"How stupid can those who govern us be? They've ruined this country. It pains me to say it but unfortunately that's the truth. We are importing most of our products from other countries, while the local produce remains unsold. Even in Loutro of Sfakia, a very small village only accessible by boat, imports its honey from Argentina".

Property is an offense

Father Georgis Chiotakis from Nomikiana village of Sfakia, does not understand how the capitalist system imposes itself in remote villages of the Libyan Sea. He is a communist and is against the concept of property. "Property and theft is the same thing to me. Man can be the land's guardian but not its owner. Greece has been politically and economically corrupted by international politics and interests. I'm afraid of those who wear ties and I detest them. Those same people created the lotteries and the stock market. Those who enslave society have university diplomas and use them to manipulate the people. For all I care they can put their diplomas down their toilets".

Father Georgis fears the politicians more than he fears businessmen because they corrupt people by accepting bribes."They see people as a senseless mass that can be manipulated. I could never face the politician I voted for and like a beggar and ask him to do me favours. Voting for favours is like signing a paper saying that I'm an uneducated coward".

The church is not perfect

Priest Georgis thinks that the Greek Church bears serious responsibility for the current situation in our country: "There's nothing wrong with Orthodoxy, but there is something wrong with its followers. Institutional church and state are two tricksters, fighting each other. They are idiots who should cooperate to save the country but end up messing everything up. I like to think of them like a theologian and a farmer, who are different but in one single point: the theologian has no idea what land is and agriculturists haven’t a clue about God. What I say is totally Christian and I won't take it back ".

The island of Crete and especially the region of Sfakia, is a place where people are weary of authority. They keep the state at a distance and never ask for favours. They have unwritten laws about dignity, something that the state does not always respect. The people of Sfakia often put up a fight for the right to this dignity, no matter the consequences.

Father Georgis is such a proud fighter and he defines himself as the last of the Mohicans. "I am a Taliban of the church, who isn't afraid to die. People who fear death are unable to do a good deed and those who only fight to win are stupid. Once I fought, I'm already a winner".

This special and rare priest is cautious and looks into the future with courage, a rare feature of genuine Christians. "Looking ahead and not repenting. When you go fishing and see a ship anchoring, think that it may have been informed of bad weather to come. Anchoring is a bad sign. Very few people look ahead, unfortunately, that's the way people live ".

 
Pro gun control

Priest Georgis is strongly against the use of weapons in Crete as it has been the cause of many wrongful deaths. "During the last 70 years, 30 murders have taken place in the village because of weapons. I talked about it in a magazine, but they changed my name so no one could hurt me. I'm not afraid to speak my mind, though. Showing off the fact that you are carrying a weapon is wrong and I daresay a kind of cowardice. Knowing to handle a gun is different; it's a national duty".

At this point father Gregoris left the room and then returned with an old English rifle. He was holding it proudly as a sign of bravery and refusal to compromise with the establishment. He is no different from his forefathers who extinguished Hitler's elite paratroopers in 1941 at the battle of Crete; the only difference is that they did it with wonky arms and rusty agricultural tools. The village was also a centre of resistance against the Germans and he was a member of EPON (United Panhellenic Organization of Youth).

An Ascetic man

When priest Georgis was still an adolescent he went to a craftsmen's school in Larissa, but he was not accepted there because his father was a communist. When he joined the army, people kept trying to make him openly declare that he is a communist so he could be exiled to Makronisos. "They also wanted to send me to fight in Korea. I asked them why should I go and fight in such a distant place? Because the borders of Greece don’t stop here, they answered. Nonsense".

Priest Georgis retired at the age of 79 and has 12 children, 11 of whom are alive. He is an original Cretan, as stable and pure as the island's waters. He is a rare kind of priest, an ascetic man.

As I was about to leave he told me to bend my head, he used his stole to cover my head and chanted a prayer. It was getting dark, the wind was blowing and the full moon could be seen in the background above the Libyan Sea. It is a wonderful place, I wish I could stay here forever.
TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS

SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

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