FATHER LEFTERIS AND THE BABES SPIRITUAL

 

The Readings for today are as follows: "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God."

 

"Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass."   Deutoronomy.

 

"Λευτέρη Λευτέρη Λευτέρη

μην κοροϊδεύεις κι έχω γίνει πια ξεφτέρι

σταμάτα πια μην κάνεις το λιοντάρι

σταμάτα πια σε πήραμε χαμπάρι.."   Nikos Gatsos.

 

 

The first time I met Father Lefteris of Panagia Kamariani, Red Hill, was in the offices of the Greek Archdiocese. I was discussing a matter with the then secretary of the bishop when I discerned a long black walking stick topped by a silver handle slowly emerge through the crack in the door and wind its way under the secretary's arm. A tugging motion ensued, upon which, the secretary fell out of his chair, towards the door and into the arms of the waiting Father Lefteris who could hardly breathe from the laughter. It was just after Easter and he exclaimed as he helped the secretary to his feet: "Rejoice, for Mr Secretary has risen!"

The second time was on his home territory, the church of Panagia Kamariani, with its commanding views of the countryside, an archetypical "panigyri" church where every year, thousands of members of our community flock for sundry picnics or festivals, thus continuing or rather, reconstructing, the rural orthodox religious festivals of Greece. Father Lefteris was conducting the wedding service of my koumbaroi and he looked at me quizzically as I re-placed the couple's wedding rings on the wrong fingers. Then, overhearing one of the groomsmen comment about my apparent inability to understand which appendage goes in which hole, he suppressed a smile, only to return to the theme with his own tasteful variation while I was witnessing the signing of the marriage certificate, at the conclusion of the service.

Undoubtedly, Father Lefteris is a colourful, larger than life figure and a stalwart of our community. One takes him as he is, in all of his multifarious facets. While some may find his ebullience in poor taste, his sermons somewhat controversial or hyperbolic, others focus on the way his affability strikes a chord among the youth, how his approachability has ensured his ability to assist troubled youth or families facing various crises. For my own part, I merely point the reader in the direction of the playground equipment he has installed upon the church's grounds. Where other parishes, possessed of the requisite space have chosen to concrete over it in order to produce arid, lifeless car parks, Father Lefteris has created a space in which all generations can enjoy themselves and relate to each other around the church, for after all, there is not much in the way of difference in meaning between the words communion and community.

Given the outsize nature of his character, its comes as no surprise that a photograph recently published by Neos Kosmos, of Father Lefteris in the company of some young girls enjoying the festivities at the Theophaneia in Rye, has caused controversy. In particular, while the photograph has been well received the vast majority of readers, who view it as evidencing Father Lefteris' propensity to attract youth to such events and to be able to relate to them in a meaningful fashion, it has also caused outrage in certain circles, who castigate him for diminishing the respectability of his priesthood, for choosing to be photographed with young girls whose midriff is exposed.

Such criticisms reek of sexism. After all, on the feast of Theophany, priests are expected to consort with topless, muscular young Greek males, who emerge from their quest to recover the cross dripping wet, their swimming costumes clinging tightly around their bodies and yet this never incites comment. Let a bunch of girls who clearly are wearing their swimming costumes underneath their clothes and are thus able to indulge in the most Greek-Australian pastime of attending the religious festival and then going for a swim, take a photo with a priest who they clearly feel comfortable with and not at all harassed and alternate cries of "sacrilege," or "sleaze" ensue.

The cry of sleaze is not unexpected. It derives from a traditionally deep-rooted anti-clericalism within the egalitarian attitude of the Greek people, deriving from an ancient past when practitioners of the divine were ordinary people of good reputation called upon to perform ceremonies for the community. Within this tradition, priests are not immune from criticism, benign or malign, nor from mockery and satire. This is what to use a Lopezian term, keeps them "real" and close to the people and within this context, the inevitable comments such as "why can't we see Father's other hand?" or the usual threadbare whines about priests being leeches who live off the people, being primarily interested in material rather than spiritual gains though cringeworthy, are acceptable and harmless, in the best of the "Papasouzas" legacy.

What is not acceptable however, is the view propounded by various outraged

protectors of public morality, than in being so photographed, Father Lefteris has compromised the sanctity of his priesthood. Such people ought to be reminded that in the home countries where "pure" Orthodoxy was supposedly practiced, priests were always expected to the first to lead the dance at festivities and were ubiquitous in all aspects of communal life, though it is to be conceded, the public exposure of female midriffs had not yet been invented, except among the Christians of southern India, who at any rate espouse the Nestorian and Monophysite heresies and whose sordid example therefore must not blight our god-fearing populace longer than is necessary.

Pillorying a priest for deigning to afford his attentions to all of his flock is therefore ridiculous, revealing as it does, an antiquated, arcane, elitist and thoroughly misanthropic, inquisitorial approach to Orthodoxy, which is totally alien to it. Instead, Orthodoxy, (especially when not practiced by the controversial Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus) rather than being extraneous to everyday existence is intimately relevant to it, having as its key concern, humanity. In being close to the people, regardless as to how well constructed their midriffs are, Father Lefteris is merely conscientiously performing his appointed calling and should only be castigated if he should ever deign to refuse to be photographed with faithful such as my own insufficiency, whose midriffs are distended and as appalling as that of the pharaoh Akhenaten's.

Holidays are a time for celebration, feasting and slow news. It is unsurprising therefore that an inoffensive photograph should have inspired so much comment. In choosing to publish that photograph, and making mention of the controversy it inspired, Neos Kosmos is engaging in exemplary community journalism: holding up a looking-glass to our community and inviting us to look upon our true selves without filter or distortion. If there is any comfort to be gained from distinguishing the innate pharisaism within us, it lies in the vast number of comments by members of the community commending Father Lefteris for his pastoral work and recounting a plethora of anecdotes in which he has gone above and beyond the call of duty in administering to his parishioners. After all, as the good cleric knows, there is plenty of lip-balm in Gilead, at sun (of righteousness) protection factor 50, at that. Here endeth the lesson.

 

DEAN KALIMNIOU

 kalymnios@hotmail.com

First published in NKEE on Saturday 16 January 2016