Archbishop Ieronymos II - TROLL OF THE MONTH

The Troll of the Month is an incident we choose every month to expose racist and anti-religious haters and to show positive outcomes in the fight against intolerance in Europe.

The Archbishop of Athens and of all Greece, Ieronymos II, was interviewed for a television program on the Greek OPEN channel. This program was commemorating 200 years since the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire which took place in 1821, leading to national independence. In the interview, Ieronymos II said: "As we all know, Islam is not a religion, it is a political party. It is a political pursuit. They are the people of war. The people of expansion. This is what Muhammet [Turkish form of Muhammad] taught."

The interview with Ieronymos II has been reproduced on many media outlets, some of which have used it as “proof” of Islam’s supposed evil nature. Some examples of how the interview was used for this purpose can be found here and here. The incident offended Greece’s Muslim community, who have reacted directly. In addition, the case impacted the Greek-Turkish relations. The head of Turkey’s directorate of religious affairs, Ali Erbas, commented: “The most important duty of the clergy, who should strive for peace and tranquillity, should be to contribute to the culture of coexistence.”

Unfortunately, Ieronymos II’s comments are not uncommon in Greece. There have been many cases of people believing that the fight for independence in 1821 was not only a fight against a powerful empire, driven by the need for freedom for the enslaved communities, but also as a fight for Christianity against Islam, which eventually led to the defeat of Muslims in Europe. It is a narrative we have found several times in the Greek media, both on mainstream and more extreme platforms. OPEN is known as a fair and journalistically-sound television channel; however, it is troubling that this segment of the interview was shared, especially without a rebuttal. Ieronymos II has used the platform given to him by OPEN to spread harmful stereotypes about Muslims and Islam. His argument resembles that of the debunked ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory, often to be found in far-right circles, which claims that Muslims are “taking over” Europe. As the Archbishop of Athens and of all Greece, Ieronymos II holds extreme power and influence. These words coming from him are therefore deeply troubling, as many people could take them as fact. 

Get The Trolls Out! Greek partner, KARPOS, who identified the incident, has reported the content to the hosting platform.