60 Minutes: Traveling to holy Mount Athos
April 25th, 2011 | by |
“60 Minutes” gets extremely rare access to the monasteries at Mt. Athos, perhaps one of the most sacred places in Christianity.
It’s called Mount Athos and prayers have been offered there every day, with no interruption, for more than a thousand years. It was set aside by ancient emperors to be the spiritual capital of Orthodox Christianity and has probably changed less over the centuries than any other inhabited place on the planet. The monks come to Mount Athos from all over and do everything they can to keep what they call “the world” far away.
Not surprisingly, journalists are not exactly welcome. For more than two years, we’ve been corresponding, negotiating and, frankly, pleading, for an invitation, but ran into one monastic wall after another. Then, much to our surprise, and delight, a few months ago, the monks invited us to visit.
A Byzantine cross by the sea marks the border between Mount Athos and the 21st century. The monks come there, as they always have, for the beauty, the tranquility and the isolation. But mostly they come for the religious way of life that has hardly changed in more than a thousand years.
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Tags: 60 minutes, cbs, christian orthodox, christianity, Mount Athos, mt athos
