DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9840#0239
188
CELIBACY OF BISHOPS AND MONKS.
[chap.
though, in a mere worldly view, sometimes little re-
moved from the condition of Paul and the Apostles,
the labour of whose hands ministered to their daily
necessities, yet enjoys the title of His Holiness, which,
at Rome, contents even the successor of St Peter. The
Patriarch at Constantinople must, of course, be of su-
perior sanctity to a common Bishop, and is therefore
addressed as His All-Holiness.
What the peculiar holiness of these mitred digni-
taries, under the sun of Greece, really is, may be easily
conjectured when it is known that they are monks.
Although the Greek church not only allows, but, per-
haps wisely, compels all her working clergy to marry3,
still her Bishops can be united to the spouse of Christ
alone; and are therefore chosen solely from the mem-
bers of the monastic order4.
Thus the Archbishop of Gortyna is, and must ever
remain, an unmarried man. His Oekondmos, however,
has a wife, who is generally considered, at Megalo-
Kastron, as a very beautiful woman5. This ecclesiastic,
whose house adjoins on " the Metropolis," has to spend
most of his time in visiting different parts of the Arch-
bishop's extensive diocese; while his wife, of course,
remains at home. The scandal of the city assigns a
very obvious reason for the episcopal behests, in con-
sequence of which the poor Oekonomos has so frequently
to separate himself from the partner of his bed.
One of the Greeks, who remained for some time
seated in the apartment, told me that there are very
considerable remains of antiquity in the island of Kar-
patho6. Two of the sites which he mentioned by name,
as rich in such monuments, were Palaedkastron and
3 The Papas must be married before he can be fully ordained.
4 The Papas or parish priest can only become a bishop if a widower.
6 She is tall and immoderately fat: the last point, as is well known, is
considered an indispensable requisite for the perfection of female beauty in
every part of Greece and Turkey. Hence the lover, when lie wishes to pay
his mistress the highest compliment, compares her walk with the waddle of a
goose. r Els t\)v Kdpirado.
CELIBACY OF BISHOPS AND MONKS.
[chap.
though, in a mere worldly view, sometimes little re-
moved from the condition of Paul and the Apostles,
the labour of whose hands ministered to their daily
necessities, yet enjoys the title of His Holiness, which,
at Rome, contents even the successor of St Peter. The
Patriarch at Constantinople must, of course, be of su-
perior sanctity to a common Bishop, and is therefore
addressed as His All-Holiness.
What the peculiar holiness of these mitred digni-
taries, under the sun of Greece, really is, may be easily
conjectured when it is known that they are monks.
Although the Greek church not only allows, but, per-
haps wisely, compels all her working clergy to marry3,
still her Bishops can be united to the spouse of Christ
alone; and are therefore chosen solely from the mem-
bers of the monastic order4.
Thus the Archbishop of Gortyna is, and must ever
remain, an unmarried man. His Oekondmos, however,
has a wife, who is generally considered, at Megalo-
Kastron, as a very beautiful woman5. This ecclesiastic,
whose house adjoins on " the Metropolis," has to spend
most of his time in visiting different parts of the Arch-
bishop's extensive diocese; while his wife, of course,
remains at home. The scandal of the city assigns a
very obvious reason for the episcopal behests, in con-
sequence of which the poor Oekonomos has so frequently
to separate himself from the partner of his bed.
One of the Greeks, who remained for some time
seated in the apartment, told me that there are very
considerable remains of antiquity in the island of Kar-
patho6. Two of the sites which he mentioned by name,
as rich in such monuments, were Palaedkastron and
3 The Papas must be married before he can be fully ordained.
4 The Papas or parish priest can only become a bishop if a widower.
6 She is tall and immoderately fat: the last point, as is well known, is
considered an indispensable requisite for the perfection of female beauty in
every part of Greece and Turkey. Hence the lover, when lie wishes to pay
his mistress the highest compliment, compares her walk with the waddle of a
goose. r Els t\)v Kdpirado.