One need look no further than July 11 in Greece to see an example of how the ‘world’ twists facts in an attempt to discredit the Faith.    It could be subtitled ‘much ado about a chestnut’.

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A journalist wrote an article stating  that  “the faithful who came forward to venerate the icon of the Venerable and God-bearing Father Paisios the Athonite, and the relic of Saint John Vrachiorites, as well as to see up close a chestnut which Father Konstantinos Kantanis said, was given here 27 years ago with the blessing of the Athonite Paisios to him, when he visited him as a student in 1990. It is worth noting that the chestnut after 27 years remains in its original condition.”

Ignoring the miraculous condition of the chestnut and the actual wording of the article, the press in Greece began reporting that those present ‘venerated’ the chestnut!  The issue was blown out of proportion to the extent that it went viral in Greece and prompted clarification statements from Church authorities.

Here is the complete article.