Press Release – ʺThe Exodus of Mesolongi and the Bishop of Rogoi Iosifʺ – His Grace the Bishop of Rogoi, Mr. Filotheos
The Exodus of Mesolongi is a unique and unrepeatable event of the Greek Revolution that shook the entire then-known world and largely determined the course of the Greek nation toward the freedom it so longed for, after more than 400 years of slavery under the Turkish yoke.
United Romiosyni, with the blessing of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens and paying a small tribute to those brave people, organized an event for the 200 years since the heroic Exodus in the hall of the charitable association «Saint Alexios, the Man of God», at 44 Zoodochou Pigis Street, in Exarcheia, on Saturday 6 June 2026 at 19:00 with the theme: «The exodus of Mesolongi and the Bishop of Rogoi Iosif». The speakers at the event were: His Grace the Bishop of Rogoi, Mr. Filotheos; Mr. Ioannis Makris, a descendant of the hero fighter Dimitris Makris; and Mrs. Anastasia Gogou, philologist. The event was accompanied by the cultural and historical society for the preservation and revival of the history of Aitoliko, «The Taxiarches», with the traditional costumes and weapons of the Exodus, as well as a musical ensemble of young people from the Holy City of Mesolongi.
The aim of the event was to honor the memory of the heroes who, through their deed, raised Mesolongi into a global symbol of freedom, dignity, and self-sacrifice. The anniversary of the Exodus constitutes an occasion for deep reflection but also for renewal of our collective responsibility toward the values that founded the Greek state.
The event was greeted by Fr. Ioil Kostantaros, representative of His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Mr. Ieronymos.
Immediately afterward, His Grace the Bishop of Rogoi, Mr. Filotheos, took the podium, and in his speech sketched the multidimensional personality of the then Bishop of Rogoi, Iosif. «The Bishop of Rogoi Iosif was a very great figure who, through his personality, defined the epic of the Free Besieged of the holy city of Mesolongi. He had a saintly and sanctified life. He was just, prudent, humble, and free from avarice, and for this reason he inspired respect in all without exception. From the autumn of 1824 until the self-sacrifice of 16 April 1826, he was the spiritual leader who guided the spirit of the Free Besieged. Had Iosif of Rogoi not been in Mesolongi at that particular moment in time, the history of the Free Besieged and of the Exodus would not have been what we know today».
Mrs. Anastasia Gogou analyzed the significance of Mesolongi and of the Free Besieged for the development of the Revolution and the course toward the liberation of the nation from the bonds of Turkish rule. «The motto of the people of Mesolongi was: "We die, but we do not bow down"! The Exodus was not an act of despair, but an act of freedom and a refusal of submission. It became a symbol of the Revolution and had a global impact. Never has human heroism reached such a point. The Free Besieged fought face to face with death. With the Exodus, Mesolongi passes into eternity and immortality».
The main points of the address by Mr. Ioannis Makris were the following: «The history of Mesolongi is a product of the history of the place and of the inhabitants who lived there. Before 1821, Mesolongi was completely destroyed two other times. Both times it returned stronger. After the heroic Exodus, however, it never returned as it had been before. It flourished greatly during the period of the ethnarchy, but disappeared within the framework of the modern Greek state, which extolled the principles and values of the European Enlightenment. The ethnarchy, which was born during the period of Turkish rule, adopted the democracy of ancient Greece and produced culture within the framework of enslaved Hellenism. The Revolution did not prevail; it compromised. The revolutionaries exchanged the liberation of the homeland for cultural voluntary servitude to the West. In the ethnarchy there was room for the traditional, but also for the new. Mesolongi places us before our responsibilities and urges us to reflect on who we were then and who we are now».
United Romiosyni warmly thanks Fr. Georgios Schoinas and Fr. Nektarios Stogiannis for granting the hall of the charitable association «Saint Alexios, the Man of God» for the holding of the event, as well as the three speakers, His Grace the Bishop of Rogoi Mr. Filotheos, Mr. Ioannis Makris, and Mrs. Anastasia Gogou, for their very inspired speeches. Finally, we thank the cultural and historical society for the preservation and revival of the history of Aitoliko, «The Taxiarches», as well as the musical ensemble of young people from the Holy City of Mesolongi who accompanied the event, giving it a special character.
