Bishop of Assos: “The People in Latin America Are Thirsty for Orthodoxy”

• Interview with Thanos Hercheletzis

He is descended from the Muisca, an ancient people who lived in the highlands of the Colombian Andes centuries before the Spanish arrived. He is a Christian Orthodox Bishop, speaks fluent Greek, and whenever he mentions Greece and Orthodoxy, his eyes light up and his speech becomes “fiery.”

The newspaper “Thessaloniki” met the Colombian Bishop of Assos of the Metropolis of Mexico, Mr. Timotheos, at the hospitable facilities of the Athonite Home in Thessaloniki. He had just arrived in the city from Mount Athos. I asked him if he wanted to rest and do the interview the next day. “I am better than ever! On Mount Athos you are reborn, you gain strength of soul and body ”, he replied and like… a torrent he began to speak passionately about the people of Latin America who “thirst for Orthodoxy”, about Greek culture, about Socrates , about Mount Athos. He began to talk about modern man, who, beginning to search for his true self, discovers along the way, once he manages to free himself from earthly burdens, that the true light that can illuminate his soul exists only in the person of Christ.

Tell me about your origins? Are you Colombian?

I am Colombian. I come from the “Muisca”, a special and ancient tribe. Some Colombians are descended from Indians, others from Spaniards, and others from Sephardic Jews who became Roman Catholics. Also, some Colombians are descended from blacks who came from Africa, while others are a “mix” between Spaniards and blacks.

How do people there view Orthodoxy?

The people of Latin America are thirsting for Orthodoxy. The number of people being baptized as Orthodox Christians is constantly increasing. We have a dynamic Metropolitan, Mr. Iakovos, who is a man with a Mount Athos spirit, with a pastoral and liturgical mindset. These characteristics are essential for the Metropolis of Mexico, where we have 39 countries, because someone – you know – will not become a Christian for a plate of food, but because he will truly feel within himself Christ and the true meaning of faith, through Orthodoxy. To understand how much the Orthodox are growing in Latin America, I will tell you the following: At first we were three Bishops, with a few parishes. Today we have numerous parishes, in the largest and most important cities of Colombia and other countries of Latin America. The population in these regions is tens of millions of people. They are huge regions. We are constantly in a car and we go from parish to parish. A bishop cannot sit behind a desk or stay in the Episcopal See. The presence of the Bishop in the world is necessary there, this is what gives strength to the parishes. The shortest trip we make is two hours. From there on we talk about pastoral tours, which last up to four days and that’s just for Colombia and Venezuela.

What is the situation in your countries? Is there a need for missionary work?

There are problems. In the Metropolis of Mexico we follow four pastoral lines. One is to transmit Orthodoxy to the locals, who are seeking Orthodoxy. Consider that I am now preparing three different groups to be baptized, and when I speak of a group I am not referring to 50 people, but to groups consisting of 300 to 400 people each and including Western pastors, who are becoming Orthodox. The second thing we do is charitable work. On the one hand, to help those who are Orthodox and on the other hand, those who are not. We do charitable work without asking what they believe, we simply follow the words of Christ “you saw me hungry and you gave me to eat” or as the holy Chrysostom says, not only to cover Christ with golden chalices in the temple, but also the person who is suffering. The third line we follow is to keep the Greeks of the diaspora who live there in our communities and in Orthodoxy. The fourth line we follow is to shout very loudly in Greece: “Greeks, look at us too, because we look towards Greece.” We want to remind the Greek people that they have a treasure that is not the euro. Their treasure is culture, it is Orthodoxy, our own faith, it is what kept the Greeks alive during the Turkish occupation and even today.

I rarely hear a Greek speak with as much passion as you do about Greece!

If I love Greece, it is because Greece loved me first. When I was born, Greece gave me 30% of my language, which is Greek. The remaining percentage comes from Latin, which again is a lot from Greek. The one who taught me to think and know myself was Socrates. If I have the Gospel, it is because it is written in the Greek language and the Greek language can transmit the message of the Gospel , help me understand it and interpret it correctly, according to the Fathers of the Church. Greece gave me wisdom, science, it gave me the Wisdom of God and human wisdom. What more can I ask from the Greeks?

How did you end up in Greece?

It was not a coincidence, it was God’s providence. I was looking for an answer to my life. When I was little I was restless and naughty. As children we didn’t do anything wrong, but we were naughty. I was always looking for an answer to my life and I liked talking to older people. One day I saw a documentary on TV with presidents of countries who visited Colombia. Among them was one named Makarios. He had visited Colombia and when I saw him I asked to know who he was. Someone said he was a heretic, then another told me he was Orthodox and that Orthodoxy is the true Church. He told me that if I wanted to become a proper and true Christian, I should become Orthodox and learn Greek, because in Greek are the Gospel, the New Testament, the works of the Fathers and philosophy, which is the tool with which one can interpret the incarnate word of Christ. That is how I learned Greek and began to seek Orthodoxy. At the age of 27, I found the Greeks, I found Orthodoxy and I came to Greece with the aim of knowing the light of truth. I had come with His Eminence Bishop Athenagoras of Myrina, who is from Colombia. We met while searching for Orthodoxy. We went to Greece, received the light and returned. And now we have large parishes in most cities and every day there are more people seeking Orthodoxy.

How did you find yourself in Katerini?

We were sent from Kilkis, from the Ecclesiastical Lyceum, to the monastery of Saint Dionysios in Litochoro. There we met the blessed Metropolitan of Kitros, Katerinis and Platamonas, Mr. Agathonikos, who loved us and we loved him in return. We asked him to baptize us and so he placed the Epiphany in the font for us, we were baptized and from then on we began our journey on the path of Orthodoxy.

How do you feel now that you are in Greece?

I love Greece very much and it hurts me a lot when I leave. But because I also hurt for my people, for those who still do not know Orthodoxy, for those who suffer from poverty and the corruption of politicians, I cannot remain indifferent. I come to Greece, I recharge my batteries, I learn from the Greeks and I return. If I wanted to have a good time, I would stay in Greece, but the reason for my calling pulls me back like a magnet, this calling asks me to return because my people need me there . We need to carry out the missionary work, transmitting Orthodoxy. Hellenism enriches us and Orthodoxy enlightens us and sanctifies us.

What does Mount Athos mean to you?

I come from a world where people try to change their inner state. Ideologically for me, Mount Athos is the only and true place in which man can find an answer, an ontological answer. I always say that there is an ideological revolution, but there is also an ontological one. The true revolutionary is the one who is on his knees. Why is he on his knees? Because he understands that the only change that exists is when man experiences repentance, purification, and emptiness. Without these, we cannot change ideas. Nothing happens if you do not change ontologically, and in order to reach enlightenment or be a wise person, you need to walk, if you allow me, on the path of Saint Paisios or Father Christodoulou, who was abbot of the Koutloumousiou Monastery, or Father Emiliano in Simonos Petras. The monk struggles with what each of us must struggle with, himself. If we want the world to change, we must change. Mount Athos is a holy place inhabited by holy people, where the invisible war waged by the brothers is also present, alongside the love and wisdom that enlighten the pilgrims. On Mount Athos, people become truly human in Christ.