The Blasphemous Film 

St. Paisios of Mount Athos

In 1988, there was an uproar all over Greece about the release of Martin Scorcese's blasphemous film, The Last Temptation of Christ, which was based on the book of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. 

In addition to the sporadic opposition to the film by faithful Greeks, the Church hierarchy decided to hold a coordinated protest on November 6-7 of that year (according to the new calendar). The Athonite community was also asked to participate. 

Many people reacted negatively to the idea, because they did not consider it to be very spiritual to concern themselves with such matters, and they said that it is better to ignore the movie than to attract more attention to it by protesting it. 

The Elder's opinion was the exact opposite. 'At the time of the iconoclasts,' he said, 'Ten Christians forcefully defended the icon of Christ at the Bronze Door of the palace in Constantinople and were martyred for it. Now Christ's person is being blasphemed, and we must not be indifferent. If 'knowledgeable' and 'discerning' people like us had lived at that time, they would have said to the ten martyrs, 'That is not how to be spiritual. So the emperor's soldiers are coming to destroy the icon—never mind. When things change, we will put another icon there, and it will even be more Byzantine.' We try to make our downfall, our cowardice, our self-serving attitude appear to be something exalted. It makes me shudder.' 

Since he viewed protesting the blasphemous film as a confession of faith, he moved quickly to support the Church in her struggle. He exhorted others, and he added his signature to a letter addressed to Koutloumousiou monastery by monks who wanted to go to Thessaloniki for the protest. His position helped influence the Holy Community of Athos to decide in favor of full participation. The presence at the demonstration of the Governor and most of the monastery representatives, along with abbots and a hundred other Athonites, inspired the crowd with enthusiasm and emotion. The Saint's presence made a particular impression. Despise his severe health problems, he stood throughout the demonstration. When it ended, he was in danger of being trampled by the crowd's expressions of reverence for him. 

Monks and nuns from monasteries outside the Holy Mountain also took part, along with many of the laity. Their common acts and prayers, including the Elder's, had good results: the state forbade the screening of the blasphemous film. The the "Last Temptation" was averted—if only it truly had been the last. 

Source: An excerpt from Saint Paisios of Mount Athos by Hieromonk Isaac, pp. 276-278.