"With intense feelings of emotion and awe, we climbed the hill of Elpida, coming to the Holy Theological School of Halki, full of historical memories and spiritual aura, this spiritual center of the Orthodox World. Personally, my emotion is double because I remember the first time that as a postgraduate student I visited the School thirty years ago, when the abbot and head of the school was a humble hierarch, a venerable figure, a truly modern saint, the blessed Metropolitan Germanos of Theodoroupolis."

With the above words, the Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy (IAO), member of the Hellenic Parliament, Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, addressed the Abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity of Chalki, Bishop of Aravissos, Mr. Kassianos, during the warm welcome of the IOA delegation at the Theological School of Chalki in Principonnisa.

The Greek parliamentary delegation of the ISO, which is in Constantinople for the enthronement of the Apostle Andrew and the 30th anniversary of the patriarchate of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, visited the School of Halki on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the suspension of its operation.

"Womb" of spiritual people

Maximos Harakopoulos noted that "the Theological School is not only an inexhaustible source of knowledge on issues related to theological science, but also contributed and continues to contribute to the general consolidation of letters. Chalki was a 'spiritual womb' that gave birth to about 1,000 intellectuals and great hierarchs during its operation, for over a century. Personalities who assumed leading positions in the Orthodox Church graduated from this School. Hundreds of archpriests, 12 Ecumenical Patriarchs - including the current Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew - as well as primates in presbyter Patriarchates and Autocephalous Churches received their formal education at the School of Chalki. However, it was also the place that inspired personalities of the spirit and intellect, such as the great writer Georgios Vizyenos, who studied here in 1873 and gave literature an ethnographic style imbued with the ideals contained in the Greek-Christian tradition."

The spirit of openness

The head of the DSO emphasized that "Halki instilled in its students the spirit of open horizons, the ecumenical view of things, which I believe had a catalytic effect on shaping the climate for the lifting of the anathemas of the Schism and the dialogue with the Catholic Church, but also with other religions and doctrines. We need this spirit of openness, the spirit of Halki, more than ever today, when ecclesiastical nationalisms are re-emerging.

Unfortunately, this nursery of enlightened people who transmitted the ecumenical spirit of Orthodoxy, unjustifiably ceased to function fifty years ago. And, despite international admonitions to reopen the School, as an act of justice and reason, there has been no corresponding response.”

Halki to reopen its gates

Maximos Harakopoulos concluded by saying that "as Secretary General of the ISA and interpreting the feelings of the colleagues of the Greek delegation, I want you to know that we will make every possible effort within the framework of our Organization for international information and awareness of the issue of Halki. I wish and hope, with God's help, that the obstacles will be removed and that the School will soon open its gates again to fulfill its invaluable educational and spiritual role. May the desired be realized during the days of the current Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who worked more than anyone else to remove this injustice."

The DSO delegation visited the facilities of the Theological School, and was given a tour of its emblematic library, where old manuscripts are kept, with the oldest, as stated, dating from 1496.

The DSO delegation, in addition to Mr. Harakopoulos, includes MPs Athanasios Davakis, Stavros Keletsis, Andreas Michaelides and Ioannis Sarakiotis, as well as the Organization's advisor Dr. Costas Mygdalis.

Source: APE-MPA