Sitting of 17-01-2024 - Situation in Hungary and frozen EU funds (joint debate – European Council meetings)
Parliament condemns the deliberate, continuous and systematic efforts of the Hungarian government to undermine the EU’s founding values.
In a resolution adopted on Thursday with 345 votes for, 104 against and 29 abstentions, MEPs express strong concern about the further erosion of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary, in particular through the recently adopted so-called ‘national sovereignty protection’ package – which has been compared with Russia’s infamous ‘foreign agents law’.
Violations of the EU Treaties
Regretting the Council’s failure to apply the Article 7 (1) procedure (following Parliament’s activation of the mechanism in 2018), Parliament calls on the European Council to determine whether Hungary has committed “serious and persistent breaches of EU values” under the more direct procedure of Article 7(2). MEPs also condemn the actions of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who last December blocked the essential decision to revise the EU’s long-term budget, including the Ukraine aid package, “in full disrespect and violation of the EU’s strategic interests and in violation of the principle of sincere cooperation”. The EU must not give in to blackmail, they highlight.
Protecting EU funds
Parliament regrets the Commission’s decision to release up to €10.2 billion of previously frozen funds, despite Hungary not fulfilling the demanded reforms for judicial independence and the Commission recently prolonging the application of Conditionality Regulation measures.
Further, MEPs condemn the reported systemic discriminatory practices against academia, journalists, political parties and civil society when allocating funds. They regret the use of manipulated public procurement procedures, takeover bids by the government and entities with ties to the Prime Minister, and the use of EU funds to enrich the government’s political allies.
The measures required to release EU funding under different rules must be treated as a single package, and no payments should be made if deficiencies persist in any area. Parliament will look into whether legal action should be pursued to overturn the decision to partially unfreeze funds, and notes that it can use an array of legal and political measures if the Commission is in breach of its duties as the guardian of the Treaties and to protect the EU’s financial interests.
The upcoming Hungarian Presidency of the Council
In light of these issues, Parliament questions if the Hungarian Government will be able to fulfil its duties in the second half of 2024, warning that, if the position of President of the European Council is vacant, those duties would fall to the Hungarian Prime Minister during the country’s six-month Presidency of the Council. MEPs ask the Council to find proper solutions to mitigate these risks, and call for reforms to the Council’s decision-making process, to end the abuse of the right of veto and blackmail.
MEPs looked into the state of citizens’ rights in the EU in 2022 and 2023, identifying an array of concerns about fin fundamental rights in all member states.
The report on the state of fundamental rights in the EU was approved with 391 votes in favour, 130 against, and 20 abstentions.
MEPs call for justice for the killing of journalists and welcome the agreement on the media freedom act. They reiterate their concern over the use of spyware, highlighting the need to regulate the industry strictly and calling on EU countries, in particular Greece, Hungary, Poland, Spain, and Cyprus, to follow Parliament’s recommendations on this front.
Backsliding on women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights
The text recalls that gender-based violence is highly prevalent in all EU countries and strongly condemns the rapid backsliding on women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights in several member states, including the denial of access to safe and legal abortion in Poland.
In the case of Hungary, Parliament calls on the European Council to determine whether Hungary has committed serious and persistent breaches of EU values under Article 7(2) TEU, and strongly deplores the systematic scapegoating of the LGBTQI+ community by the authorities. Parliament once again calls for the negotiations on a directive to combat violence against women and domestic violence to be concluded swiftly and for gender-based violence to be included in the list of EU crimes.
Increasing level of corruption
Parliament expresses deep concern over the increasing level of corruption in several EU countries and reiterates its condemnation of alleged incidents involving high-level officials and politicians, including current and former MEPs. The EU anti-corruption framework and the Whistleblower Protection Directive must be fully implemented in the member states, and an independent ethics body is needed at EU level, MEPs point out. Parliament also speaks against government attempts to influence judicial independence and calls for effective checks and balances.
Other areas of concern include:
threats to freedoms of association, speech and assembly, including police violence and mass arrests;
disinformation and the need to ensure artistic freedom;
the risk of biases built into new technologies, including AI;
social, economic, and environmental rights (e.g. poverty and social exclusion, digital poverty); and
improving institutional safeguards (including establishing the Fundamental Rights Agency as an independent human rights authority).
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Rapporteur Katarina Barley (S&D, Germany) commented: “Fundamental rights violations are widespread in EU member states. Times of crises are like a litmus test in this regard, as the respect for fundamental rights cannot depend on favourable economic and societal conditions. They are not optional; they are the essence of our societies and a core founding value of the EU.”
Human rights breaches continue in these countries, with persecution in China, the threat of famine in Sudan and repression of the media in Tajikistan
On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted three resolutions on human rights issues in China, Sudan and Tajikistan.
The ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in China, notably the case of Mr Ding Yuande
MEPs demand the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Ding Yuande and all Falun Gong practitioners in China. They strongly condemn the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and other minorities, including Uyghurs and Tibetans by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). They call for the PRC to end its domestic and transnational surveillance, control and suppression of religious freedom.
MEPs call on the EU and member states to support and facilitate an international investigation into the persecution of Falun Gong, and to raise the persecution of religious minorities with the Chinese authorities. Member states should suspend extradition treaties with the PRC, MEPs add, and use national sanctions regimes and the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EUGHRSR) against all perpetrators, as well as entities that have contributed to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and abroad.
MEPs also want EU measures to include visa refusals, the freezing of assets, expulsion from EU territories, criminal prosecution, including on the basis of extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the initiation of international criminal charges against the perpetrators.
The text was adopted by a show of hands. The full resolution will be available here (18.01.2024).
The threat of famine following the spread of conflict in Sudan
MEPs strongly condemn the continuing violence between rival armed factions in Sudan, alongside human rights violations and food insecurity. They call on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities and facilitate safe and timely humanitarian access for civilians suffering shortages of food, water and fuel and very high prices for essential items .
They want the UN Security Council to sanction violations of the UN arms embargo on Darfur, and to expand the embargo to the whole of the country.
The EU and member states should increase emergency funding for the humanitarian response, MEPs add, underlining the need for specific support for survivors of sexual violence, and make use of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EUGHRSR) mechanism against those responsible for human rights violations.
The text was adopted by a show of hands. The full resolution will be available here (18.01.2024).
Tajikistan: state repression against the independent media
MEPS strongly condemn the ongoing crackdown against independent media, government critics, human rights activists and independent lawyers, and the closure of independent media and websites in Tajikistan.
They urge the authorities to stop persecuting lawyers defending government critics and journalists, immediately and unconditionally release those arbitrarily detained and drop all charges against them, including human rights lawyers Manuchehr Kholiknazarov and Buzurgmehr Yorov.
Parliament urges the Tajik Government to ensure that detainees have access to adequate health care and calls for a thorough investigation into allegations of mistreatment in custody, and the bringing to justice of those responsible. MEPs insist that the respect for freedom of expression in Tajikistan should be taken into account when assessing the application of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) and for the negotiations of a new EU-Tajikistan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. They call on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to increase support for civil society, human rights defenders and independent media workers in Tajikistan, including funding.
The text was adopted 481 votes in favour, 25 against with 26 abstentions. The full resolution will be available here (18.01.2024).
Thus he (Antonius) spent about twenty years, exercising himself. And after this, when many had a burning desire and wanted to rival his life, and when some of his acquaintances came and forced his door, then Antony came out as from some sanctuary, initiated into the mysteries of the teaching and divinely inspired. And then for the first time he showed himself from his fortified place to those who came to him.
And when they saw him, they marveled that his body was in the same state, that it had neither been fattened by immobility, nor weakened by fasting and fighting with devils. He was as they knew him before his hermitage.
* * *
And many of those present who suffered from bodily diseases, the Lord healed through him. And others he cleansed of evil spirits and gave Antony the gift of speech. And so he comforted many who were grieving, and others, who were hostile, he turned into friends, repeating to all that they should not prefer anything in the world to the love of Christ.
By speaking to them and advising them to remember the future good things and the humanity shown to us by God, who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him for all of us, he persuaded many to accept the monastic life. And so, monasteries gradually appeared in the mountains, and the desert was populated with monks who left their personal lives and signed up to live in heaven.
* * *
One day, when all the monks came to him and wanted to hear a word from him, he said to them in the Coptic language the following: “The Holy Scriptures are sufficient to teach us everything. But it is good for us to encourage each other in the faith and strengthen ourselves with the word. You, like children, come and tell me like a father what you know. And I, being older than you, will share with you what I know and have gained from experience.”
* * *
“Above all, the first care of all of you should be: when you begin, not to relax and not to be discouraged in your labors. And do not say: “We have grown old in asceticism.” But rather every day increase your zeal more and more, as if you were starting for the first time. For all human life is very short compared with the ages to come. So our whole life is nothing compared to eternal life.”
“And every thing in the world is sold for what it is worth, and everyone exchanges like for like. But the promise of eternal life is bought for a small thing. Because the sufferings of this time are not equal to the glory that will be revealed to us in the future”.
* * *
“It is good to think of the words of the apostle who said: ‘I die every day.’ Because if we also live as if we die every day, then we will not sin. These words mean: waking up each day, thinking that we will not live to see the evening. And again, when we get ready to sleep, let’s think that we won’t wake up. Because the nature of our life is unknown and it is guided by Providence”.
“When we have this attitude of mind and live like this every day, we will neither sin, nor have a desire for evil, nor be angry with anyone, nor store up treasures on earth. But if we expect to die every day, we will be propertyless and forgive everyone everything. And we will not at all retain impure pleasure, but will turn away from it when it passes us by, fighting always and keeping in mind the day of the terrible judgment.
“And so, starting and walking the path of the benefactor, let us try harder to reach what is ahead. And let no one turn back like Lot’s wife. For the Lord also said: “No one who has put his hand to the plow and turns back is fit for the kingdom of heaven.”
“Do not be afraid when you hear of virtue, and do not be astonished at the word. Because it is not far from us and is not created outside of us. The work is in us and it is easy to do if we only wish. The Hellenes leave their homeland and cross the seas to learn science. However, we do not need to leave our homeland for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, nor to cross the sea for the sake of the benefactor. Because the Lord told us from the beginning: “The kingdom of heaven is within you.” So virtue needs only our desire.’
* * *
And so, on those mountains there were monasteries in the form of tents, full of divine choirs, who sang, read, fasted, prayed with cheerful hearts with hope for the future and worked to give alms. They also had love and agreement among themselves. And indeed, it could be seen that this is a separate country of piety to God and justice to men.
For there were no unjust and wronged, no complaint from a publican, but a gathering of hermits and one thought for virtue for all. Therefore, when someone saw the monasteries again and this such a good order of monks, he exclaimed and said: “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your dwellings, Israel! Like shady valleys and like gardens around a river! And like aloe trees, which the Lord planted in the earth, and like cedars near the waters!” (Num. 24:5-6).
Chapter 4
After that on the Church attacked the persecution that took place during the reign of Maximinus (emp. Maximinus Daya, note ed.). And when the holy martyrs were brought to Alexandria, then Antony also followed them, leaving the monastery and saying: “Let us go and fight, because they are calling us, or let us see the fighters ourselves.” And he had a great desire to become a witness and a martyr at the same time. And not wanting to surrender, he served the confessors in the mines and in the prisons. Great was his zeal to encourage the so-called fighters in the court to readiness for sacrifice, to welcome the martyrs and accompany them until they died.
* * *
And the judge, seeing his fearlessness and that of his companions, as well as their zeal, ordered that none of the monks should appear in the court, nor stay in the city at all. Then his friends all decided to hide that day. But Antony was so little troubled by this that he even washed his garment, and the next day he stood foremost, showing himself to the governor in all his dignity. Everyone was amazed at this, and the governor, when he was passing by with his detachment of soldiers, also saw it. Antony stood still and fearless, displaying our Christian valor. Because he wanted to be a witness and a martyr himself, as we said above.
* * *
But because he could not become a martyr, he looked like a man who mourned for it. However, God preserved him for the benefit of us and others, so that in the asceticism he had learned himself from the scriptures, he could become a teacher of many. Because just by looking at his behavior, many tried to become imitators of his way of life. And when the persecution finally stopped and the blessed bishop Peter became a martyr (in 311 – note ed.), then he left the city and again retired to the monastery. There, as is well known, Antony indulged in a great and even more austere asceticism.
* * *
And so, having retired into seclusion, and making it his task to spend some time in such a way that he neither appeared before the people, nor received anyone, there came to him a general named Martinianus, who disturbed his peace. This warlord had a daughter who was tormented by evil spirits. And as he waited a long time at the door and begged Antony to come out to pray to God for his child, Antony did not allow the door to be opened, but peeped in from above and said: “Man, why do you give me such a headache with your cries? I am a person like you. But if you believe in Christ, whom I serve, go and pray, and as you believe, so shall it be.” And Martinian, believing immediately and turning to Christ for help, went away and his daughter was cleansed of the evil spirit.
And many other wonderful works were done through him by the Lord, who says: “Ask and it will be given to you!” (Mat. 7:7). So that without him opening the door, many of the sufferers, just by sitting before his abode, exercised faith, prayed earnestly, and were healed.
CHAPTER FIVE
But because he saw himself disturbed by many and was not left to live in hermitage, as he wanted according to his own understanding, and also because he was afraid that he might become proud of the works that the Lord was doing through him, or that someone else would think such a thing for him, he decided and set out to go to Upper Thebaid to the people who did not know him. And having taken bread from the brothers, he sat on the bank of the river Nile and watched whether a ship would pass by so that he could board and go with him.
While he was thinking in this way, a voice came to him from above: “Antonio, where are you going and why?”. And he, hearing the voice, was not embarrassed, because he was used to being called that way, and answered with the words: “Because the crowds do not leave me alone, therefore I want to go to Upper Thebaid because of the many headaches that I have caused by the people here, and especially because they ask me for things that are beyond my powers.” And the voice said to him: “If you want to have real peace, go now deeper into the desert.”
And when Antony asked: “But who will show me the way, because I do not know him?”, the voice immediately directed him to some Arabs (the Copts, descendants of the ancient Egyptians, distinguish themselves from the Arabs both by their history and by their culture, note ed.), who were just preparing to travel this way. Going and approaching them, Antony asked them to go with them into the desert. And they, as if by order of providence, accepted him favorably. He traveled with them for three days and three nights until he came to a very high mountain. Clear water, sweet and very cold, sprang up under the mountain. And outside there was a flat field with a few date palms that bore fruit without human care.
* * *
Anthony, brought by God, loved the place. Because this was the same place that the One who spoke to him by the banks of the river had shown him. And at first, having received bread from his companions, he remained in the mountain alone, without anyone with him. Because he finally reached the place he recognized as his own home. And the Arabs themselves, having seen Antony’s zeal, then purposely passed that way and brought him bread with joy. But he also had a meager but cheap food from the date palms. Accordingly, when the brothers learned of the place, they, like children who remember their father, took care to send him food.
However, when Antony realized that some people there were struggling and toiling for this bread, he felt sorry for the monks, thought to himself and asked some of those who came to him to bring him a hoe and an ax and some wheat. And when all this was brought to him, he went around the land around the mountain, found a very small place suitable for the purpose and began to cultivate it. And because he had enough water for irrigation, he sowed the wheat. And this he did every year, getting his living from it. He was glad that in this way he would not bore anyone and that in everything he was careful not to burden others. After that, however, seeing that some people were still coming to him, he also planted some sedge, so that the visitor could have a little relief in his efforts from the difficult journey.
* * *
But in the beginning, the animals from the desert, who came to drink water, often damaged his cultivated and sown crops. Antony meekly caught one of the beasts and said to them all: “Why do you harm me when I do not harm you? Go away and in the name of God do not come near these places!”. And from that time on, as if frightened by the order, they no longer approached the place.
Thus he lived alone in the interior of the mountain, devoting his free time to prayer and spiritual exercise. And the brothers who served him asked him: coming every month, to bring him olives, lentils and wood oil. Because he was already an old man.
* * *
Once asked by the monks to come down to them and visit them for a while, he traveled with the monks who came to meet him, and they loaded bread and water on a camel. But this desert was entirely waterless, and there was no water to drink at all, except only in that mountain where his abode was. And because there was no water on their way, and it was very hot, they all risked exposing themselves to danger. Therefore, after going around many places and not finding water, they could not go any further and lay down on the ground. And they let the camel go, despairing of themselves.
* * *
However, the old man, seeing everyone in danger, was deeply grieved and in his grief withdrew a little from them. There he knelt, folded his hands and began to pray. And immediately the Lord caused water to gush out where he had stood to pray. So, after drinking, they all revived. And having filled their pitchers, they looked for the camel and found it. It happened that the rope wound around a stone and got stuck in that place. Then they took her and watered her, put the pitchers on her, and went the rest of the way unharmed.
* * *
And when he reached the outer monasteries, they all looked at him and greeted him as a father. And he, as if he had brought some provisions from the forest, greeted them with warm words, as guests are greeted, and repaid them with help. And again there was joy on the mountain and competition for progress and encouragement in the common faith. Moreover, he also rejoiced, seeing, on the one hand, the zeal of the monks, and on the other, his sister, who was old in virginity and was also the leader of other virgins.
After a few days he went to the mountains again. And then many came to him. Even some who were sick dared to climb. And to all the monks who came to him, he constantly gave this advice: To believe in the Lord and to love Him, to beware of impure thoughts and carnal pleasures, to avoid idle talk and to pray incessantly.
CHAPTER SIX
And in his faith he was diligent and completely worthy of admiration. For he never communicated either with the schismatics, followers of Meletius, because he knew from the first their malice and their apostasy, nor did he speak in a friendly manner with the Manichaeans or with other heretics, except so far as to instruct them, thinking and declaring that friendship and communication with them is harm and destruction for the soul. So also he abhorred the heresy of the Arians, and commanded all not to approach them, nor to accept their false teaching. And when once some of the insane Arians came to him, he, having tested them and found that they were wicked people, drove them out of the mountain, saying that their words and thoughts were worse than serpent’s poison.
* * *
And when at one time the Arians declared falsely that he thought alike with them, then he was indignant and very angry. Then he came down from the mountain, because he was called by the bishops and all the brothers. And when he entered Alexandria, he condemned the Arians in front of everyone, saying that this was the last heresy and the forerunner of the Antichrist. And he taught the people that the Son of God is not a creation, but that he is Word and Wisdom and is of the essence of the Father.
And all rejoiced to hear such a man curse the heresy against Christ. And the people of the city flocked together to see Antony. The heathen Greeks, and their so-called priests themselves, came to the church saying: “We want to see the man of God.” Because everyone told him so. And because there too the Lord cleansed many from evil spirits through him and healed those who were insane. And many, even pagans, only wanted to touch the old man, because they believed they would benefit from it. And indeed in those few days as many people became Christians as he had hardly seen anyone become in a whole year.
* * *
And when he started to return and we accompanied him, after we reached the city gate, a woman called out behind us: “Wait, man of God! My daughter is terribly tormented by evil spirits. Wait, I’m begging you, so that I don’t get hurt when I run.” Hearing this, and begged by us, the old man agreed and stopped. And when the woman approached, the girl threw herself on the ground, and after Antony prayed and mentioned the name of Christ, the girl woke up healed, because the unclean spirit had left her. Then the mother blessed God and everyone gave thanks. And he rejoiced, going to the mountain as if to his own home.
Note: This life was written by St. Athanasius the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria, one year after the death of Rev. Anthony the Great († January 17, 356), i.e. in 357 at the request of Western monks from Gaul (d. France) and Italy, where the archbishop was in exile. It is the most accurate primary source for the life, exploits, virtues and creations of St. Anthony the Great and played an extremely important role in the establishment and flourishing of monastic life both in the East and in the West. For example, Augustine in his Confessions speaks of the strong influence of this life on his conversion and improvement in faith and piety.
The European Parliament has taken a decisive step towards bolstering the European Labour Authority (ELA) by adopting a Motion for Resolution that calls for the strengthening of the Authority’s mandate. This move underscores the commitment of the European Union to safeguard worker rights and ensure fair competition within its single market.
Strengthening the ELA: A Mandate for Worker Protection
In a recent plenary session, the European Parliament, led by voices such as Dennis Radtke, MEP and coordinator of the EPP Group in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), emphasized the need to equip the ELA with “teeth” to enforce worker protection across the EU. The ELA, established in 2019, has been instrumental in upholding EU regulations on worker postings and facilitating cross-border cooperation among member states.
Enhancing the ELA’s Powers and Competences
The Motion for Resolution advocates for the expansion of the ELA’s powers, granting it its own right of initiative and extending its mandate to include third-country nationals. This initiative, co-drafted by Dennis Radtke and Agnes Jongerius (Netherlands, S&D), aims to protect workers from exploitation and ensure adherence to fundamental employment regulations.
Addressing the Plight of Workers in Gräfenhausen
Incidents like those in Gräfenhausen, where workers’ rights were severely compromised, are a stark reminder of the necessity for robust enforcement mechanisms. Radtke’s call to action is a response to such violations, ensuring that such conditions are not repeated within the EU.
Advocating for Cross-Border Worker Protection
Radtke has also highlighted the importance of cross-border worker protection as a means to maintain fair competition and uphold the integrity of the internal market. The ELA’s role in supporting member states with cross-border controls, analyses, and risk assessments is crucial in this regard.
Dispute Resolution and Labour Mobility
As part of its mandate, the ELA also plays a pivotal role in resolving disputes between EU countries and assessing risks associated with cross-border labour mobility. The strengthening of the ELA will further enhance its capacity to perform these critical functions effectively.
Conclusion
The European Parliament’s strong endorsement of the Motion for Resolution to empower the European Labour Authority is a testament to the EU’s dedication to worker welfare. By enhancing the ELA’s capabilities, the EU seeks to foster an environment where worker rights are respected, and exploitation is a phenomenon of the past.
The adoption of this resolution is a call to action for all EU member states to unite in the fight against labour violations and to work collaboratively towards a fair and equitable market for all workers within the European Union.
This article integrates key information from the provided text and includes SEO-friendly keywords to enhance online visibility and encourage user engagement. It aims to inform readers about the significant steps taken by the European Parliament to strengthen worker protection across the EU.
High Angle View Of Red Wine Spilled From Glass On Carpet
For the first time in more than a decade, in 2022, the number of registered alcoholics increased in Russia, according to data published in Rosstat’s 2023 Health Compendium.
Even the official statistics report an increase: in the period from 2010 to 2021, the number of newly diagnosed cases of alcohol dependence and alcohol psychosis decreased almost three times – from 153.9 thousand to 53.3 thousand.
However, after a decrease in the rate in 2021, in 2022 there were 54.2 thousand patients with newly discovered alcohol dependence under dispensary observation. Among them, 12.9 thousand people suffered from alcoholic psychosis. Since 2010, their number has decreased almost four times – from 47 thousand patients to 12.8 thousand in 2021.
At the end of 2022, the Ministry of Health reported that during the year the number of Russians with alcohol dependence syndrome in rural areas increased by 7%, the mortality rate among rural residents due to alcohol use also increased.
As “Kommersant” notes, the Ministry of Health attributes the increase in these cases to the coronavirus pandemic. The department believes that the reason is the “stress from the pandemic”, as well as the fact that inflation is outpacing the increase in excise taxes on alcohol.
Also at the end of 2023, however, the government approved a strategy to reduce alcohol consumption by 2030, which plans an ambitious reduction in indicators – from 8.9 liters of hard alcohol by 2023 to 7.8 liters by 2030. However, the ministry does not provide the statistics for 2023 – the first completely military year in Russia, admitting, however, that in the last two years – 2022 and 2023, the trend was reversed and went up.
“Kommersant” explicitly notes that in 2022, with the beginning of the so-called “special military operation” there was an extremely sharp jump in anxiety among the population of Russia, reaching a record 70%, marking the levels of the 90s of the last century.
Bills for changes in marriage law are being discussed in Greece. They are related to the institutionalization of marriage between homosexual partners, as well as changes in the law on the adoption of children and surrogacy. One of the proposals will soon be considered in the Greek parliament, according to which homosexual couples can also use surrogate mothers to have children.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced that the government is determined to legalize same-sex unions as marriage, but is against changing the legislation on children. According to the government’s plans, “same-sex marriage will be institutionalized”, but the government will continue to deny same-sex couples and single men the right to surrogate parenthood. Also, same-sex couples will not be allowed to adopt children. He added that in Greece, since 1946, heterosexual families, as well as single women and single men, have the right to adopt children.
K. Mitsotakis said that he respects the opinion of the Church very much and that he knows that it protects love, but the state does not create the laws together with the Church, as was the case in the past. According to him, these couples exist, some of them have children, but they do not have legal status. The state must regulate these relations, which are already a fact in Greek society.
The Metropolitan of Larisa and Tirnovo Hieronymus noted that the plans for changes in the law on surrogacy are unfounded, it is not clear whether they are necessary, what their consequences will be, etc. “At the current stage,” he stated, “a surrogate mother can is only a woman who is related to the woman with reproductive problems. It can be carried out only on a voluntary basis, i.e. the surrogate mother does not receive money for it. And it is allowed only if there are medical and biological reasons that do not allow the mother to carry the child. It seems that in the future this will be bypassed, and we will have a paid pregnancy. Thus, a prerequisite for commercialization is created, which is unacceptable for the Church in Greece”. According to the metropolitan, the government is using a “trick”: it seemingly accepts the “lesser evil”, i.e. it legalizes same-sex marriages, but without the right to have children. However, according to the hierarch, this opens the door to future disputes and lawsuits, after which the legislative framework will change and same-sex “families” will be able to have children – adopted or from a surrogate mother.
A similar opinion was expressed these days by Metropolitan Ignatius of Dimitriades, who stated that Mitsotakis’ “explanations” on the bill on surrogacy did not satisfy the Church.
At the end of last year St. The Synod of the Greek Church issued a strong statement, expressing disagreement with the legalization of homosexual relationships as marriage, but especially with the changes affecting children. The synod stated that the civil union between homosexuals is not within the competence of the Church, but it will not recognize it as a sacramental marriage. However, the Church will oppose in all legal ways the possibility of these couples adopting children or using surrogate mothers in order to protect the rights of children.
Greece is one of the few countries in the European Union where surrogacy is allowed. Currently, only women who are relatives of the childless couple can become surrogate mothers, and there is no commercial nature, but “altruistic”. The law for this was passed in Greece in 2002, enabling heterosexual couples who cannot have children, as well as single mothers, to use a surrogate mother.
Surrogacy is prohibited in Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden and Hungary, as well as in Switzerland.
The most liberal legislation is in Thailand, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Georgia, Belarus, Mexico and South Africa, where surrogate mothers are allowed to offer their services online, through agencies or through any kind of advertising, and to be paid for the surrogacy.
Experts note that commercial surrogacy is increasing worldwide, with Ukraine, Georgia and Mexico standing out as the countries with the largest supply. Particularly vulnerable to exploitation are poor women, for whom it becomes the only possible source of income to raise their own children.
According to consulting firm Global Market Insights, the global commercial surrogacy industry is estimated to be worth $14 billion in 2022. By 2032, that number is expected to jump to $129 billion as reproductive issues in general deepen and become much more a large number of same-sex couples will look for ways to have a child.
Illustrative Photo by Julia Volk httpswww.pexels.comphotoburning-candles-at-praying-place-in-church-5273034
Antony was an Egyptian by birth, of noble and quite wealthy parents. And they themselves were Christians and he was brought up in a Christian way. And while he was a child, he was brought up by his parents, knowing nothing but them and their home.
* * *
When he grew up and became a youth, he could not bear to study worldly science, but wanted to be out of the company of boys, having every desire to live according to what is written of Jacob, simple in his own home.
* * *
Thus he appeared in the Lord’s temple together with his parents among the believers. And he was neither frivolous as a boy, nor became haughty as a man. But he also obeyed his parents, and indulged in reading books, retaining the benefit of them.
* * *
Nor did he pester his parents, like a boy in moderate material circumstances, for expensive and varied food, nor did he seek the pleasures of it, but was content only with what he got, and wanted nothing more.
* * *
After the death of his parents, he was left alone with his little sister. And he was then about eighteen or twenty years old. And he took care of his sister and the house alone.
* * *
But six months had not yet passed since the death of his parents, and, going as was his custom to the temple of the Lord, he reflected, walking concentrated in his thought, how the apostles had left everything and followed the Saviour; and how those believers, according to what is written in the Acts, selling their possessions, brought their value and laid it at the feet of the apostles to distribute to the needy; what and how great a hope there is for such in heaven.
* * *
Thinking this to himself, he entered the temple. And it happened then that the Gospel was being read, and he heard how the Lord said to the rich man: “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all that you have and give to the poor: and come, follow Me, and you will have a treasure of heaven’.
* * *
And as if he had received from God the memory and thought of the holy apostles and the first believers, and as if the Gospel had been read specifically for him – he immediately left the temple and gave to his fellow villagers the properties that he owned from his ancestors (he had three hundred acres arable land, very fine) so that they would not disturb him or his sister in anything. Then he sold all the remaining movable property that he had, and having collected a sufficient sum of money, he distributed it to the poor.
* * *
He kept a little of the property for his sister, but when they re-entered the temple and heard the Lord speaking in the Gospel: “Do not worry about tomorrow”, he could not bear it any longer – he went out and distributed this to the people of average situation. And entrusting his sister to familiar and faithful virgins,—giving her to be brought up in a house of virgins,—he himself henceforth gave himself up to an ascetic life outside his house, concentrating on himself and leading an austere life. However, at that time there were still no permanent monasteries in Egypt, and no hermit knew the distant desert. Anyone who wanted to deepen himself practiced alone not far from his village.
* * *
There was, then, in a nearby village an old man who had led a monastic life since his youth. When Antony saw him, he began to rival him in goodness. And from the beginning he too began to live in the places near the village. And when he heard there of one who lived a virtuous life, he went and sought him like a wise bee, and did not return to his place until he had seen him; and then, as if taking some supply from it on his way to virtue, returned thither again.
* * *
Thus he showed the greatest desire and the greatest zeal to exercise himself in the rigors of this life. He also worked with his hands, because he heard: “He who does not work should not eat.” And whatever he earned, he spent partly on himself, partly on the needy. And he prayed without ceasing, because he had learned that we must pray without ceasing within ourselves. He was so careful in reading that he did not miss anything that was written, but retained everything in his memory, and in the end it became his own thought.
* * *
Having this behavior, Antony was loved by everyone. And to the virtuous people to whom he went, he sincerely obeyed. He studied in himself the advantages and benefits of the efforts and lives of each of them. And he observed the charm of one, the constancy in prayers of another, the tranquility of a third, the philanthropy of a fourth; attended to another in the vigil, and to another in reading; marveled at one at his patience, at another at his fasting and prostrations; he imitated another in meekness, another in kindness. And he took note equally of the piety to Christ and of the love of all to one another. And thus fulfilled, he returned to his place, where he set out alone. In short, gathering in himself the good things from everyone, he tried to manifest them in himself.
But even towards his equals in age he did not show himself envious, except only that he might not be inferior to them in virtue; and this he did in such a way that he did not make anyone sad, but that they also rejoiced in him. Thus all the good people of the settlement, with whom he had intercourse, seeing him thus, called him God-loving, and greeted him, some as a son, and others as a brother.
Chapter 2
But the enemy of good – the envious devil, seeing such an initiative in the young man, could not tolerate it. But what he was in the habit of doing with everyone, he also undertook to do against him. And he first tempted him to turn him away from the path he had taken, by instilling in him the memory of his properties, the care of his sister, the ties of his family, the love of money, the love of glory, the pleasure of a variety of food and the other charms of life, and finally – the harshness of the benefactor and how much effort is required for it. To this he added his physical weakness and the long time to achieve the goal. In general, he awakened in his mind a whole whirlwind of wisdom, wanting to dissuade him from his right choice.
* * *
But when the wicked one saw himself powerless against Antony’s decision, and more than that – defeated by his firmness, overthrown by his strong faith, and fallen by his unyielding prayers, then he proceeded to fight with other weapons against the young man, as night time he scared him with all kinds of noise, and during the day he annoyed him so much that those who watched from the side understood that a fight was going on between the two. One instilled impure thoughts and ideas, and the other, with the help of prayers, turned them into good ones and strengthened his body with fasting. This was Antony’s first battle with the devil and his first feat, but it was more of a feat of the Savior in Antony.
But neither did Antony let loose the evil spirit subdued by him, nor did the enemy, being defeated, cease to lay ambushes. Because the latter kept prowling around like a lion looking for some occasion against him. That is why Antony decided to accustom himself to a stricter way of living. And so he devoted himself so much to the vigil that he often spent the whole night without sleeping. Ate once a day after sunset. Sometimes even every two days, and often once every four days he took food. At the same time, his food was bread and salt, and his drink was only water. There is no need to talk about meat and wine. For sleeping, he was content with a reed mat, most often lying on the bare ground.
* * *
When he had thus restrained himself, Antony went to the cemetery, which was located not far from the village, and having ordered one of his acquaintances to bring him bread rarely – once in many days, he entered one of the tombs. His acquaintance closed the door behind him and he remained alone inside.
* * *
Then the wicked one, not being able to bear this, came one night with a whole crowd of evil spirits and beat and pushed him so much that he left him lying on the ground dumbfounded with grief. The next day the acquaintance came to bring him bread. But as soon as he opened the door and saw him lying on the ground like a dead man, he picked him up and carried him to the village church. There he laid him on the ground, and many of the relatives and villagers sat around Antony as around a dead man.
* * *
When at midnight Antony came to himself and awoke, he saw that all were asleep, and only the acquaintance was awake. Then he nodded to him to come to him and asked him to pick him up and take him back to the cemetery without waking anyone. So he was carried away by that man, and after the door was closed, as before, he was again left alone inside. He had no strength to stand up because of the blows, but he lay down and prayed.
And after the prayer he said in a loud voice: “Here I am – Anthony. I don’t run away from your blows. Even if you beat me some more, nothing will separate me from my love for Christ.” And then he sang: “If even a whole regiment were arrayed against me, my heart would not be afraid.”
* * *
And so, the ascetic thought and uttered these words. And the evil enemy of good, amazed that this man, even after the blows, dared to come to the same place, called his dogs and, bursting with anger, said: “See that with blows you do not we could wear him down, but he still dares to speak against us. Let’s proceed in another way against him!”.
Then at night they made such a loud noise that the whole place seemed to shake. And the demons seemed to collapse the four walls of the pitiful little room, giving the impression that they were invading through them, transformed into the form of animals and reptiles. And immediately the place was filled with visions of lions, bears, leopards, bulls, snakes, asps and scorpions, wolves. And each of them moved in its own way: the lion roared and wanted to attack him, the bull pretended to poke him with its horns, the snake crawled without reaching him, and the wolf tried to pounce on him . And the voices of all these ghosts were terrible, and their fury terrible.
And Antonius, as if beaten and stung by them, groaned as a result of the bodily pains he was experiencing. But he kept a cheerful spirit and, mocking them, said: “If there was any strength in you, it would be enough for one of you to come. But because God has deprived you of power, therefore, even though you are so many, you only try to frighten me. It is a proof of your weakness that you have adopted the images of speechless beings.’ Being filled with courage again, he said: “If you can, and if you have really obtained power over me, do not delay, but attack! If you cannot, why bother in vain? Our faith in Christ is for us a seal and a fortress of security”. And they, having made many more attempts, gnashed their teeth against him.
* * *
But even in this case, the Lord did not stand aside from Antony’s struggle, but came to his aid. For when Antony looked up, he saw as if the roof were opened, and a ray of light came down to him. And at that hour the demons became invisible. And Antonius sighed, relieved from his torment, and asked the vision that appeared, saying: “Where were you? Why didn’t you come from the beginning to end my torment?”. And a voice was heard to him: “Antony, I was here, but I was waiting to see your struggle. And after you have stood bravely and have not been defeated, I will always be your protector and make you famous throughout the whole earth.’
When he heard this, he got up and prayed. And he strengthened so much that he felt that he had more strength in his body than he had before. And he was then thirty-five years old.
* * *
The next day he emerged from his hiding place and was even better situated. He went to the forest. But again the enemy, seeing his zeal and wanting to hinder him, threw in his way a false image of a large silver dish. But Antony, having understood the cunning of the wicked one, stopped. And seeing the devil inside the dish, he rebuked him, speaking to the dish: “Where in the desert is the dish? This road is untrodden and there is no trace of human footsteps. If it fell from someone, it could not have gone unnoticed, because it is very large. But even the one who lost it would return, look for it and find it, because the place is deserted. This trick is of the devil. But you will not interfere with my good will, devil! Because this silver must go to destruction with you!”. And no sooner had Antony said these words than the dish disappeared like smoke.
* * *
And following his decision more and more firmly, Antony set out for the mountain. He found a fort down the river, deserted and full of various reptiles. He moved there and stayed there. And the reptiles, as if they were chased by someone, immediately ran away. But he fenced off the entrance and put bread there for six months (this is what the Tivians do and often the bread remains undamaged for a whole year). You also had water inside, so he established himself as in some impenetrable sanctuary and remained alone inside, without him going out or seeing anyone coming there. Only twice a year did he receive the bread from above, through the roof.
* * *
And because he did not allow the acquaintances who came to him to enter inside, they, often spending days and nights outside, heard something like crowds making a noise, striking, uttering pitiful voices and crying: “Depart from us places! What do you have to do with the desert? You can’t stand our tricks.”
At first, those outside thought that these were some people who were fighting with him and that they entered him by some stairs. But when they peered through a hole and saw no one, they realized that they were devils, got scared and called Antony. He heard them immediately, but he was not afraid of the devils. And having approached the door, he invited the people to go and not to be afraid. For, said he, the devils love to play such pranks on those who are afraid. “But you cross yourself and go quietly, and let them play.” And so they went, fastened with the sign of the cross. And he stayed and was not harmed in any way by the demons.
(to be continued)
Note: This life was written by St. Athanasius the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria, one year after the death of Rev. Anthony the Great († January 17, 356), i.e. in 357 at the request of Western monks from Gaul ( d. France) and Italy, where the archbishop was in exile. It is the most accurate primary source for the life, exploits, virtues and creations of St. Anthony the Great and played an extremely important role in the establishment and flourishing of monastic life both in the East and in the West. For example, Augustine in his Confessions speaks of the strong influence of this life on his conversion and improvement in faith and piety.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has emphasized the imperative of establishing “basic conditions” to facilitate safe and full-scale aid delivery to civilians in Gaza while stressing that only a ceasefire will prevent the crisis from escalating.
Addressing reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday, the UN chief expressed deep concern about the “unprecedented” level of civilian casualties and the “catastrophic” humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
“There is one solution to help address all these issues. We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” he stressed.
Release hostages
He recalled the 7 October terror attacks by Hamas and other militants on Israeli civilians and the taking of hostages, demanding their immediate and unconditional release.
He further called for a thorough investigation and prosecution of allegations of sexual violence committed by Palestinian militants.
Commenting on the Israeli forces’ actions in the Gaza Strip, Guterres noted that the “onslaught” had resulted in “wholesale destruction” and an unprecedented rate of civilian killings during his tenure as Secretary-General.
“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is beyond words. Nowhere and no one is safe.”
"Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
According to the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA), 1.9 million Gazans – 85 per cent of the enclave’s population – have been displaced, some multiple times. As per Gaza’s Ministry of Health, over 23,700 Palestinians have been killed and some 60,000 more injured.
The crisis has also claimed the lives of 152 UN staff members – the largest single loss of life in the history of the Organization.
“Aid workers, under enormous pressure and with no safety guarantees, are doing their best to deliver inside Gaza,” the UN chief said.
‘Obstacles to aid are clear’
Mr. Guterres outlined clear obstacles hindering aid into Gaza, identified not only by the UN but also by officials globally who have witnessed the situation.
He emphasized that effective humanitarian aid delivery is impossible under the heavy, widespread, and unrelenting bombardment, citing significant hurdles at the enclave’s border.
Vital materials, including life-saving medical equipment and parts which are critical for the repair of water facilities and infrastructure, have been rejected with little or no explanation, disrupting the flow of critical supplies and the resumption of basic services.
“And when one item is denied, the time-consuming approval process starts again from scratch for the entire cargo,” Mr. Guterres added, noting other obstacles including denials of access, unsafe routes and frequent telecommunications blackouts.
‘We need basic conditions’
Stressing that the UN’s efforts to increase aid, Mr. Guterres called on the parties to respect international humanitarian law, “respect and protect civilians, and ensure their essential needs are met.”
There must be an immediate and massive increase in the commercial supply of essential goods, he added, noting also that necessities should also be available in markets to the entire population.
Cauldron of tensions ‘boiling over’
The Secretary-General also warned of rising tensions in the wider Middle East.
“Tensions are sky-high in the Red Sea and beyond – and may soon be impossible to contain,” he said, voicing concerns that exchanges of fire across the Blue Line – the demarcation separating Israeli and Lebanese armies – risks triggering a broader escalation between the two nations and profoundly affecting regional stability.
Expressing that he is “profoundly worried” by what is unfolding, the UN chief stressed that it is his “duty” to convey a simple and direct message to all sides:
“Stop playing with fire across the Blue Line, de-escalate, and bring hostilities to an end in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701.”
‘Tamp down the flames’
Only a ceasefire can “tamp down the flames of wider war”, because the longer it continues the greater the risk of escalation and miscalculation.
“We cannot see in Lebanon what we are seeing in Gaza”, he concluded “and we cannot allow what has been happening in Gaza to continue.”
“One of the most important lessons I learnt in my life of struggle for freedom and peace is that in any conflict there comes a point when neither side can claim to be right and the other wrong, no matter how much that might have been the case at the start of a conflict.”
Secretary-General António Guterres speaking to the media.
1. The Jewish Sheol is the exact same as the Greek Hades. No loss of meaning occurs if, on every occasion when Hebrew says ‘Sheol’, this is translated as ‘Hades’ in Greek. The term ‘Hades’ is well known in English, and thus might be preferred to the term ‘Sheol.’ Their meaning is identical.
Neither Sheol nor Hades are the same as the Jewish ‘Gehenna’ which should only be translated as ‘Hell.’
Sheol/Hades= abode of the dead.
Gehenna/Hell= abode of the wicked.
These are two qualitatively different places, and should never be treated as the same. The King James Version of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures translates all occurrences of Sheol and Gehenna as ‘Hell’, but this is a huge mistake. All modern translations of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures only use ‘Hell’ when Gehenna occurs in the original Hebrew or Greek text. When Sheol occurs in Hebrew, it becomes Hades in Greek, and if Hades is not deployed in English, then an equivalent expression is found. The English term ‘prison’ is sometimes preferred in relation to ‘the departed’, but this is ambiguous, because in different senses, Hades and Gehenna are both ‘imprisoning.’ To speak of persons in the afterlife as in some sense in jail does not adequately differentiate Sheol/Hades from Gehenna/Hell. It is important to note the difference, because Hades as Deadness and Hell as Evil carry very different implications in any text where they occur. Modern Jewish scholars speak with one voice – very unusually for them – in asserting that only Gehenna should be translated as ‘Hell.’ [An old Anglo-Saxon word, claims one writer, meaning ‘hidden.’]
It is the qualitative difference in human experience, and difference in symbolic meaning, that sets out a clear contrast.
[1] Sheol/Hades=
A place of forgetfulness, ‘deadness’, ghost-life= half-life.
Dark and gloomy= ‘insubstantial’; a nether-world, the mythical ‘Underworld.’
David in the Psalms refers to Sheol as a ‘Pit.’
[2] Gehenna/Hell=
A place of unquenchable fire and the worm that does not die; the place of torment.
Those in Gehenna feel pain and weep. The worm gnawing away at the dead corpse= remorse. The burning flames that do not let up= self-reproach.
Abraham saw Gehenna as a ‘Fiery Furnace.’
Thus, Hades/Sheol= a Pit of Deadness underground, whilst Gehenna/Hell= a Furnace of Evil [equated with a Valley that has become like a furnace].
2. Around 1100 AD, the Jewish Rabbinical tradition identified Gehenna as the rubbish dump outside Jerusalem, where ‘filth’ was cast away. Though Gehenna is a symbol, a figurative expression, the equation of the symbol with the ‘Valley of Hinnom’ is very plausible.
‘Gehenna’ is Greek, yet it could very well come from the Hebrew for the Valley of Hinnom= ‘Ge Hinnom’ [thus= Gehinnom].’ In the Talmud, the name is ‘Gehinnam’, and in the Aramaic spoken by Jesus= ‘Gehanna.’ In modern Yiddish= ‘Gehenna.’
If the Valley of Hinnom below Jerusalem is indeed the origin both for the symbol and linguistic terminology of Gehenna passed on from Judaism into Christianity, that would make sense of the ‘unquenchable fires’ and ‘worms that do not die’.. Both these images are from Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and when Jesus uses Gehenna 11 times in the New Testament, he means Gehenna, not Hades or Sheol, because he borrows that exact prophetic imagery.
3. The story about Gehenna as a literal topographical place at a certain moment in time is very meaningful in regard to why it symbolically became Hell.
The valley began as a place where worshippers of the Canaanite pagan religion sacrificed their children [Chronicles, 28, 3; 33, 6] to the pagan deity called Moloch [one of several pagan ‘lords’, or Ba’als= St Gregory of Nyssa links Moloch to Mammon]. These worshippers of Moloch burned their children in fire, in order to get worldly gain= worldly power, worldly riches, comfort and luxury, ease of life. Already this gives a profound meaning= Hell is the sacrificing of our children for religious reasons, when religion is used idolatrously to grant us an advantage in this world. That links to a saying of Christ, which asserts that, though offences against children must come, it would be better for the person committing them if he had been thrown into the ocean and drowned to prevent him from doing such a grave crime. It is better to die and end up in Hades, in the afterlife, than to commit hellish crimes against the innocence of children in this life. To be in Hell, in this life or beyond it, is far more serious than simply expiring.. Yet, which of us has not, in ways blatant or subtle, harmed the children entrusted to our care by God? Killing off the child-like spark, before it can be ignited, is a key strategy by the devil for blocking the redemption of the world.
To the Jews, this place of idolatry and pagan cruelty was an utter abomination. Not only followers of the Canaanite religion but apostate Jews ‘practiced’ child sacrifice in this place, for religious reasons [Jeremiah, 7, 31-32; 19, 2, 6; 32, 35]. No worse place on earth could be imagined for any Jew following Yahweh. [This throws the story of Abraham into a very different light.] Such a place would attract evil spirits and evil forces in real numbers. ‘This is hell on earth’ we say, referring to situations, events, happenings, where evil power seems to be concentrated, so that doing good, or loving sacrificially, is particularly opposed from ‘the surrounding atmosphere’, and therefore becomes very difficult, if not virtually impossible.
Over time, the Jews used this numinously hideous valley as a rubbish dump. It was not merely a convenient place to throw away unwanted debris. It was regarded as ‘unclean’, religiously. Indeed, it was regarded as a place utterly ‘accursed’ [Jeremiah, 7, 31; 19, 2-6]. Thus for the Jews, it was a place of ‘filth’, literally and spiritually. Things regarded as ritually unclean were dumped there= the carcasses of dead animals, and the bodies of criminals. The Jews buried people in tombs above ground, thus for the body to be cast away in this manner was considered horrendous, almost the worst that could befall someone.
The ‘unquenchable fires’, and the ‘worms gnawing away without ever stopping’, as two images which are taken as definitive of what happens in Hell, come from a reality, then. They are not purely metaphorical. The Valley had fires burning in it all the time, to burn up the filthy trash, and especially the rotting flesh of animals and criminals, and of course, legions of worms found the corpses delicious= they literally became worm food. So= the ‘Hell’ derived from the Valley of Gehenna is a place of ever burning fires – with sulphur and brimstone added to make that burning more efficacious – and hordes of worms always eating.
Though Judaism before Jesus already had a multiplicity of differing interpretations, one point stands out, and should be flagged up as necessary to any understanding of Hell – as distinct from Sheol/Hades. Ending up in Hell is a kind of debacle, a disgrace, a loss of honour, a sign of no integrity, a ‘destruction.’ In Hell, all your plans, works, aims, projects, end up ‘destroyed.’ Your life work, what you ‘did’ with your time in the world, comes to catastrophic ruin.
4. The Rabbinic method of teaching, which Jesus deployed in the same manner as earlier Jewish rabbis, blends the historical and the symbolic ‘as one.’ The rabbis, and Jesus is the same, always choose some literal historical reality, and then add heights and depths of symbolic meaning to it. This means that two converse kinds of hermeneutic are false to this method of storytelling to teach life lessons to listeners of the stories.
On the one hand=-
If you interpret the sacred text only literally, as fundamentalists and evangelicals, or the religiously conservative do, you miss the point. For there is a wealth of symbolic meaning latent in the literal historical ‘fact’ which gives it more meaning that its sheer factuality can transmit. Starting with the literal historical, the meaning takes you into other dimensions at a remove from that particular time and place, and not confined to it. This extra meaning can be mystical or psychological or moral; it always expands the ‘ostensible’ meaning by bringing mysterious spiritual factors into play. The literal is never simply literal, because the literal is a metaphor for something beyond it, yet incarnate in it. The literal is a poem– not a computer print-out, or a set of rational-factual statements. These kinds of literalism have a very limited meaning. They mean little, because their meaning is limited to only one level, a level not rich in meaning, but deprived of meaning.
Studying Hasidic Jewish interpretations of the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible is very instructive. These interpretations use the historical narrative as spring-boards to symbolic meanings quite far from any literalist reading. Very subtle layers and levels of meaning are uncovered. Yet it is these subtleties which inhere, indwell, ‘what really happened.’
On the other hand=
If you interpret the sacred text only metaphorically, or symbolically, denying that the particular embodiment in which it is couched matters, then you proceed more in a Greek Hellenic, not a Jewish, manner. You go too fast to disembodied universals of meaning, or generalities that supposedly apply across the board, anywhere at any time. This anti-literalist approach to the Rabbinical method of meaning-making also falsifies it. For Jews, the particular place and the particular time matters in the meaning, and cannot be shed as if it were merely an ‘outer suit of clothing’, not the ‘inner reality.’ The true meaning is incarnate, not disincarnate= not floating in some space, whether that non-physical domain is seen as psychological or as spiritual [or a mixture of the two= the ‘psychic matrix’]. The true meaning therefore has a body, not just a soul, for the body is what ‘anchors’ meaning in this world.
Such incarnateness of meaning is asserting that the extra symbolic meanings are ‘situated’ in a given historical context, and the sheer fact they are contextualised, and how they are contextualised, is important to interpreting them. Even if he had subsequent generations in mind, Jesus was teaching first century AD Jews living in a very definite setting, and much of what he says to them has to be interpreted in terms of those people, in that time and in that place.
Yet, given how often Jesus quotes from the Psalms and Isaiah, often echoing them directly in his words [echoes that his audience would have picked up], implies that he saw analogies between past events and present events. He used a form of what is called ‘types’ in his meaning-making= certain symbols recur, in different forms, not because they are ‘archetypes’ in Plato’s or Jung’s sense, but because they refer to mysterious spiritual meanings and energies repeatedly intervening in historical circumstances, always doing something similar as in the past [creating continuity] and always doing something new different from the past [creating discontinuity]. In this way, Jesus upholds an ongoing ‘progressive revelation’ with both ongoing themes and new departures, leaps forward, not foreseeable. New occurrences of types, in altered circumstances, bring new meanings, but often throw additional meaning on the old types. They mean more, or mean something different, when seen retrospectively. In this way, tradition never stalls, simply repeating the past, nor does it just break off from the past.
Gehenna/Hell has to be read in this complex Rabbinical way, understanding both its historical context and the hidden meanings latent in its potent symbolism. Only if are aware of both aspects do we use an interpretation which is ‘existential’, not the metaphysical on its own, nor the literal on its own. Neither is Jewish.
5. “Two rabbis, three opinions.” Judaism has always, to its credit, tolerated multiple interpretations of sacred texts and indeed had different streams of interpretation of the whole of religion. This is very evident in regard to the interpretation of Gehenna/Hell. Judaism does not speak with one voice on this significant matter.
There were Jewish writers even before the time of Jesus who saw Hell as punishment for the wicked= not for those who are a mix of righteousness and sin, but for those given over, or given up, to real wickedness, and likely to go on forever; other Jewish writers thought of Hell as purgational. Some Jewish commentators thought of Sheol/Hades as purgational.. It is complicated.
Most schools of thought believed that Hades is where you go after death. It is ‘The Land of the Dead’ in many mythical systems. It is not annihilation, or complete obliteration of the human personhood or its consciousness. It is where, once the body is dead, the soul goes. But the soul, without body, is only half alive. Those in Hades/Sheol are ghostly in a strong symbolic sense= they are cut off from life, cut off from people alive in the world. They continue, as it were, but in some reduced state. In this respect, the Jewish Sheol and Greek Hades are very much the same.
Sheol/Hades was regarded an ante chamber where you go after death, to ‘wait’ for the general resurrection, in which all people will regain body as well as soul. They will not be, ever, ‘purely’ spirit.
For some Jewish commentators, Sheol/Hades is a place of atoning for sins, and as such, is definitely purgational. People can ‘learn’, they can still face their life and repent, and let go of the ‘dead wood’ they clung on to in life. Hades is a place of regeneration, and healing. Hades is restorative, for those who avoided inner wrestlings with inner truth in their time in this world.
Indeed, for certain Jews, Sheol/Hades had an upper chamber and a lower chamber. The upper chamber is paradise [also ‘Abraham’s bosom’ in the parable of the rich man who shuns the leper at his gate], and is where people having attained sanctity in their life on earth go once it ends. The lower chamber is less salubrious but holds out the possibility of shedding past mistakes. It is not an easy place, but its outcome is very optimistic. The ‘lower’ people are less advanced, and the ‘higher’ people are more advanced, but once Hades does its work, they are all equally ready for the entry of all humanity into the ‘everlasting.’
For other Jewish commentators, Gehenna/Hell — not Sheol/Hades — was the place of purgation/purifying/cleansing. You atoned for your sins, and thus sin itself was burned out of you, like fire consuming rotten wood. At the end of that ordeal in the furnace, you were ready for the general resurrection. You spent only 1 year in Hell! Moreover, only 5 people were in Hell forever! [The list must have increased by now..]
For modern Hasidism, once purged — wherever that occurs — the soul that is resurrected with its body proceeds on to heavenly happiness in the unceasing [olam to olam] kingdom of God. These Hasids tend to dismiss the idea of a Hell where wicked people remain eternally, and are punished eternally. If a Hasidic Orthodox Jew uses the symbol of ‘Hell’, it invariably has a purgational effect. The Fire of God burns out sin. In that sense, it readies the person for eternal bliss, and hence is a blessing, not a curse.
6. For many Jews before the time of Jesus, however, there is a markedly different interpretation which is entirely Dualistic= this stream of Jewish tradition resembles the belief in ‘Heaven and Hell’ as eternal principles in the afterlife held by Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christians of today. But, many Jews and Christians down the ages have held to this Dualistic belief about the split eternity awaiting humanity. On this view, the wicked ‘go to Hell’, and they go there not to be purged, or regenerated, but to be punished.
Thus, for Jews of this perspective, Sheol/Hades is a sort of ‘half-way house’, almost a clearing-house, where people who have died await the general resurrection of everyone. Then, once everyone is raised in body and soul, the Last Judgement occurs, and the Judgement determines that the righteous will go to Heavenly bliss in God’s presence, whilst the wicked will go to Hellish torment in Gehenna. This Hellish torment is eternal. There is no let up, no change possible.
7. It is easy enough to locate places in both the Jewish Bible and the Christian Bible where this long-standing Dualism seems to be supported by the text, though often that is ‘open to interpretation.’
None the less, it is more truthful to acknowledge that at times, Jesus sounds Non Dualistic, even Anti Dualistic, whilst at other times, he sounds Dualistic. As is his way, he confirms older tradition even as he upends it by introducing new elements into the ongoing tradition. If you accept it all, a very complex dialectic of severity and universality emerges.
Hence the paradox of both Jewish and Christian Scriptures is that Dualistic and Non-Dualistic texts both exist. It is easy to pick one kind of text, and ignore the other kind. This is either a clear-cut contradiction; or, it is a tension that has to be accepted, a mysterious paradox. Justice and Redemption co-inhere in Judaism, and Jesus does not disturb that two-faceted manner in which the Fire of Spirit, the Fire of Truth, the Fire of Suffering Love, functions. Both horns of the dilemma are necessary..
A certain strictness [truth] is what, paradoxically, leads to mercifulness [love].
8. For the Jews prior to the time of Jesus, sins likely to put a person in Gehenna included some obvious things, but also some things we might or might not question today= a man who listened too much to his wife was headed for Hell.. But more obviously= pride; unchastity and adultery; mockery [contempt= as in Mathew, 5, 22]; hypocrisy [lying]; anger [judgementalism, hostility, impatience]. The Letter of James, 3, 6, is very Jewish in claiming that Gehenna will set the tongue on fire, and the tongue then sets on fire the entire ‘course’ or ‘wheel’ of life.
Good Deeds that protected a person from ending up in Hell= philanthropy; fasting; visiting the sick. The poor and the pious are especially protected from ending in Hell. Israel is more protected than the pagan nations all around her and always threatening her..
The worst of all sins= the idolatry of ‘sacrificing our children for religious reasons’, in order ‘to get on’ in this world. When we idolise a false ‘god’, it is always to get worldly benefits, it is invariably to profit from whatever we sacrifice to please this deity’s demands= ‘if you give me your children, I will give you the good life.’ This sounds more like a demon than a god. A deal is struck, you sacrifice something genuinely precious, then the devil will bestow upon you all manner of earthly rewards.
A literal interpretation protests that such things do not happen in our modern, enlightened, progressive, civilised, society! Or if they do, only in backward corners of that society, or only among backward uncivilised peoples.
But a more symbolic-historical interpretation concludes that these very civilised peoples are all engaged in sacrificing their children to the devil, for the worldly gain it will bring them. Look more closely. Look more subtly. This most hellish of all actions is something many parents are doing to their children as a matter of routine, for it reflects the unacknowledged reality of society as a system where, in order to fit in, violence must be done to the person= they can never be true to their native humanity. Leonard Cohen has an amazing song about this, ‘The Story of Isaac’=
The door it opened slowly,
My father he came in,
I was nine years old.
And he stood so tall above me,
His blue eyes they were shining
And his voice was very cold.
He said, “I’ve had a vision
And you know I’m strong and holy,
I must do what I’ve been told.”
So he started up the mountain,
I was running, he was walking,
And his axe was made of gold.
Well, the trees they got much smaller,
The lake a lady’s mirror,
We stopped to drink some wine.
Then he threw the bottle over.
Broke a minute later
And he put his hand on mine.
Thought I saw an eagle
But it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an altar,
He looked once behind his shoulder,
He knew I would not hide.
You who build these altars now
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
And you never have been tempted
By a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
Your hatchets blunt and bloody,
You were not there before,
When I lay upon a mountain
And my father’s hand was trembling
With the beauty of the word.
And if you call me brother now,
Forgive me if I inquire,
“Just according to whose plan?”
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can.
And mercy on our uniform,
Man of peace or man of war,
The peacock spreads his fan.
Then, in reading ‘the sacrifice of our children for profit’ more metaphorically, extend the crime against children into, quite simply, the sacrifice of the most vulnerable humans for the sake of Mammon. The ‘crime against humanity’ is widespread; it has many takers today, as it always did.
The Valley of Gehenna, as a Hell on earth, a Hell in the world, is a typology much the same today as in the past. Hell is one of the constants in human existence over all of time.
