Vissarion Korkoliacos

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Vissarion Korkoliacos (Greek: Βησσαρίων Κορκολιάκος), also spelled as Visarion or Vissarion Korkoliakos, (1908 - 1991), was a Greek Orthodox monk of the Agathonos Monastery, close to Lamia, Central Greece. He became a monk in his teen years and regarded, from those who knew him, as an especially good-hearted cleric with humanitarian spirit.

[edit] The opening of Vissarion's tomb

Vissarion (Bessarion) became famous after the opening of his tomb in March 2006, during which Monks and coroners found the body of Vissarion in pristine condition. The event caused sensation and amazement not only in the local Community of Fthiotida but also to the whole of Greece, especially after exposure of the event on Greek television. The relics of Vissarion were inspected for first time by the retired Professor and famous Athens coroner Panayiotis Yamarelos, who spoke on television about an extraordinary and inexplicable event. More specifically, the phrases of Yamarelos about Vissarion's extremely well-preserved body and his statement regarding the face being in such pristine condition that it "was ready to talk to you", caused a commotion.

The Bishop of Fthiotida, Nickolaos, said that the Church should not be in a hurry to announce any kind of sanctity of the monk Vissarion, and that the issue should be discussed at the Iera Sinodhos (Holy Synod) of the Orthodox Church of Greece in Athens. However, after the publication of this extraordinary event by the Greek media, hundreds of believers from the area of Fthiotida and other parts of Greece, arrived at the Agathonos Monastery in order to venerate the body of Vissarion.

[edit] Reaction

The issue of the incorruptibility of Vissarion's remains caused a tumult within the scientific community in Greece. The coroner, Nikos Karakoukis, spoke about the possibility of a natural mummification because of the place in which Vissarion's body was buried. More specifically, as Karakoukis and other medical examiners said, the nonexistence of oxygen in the place of burial, as well as the dry condition which existed in the tomb, could cause mummification of the body.

The retired coroner, Panayiotis Yamarelos, proposed to Bishop Nickolaos that the body should remain in a feretory, in a specific place inside the monastery for another two or three years; in order to give a better idea to the medical examiners and Church depending on its preservation in pristine condition or its decomposition in the future.

After the publication of photographs of Vissarion's relics in a daily Greek tabloid, the president of coroners Nikos Karakoukis asked from the Bishop of Fthiotida to permit scientific research of a team of medical examiners on Monk's body in order to publish a conclusion for the case. Moreover, coroner Karakoukis denied the opinion of his colleague Panayiotis Yamarelos and spoke about a case which could have a logical explanation through the science of medical jurisprudence.