Open Letter to the Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis

By Archimandrite Pavlos Danas, Preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Aetolia and Acarnania.
Mr. Prime Minister,
By the grace of God, we come from Aetolia-Acarnania and are descendants of Saint Kosmas of Aetolia. For us and for all Greek Orthodox Christians, Saint Kosmas of Aetolia is the Christ-lover, the model of piety, equal to the Holy Unmercenaries, Equal-to-the-Apostles, Hieromartyr, exemplar for martyrs, ascetics, and priests, the true servant of the Master Christ, the Teacher of Orthodox dogmas, the awakener of the Nation, and the Prophet of the People.
On July 4, 2025, with pain of soul, we watched the way you made the “sign of the Cross” upon entering, during your visit to the Protaton Church in Karyes of Mount Athos. Truly, was there not one of your communication advisors to teach you how an Orthodox Christian makes the sign of the Cross? We are astonished that not even one of the Abbots or monks seized your “profane” hand to teach you how a Christian crosses himself—or were they “blinded” by the 100 million you promised them?
With that same “profane” hand you closed the Churches under the pretext of the “pandemic” of coronavirus, and you legislated homosexual marriage and adoption. You promoted the woke agenda, which wants man enslaved to his passions, an internationalist without the ideals of faith, homeland, and family, and you advanced the Islamization of the Greek people. From health slavery you are leading us to electronic slavery with the Personal Number you want to impose on us. The newspaper Kathimerini on 4 October 2020 wrote the following: “The Soviet Union will seem like a liberal paradise.” They forced us to take vaccines in order to take our lives. Now they force us to take the Personal Number in order to take our souls! This monstrous legislation leads us to the global dictatorship of the Antichrist!
Even though you claim to be an Orthodox Christian, you nevertheless did not abolish the legislation of another blasphemous former prime minister, which declared that blasphemy is no longer a criminal offense.
In closing, we would like to ask you: ultimately, the gesture you made when you entered the Protaton Church—was it papist, Masonic, or satanic? Because it reminds us of the inverted Cross.
Seek forgiveness from God:
- For the war you are waging against Orthodoxy and Hellenism.
- Because you are under excommunication.
- Because the Apostle Paul says: “Let no one deceive you with empty words; for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” Interpretation: “And let no one deceive you with hollow and false words, for because of these sins, which I mentioned before, the wrath of God comes against the children of disobedience and apostasy.” (Ephesians 5:6).
Saint Justin Popović says: “And men who set themselves against God fill themselves with the spirit of the first devil who is ‘opposed to God’ and ‘God-fighting’; they are adopted by him and thus become ‘sons of disobedience.’”
The Sign of the Cross
On August 24, our Church celebrates the memory of the holy glorious Hieromartyr and Equal-to-the-Apostles Kosmas of Aetolia. Please, I beg you, take a little time to read what Saint Kosmas of Aetolia teaches us about the value of the Precious Cross:
“Now I advise you: make a small prayer rope, young and old alike, and hold it in your left hand; and with your right hand make the sign of the Cross and say: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of the living God, through the Theotokos and all the Saints, have mercy on me, the sinful and unworthy servant.’"
The all-good God has granted us the Precious Cross, by which we bless, and the Holy Mysteries. With the Cross we open Paradise; with the Cross we drive away the demons. But we must have our hand clean from sins, and then the devil is burned and flees. Therefore, my brethren, whether you eat, drink, or work, do not neglect this word and the Cross. It is good and holy always to pray in the morning, in the evening, and at midnight.
Listen, my brethren, how the Cross must be made, and what it means.
First: Just as the Holy Trinity is glorified in heaven by the Angels, so you must join the three fingers of your right hand. And since you cannot ascend to heaven to worship, you place your hand on your head (for the head signifies heaven), and you say: ‘As the Angels glorify the Holy Trinity in heaven, so I also, as a servant, glorify and worship the Holy Trinity.’ And as the fingers are three, distinct yet together, so also the Holy Trinity is three Persons but one God.
Then: Bringing your hand down to your belly, say: ‘I worship and adore You, my Lord, for You deigned to be incarnate in the womb of the Theotokos for our sins.’
Then: You place it on your right shoulder and say: ‘I beseech You, my God, to forgive me and to place me on Your right hand with the righteous.’
Placing it on your left shoulder, say: ‘I beseech You, my Lord, do not place me on the left with the sinners.’
Then bowing to the ground, say: ‘I glorify You, my God, I worship and adore You, for as You were placed in the tomb, so also shall I be placed.’ And when you rise upright, it signifies the Resurrection, and you say: ‘I glorify and adore You, my Lord, for You arose from the dead to grant us eternal life.’ This is what the Cross means!”
The Power of the Cross
Saint Kosmas of Aetolia continues:
“Let us give an example, so that you may see the power of the Cross.
In Egypt there was once an impious king; he also had a Jewish vizier, who later became a Turk. In Alexandria there was a Patriarch named Joachim, a holy and wise man. Hearing of the Patriarch’s sanctity, the king loved him greatly. The Jew said to the king: ‘You have too much love for this Patriarch.’
The king replied: ‘The Patriarch is a good man.’
The Jew said: ‘Call him here, king, so that we may have a debate, and you will see that he will be left without an answer.’
The king summoned the Patriarch. The Jew said to him: ‘I want, Patriarch, to debate with you a little about faith.’
The Patriarch replied: ‘As you wish; I am ready even to shed my blood for my faith.’
Thus, beginning to argue, the Patriarch always prevailed with skill. The Jew then said: ‘Why do we argue? I hear that Christ said in the Gospel: “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will move a mountain from one place to another” (Matt. 17:20). If you are worthy, command it, and then I will believe.’
The Patriarch asked the king for three days, and consent was given. Three hours away there was a mountain. The Jew said the Patriarch must move that mountain. The Patriarch censed the mountain, made the sign of the Cross three times invoking the name of Christ, and commanded: ‘I order you, mountain, to rise and come to Egypt!’ And—O wonder!—immediately the mountain rose and was split into three, in the form of the Holy Trinity, and moved towards the city.
The king cried out: ‘Patriarch, help us, for we are lost!’ The Patriarch prayed again, and the mountain stopped six miles from the city.
But the Jew still did not believe, and said: ‘Christ also said, “If one drinks deadly poison, he will not die” (Mark 16:18). Let the Patriarch drink poison, and if he does not die, then we too will believe.’
The Jew prepared poison, intending to kill the Patriarch. The king ordered him to drink it. The Patriarch replied: ‘You gave me this cup, king, but you did not say from which side I should drink it.’ And making his right hand as though to bless, he asked from which side he should drink, and he traced the sign of the Cross over it, though the Jew did not notice.
The Jew insisted he drink. The Patriarch drank and remained unharmed. Then he said: ‘I drank the whole poison; let the Jew rinse the cup with a little water and drink it. If nothing happens to him, then we too will believe his faith.’
The Jew resisted, but the king compelled him. He drank—and O wonder!—he swelled and died instantly.
Understand, my brethren: whoever has faith in Christ and is pure, suffers no harm.”
With Clean Hands the Sign of the Cross
Saint Kosmas of Aetolia adds:
“Do you want to hear another proof, that the Cross has no power when the hand is defiled by sins?
There was a man named Julian the Reader, who studied with Saint Basil the Great. He desired to become emperor. He went to a Jewish magician and said: ‘Can you make me emperor, and I will make you vizier?’
The magician replied: ‘Deny Christ, and I will make you emperor.’
Julian said: ‘I deny Him.’
The magician gave him a paper and said: ‘Take this to a pagan tomb and cast it high; demons will come, but whatever they do, do not be afraid, and do not make the sign of the Cross, for they will flee.’
Julian went, cast the paper, and demons appeared. Terrified, he made the sign of the Cross, and the demons fled. He returned and told the magician, who said: ‘Go kill a child and bring me its heart.’ Julian killed a child and brought the heart. The magician summoned the demons again.
Julian, out of fear, again made the sign of the Cross—but this time the demons did not flee, for he was defiled by murder. Thus he accomplished his desire and ruled for two years, and then departed to hell to burn eternally.
So we too must be pure of sins, and then the devil will flee.”
Sacred Exhortation
The wise Metropolitan of Nea Smyrni, His Eminence Symeon, says:
“We must make the Sign of the Cross correctly, with precision, in such a way as to show respect for the holy symbol, manifesting true piety. The Cross is our invincible weapon. It constitutes our identity as Christians. It is the greatest and safest protection! That is why we must always carry it upon us. Other kinds of symbols have no place on Christians, and it is unacceptable that many Christians, either out of ignorance or snobbery, instead of the Cross of the Lord, wear some ridiculous or demonic symbols. The true adornment of the believer is only the Cross of Christ.”
Since we live in times of the Apocalypse, we must keep in our hearts the prophecy of Saint Kosmas of Aetolia: “Have the Cross upon your forehead, so that they may know that you are Christians.”
With warm wishes for true repentance,
Archimandrite Pavlos Danas
Preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Aetolia and Acarnania




