The AHEPAN - March 2011 - (Page 5)

AHepA FAmily news AHEPA Condemns Cancellation of Christmas Services in Occupied Cyprus AHEPA has called on the United States to condemn the cancellation of Christmas Day services at Orthodox churches by authorities of the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime in occupied Cyprus, announced Supreme President Nicholas A. Karacostas. AHEPA condemned the egregious violation of religious freedom in a December 28, 2010 letter sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and called on the United States to do the same. Karacostas wrote: “Secretary Clinton, because the promotion of human rights is important to the national interest of the United States, we call on the United States to condemn the blatant violation of fundamental human rights and religious freedom that occurred in occupied Cyprus on Christmas Day.” According to one news report, church services were cancelled at St. Sinesios and at the Church of the Holy Trinity by the occupation regime in northern Cyprus. In addition, the priest, Father Zacharias, with whom AHEPA has met on several occasions, was urged to remove his vestments. “These are intolerable acts committed by the occupation regime,” said Karacostas. “They must not occur again and we will remain vigilant.” State Department: Incident is Viewed with Concern The U.S. Department of State did respond to AHEPA’s letter to Secretary Clinton. Responding on her behalf, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip H. Gordon confirmed that the incident is viewed with concern by the U.S. government in a letter dated January 24, 2011. He noted that he brought the issue up on his trip to Cyprus in January. “We appreciated that Assistant Secretary Gordon brought the issue to the attention of President Christofias and Mr. Eroglu during his visit to Cyprus in January,” said Karacostas. “We also welcome that the issue will be included in the next edition of the State Department Report on International Religious Freedom.” AHEPA Condemns Metropolitan of Piraeus’ Anti-Semitic Tirade Supreme President Nicholas A. Karacostas issued the following statement regarding His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim’s anti-Semitic diatribe during a December 2010 interview with MEGA TV that placed blame for Greece’s financial woes on world Jewry: “We strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Metropolitan Seraphim of the Metropolis of Piraeus, Greece. His statements are unacceptable, baseless, bigoted, and have no place in the public discourse. In addition, his remarks are irresponsible given the hierarchy of his position in the Church. “As was underscored at our October conference on Greek-Israeli relations, wonderful similarities and significant ties exist between both Greece and Israel, and the Greek Jewish community has had an invaluable presence in Greece for countless centuries. Metropolitan Seraphim’s objectionable statements are blatantly ignorant of this storied history. “We call on Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece to condemn the metropolitan’s statements and reprimand him accordingly.” According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), among the metropolitan’s claims made during the TV interview were that “Adolf Hitler was an instrument of world Zionism and was financed from the renowned Rothschild family with the sole purpose of convincing the Jews to leave the shores of Europe and go to Israel to establish the new Empire” and “Jews such as ‘Rockefeller, Rothschild and Soros control the international banking system that controls globalization.’” AHEPA’s statement was welcomed by several Jewish American organizations. www.ahepa.org March 2011 the ahepan 5 http://www.ahepa.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The AHEPAN - March 2011

The AHEPAN - March 2011
Contents
Supreme President’s Message
AHEPA Family News
The Periclean
Meet Us in Miami!
2011 AHEPA Convention Registration Form
Housing
AHEPA Family Chapter News

The AHEPAN - March 2011