Category: faith

Archbishop Anastasios of Albania passed away this morning at the age of ninety five. His eminence of Greek ancestry was well known for reviving the Albanian Orthodox Church following the collapse of communism. Previous to this he was a missionary in Africa.

He was known for his piety, education, and bringing many Albanians to Christ and his Church during his forty year tenure as Archbishop of that autocephalous Church. More recently, the Archbishop demonstrated his status as a defender of Orthodoxy by opposing Patriarch Bartholomew’s recognition of the pseudo church in Ukraine.

The Archbishop condemned the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church while at times protesting harassment of his own Albanian Church by the secular authorities.

His Memory be eternal!

The Greek government is reportedly going to fund the salaries of African priests serving under the Patriarchate of Alexandria. Before the schism of 2018, this could have been perceived as Greece supporting Orthodoxy. The schism that resulted from Patriarch Bartholomew’s intervention in Ukraine and the Greek government’s legalization of same sex marriage calls into question Greece’s actions.

There have been suggestions that African priests are moving to the Russian Church from Alexandria over resources and money. African priests left Alexandria for the Russians for spiritual reasons. Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria entered into communion with the artificial institution known as “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” a cabal of defrocked and unordained laypeople mocking the Orthodox Church.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis should not be trusted by Orthodox Greeks. His legalization of same sex marriage demonstrated his indifference to Orthodoxy. I doubt that he cares to find out the truth of what happened in Africa. The Greek foreign Ministry errs in backing Patriarch Bartholomew’s destructive intervention in Ukraine.

Backing hierarchs such as Patriarchs Bartholomew and Patriarch Theodore only serves to further estrange Greece from the greater Orthodox world. Greece would do better to use its influence to pressure these Patriarchs to reverse their uncanonical actions in Ukraine. That is what an Orthodox government would do.

Patriarch Bartholomew met with President Erdogan of Turkey and reportedly thanked him for agreeing to the reopening of the Halki seminary. It is strange that there has been no official announcement if such a development is true. This writer has been involved in previous efforts to open Halki.

Even if Halki is about to reopen, there is no justification for celebrating. The Ecumenical Patriarchate, an oppressed Church in Turkey is complicit in the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch and the Archbishop of America have transgressed by triggering the worst schism in Orthodoxy in close to 1,000 years.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate must cease doing the bidding of the anti Russian foreign policy establishment and cease being a source of division in Orthodoxy. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church must be freed from persecution. When the Ukrainian Church is free from persecution, and the schism with Moscow comes to an end then those of us who are among the faithful under Constantinople can rejoice over Halki.

This is assuming the rumors are true. Also, we must wait and see if Turkey sets conditions that are unreasonable for the reopening of Halki.

Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon has attracted attention for wearing a shirt that says “Free Constantinople”. British politician Paul Golding went on X to show an image of the Greek Army outside Hagia Sophia. What to make of these pro Constantinople sentiments.

Everything should be kept in context. There is no possibility that Constantinople is going to be part of any country other than Turkey. This is actually quite funny more than anything else. Neither Greece, nor Russia, nor the west are going to take Constantinople. The Turks need to calm down.

Perhaps the Turks can now understand how Greeks feel when their President openly threatens to invade Greece and seize the islands that belong historically and by international treaties to the Hellenic Republic. Annoying isn’t it when others claim territory that is part of your country? The “Free Constantinople” calls are motivated by sentimentality and humor. The Turkish threats to invade Greece are very real.

There has been some questionable behavior on the part of some Greeks visiting Constantinople. Some Greeks displayed the Greek flag outside Hagia Sophia and others from Crete did a dance outside Hagia Sophia. This behavior is very questionable. If one wants to honor Hagia Sophia when visiting, how about opening up a prayer book and saying some prayers.

UNESCO will soon release a report on Hagia Sophia. If we wish to honor the great spiritual and cultural heritage of Constantinople, we should concentrate on ensuring the Great Church is restored as a museum and preserving existing Greek Churches and shrines which require caution and diplomacy.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis has reportedly asked Patriarch Bartholomew to remove Archbishop Elpidophoros from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. This is both good and bad.

It is good because the Archbishop is a destructive force within the Greek Archdiocese and in Orthodoxy generally. His removal is undeniably good. It is bad because Mitsotakis does not appear to respect the spiritual role of the Archbishop. The Mitsotakis government has been the most aggressively anti Church government in Athens since that of Costas Simitis.

On the matter of national issues, the Greek government is in the right. The Archbishop in 2021 was present at the opening of Turkish cultural center with Turkish President Erdogan and the leader of the Turkish occupation of Cyprus Ersin Tatar. This outrageous appearance with the Turks alone justifies his removal.

Previous to becoming Archbishop, then Metropolitan Elpidophoros wrote a notorious article comparing the position of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Orthodoxy to the person of the father in the holy trinity. He also denied that the Ecumenical Patriarch is “first among equals” as all Orthodox believe. Instead, he asserted that the Ecumenical Patriarch is “first without equals”.

The Archbishop became a propagandist for Patriarch Bartholomew’s efforts to redefine the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and was a player in the Schism with Moscow. This is when the Greek government should have interceded in the affairs of the Church of Constantinople. They should have stopped Patriarch Bartholomew from interfering in Ukraine and stopped the election of Elpidophoros as Archbishop in 2019. The Archbishop gave a speech some time ago against the Russians before various officials of American intelligence agencies.

The Archbishop created chaos within the Church of Greece by baptizing the children of a gay couple. He has also received into the Patriarchate’s Slavic Vicariate a defrocked Russian priest, a move all Orthodox Churches in America protested.

He has held for three years in row, divine services at an Episcopal church that celebrates the LGBT agenda and displays the rainbow flag. The Archbishop must go, but there is still a lot of cleaning up to do. The Churches of Greece and Cyprus for example.

The US government has interceded to get the Churches of Greece and Cyprus to recognize the pseudo church in Ukraine. Athens must defend its own sovereignty and the Greek Churches by demanding Washington stop trying to influence the Greek Churches. The Churches of Constantinople and Greece should not be under American influence.

The Archbishop’s removal must be a beginning, not an end to the housecleaning in the Greek Churches.

Turkish officials are renewing traditional criticism of the Ecumenical Patriarchate because of the term “Ecumenical”. Patriarch Bartholomew has been slammed for attending a peace conference in Ukraine. The Turks are reverting to their traditional harassment of the Patriarchate.

This means Patriarch Bartholomew’s alliance with the US government and anti Russian policies have failed miserably. The US has done nothing to protect the Patriarchate. The Patriarchate has also alienated the Orthodox world and has become morally complicit in the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The Patriarchate is in a deep hole spiritually and politically. The way out is for the Patriarch to withdraw his recognition of the fake Church in Ukraine, to restore communion with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and to condemn the persecution of the Ukrainian Church. The Patriarchate needs to be strengthened spiritually and restored as Orthodox if it wants to survive in Constantinople.

The Orthodox Church of Greece convened a synod on January 23. The bishops voted unanimously to oppose plans by the government to legalize gay marriage. It should be understood that there is no opposition to gay people sharing benefits or having what appears to be civil unions.

Marriage is a religious concept and belongs to the jurisdiction of the Church, and not that of the government. Prime Minister Mitsotakis is likely pushing this because of the European Union and Greek leaders traditionally accept all western dictates uncritically. Marriage from a biblical and theological perspective can only be between a man and a woman.

This is not “homophobia” which critics will label opponents of the Mitsotakis government. Only twenty years ago, a Massachusetts court found that marriage can include couples of the same sex. This ruling spit in the face of all civilizations and cultures. The issue which the Church is fighting has less to do with people who are gay, and entirely with the matter of an ideology that smacks of paganism.

The “right” of same sex couples to marry has led to the trans movement. Today, a man who declares he is a woman can enter the ladies room, women’s showers, and participate in female sports. Women and girls have been injured by them.

In addition, we have seen the rise of drag queen story hour, in which men in drag read books to school children and teach them about “twerking”. Then there are the horrors of “drag” children, boys dressed as girls dancing in clubs for grown men who throw money at them. In some states, it is legal for thirteen year olds to get sex changes WITHOUT the approval of parents. Wait till the bishops of Greece see what same sex marriage in America has led to.

The uproar by the Church in Greece has led to Patriarch Bartholomew expressing his opposition to same sex marriage. Some good things are developing. The Church must stand its ground against the pagan LGBT agenda but should make clear that the Church is a hospital for sinners and that gay people are welcome as are heterosexual sinners.

The New Testament teaches us not to judge others. Therefore, the defense of marriage is not aimed at gay people, but at the ideology that is being exported worldwide by the Biden administration. The US government is promoting LGBT ideology worldwide and targeting children.

The bishops of Greece are specifically motivated to stop adoptions by gay couples. It should be remembered that Greek boys under the Turks were taken from their families, converted to Islam, and forced into the Janissaries. Generations of boys were lost to the Turks.

Greeks will not lose further generations of children to the Rainbow Janissaries. Now that the Greek Churches have found their voices, they can do the right thing by breaking off with the fake “church” in Ukraine and reestablish communion with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

But one thing at a time.

The Orthodox Church today commemorates the consecration of Hagia Sophia of Constantinople in addition to the Saints commemorated on the Church calendar. Hagia Sophia will always be our holy Church regardless of its present status. The Church is named for Christ himself. Its present plight will not be forgotten.