Monks Gone Wild

I prefer news reports about cross-dressing Greek monks holding secret drag shows in the seclusion of their monastic retreats over stories about crow-bar wielding monks and brawls over property rights.

This past week rival groups of Greek monks clashed violently over ownership of the Esphigmenou Monastery on Mount Athos, the normally serene and self-governing monastic republic located in northeastern Greece. Apparently, the thousand-year old monastery is occupied by a group of zealots who are hostile to any attempt to improve relations with the Vatican. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I has repeatedly tried to evict the maverick faction.

The fighting broke out when Bartholomew, who recently met with Pope Benedict at the patriarchal seat in Istanbul, sent a group to seize control of the monastery. Bartholomew’s group tried to force their way in and were met with armed resistance. For centuries Orthodox monasteries in Greece dealt with marauding pirates and brigands, though I don’t know how often they engaged in armed resistance. As a result of this week’s imbroglio, Seven monks were injured and had to be taken by boat to area hospitals.

It’s a sign of too much pent-up sexual energy, if you ask me.