Women should enter the priesthood – Mount Athos: The statement by Anna Karamano that sparked reactions.

The late hour – and the lack of space – did not allow us to Report on the presentation of the new book by Pyrgos native, former MEP, Anna Karamano. ,which was published in yesterday’s issue of *Patris*, we must also mention a noteworthy event…

More specifically, just before finishing her speech at the Conference Center of the Regional Unit of Ilia in Pyrgos, there was a point of “friction” between Ms. Karamano and the Very Reverend Elias Papangelis. This “point of friction” concerned her views on the priesthood for women and the abolition (for women) of the ban on Mount Athos …

More specifically, Ms. Karamano stated, “I read the entire Quran and also read the parts of the Bible that concern women. I refer in detail to the Quran, to the sections and verses that encourage men to be violent toward women… There is also an issue with the Greek Orthodox Church. According to the Bible, which I don’t think anyone reads, it is explicitly stated that women are considered a lower creation by a lesser god. It explicitly mentions the inferiority of women… I believe the Church should participate in a dialogue to truly make Christian teachings a reality because Christ did not discriminate based on gender… There needs to be a dialogue so that both men and women are considered children of the same God and treated equally. And because I have provoked in the past, in politics we are here to provoke change, I would like to raise a second issue that was also raised with Archbishop Christodoulos, the issue of women’s priesthood. I believe it would be a great renewal for the Church if women were allowed to serve in the Church, as has happened in other Christian denominations, like the Protestant Church. This does not mean we are declaring war on the Church, but rather, we want to open a dialogue about these matters. I believe it is also a matter of democracy, for the Church to function more democratically and harmoniously in terms of the relationship between the sexes.”

These remarks provoked the “reaction” of Venerable Hlias Papagelis,representative of the Holy Metropolis of Ilia at the event, who asked to speak, saying… “I would like to ask Mrs. Karamanu, who is not very familiar with theological matters… first, where does it say in the Bible that women are inferior beings? Because the Apostle Paul mentions that there is no difference. Also, God took from the side of the woman, not from the head nor from the feet. And regarding Mount Athos, our Church has already responded that it is the garden of the Virgin Mary. Are we coming back to the same issues again? Who elevated the woman to the throne of the Virgin Mary?”…

A statement was also made by the attending Member of Parliament, Kostas Tzavaras, acting “firefighting,” although in the end, neither Mrs. Karamanu nor the church representative agreed …