ATHENS – A Greek journalist sued by three clerics over his book that demystified the Orthodox Church’s Easter Holy Fire alleged miracle is on trial over their claims they suffered moral damage from it.

Dimitris Alikakos, also a journalist, was sued by the Jerusalem Patriarchate and Archbishops Isidore and Aristarchus who were upset over the book that’s titled Redemption – The Case of the Holy Fire, that was published in 2019.

The Jerusalem Patriarchate restarted the lawsuit due to the existence of video testimony, Athanasios Anagnostopoulos, one of Alikakos’s two lawyers told the Balkan Investigative Reporting Work BIRN. The trial was postponed twice.

https://balkaninsight.com/2024/03/20/greek-journalist-on-trial-for-debunking-holy-fire-ritual/

Alikakos is on trial for defamation, violation of the confidentiality of oral conversation, and personal data violation, consisting of using some photographs to document his book in the context of his journalistic function.

The book contains testimonies in which the Archbishops allegedly admitted the Holy Fire is lit by an ordinary lighter and is not a miracle. The Easter ceremony has the Patriarch of Jerusalem coming out of church with a lit candle symbolizes the resurrection of Christ.

“The plaintiffs have tried to hide the truth. I feel great joy and satisfaction that their video testimonies were heard in court …  where they confess that the Holy Fire lights up naturally,” Alikakos told BIRN.

The plaintiffs, in addition to criminal proceedings, also started a civil claim against the journalist and his publishing house, demanding several hundred euros. The court rejected their claims.

The lawsuits said the book has led believers to doubt their priests and that Alikakos is accused of pretending to be a faithful tourist and of fraudulently obtaining statements from clerics who did not know he was writing a book.

Archbishop Isidoros, Custodian and Abbot of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, appealed to the courts against Google Ireland, demanding YouTube delete a provocative  video where he tells Alikakos the Holy Fire is lit by a lighter.

According to the Archbishop, the video “insults his honor and reputation” and “was made public without his consent.” However, the Court of First Instance of Athens ruled in 2022 that the video was made with his consent.

The fire is transported to Greece and other countries from Jerusalem by plane – and received with full honors. In 2023, the Greek Deputy Foreign Minister received it from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III.

The Orthodox world has maintained the Holy Fire lights up miraculously in the presence of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre -revered as Jesus’ burial place – on Great Saturday, the day before Orthodox Easter

The church is revered as the place where Jesus is buried.

Petros Panagiotopoulos, Associate Professor of the Department of Theology, at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told BIRN, “The question of truth is quite a debatable subject; of course, believers must know the truth, but I think we must recognize the aspects of the truth and the consequences.”.

He added: “We in Greece have the luxury of speaking about fraud, deception, etc. The people there (in Jerusalem) don’t have that luxury; they fight and need to highlight their identity. Their problems are more existential. There is a point where religion meets geopolitics. It is a matter of existence,” he added.

“I don’t know if it’s being constructed or not (the Holy Fire) … It is, therefore, something that people ardently defend precisely because it is not just a strange or wonderful event but has something to do with their existence,” he concluded.

BIRN sent questions to the Patriarchate but didn’t receive any answer.