodox liturgy in 96 years at aspecial religious service also attendedby Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

The special service took place in a for-mer Orthodox Church in the town ofMoudania (Mudanya) situated in to-day’s north-western Turkey.

Moudania was a thriving, predomi-nantly Greek, town before the exchangeof populations between Greece andTurkey in 1923.

The Basilica of St. John, Ephesus

TO BHMA16/32 MAY 2018The Greek Australian VEMA

Travel

BY HARIS ARGYROPOULOS

“Keep Ithaca always in your mind.Arriving there is what you are destinedfor.But do not hurry the journey at all.Better if it lasts for years,So you are old by the time you reach theisland,Wealthy with all you have gained on theway,Not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.Without her you would not have setout.”

The journeyof Odysseus, or Ulysses, theHomeric hero and king of Ithaca, whotook 10 years to return home after theTrojan War, and his many misadven-tures inspired thus Alexandrine poetConstantine Cavafy. The theme of thepoem is that what people should seekis enjoyment of the journey of life as wellas increasing maturity of the soul. If suchan attitude toward life can be consid-ered characteristic of cultured souls, thevisitor to this Ionian island will noticethat this is exactly what Odysseus’ de-scendants are – strongly inclined to thearts and letters.

It is therefore not surprising that Itha-ca – known to Greeks as Ithaki – is oneof the most civilized places to spend aholiday, away from the noise andmadding crowds.

Despite its relatively small size (96square kilometers), Ithaca in its heyday– around 1000 BC – was the center ofa kingdom which included all the Ion-ian islands off Greece’s western coast.Discoveries of Linear A script testify tothe inhabitation of the island since pre-historic times. In more recent cen-turies, Ithaca’s trajectory followed thatof neighboring Cephalonia, with suc-cessive Byzantine, Venetian, Turkish,French and British occupations until theIonian Islands joined free Greece in 1864.

Despite extensive archaeological ex-cavations, Odysseus’ Homeric capitalhas not been found. This may be dueto the many catastrophic earthquakesthat have repeatedly razed man-madestructures on the island through the cen-turies. The terrain is craggy, verdant andspectacular, ideal for trekkers and forexploring archaeological sites andcaves. The beaches are typical of the Ion-ian Islands, with picturesque bays andazure waters. The difference on Ithaca,however, is that they are all quiet. Eventhose considered developed are notpacked with sunbeds and umbrellashogging all the best places. Here, theylet you pick your own spot beforebringing you an umbrella and settingit up for you.

Ithaca comprises two small pieces ofland of about equal size and linked bya narrow isthmus. The main village ofVathy is in the southern part, builtaround a fjord-like bay, and leaves vis-itors with a lasting impression as theboat enters or leaves. It is not hard toimagine that this is where Odysseuslonged to return to. The view of the tra-ditional one- or two-floor houses, sep-

arated by narrow alleyways, against thebackground of the green Mt Nerovoulo,adds to the charm. A stroll along the sea-side promenade before sunset is amust if you wish to fully appreciate thetranquillity that Ithaca offers.

The nearby Cave of the Nymphswith multicolored stalactites is wherethe Homeric hero was said to have hid-den the gifts of the Phaeacians, whodropped him off at the bay asleep. Theisland’s longest road, 25 km, linkingVathy with Kioni, in the north, will bringyou to Ai-Yiannis, the island’s most beau-tiful beach, strewn with thick pebblesand with crystal-clear waters. Be sureto take enough fresh water with you.Make a small detour to see the KatharonMonastery and stop for coffee at theshaded square in Stavros, further north.Another small detour in a northwesterlydirection will bring you to Exogi, whichoffers absolutely superb views of the sur-rounding islands and the Ionian Sea.

Kioni is one of Ithaca’s most attrac-tive settlements, rebuilt after the 1953earthquake. Its small harbor, once a pi-rate hideout and now lined with cafes,restaurants and bars, hosts dozens ofyachts during the summer months.

Finally, east of Vathy, the windingroad will bring you to two very attrac-tive beaches, Filiatro – with amazingdeep turquoise waters and a mobile can-teen selling refreshments – andSarakiniko, a small picturesque harbor.

Odysseus’ native island is as appealing to travelers as his wanderings are symbolic to those seeking the meaning of life

Ithaca

Quietly refined Ithaca is one of the mostcivilized places to spend aholiday, away from the noiseand madding crowds

How to get there & aboutSome people fly to Cephalonia andtravel to Ithaca by boat; fromCephalonia airport to Sami port it is 35km (35 euros by taxi); ferries take fourhours from Patra (twice a day, 12.30 and8.30 p.m.), two hours from the mainlandport of Astakos and one hour fromLefkada. There are also otherconnections with Cephalonia. Patraport: tel 26103.41002, Astakos port: tel26460.41052, Cephalonia airport: tel26710.29900. Area phone code: 26740.Health center: tel 32222; travel agencies:tel 33103/33120; car rental: tel 32840.There is a local bus, taxis and sea taxis.

Where to eatIn Vathy: Paliokaravo, for fresh fish andtraditional dishes; Hani, for superbviews and menu variety; Kantouni,simple taverna at the port, withmainstream Greek dishes and fresh fish– try their chicken in the oven; Kochyli,right on the water off the coastal road –the meat pie, meatballs and roast lambare recommended. In Kioni: Kalypso, atthe marina – excellent fresh fish, grilledmeats and mainstream dishes, don’tmiss the cod pie with rice. InPlatreithias: Gefyri (tel 31131),international cuisine and charmingdecor by Andy and Mark – a must.

What to see & doThe best way to see the island is by itsmany footpaths. Ithaca is alsoexcellent for diving and climbing;there are also watersports facilitiesand tennis courts as well as excursionsto neighboring islands. In August,there is a cultural festival with artistsand orchestras from around the world.The Archaeological Museum hasmostly pre-Classical collections, withceramic and bronze items dating tothe Geometric period, as well as coins;the Cultural Center’s library housesrare books, including “The Iliad” and“The Odyssey” in Japanese.

Where to stayIn Vathy: Perantzada Art Hotel (tel33496, www.arthotel.gr), boutiquefacility with superb, elegant design in arestored 19th-century mansion;Omirikon Hotel (tel 33596,www.omirikonhotel.com), on the bayopposite the village (10 mins on foot),attractive rooms, very good service. InKioni: Captain’s Apartments (tel 31481,www.captains-apartments.gr), roomswith a view and good service. In Frikes:Aristotelis Apartments (tel 31079,www.aristotelis-ithaca.gr), attractive,fully equipped suites, 50 meters fromthe sea.

ATHENSPLUS • SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

TRAVEL

IthacaTake the long journey home