The Italian monks loyal to the Greek Orthodox rite
Brother Claudio, 27, picks an olive branch at Greek Abbey of Saint Nilus, which hosts Italy’s last 10 Basilian monks of the Greek Orthodox rite, in Grottaferrata, Italy, south of Rome. The Basilian monks built the monastery in 1004, 50 years before the Great Schism of 1054 which led to the separation of Eastern and Western Christianity. At that time, the monks chose to remain faithful to the pope of Rome instead of following the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople. To this day, however, the Basilians follow the Greek Orthodox liturgy. The monks adhere to the acetic regimen of prayer and work of the order founded by St Basil in 356 in present-day Turkey. [Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters]
