When a person ceases to respect himself, others will follow suit and cease to respect him also. When that august, venerable body, the Holy Synod of Greece, ceases to maintain its dignity, its holiness, its majesty, and its awe-inspiring attitude, inevitably and unfailingly, by the working of a natural law, the clergy and the laity will also cease to accord to the Synod the respect, the esteem, and the reverence which it properly merits.

With heart-felt anguish I am forced to admit that the ecclesiastical as well as the political authority in Greece is devoid of conscience. And when, in the name of the Almighty, conscience is lacking, the result is dangerous to virtue.

When the body which we call the Holy Synod disregards the word and honor of the Chicago Greek Consul General, disregards the good work of the priests, disregards petitions and affidavits of the board of directors of the Chicago Greek community, and stoops so low as to take the word and advice of a Krokidas, a "mountain-goat" of the Greek Parliament, and the whisperings of a publisher in the Greek capital, it is about time for the Holy Synod to be put in its proper place, lest it diminish or destroy the people's respect and their devotion to the Greek Orthodox Church.

In order to avoid bloodshed among the warring factions in Chicago and the failure of the Church as an institution in the eyes of the people and to prevent its incurring the ridicule of all, the Greek community 3of Chicago is advised to close the church, hold its money tight, and appeal to our highest, our irreproachable ecclesiastical authority, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, to send a priest here as noteworthy as the lately recalled Reverend Father Georgeadis.

In regard to the two priests who are on their way to Chicago, appointed by the Holy Synod, if they wish to say mass, they are welcome to do so, but without remuneration from the community. The Holy Synod of Greece must pay their salaries.

In this way the Synod will discover that its appointees will not be able to pronounce their "Kyrie Eleison" with the all-powerful treasury of the community locked against them.

Do you see the point, O august Body? In spite of our reverence for you we must be severe and stern, lest the whole edifice be polluted by conscienceless political contamination.

Such an example set by the Chicago Greek community would undoubtedly, when a similar occasion should arise, be followed by other communities in the United States which are under the immediate jurisdiction of the Holy Synod of Greece.

The ancient Greeks used to say: "Phobos Theou arche sophias - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and the Greeks of Chicago by proceeding to close their church and its treasury to the authority of the Synod will undoubtedly inspire wisdom in the minds of that august Body and compel it to give and to receive respect.

P. S. Lambros.