ITHACA, N.Y. – [St. Catherine’s GOC]
NYS Assemblywoman Dr. Anna Kelles (D-District 125) and Acting Mayor Laura Lewis joined the parish community of St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church in downtown Ithaca on Sun., March 27th, to honor and celebrate the 201st anniversary of Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire.
Last year – March 25th, 2021 – was the bicentennial of Greek Independence Day. Scores of world leaders went to Greece to mark the occasion.
Significantly, the President of the United States issues an official proclamation for GID each year, and President Joe Biden has been no exception, as he reaffirmed in this year’s Presidential Proclamation the shared democratic values and “ironclad” bonds of friendship between the United States and Greece (see related story posted further below).
Greek Independence Day was officially declared on the 25th of March in 1821, after the Greek nation’s centuries-long and brutal subjugation under the Ottoman Turks, who conquered the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire (a.k.a., the Byzantine Empire) when Constantinople fell to Sultan Mehmet II’s Islamic hordes in 1453.
In their fervor to regain their liberty and free observance and practice of their Greek Orthodox faith, the Greeks deliberately chose March 25th, the Christian feast of the Annunciation, to proclaim their freedom from their Turkish oppressors, who taxed and routinely mistreated them simply for being Christians and destroyed or forcibly converted Orthodox churches to mosques. Hagia Sophia, the Great Church of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολη; present-day Istanbul), remains the most glaring example of this profane Ottoman policy.
The community at St. Catherine GOC has been commemorating GID annually on the nearest Sunday to March 25th for the last 60-plus years, typically with a procession of the Greek and American Flags while singing both National Anthems; poems recited in the original Greek by children in traditional GID costumes; proclamations and greetings from public officials; and a special luncheon in the parish hall afterwards for church members, their friends and distinguished guests. This year’s annual GID commemoration also coincided with the 3rd Sunday of Orthodox Christian Lent.
Evan C. Lambrou, a graduate of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston and a lifelong member of St. Catherine’s, MC’d this year’s GID program, noting that Greek Independence Day “didn’t happen overnight.”
It was a series of events that took place over time, he said, citing the now legendary event in the region of Epiros, where some 60 women from Souli – doggedly pursued by Albanian marauders under orders from the Ottoman despot Ali Pasha – ran up the mountainside and hurled themselves from the cliffside at Zalongo, with their young children in their arms, rather than submit to their ruthless would-be captors who were hellbent on raping and massacring or otherwise enslaving them.
That incident – now immortalized by the popular song, “Χορός του Ζαλόγγου (Dance of Zalongo)” – took place on December 16, 1803 (more than 17 years prior to the Greek Declaration of Independence), and is one of many pre-1821 events now firmly embedded in the lore of the Greek Revolution, he explained, because it fully reflects the spirit of the Greek struggle for freedom.
Mr. Lambrou then asked church members to join him in singing the famous song, which the congregation clearly enjoyed.
This year’s GID commemoration also underscored the war currently raging in Ukraine and highlighted the local Ladies Philoptochos Society’s fundraising effort for Ukrainian refugees. The local Philoptochos chapter has so far raised upwards of $1500 as part of a nationwide effort. Assemblywoman Kelles and Mayor Lewis also contributed to the local Philoptochos collection for Ukrainian relief.
The official City of Ithaca Proclamation for GID 2022, presented to the St. Catherine’s parish community by Ms. Lewis, states:
“The current crisis in Ukraine is also a powerful reminder of the aggression that Greek and all Orthodox Christian people endured at the hands of a larger, more powerful adversary more than two centuries ago, and the members of St. Catherine Church understand their suffering and actively pray for a swift end to the unjust war currently raging in Ukraine.”
Indeed, Rev. Steven Gousios, pastor of St. Catherine GOC, offered a special prayer asking God to help bring a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict, which has decimated entire cities and displaced millions of Ukrainians from their homes since the war started this past February 24th.
Assemblywoman Kelles, who attended the festivities with her partner Joey Steinhagen, commended the St. Catherine community’s longstanding adherence to its cultural traditions and its sensitivity toward its Orthodox Christian brethren in Ukraine, noting that St. Catherine’s also has Russian Orthodox parishioners who feel deeply hurt by the crisis in Ukraine.
“I am myself of Jewish and Irish heritage, and in this moment, I feel very close to all of you for preserving your ethnic and religious heritage because I know how important that is to people on both an individual and community level. To understand you have an identity; to know who you are; it’s a very important part of our journey, which takes us to a place of love. Love is what remains after all is said and done. And your love for your fellow Orthodox Christians – both Ukrainians and Russians – is very moving, especially since Greek people remember so deeply in their hearts how they too were victims of aggression and oppression only two centuries ago. Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your annual commemoration of Greek Independence Day today; for being part of your journey of love,” Dr. Kelles said.
Mr. Lambrou emphasized that people of Greek heritage are understandably concerned about the war in Ukraine from several standpoints:
Greek missionaries helped convert Slavic peoples to Christianity in Russia, Ukraine and the Balkans centuries ago, he pointed out.
Ukraine itself was originally colonized by the Ancient Greeks more than two millennia ago, he noted, and many Greeks fled to the Crimea and other parts of the northern coast of the Black Sea – and also the Sea of Azov – to escape Turkish oppression during Byzantine and Post-Byzantine times. And the names of many Ukrainian cities like Mariupol are Greek in origin (e.g., Marioupoli; Μαριούπολη).
Moreover, Mr. Lambrou added, the Greek nation is itself very grateful for Russia’s direct involvement in the Greek War of Independence. British, French and Russian naval forces destroyed the Ottoman fleet at the acclaimed Battle of Navarino (present-day Πύλος) on October 20, 1827.
“That was a decisive turning point in favor of the Greeks. The Russian navy played a key role in that, so how could we as Greeks be against a fellow Orthodox Christian nation, which helped free us from the Ottoman yoke? Being against the war in Ukraine and supporting Ukrainian refugees doesn’t mean we’re against the Russian people. We’re not against Russia. We’re against bombs. We want all the relentless bombing to stop. We want the senseless killing and displacement of millions of innocent civilians – children and elderly people – in Ukraine to stop. And we actively pray for God’s intervention and help along those lines,” he said.
