Category: Letters

As a Greek Orthodox, I would like to condemn the desecration that occurred at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral by the lunatic LGBT neo pagans whose extremism in America and elsewhere continues unabated. An attack against one Christian Church or house of worship is an attack against all. Indeed, recently in the Greek town of Larissa, the Orthodox Cathedral was defaced and spray painted with hateful slogans by LGBT activists. Last week in Athens, Orthodox  Christians who gathered in front of Parliament to protest the introduction of a law to legalize same sex marriage were accosted. The editor of an Orthodox newspaper was stabbed by two radicals. 

The anti Christian hate by these extremists in unmistakable. Indeed, the horror show that took place at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral reminded me of the outrage last year when the LA Dodgers invited that LGBT group that ridiculed Roman Catholic nuns. It is apparent that our country is in danger not only from these extremists who are actively targeting and grooming children into their ideology, but from the media and all those who are silent when such blasphemous activities are undertaken.

Please know that Roman Catholics are not alone. As a Greek Orthodox, I stand with the Roman Catholics against these hate crimes. All Christians must stand together or else we will all suffer together if these extremists are not arrested and prosecuted. 

Theodore Karakostas
Boston, MA

This letter is in response to the November 29 article by David E. Sanger on Henry Kissinger. Mr. Sanger omits Kissinger’s crimes and offenses perpetrated in Greece and Cyprus during his disastrous back to back tenure as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. Kissinger and the Nixon administration remain complicit in supporting the Greek military dictatorship and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Kissinger overruled all suggestions by State Department officials to stop the Turkish invasions of Cyprus that occurred during the summer of 1974.

Kissinger personally loathed and mocked the democratically elected President Makarios of Cyprus and approved his overthrow and the subsequent Turkish aggression in Cyprus. As a result over 200,000 Greek Cypriots suffered the results of Turkish ethnic cleansing and are unable to return to their homeland up to the present time. Kissinger’s ruthlessness and inhuman gangsterism has had devastating consequences for people around the world, including Cyprus who are still suffering and enduring the consequences that emanated from Turkish aggression and the psychopathic mind of Henry Kissinger who supported that brutal invasion.

The article makes very clear that Henry Kissinger is responsible for human suffering on a mass scale around the world. Torture victims in Greece and victims of rape, murder, and ethnic cleansing by Turkish troops in Cyprus occurred largely because of the misuse and abuse of power exacerbated by the now deceased sociopath. 

Theodore Karakostas
Boston, MA

To Miss/Msrs. Liouliou 

I am writing to you once again to bring to the attention of UNESCO the ongoing desecration and defilement of the great Hagia Sophia Church-Museum of Constantinople.
Latest news reports refer to the latest problems that Hagia Sophia suffers as a result of official government policies aimed at the Ottomanization of this Greek Orthodox 
shrine. The latest news about Hagia Sophia include dire warnings that the dome may very well collapse in the event of an earthquake. Pieces of the ceiling above are 
reportedly falling to the ground. 

The floor of Hagia Sophia has previously been reported as having been damaged. The Imperial gates through which Greek Orthodox Emperors of Constantinople once entered the Church to worship Christ have been damaged. Also, it was previously reported that the walls are being damaged because too many people are being 
permitted to enter the Church-Museum on a daily basis.

On 1 December 2021, you kindly responded to a previous letter that I had sent and referred me to a published report that UNESCO had done in the aftermath of the 
Ottomanization of Hagia Sophia. I thank you for your letter and for referring me to that report. I further request an update regarding UNESCO’s activities aimed at monitoring activities within Hagia Sophia and would like to ask what is being done for the preservation of Hagia Sophia?

If the present destruction of Hagia Sophia continues, the entire Church-Museum could be permanently lost. For the secular world, this would mean the loss of a world heritage site. Admittedly, a very serious loss. For those of us of Orthodox Christian faith and Greek ancestry, the destruction of Hagia Sophia would be even more catastrophic as this Church is the center of our spiritual heritage. 

All scholars and experts on Hagia Sophia are aware that the Great Church is named for Christ himself and for this alone Christians are horrified and appalled by the callous and insensitive attitude of the Turkish government which insisted on the deChristianization of Hagia Sophia. I respectfully ask that UNESCO continue not only to monitor the desecration of Hagia Sophia, but that the organization actively work to protest and condemn all actions in Hagia Sophia that have taken place over the past three years, and which continue to take place.

Thank you 

Theodore Karakostas 
Author and Greek Orthodox theologian 
Boston, MA

Dear Deputy Secretary of State,

My name is Theodore Karakostas and I am an American of Greek Orthodox faith. I wish to protest the brutal and vicious crackdown against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (not to be confused with the artificially created Orthodox Church of Ukraine) by the Ukrainian authorities. This letter is not political but is intended as a public declaration of my Orthodox Christian faith. There are at least four bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who are being prosecuted by the Ukrainian government.

In addition to this, there are dozens of Churches that have been seized by the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” and its followers from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church through violent and brutal means and clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been assaulted. I am aware of the horrific crisis emanating as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine. I am opposed to the war in Ukraine and believe war can never be justified through faith as Orthodoxy does not endorse either jihads or Crusades.

The persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been under way since long before February 2022. Several years before the Russian invasion, Ukrainian authorities began persecuting the Ukrainian Church. Much of what has transpired results from the decision of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to grant “autocephaly” to the Church in Ukraine. Firstly, as a matter of Canon Law and Orthodox ecclesiology Patriarch Bartholomew had and has no right to intervene in the internal affairs of autocephalous Orthodox Churches.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been a part of the Russian Orthodox Church since 1686 and no sinister connotations can or should be inferred by the Moscow Patriarchate’s jurisdiction over Ukraine. If we are going to link ecclesiastical jurisdiction and borders with politics, American and other western officials should be reminded that the Vatican was once under the rule of Mussolini and later the Nazi occupation of Rome. American and other western governments never attempted to take away any parts of the Catholic Church from the Papacy.

Under Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the State Department violated the religious freedom not just of members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but of all Orthodox Christians everywhere. In addition to Mr. Pompeo, former Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt overstepped his bounds when he interfered
blatantly in the internal affairs of the Orthodox Church of Greece. At one point, Ambassador Pyatt gave a speech at the Greek office of Foreign Affairs in which he commented on the Greek Church’s position on Ukrainian Church matters. Such comments on internal Church matters are profoundly insulting to Orthodox Christians as American officials are treating the true Church of Christ like some political party of non governmental organization.

Orthodox Christians believe the Orthodox Church is the true Church founded by Christ in the Gospel. The purpose of the Church is to serve as a hospital for sinners and not to serve political interests (especially that of an administration that is now scandalously promoting the abuse of children through the
neo pagan LGBT agenda). Some of us have become uneasy about remaining members in the dioceses under the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a result of the Patriarch’s violation of Orthodox canon law in Ukraine and the State Department’s involvement in the matter.

Within the United States itself, it is unconstitutional for the government to make a declaration about any particular faith. Yet, the State Department’s support for the defacto partition of the Russian Orthodox Church and the establishment of the illegitimate “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” is an intrusion into Church affairs as the Department has effectively declared what constitutes a “Church”. The State Department has effectively determined that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not only invalid but deserves to be actively persecuted and outlawed as the government of Kiev is attempting to outlaw the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

There is a great deal of misery and grief that has resulted from this entire Church issue in Ukraine. The Orthodox Church is hampered from serving its spiritual mission as long as secular interests interfere with it. The Ukrainian Church as mentioned above has been part of the Russian Church since 1686 and its status is not something that came about recently. The idea that the Russian Church is serving some sort of sinister political plot is blatantly false. The Orthodox Church might have very well come together to actively oppose the war in Ukraine had Patriarch Bartholomew not recklessly invaded the ecclesiastical territory of Ukraine that does not belong to Constantinople.

The canonical territory of all local Orthodox Churches are determined by canon law and the conciliar traditions of the Orthodox Church. These matters are outside the scope and interests of the foreign policy establishment. Patriarch Bartholomew has created the worst schism in the Orthodox Church since the eleventh century. Orthodox Christians (including myself) are bitterly criticizing him over his policies which are motivated by his hunger for power.

I respectfully and humbly request from your office two things. First, to condemn the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on moral and legal grounds. The State Department has supported the creation of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” under the pretext of religious freedom. Religious freedom means that all individuals should be free to worship where and how they wish to. This means Ukrainians should be free to attend either the Ukrainian Orthodox Church or the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”. Let individuals worship where they please.

The second request is to ask that your office take the initiative to disavow any interference in the internal affairs of the Orthodox Church. This means no further commentaries or actions in terms of what constitutes an Orthodox Church. The State Department should be neutral and not side with any faction within Orthodoxy. This means disavowing support for Patriarch Bartholomew’s claims of authority over the Orthodox Church which are rejected by many Orthodox bishops, priests, theologians, monastics, and laypeople.

The United States can not claim to support religious freedom when it in effect presumes to declare what is or is not a legitimate Church as it has done in Ukraine. These actions in Ukraine have reverberated throughout the whole of Orthodoxy and in my particular case has seriously disrupted my spiritual life as the threat of a great Church schism remains.

I respectfully ask that the State Department return to its role as a neutral observer and respect the religious traditions and boundaries of the Orthodox Church as they have stood for many centuries.

Thank you

Theodore Karakostas


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The following letter is in response to “Putin’s Useful Priests” (September 14) by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan. I am a Greek Orthodox Christian under the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate of Constantinople and not a member of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, an attack against one local Orthodox Church is an attack against all. The politicization and secularization of the Orthodox Church is deplorable. Perhaps some criticism can be directed at former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former American Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt for blatantly interfering in the spiritual life of the Greek speaking Orthodox Churches of Constantinople and Greece. 

American officials asked these two Churches to recognize a schismatic sect of pseudo bishops and priests in the so called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” for the sole purpose of turning the Greek Churches against their sister Church in Russia. American officials had no business asking these Churches to recognize this fake 
Church and bishops in Constantinople and Athens had no business granting the Americans this request. From the standpoint of Orthodox canon law and ecclesiology,the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the synod of Metropolitan Onuphry is the legitimate Church of Ukraine as it possesses canonicity, catholicity, and apostolic succession. 

American officials have made a mockery of the Orthodox Church and its canonical precepts by blatantly deciding what constitutes an Orthodox Church. Such secular intervention in Church affairs deserves condemnation. It is hypocritical therefore to accuse the Russian government of using the Russian Orthodox Church when it is 
clear it is the State Department which is attempting to use Orthodox Churches in their foreign policy against Russia. Even more deplorable, for many years before the
invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been fiercely persecuted and many bishops, priests, and faithful Ukrainians have been harassed, arrested, or beaten for attending the Church that the Kiev government and its backers in Washington disapprove of. 

This is not to suggest that the war is justified. Indeed, the war cannot be justified and some of the rhetoric from the Moscow Patriarchate stands in conflict with Orthodoxy as the Orthodox Church does not endorse Crusades or religious wars of any kind. It is however deplorable and condemnable to suggest that the Russian Church is somehow an instrument of Moscow. Church-State relations in Russia are similar to Church-State relations in Greece and other Orthodox countries. 

Church-State relations are defined by the Justinian principle of “symphonia” or harmony in which Church and State are partners but function separately. This is how the Church functioned in Byzantine Constantinople and at the present in Orthodox countries. Church and State function independently of one another but serve as allies. It is absurd to suggest that the Russian Church either in Russia or abroad function at the service of the government. Westerners are simply upset that the 
Russian Church does not behave in accordance with their own wishes. 

The position of the universal Orthodox Church today has become very complicated as a result of the schism that has begun over Constantinople’s intervention in the affairs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (under the omophorion of Moscow since 1686). This division has been gradually widening and has made the possibility 
of Orthodox Churches gathering to oppose the war entirely impossible. The Orthodox Church is “not of this world” and does not serve secular political interests. 

Let us keep in mind exactly which governments have been blatantly looking to use the Orthodox Church for political and secular purposes. 

Theodore Karakostas
Boston, MA

Congressman Lynch,

I am an angry Greek American constituent that condemns the administration of President Biden and the NATO alliance. The Biden administration and NATO have deleted the name of Cyprus from a map of the Republic of Cyprus in order to appease the anti American and jihadist government of Recep Erdogan in Turkey. Turkey invaded the Republic of Cyprus in 1974 and ethnically cleansed the north of over 200,000 Greek Cypriots. The Biden administration and NATO are the hypocrites of the world presuming to lecture everyone about human rights and international law while bending over backwards to accommodate the country that supports Al Quada and previously supported ISIS. 

Cyprus has a population that is eighty percent Greek and its population has been driven out by Turkish ethnic cleansing. Those of us of Greek descent are tired of hearing American officials 
talking about every other conflict that comes while doing nothing about the criminal and murderous bloodthirsty government of Turkey and its partner Azerbaijan. As you are aware, Azerbaijan is committing crimes against humanity against the peaceful Armenians of Artsakh with the backing of Turkey.

Throughout the twentieth century, Greece stood with America and the west against the Kaiser’s Germany. the Nazi-fascist Axis, the Soviet Union, and the Communist aggressors in Korea. In return, Greece has gotten nothing from an ungrateful Washington which has looked the other way at the ethnic cleansing of the native Greek populations of Constantinople since 1955. American officials such as the despicable Admiral Mark Bristol covered up news reports of the Turkish genocide of Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians in Smyrna and Asia Minor during and after the first World War. 

The Biden administration is actively pursuing this vile and evil policy of the likes of Admiral Bristol by trying to curry favor with the jihadist dictator in Turkey. Turkey is a murderous and aggressive state and the Biden administration is an appeaser of evil. The Biden administration is selling war planes to Turkey which will be used against Greece. Erdogan and all opposition politicians in Turkey openly call for an invasion of Greece and for the seizure of Greek islands. 

I respectfully ask that your office actively condemn and oppose this new policy of NATO. The Republic of Cyprus is name of the internationally recognized State that was granted independence in 1960 by the Treaties of London, Zurich, and Guarantee. Any attempt to remove the name of the Republic of Cyprus from a map is a hideous and monstrous act that sacrifices a functioning democracy for a murderous Islamic regime that supports Al Quada in Syria and Azerbaijan. This attempt to delegitimize Cyprus can only be perceived by Greeks everywhere as a spit in the face and an attack on all Greeks who died fighting with the democracies against Naziism and Communism during the twentieth century. 

Theodore Karakostas

The following is in response to the June 1 news report, “Russian involvement on Mount Athos etc” (June 1). As a Greek American, I wish to dispute the anti Russian allegations in the News Report. First, Mount Athos is a holy mountain dedication of a life of prayer, fasting, and asceticism”. It is a holy place that should not be dragged into politics. 

The Russians have had a presence on Mount Athos for one thousand years. It is racist and discriminatory to suggest that the Russians concern themselves withthe holy mountain for any reasons that are not religious. Mount Athos has a Serbian and a Bulgarian Monastery as well as a Russian Monastery. Furthermore, there are Sketes which include monks from Georgia and Rumania as well. There are also converts to Orthodoxy who are American, Australian, and European who live on the holy Mountain in pursuit of spiritual pursuits. 

Perhaps National Public Radio can do reports on the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (distinct from the western established “Orthodox Church of Ukraine)”. Ukrainian Orthodox Christians under the canonical Church in Ukraine are being evicted from their Monasteries and Churches, and are being violently persecuted merely because they are under the spiritual (and NOT political) leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. The anti Russian clerics cited in this news report have conflicts of interest. 

They are associated with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople who started an inter Orthodox war by recognizing an illegitimate and pseudo Church in Ukraine for the purpose of overthrowing Orthodox canon law and expanding his own authority. Orthodox Christians do not appreciate the politicization of our holy Church which has been carried out by the Americans, and not the the Russians. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travelled to Greece in 2019 to ask the cowardly Archbishop of Athens to recognize the illegitimate “church” in Ukraine.

Pompeo had no business making that request and the bishops of the Church of Greece had no business recognizing a fake “church” which does not fulfill the criteria under Orthodox canon law to be considered a real Church. The real scandal in Eastern Orthodoxy has to do with the American government’s blatant interference in the spiritual life of Orthodoxy in pursuit of their geo strategic aims.

This news report about the Russians on Mount Athos is dishonest propaganda. 

Theodore Karakostas

The following letter is in intended to convey my profound concern for the well being of Armenia which faces constant threats from the dictatorship in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is threatening to attack the Armenians who control Nagorno-Karabakh in which a majority of ethnic Armenians reside. The United States must ensure that Azerbaijan does not attack the peaceful Republic of Armenia.

Azerbaijan is a brutal jihadist regime serving as the puppet of a hostile Turkey and has collaborated with elements of Al Quada. The government in Baku has made threats to 
Armenia that are genocidal. Azerbaijan must be told in no uncertain terms that it will face strong punishment in the event of an attack on Armenia. Azerbaijan should be 
considered as hostile to the United States. 

The United States has a chance to show that it supports democracy. There is no media championing the righteousness of the Armenians. The Armenians are very real freedom fighters facing an existential threat. The United States should support Armenia because it is the morally correct thing to do. There must never be a repetition of the Armenian
Genocide.Never again! 

Theodore Karakostas

Dodgers. 


As a Greek Orthodox Christian, I wish to condemn the anti Roman Catholic policies of the Dodgers baseball organization and to express solidarity as a fellow Christian with the Roman Catholic community. The decision of the Dodgers to re invite the bogus “nuns” to participate in “pride” night is in fact a cowardly and despicable decision that reflects poorly on the ethics of the Dodgers organization. In a democratic society such as ours (which appears to be crumbling) civility is an important factor for good relations of communities of different faiths (and no faiths). 

Permitting a group of men to ridicule the Roman Catholic Church at a baseball game is an attack on civility and the very concept of tolerance. Contrary to the propaganda put fourth by the LGBT activists, tolerance is not their goal. These activists are profoundly aggressive, obnoxious and highly intolerant of anyone they disagree with. Indeed, holding a night for a “pride” event is in itself highly questionable. Trans activists have made very clear that they desire to groom children and to impose their 
views in public schools and elsewhere even at the expense of what parents wish to teach their children. 

As a believing Christian, I have become disturbed by the increasing numbers of boys and girls who have been subject to taking hormone pills and puberty blockers. Many teenage girls have undergone mastectomies only to regret it later. There are serious moral implications in sports franchises celebrating the trans ideology and the wicked flag that the LGBT activists display. 

The deliberate and willful ridicule of the Roman Catholic Church that the Dodgers organization now officially endorses is not a display of tolerance or courage. It is a display of moral cowardice and an abdication of moral responsibility for American society. The Roman Catholic is not liked by the official establishment (media, entertainment industry) and there is a good deal of anti Christian sentiment among these institutions, of which the Roman Catholic Church is clearly the favorite target of the establishment. It is cowardice to attack an institution that is out of favor with powerful politicians and political and social activists. The Dodgers organization is merely piling on by joining the legion of anti Catholic bullies. 

The officials of the Dodgers organization who reversed their decision and will permit the trans radicals to mock the Roman Catholic Church have no moral backbone or principals. Last century in America, the eugenics movement was once popular and resulted in thousands of Americans being sterilized without their consent. The Roman Catholic Bishops played a decisive and leading role in stopping that abomination. 

The trans movement today which is targeting children will one day be looked upon with horror as the eugenics movement is today. The Dodgers and Major League Baseball will be judged harshly by history. As a Greek Orthodox Christian, I stand with the Roman Catholic community and condemn the Dodgers and Major League Baseball for promoting religious hatred and bigotry.

Theodore Karakostas
Boston, Ma 
former baseball fan

The following letter is in response to the May 16 news report, “What Turkey’s Presidential election could mean for the US and Europe”. The report totally ignores Turkey’s aggressive designs toward Greece, ongoing occupation of the Republic of Cyprus, and support for the murderous and genocidal regime in Azerbaijan which has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against ethnic Armenians.The elections in Turkey are not the casual elections of a normal democratic country.

They are the elections in a country dominated by extreme right fascist-Islamist, and fascist-racist parties. The top two contenders for the Presidency in Turkey are both extremists bent on war toward neighboring Greece. President Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to invade the Greek islands. His opponent, Kemal Kiridaloglu has considered war monger Erdogan to have been too soft on Greece. NPR’s coverage of Turkey is typical of western media outlets who are soft on Turkey and completely indifferent to the victims of Turkish aggression and expansionism.

The Greek islands that both candidates in Turkey’s elections openly covet are populated one hundred percent by ethnic Greeks. Turkish demands that Greece either demilitarize the islands (totally unmentioned in this bogus news report) or face invasion are threats to commit genocide. Turkey’s Azerbaijani allies have demonstrated very effectively what Turkish leaders are capable of. The western alliance as a whole is complicit in the massacres and ethnic cleansing of Armenians because they have not condemned Turkish atrocities and they continue to treat Turkey like a normal country.

Greeks can expect the same in the event that Turkey invades the Greek islands. Both Turkish leaders are psychopaths who crave a greater Turkey. The major difference between them is that Erdogan is a fanatical jihadist (his regimes longs standing support for ISIS and Al quada is another fact completely unmentioned in the news report) whereas Kiridaloglu is an old line supporter of the Turkish Republic’s founder Mustafa Kemal. Kemal was the murderous dictator who slaughtered every Greek and Armenian in Anatolia in order to achieve a racially pure state. 

Your coverage of events in Turkey is condemnable.

Theodore Karakostas
Boston