Jutting off a sharp promontory on the south east coast of Salonica is a peninsula known to every Orthodox Christian. It has a glorious history that stretches over one thousand years. Basil the Macedonian first referred to Mount Athos as the Holy Mountain in 885, when some monks began to live on the side of its inhospitable crags. The oldest monastery, Megiste Lavra, was founded in 963 by Anastasius the Radiant.

The path to the mountain is made difficult by overgrown trails, thick with branches and thorns. From the sea, it looks even more impressive. Protruding proudly from the coast, it rises six and a half thousand feet into the clouds. The one hundred and forty miles was once home to as many as forty thousand monks at one time. They mostly lived as hermits. Today there are twenty monasteries on the Holy Mountain, but the number of monks has fallen to just fourteen hundred.

Monasticism developed along the same lines as in the West, with vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience. Whereas the secular clergy may marry, the bishops of the church are always chosen from the celibate monasteries. One saint advised his monks to keep bishops and women at bay, for they surely wanted to lure the monk from his monastic seclusion.

In origin, as with the West, monasticism springs from the example of St. Anthony of Egypt, the 4th century founder of the monastic movement. Monasteries were for men as well as for women, and when Anthony went to live in the desert of Egypt, he entrusted his younger sister to a convent of virgins, which had existed for some time. However, on Mount Athos, females and children are not allowed. The monks of just one monastery have caused consternation on the Holy Mountain.

One hundred and three monks of the monastery of Esfigmenou have refused to acknowledge the primacy of the protos, or head abbot who cares for all the monks of the mountain. Even the patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew has threatened the ultimate penalty, excommunication. Today the peninsula is recognised as an autonomous region, governed by the ierkoinotes. This abbot answers directly to the Patriarch Bartholomew.

So, what have the brothers done to earn such publicity - or notoriety?

"We are faithful to orthodoxy," chant the monks from behind a wall. "Orthodoxy or death!"

To prove the seriousness of their position, they have gathered enough food and water to last a siege of two years. Two hunting rifles and a few rounds of bullets underline that the brethren mean business.

Two police cars from Salonica are parked discreetly near the old monastery, and policemen sit smoking cigarettes waiting for something to happen. But to date, the war has just been one of words.

A further indication of their refusal to do what others tell them is their attachment to the Julian calendar. The present day calendar, the Gregorian calendar, dates from 1582, and was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. Julius Caesar formulated the Julian calendar in 48 B.C. One can guess that the motivation for not adopting the later calendar may be linked with ecumenical motives. That proves to be the case.

The cause of the rupture in fact goes back to Jerusalem, 1964. Between January 4th-6th, Pope Paul VI was in the Holy Land, "a pilgrim," he observed, "from the Fathers gathered at the tomb of St. Peter." The Second Vatican Council was in full swing. Ecumenism had made extraordinary progress. During the visit to Jerusalem, the Pope met Athenagoras, the Patriarch of Constantinople. The liturgy of reconciliation acknowledged that historical shortsightedness and arrogance had played not a small part in the rupture of relationships. Few can forget the image of the two elderly men embracing each other in a gesture of fraternal care and walking arm in arm, taking steps that took centuries to achieve.

On August 6th, Pope Paul followed up the gesture with the publication of his encyclical Ecclesiam Suam. This document underlined the importance of the ecumenical dialogue that could lead to full unity. In the Spring of the following year, several relics stolen during the 12th century crusades were restored to the Orthodox Church.

On the eve of the closure of the Second Vatican Council on 7th December, 1965, Paul and Athenagoras lifted the mutual excommunications that had been imposed by their predecessors in 1054. On July 26th, 1967, Paul travelled to Istanbul (old Constantinople) where he met Athenagoras once more. The invitation was reciprocated when Athenagoras was a guest at the Vatican, some months later, in late October.

If Pope Paul upset the monks at Esfigmenou, then Pope John Paul II is really the big bad wolf. Orthodoxy has always fascinated the Slavic pope. On every papal visit, the Pope makes sure to salute the local Orthodox community. In the Spring of 2001, Pope John Paul battled particularly poor health to make a long-desired visit to Greece. At Athens he made a conciliatory speech that particularly impressed the Orthodox community and enraged the monks at Esfigmenou.

When the most recent abbot of Esfigmenou died, many among the other monks on the mountain hoped for the election of someone a little more flexible, even if not necessarily open to ecumenical dialogue.

The new abbot, Methodius seems even more stubborn and determined than his predecessor and is a great favourite with his hundred monks. But the influence of the monks is not confined solely to the monastery of Esfigmenou. There are also Greek-Americans who admire and support their dramatic stand. The Patriarch Bartholemew refuses to allow the decade of ecumenical achievement go up in smoke. He knows that the monks have wide support, even within Greece itself. His order to leave the monastery has been greeted with derision by the monks, who have appealed to the Courts in Athens for help. Meanwhile, no publicity is bad publicity. The guesthouse reports requests from prospective visitors for months ahead, as soon as the siege is lifted.