Blackwell Reference Online

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Zealots, fervently traditionalist eastern orthodox who see monasticism and asceticism at the heart of church life, exist in both Old and New Calendar jurisdictions ( see old calendarists ). No single organization expresses this anarchic movement in its entirety. In secular politics zealots have taken up widely divergent positions, some staunchly monarchist, others allied with radical groupings to oppose any state attempts to attain a stranglehold over church life. Pilgrimage to the Phyli monastery of SS Cyprian and Justina provides a meeting place for zealots and zealot sympathizers. On Mount athos zealots are characterized by opposition to ecumenism . Esphigmenou monastery is a centre for the most committed zealotism, taking no part in the general life of athos ; the meetings of the Epistasia of the Holy Mountain usually record ‘Esphigmenou, absent, for the usual reasons’. Zealots are well represented among small kellia and hermitages of the ‘desert’ at the southern tip of the peninsula. Athonite zealots are frequently on bad terms with their bishop, the ecumenical patriarch . ... log in or subscribe to read full text