Suspect Arrested in Greece Over Anti-Masonic Bombing in Athens

by Christopher Hodapp

Back in July, the Scottish Rite Supreme Council of Greece building in Athens suffered limited damage after a bomb exploded outside the entrance. A second device was safely detonated outside of the adjacent Grand Lodge of Greece building. A suspect was arrested on July 25th, and I'm only just finding out about that now. 

Thanks to Joe Wäges for passing along the story this afternoon. The headline describes him as a follower of the "far-right", but the story does not reveal his face or name. I suspect there have been more updates since this story, but this is the initial report after his arrest.

From the Tribune.gr website on July 25th, 2023, via Google translate (imperfect, I know, but I can't read Greek I'm afraid). 

The 61-year-old , alleged bomber of the Masonic Buildings on Sourmeli Street (Scottish Rite and Grand Lodge of Greece), was arrested on Monday (25/07) by the Authorities. He declares himself a fanatical enemy of Freemasonry, "Guardian of the Constitution", but also a follower of Kapodistrias, although Kapodistrias was of course a Freemason, just as the Friendly Society and almost the entire leadership of the Revolution of 1821 were Freemasons.

 He told the police that he is the "Guardian of the Constitution" and invoked Article 120 of the Constitution for what he did.

He was arrested after an investigation by the police at his house in Athens where the police discovered an entire factory of explosive devices.

Specifically, the 61-year-old appears on social media as a protector of the Fatherland and orthodoxy against Freemasonry and the "Satanic Governance of Greece", as he characterizes it, while in several of his posts he expresses anti-Semitic and extremist views.

 The building of the Scottish Rite on Sourmeli Street and next to it the building of the Great Lodge of Greece on Sourmeli and Acharnon Streets. The bomb exploded outside the Scots building, [A second bomb was found in the Grand Lodge building and was detonated in a controlled explosion. - CLH ]

His post five days after the attack

A few days after the attack on the Masonic Buildings in Athens, he published an article on his personal website, in which he commented on the explosion on Sourmeli Street, speaking of punishment from the "Warrior of God" who will fight "with weapons" against the satanic forces.
It should be noted that Freemasons have nothing to do with religion but only with Right Reason and Enlightenment.

 

The 61-year-old also published photos of flyers which he presented as a proclamation for the attack on the Masonic Buildings on Sourmeli Street.

The leaflets, entitled "Masonic Satanists and Traitors of Greece", stated among other things "we officially declare war on every enemy and opponent of our country". 

Furthermore, the arrested person, although he did not take responsibility for the bombing, claimed in his article that the flyers were found in Menidi and referred to the explosion at the Scottish Press building.

Finally, a day later, the 61-year-old wrote on his Facebook profile that the first bombing attack on a Masonic Lodge worldwide is the revenge of Ioannis Kapodistrias on his "Masonic murderers". 

We repeat that Ioannis Kapodistrias was a mason.

 

Grand Lodge and High Council are not the same.

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, also known simply as the Scottish Type, is a spiritually and conceptually unified series of 33 progressive degrees, organized into two distinct series:

• Symbolic Freemasonry (1°- 3°) which usually has a distinct structure and is under the administration of the relevant Grand Lodge.

• Philosophical Freemasonry (4°-33°), governed by the Supreme Council (under the presidency of the Supreme Grand Master), which is also the "guardian" (that is, the spiritual guide and "protector") of the Rite.

Philosophical Freemasonry is one of the two main developments of Symbolic Freemasonry (1°- 3°) that a Master Mason can take to deepen the principles and concepts of Freemasonry. The other major development is the York Rite, established in the United States.

The Grand Lodge of Greece was founded and began to operate in Greece under the name Serene Grand Orient of Greece in 1868, after the Grand Orient of Italy by decision of the Grand Master granted a relevant license on February 16, 1867 to the Directorate, which until then was administered by 1864 the existing Greek Freemasonry (with first recorded lodges in the cities of Athens, Piraeus, Chalkida, Patras, Syros, Lamia and Argos).

The Supreme Council of the 33° of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Greece was founded and settled in Athens in the year 1872, under Dimitrios Rodokanakis who was raised to the 33rd degree by the Supreme Council of Scotland, with authorization to establish a Supreme Council in Greece.

In 1936, the Serene Grand East of Greece was renamed the Great Lodge of Greece, and is still based in Athens, at 19 Acharnon Street and Sourmeli, while the Scottish Press was the only active Masonic Press in Greece until 1980.

The Supreme Council for Greece accepts members, master masons, from the two regular grand lodges, the Grand Lodge of Greece (MStE) and the National Grand Lodge of Greece (EMStE).

 

Where you can find The Scottish Rite

The Greek High Council under Em. Gerakio is the legal and normal in Greece, according to the masonic traditions and dozens of decisions of the Greek Justice, including the Supreme Court.

As a legal and regular High Council it maintains cordial relations both with the mother tongue of the USA and with French, which is the second in the world and the first in Europe.

The United States, France, Greece alliance, the Washington, Paris, Athens axis, is also strong here.

The Supreme Council has its headquarters at 2 Sourmeli Street in Athens, right next to the Great Lodge Palace, also known as "Acharnon" and its members meet in the building opposite the Great Lodge of Greece, at Averof 30 and Acharnon.

The Supreme Council accepts members from the two regular Grand Lodges of our country, the Grand Lodge of Greece (MSTE) and the National Grand Lodge of Greece (EMSTE).

To join the Scottish Rite one must [be initiated into] the first three degrees of Freemasonry, which are obtained through [lodge] membership under one of the two regular Grand Lodges.

Athens: Suspect Arrested in Bombing of Grand Lodge of Greece

by Christopher Hodapp

An unnamed suspect has been arrested and charged with several bombings in Athens, Greece, including the July 13th explosion that happened outside the Grand Lodge of Greece and Supreme Council building. According to state broadcaster ERT, the suspect was seen on video footage by investigators looking into the attack. The explosion caused some damage, but no injuries.

He hasn't been publicly identified at this time.

From Ekathimerini.com website on July 26, 2023:

A 61-year-old man was arrested as the prime suspect behind several bombs planted outside the freemasons’ Grand Lodge of Greece in central Athens has also been charged with additional bomb and arsonist attacks in and around the Greek capital, the Hellenic Police announced on Wednesday.

While raiding his home police officers found a number of makeshift explosive devices, as well as quantities of explosives, tools and materials for making bombs, eight shotguns and large amounts of ammunition, firecrackers, printed flyers, a computer and printer, 18 mobile phones, a wig and clothing used during the bomb attack.

The suspect has been charged with the bomb attack on July 13, 2023 at a building housing the Freemasons’ Grand Lodge of Greece and Supreme Council 33 ° ; the bomb attack on March 2, 2023 on the Koropi Lower Civil Court and an attempted arsonist attack on the building housing the East Attica Secondary Education Directorate in Gerakas; a bomb attack on April 21, 2020 on a building owned by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece in central Athens.

For some bizarre reason, other sources seem a little too eager about describing the bomb and its detonation methods — not especially sophisticated, but why give instructions to bored teenagers, imbeciles and self-proclaimed revolutionaries? 

Police said the suspect was tied to the above attacks through investigative and forensic evidence, collected in collaboration with the Special Crimes of Violence Department, and that he resisted violently during the operation for his arrest.

The 61-year-old will be led before a public prosecutor and face charges of attempted arson, causing explosions that repeatedly endangered human life, possession and manufacture of explosives and explosive devices, destruction of property and other charges. [AMNA]

Bomb Explodes Outside of Greek Scottish Rite Supreme Council in Athens

Photo: Dimitris Peristeris/Intime News

by Christopher Hodapp

UPDATE: An earlier version of this story misidentified the building that was attacked today in Athens, based on online news reports. It was the Supreme Council of the AASR for Greece, NOT the Grand Lodge building. I regret the error. Thanks to Joe Wäges for forwarding better information.

A bomb exploded early this morning at the entrance of the Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite building in Athens, Greece. A young man was spotted by a passing pedestrian who said he dropped a backpack at the door and ran away, yelling, "F**k your Freemasonry!" Fortunately, there were no injuries, and damage to the building was minimal. 

Greek news reports have said that the bomb was at the ‘Masonic Hall,’ which is actually directly across the street from the Supreme Council's new building. (Right side of photo below.) The 'Masonic Hall' itself (left side) is the headquarters for the Grand Lodge of Greece AF&AM.

According to Greek news reports HERE and HERE, an anonymous person called the 112 emergency telephone center at 6:30AM Athens time and warned that a bomb was at the Masonic Hall without saying when it was set to explode. The Athens Explosive Ordnance Disposal Department (EOD) was immediately dispatched, but the bomb exploded just outside the front doors as the trucks were arriving. Authorities described it as a low-power "improvised explosive device (IED)." The explosion started a small fire outside that was immediately extinguished and did no serious damage to the building.

The EOD discovered a second suspicious package a few hours later after an extensive search of the building, and disposed of it with a controlled explosion shortly after 9:00AM. 

State-run media ERT reported that area residents who heard the initial blast explosion described feeling a substantial shockwave. One eyewitness claimed to have seen the attacker place the first bomb – a young white male who did not try to cover his features.

Shortly after the incident, the Grand Commander of the AASR for Greece, Illus. Emmanuel Gerakios 33º, made a short announcement to reassure their members, and said:

“ I want to reassure you that there was no problem with the bomb, which was placed a few meters from the entrance of the Supreme Council.

"It was a cowardly blow. It is unknown [who is responsible] now, although I am confident that the prosecuting Authorities know and they will find the way."

As of late this afternoon, no suspects have been named in this case.

Another Greek Masonic hall was attacked in April 2022 by a man wielding an axe and armed with a shotgun. Fortunately, there was little damage to the building in Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece.

Man Attacks Greek Masonic Hall With Axe and Shotgun

by Christopher Hodapp

A 36-year-old Greek man was arrested late Sunday following an attack on the Masonic temple in the historic port city of Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece, with over a million inhabitants.

According to a report on the Greek City Times website, the man parked front of the Masonic hall at about 10:30 PM, got out of the car, and retrieved a shotgun and an axe from inside. He began beating on the lodge's main entry door with the axe, and fired off two gunshots.

Police quickly arrived following phone calls from neighbors who heard the shots. Following the collection of evidence at the scene, the man was arrested at his home in Nea Madyto, about 44 miles to the east of Thessaloniki. His weapons were found at the home.

He is to be arraigned by the local prosecutor later today. His name and motive has not been released.

WEOFM: "Freemasons & The Greek War of Independence" by Andreas C. Rizopoulos

The 15th video presentation from the Worldwide Exemplification of Freemasonry is now available. This week's program is "Freemasons & The Greek War of Independence" by Andreas C. Rizopoulos, PM. .

Andreas C. Rizopoulos, is a retired journalist and communications consultant. He is Full Member of Quatuor Coronati No. 2076, the Premier Lodge of Research under the United Grand Lodge of England and Fellow of the Scottish Rite Research Society. He belongs to Panathenean No. 146 Lodge in Greece (founder and Past Master) and was Founder-Steward of Internet Lodge No. 9659 in England. He also belongs to the Scottish Rite in Greece and to the Holy Royal Arch, Mark (Past Provincial Grand Standard Bearer), and Royal Ark Mariner (Provincial Royal Ark Mariner Grand Rank) in England. For the past twenty years he has been Grand Representative of two USA Grand Lodges at the Grand Lodge of Greece.

He has authored three books on Freemasonry: Philhellenes and Greek Freemasons in 1821, Greek Masonic Handbook and Freemasonry in the Ionians; plus many historical articles published in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Heredom, the Greek Masonic magazine Pythagoras, the Turkish Masonic magazine Mimar Sinan. He has delivered more than a hundred papers in Lodges and general Masonic meetings. He has published novels, poetry, books on literary and medical history, communication, and aviation, and has translated many books into Greek.

The Worldwide Exemplification of Freemasonry 2011 Lecture Series is a free presentation of Masonic education endorsed by the Grand Lodge of Indiana F&AM, beginning January 1, 2011 and running through December 31, 2011.