CHRYSOSTOMOS, METROPOLITAN OF SMYRNA (1922)
Born in
Triglia, Bithynia in 1867, Chrysostomos showed early promise in the Church,
being appointed Metropolitan of Drama in eastern Macedonia in 1902, at the
relatively early age for a bishop of 35. At that time, the area was still under
Ottoman rule and his main concern was the spiritual and physical care of the
majority Orthodox Greek population. He involved himself in the building of
schools, churches, hospitals and even sports facilities and these actions,
together with his tendency to make political statements, resulted in exile in
1907 and again in 1909. In 1910, he was elected Metropolitan of Smyrna (now
called Izmir) on the east coast of Turkey. This also had a large Greek Orthodox
population and, here too, he combined church duties with social and charity
work and vociferous opposition to the
persecution of Turkish Christians. He organized a full day rally against the
violence of the Bulgarians against the Greeks in Macedonia, which was condoned
and perhaps encouraged by the Turkish government. He spoke to diplomats and the world press,
and the German ambassador in Constantinople was so impressed by his efforts
that he described him as “the best of living clerics.” He was again exiled to
Constantinople in 1914, not returning to Smyrna until 1919.
He returned to a city embroiled in the turmoil of the
Greek-Turkish war (1919-1922). Under the Treaty of Sรจvres, Smyrna was occupied by the
Greek army and Chrysostomos was able to continue his pastoral work not only
among the Greek Orthodox but also the Armenian and Turkish residents. He also
worked towards the creation of an autonomous Greek state in the area round
Smyrna, should the Greek army lose the general war in Asia Minor. With the defeat of the Greek army in Anatolia
in 1922, however, Smyrna was quickly retaken by the Turks, who set about
expelling the Greek population. Chrysostomos was encouraged to flee by the
English and French consuls and even the Roman Catholic archbishop begged him to
leave, actually booking his passage on a ship. Chrysostomos, however, refused
point blank saying, “It is the tradition of the Greek Church and the duty of the
priest to stay with his congregation.”
On the
9th September, he conducted the
Divine Liturgy in the cathedral, where many of the Orthodox had taken shelter.
In what was to be his last sermon he said:
God
is testing our faith, our courage, and our patience at this time. But God will
never abandon Christians. It is in turbulent seas that the good sailor stands
out, and it is during a time of tribulations that the good Christian does the
same. Pray and all this will be gone. We shall again see happy days and we will
pray to the Lord. Have courage as all good Christians should.
Immediately
after the service, Chrysostomos was taken to the police chief who instructed
him that all Greeks and Armenians should surrender their weapons and stay in
their homes. He returned to the cathedral, where he read out the orders. What
happened next is not entirely clear but Chrysostomos was certainly seized again
by the police and probably taken to the military governor, General Noureddin
Pasha. The latter was fanatically anti-Christian and, instead of following
legal processes, seems to have incited a mob to abduct the bishop. The mob
attacked him with such savagery that doubt has been cast on the gruesome
details but there seems to be plenty of documentary evidence for their accuracy.
They tore off his beard, stabbed him repeatedly and blinded him. To all this he
responded by trying to say words of forgiveness and raising his hand in
blessing. When one of the attackers realised what he was doing, he cut off the
bishop’s hands with a sword. Eventually, Chrysostomos was dragged into an
alley, where he died of his wounds.**
The attack was witnessed by a group of French marines who wanted to go to his
aid but were held back at gunpoint by their commanding officer who was under
strict orders to remain neutral.***
Metropolitan
Chrysostomos was officially canonised by the Church of Greece in 1993, with a
feast day on 27 August. Later, however, the celebration was moved to the Sunday
before the Elevation of the Cross, when he is remembered along with the other
new martyrs of Asia Minor. Since the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch remains
in Istanbul (Constantinople), for diplomatic reasons these saints are not
commemorated in the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
* Intriguingly, Chrysostomos was the
founder of the original Panionios football team in Smyrna. After the expulsions
of 1922, the team was reconstituted by the refugees in Nea Smyrni in Athens,
where it continues to this day.
** An interesting testimony comes from an
eminent academic, G. Mylonas. As a student, he had been imprisoned with others
awaiting execution. A Turkish officer came to their cell and said that he had
been involved in the murder of Chrysostomos and had, in fact, shot him through
the head to end his torture. He had been so impressed by the courage of the
bishop and so horrified at the events he had taken part in that he freed the
group of prisoners in the hope that this act might assuage his guilt and give
him some peace of mind. This story comes from an article by Sarantos Kargakos
in the magazine Oikonomikos Tachydromos, 8/10/92. (Translated source
OrthodoxWiki)
*** To be fair to the officer, in spite of the
humanitarian instincts of his men, it is doubtful if they could have done much
to protect the metropolitan and would probably have perished themselves in the
hysteria of the attack. My father was a young soldier in the British
“peacekeeping” force in Smyrna in 1922. He told me that, whatever horrors they
witnessed, the British troops were also strictly ordered not to intervene
unless attacked themselves.
