Citizen Columns
Question
When you meet clergy of your own faith, how do you greet each other and what is this greeting meant to signify? How would you greet other religious, such as the dalai lama?
Answer
“Greet one another with a holy kiss” (1 Thes 5:26). This was St Paul’s message around 50AD in the earliest piece of writing of the New Testament, and the exact same parting instruction figures regularly in his letters (Rom 16:16, 1 Cor 16:20, 2 Cor 13:12). The First Letter of Peter, written about fifteen years later, uses similar words: “Greet one another with the kiss of love” (1 Pet 5:14).
This is still the practice among Orthodox Christians, especially clergy. We greet each other with the words “Christ is in our midst” and the other responds “He is and shall be!”, as we kiss two or three times on alternate cheeks, and then kiss each others right hand, as a sign of mutual blessing (priests and bishops give blessings by making the sign of the cross with their right hand). This is often followed by an embrace.
During the Divine Liturgy the clergy exchange this kiss of peace, and in some traditions the whole congregation does as well. There are also a number of occasions for special greetings. At Easter we greet each other with “Christ is risen” and respond “Truly he is risen!” At Christmas we say “Christ is born, Glorify him!” And we begin Lent with the words, “Forgive me, God forgives”.
There are local variations in all this, but greeting each other with a kiss and/or embrace is part of the cultures in which early Christianity emerged and where Orthodox Christianity developed, but it is less comfortable in some western societies. So this takes some getting used to. A friend of mine was in a seminary choir visiting a parish in Texas. He went up to greet the priest in the Orthodox way, but the priest-a Texan convert-stuck out his hand and said “cowboys don’t kiss”.
There is no rule for greeting the clergy of other faiths, except to do whatever makes them feel comfortable or is the normal sign of respect.
Father John Jillions
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