Month: May 2022

Categories
political

On The Other Hand

The previous post was a critical assessment regarding Prime Minister Mitsotakis. This post looks at a more positive view of the Prime Minister. President Erdogan of Turkey has been fiercely denouncing Mitsotakis!

Being denounced by Erdogan makes the Greek Prime Minister look good. This blog’s fears that Mitsotakis will follow in the footsteps of other Greek leaders and make concessions to Turkey under American pressure could turn out to be unfounded. It is in fact to the credit of Mitsotakis that he asked Washington not to sell weaponry to Turkey.

This is what has infuriated Erdogan. Erdogan has attacked Mitsotakis in a very personal way that indicates he is crazy. Meanwhile, the leader of the Turkish Grey Wolves is demanding that the islands ceded to Greece by the Italians in 1947 be given to Turkey. The Turkish Foreign Minister demands that either the islands be demilitarized or Turkey will put forward claims on them.

In addition, Erdogan commemorated the fall of Constantinople by suggesting Turkey will defeat the new Byzantines (Greece). Athens has a real problem. Mitsotakis deserves credit for raising the issue of Turkey with the US.

We will see how things progress. Mitsotakis has the potential for greatness or disgrace and failure.

Categories
political

The Mitsotakis Visit

Iran has seized two Greek oil tankers after Athens assisted the United States in seizing oil from an Iranian tanker. This is the most recent sign indicating that Mitsotakis is surrendering Greek national sovereignty to Washington. His trip to Washington may be a return to the submissive stances that Greek leaders have shown to Washington in the past.

Greece has no disputes with Iran. Iran is a Muslim country that Greece has had traditionally friendly relations with. Athens should have stayed neutral with regard to Iran. As with Greek policies toward Russia, Mitsotakis is placing Greek Middle Eastern policy under the influence of the pro war elements led by Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland.

Mitsotakis gave a pathetic address before Congress in which he not only criticized Russia on Ukraine, but on Syria as well. The Russian intervention in Syria was beneficial for the entire world. The Russians stopped the genocide of Syrian Christians and stopped Syria from becoming a failed state and a permanent breeding ground of jihadism.

During the Syrian war, Greek islands were flooded with refugees that burdened the then difficult Greek economy even further. That Mitsotakis criticizes the Russians on Syria indicates how far he will go to placate Washington. Mitsotakis past policies on Turkey were nationalistic but his foreign policy is becoming internationalist like the policies of so many previous Greek leaders.

So far, Mitsotakis has not capitulated on Turkey. The fact remains however that under Victoria Nuland’s influence the Trump supported deal between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel to carry oil to Europe was abolished and a new deal that includes Turkey was put together. At a minimum, Mitsotakis does not understand American foreign policy makers such as the pro war Nuland.

In the past Mitsotakis put together deals with Egypt and France that were directed against Turkey. Greeks should be concerned about the reversal of these agreements under the influence of the Biden administration. Mitsotakis is showing an alarming determination to please Washington at all costs.

The Russians have committed an act of aggression against Ukraine but even so, the Ukraine war remains complex. The American Democratic Party and the foreign policy establishment have been looking to start a war with Russia for years. They are trying to drag Greece into a confrontation with Russia and Iran.

Greece has a dispute with one country. That country is Turkey. Reportedly in Washington Mitsotakis asked the US to stop funding Turkish military aggression. It does not appear anything came from that.

The anti Russian sentiments in the western world are a symptom of internationalism. Greece has to be very careful with Russia. Before the Ukrainian war, there were reasons to be concerned about Russia. Russian support for Turkey and Moscow’s tolerance for the Turkish occupation of parts of Syria remain cause for concern. For Greece to embrace the anti Russian hysteria however is a serious mistake as is participating in and embracing policies favored by officials such as Nuland.

Mitsotakis appears to believe as his predecessors have that Greece is a part of the “west”. Formally, Greece is a member of the European Union and NATO. In reality, Greece is not favored by the western alliance. At the height of Erdogan’s aggression against the Greek islands Mitsotakis appealed to NATO and Germany.

Germany refused to stop arming Turkey and NATO refused to intervene to stop Turkish aggression against Greece. Mitsotakis risks becoming another Costas Simitis. That former Prime Minister, a notorious internationalist and anti Hellene gave up Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan to the Turks and endorsed the infamous Annan Plan for Cyprus.

Unconditionally and blindly supporting western foreign policy is a proven failure in Greece. Under the Biden administration it appears Washington remains pro Turkish. Athens should not be assisting the US against either Russia or Iran. Greece’s enemy is Turkey.

Athens should view the Biden administration as actively hostile toward Greece as long as people like Nuland are in positions of influence. To his credit, Mitsotakis raised the issues of Cyprus and Turkish aggression against Greece during his American visit. It remains to be seen if this was for show or if he was genuinely pushing the interests of Hellenism.

The big problem with the visit was the issue of show and not substance. Greeks are far too easily impressed with useless gestures of ceremony and how they are perceived by the powerful. Greeks should not care about a Greek Prime Minister addressing Congress.

Greeks should care about the security and sovereignty of Greece and Cyprus. Historically, Hellenic leaders in Greece and America have been so preoccupied with minor issues such as visiting Washington that they have ignored major defeats such as the ongoing occupation of Cyprus and the surrender of Greek islets such as that of Imia that took place on January 31, 1996.

It should be remembered that Greek Americans were thrilled that former President Clinton visited Athens in 1999. They totally forgot his administrations role in forcing Greece to withdraw from Imia and the slaughter of Greek Cypriots Tassos Isaac and Solomos Solomou in 1996. Substance matters and not useless displays of ceremony.

It is still early to fully assess the full implications of the Mitsotakis visit to America, but so far it does not appear that anything was achieved other than the fact that the Greek Prime Minister pledged his loyalty to the United States as so many failed and disgraced Greek leaders have previously done. Hopefully, this analysis will be proven wrong.

Categories
Published commentaries

Remembering Constantinople

THE NATIONAL HERALD

COLUMNISTS

Remembering Constantinople
May 28, 2022  By Theodore Karakostas

A map of the lower Golden Horn region of Constantinople, from Braun and Hogenberg, 1572, from Byzantium nunc Constantinopolis (Byzantium now called Constantinople). (Photo: Public Domain)


May 29 (technically, by the old calendar) is the anniversary of the fall of the Queen of Cities to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. On that day, the city founded by Saint Constantine for the glory of God and all its sacred churches and shrines suffered horrendously as its holy sites were profaned and its faithful were slaughtered or enslaved. Constantinople had been known as the “God-protected City” because so many pagan and infidel armies had been unable to conquer it. In 626 AD, the Avars tried and failed to conquer the City when the Emperor Heraclius was away fighting the Persians. It was said the most Holy Theotokos interceded to save the City in response to the all night vigils that pleaded for her miraculous intervention. Historians have said that even the armies of the enemy said that they saw a woman standing over the walls of Constantinople.

During the seventh and eighth centuries, the Arabs attempted to conquer the God-protected city and failed. During these attacks, the City was saved by the weapon known as ‘Greek Fire’, a chemical that was used to successfully destroy the ships of the aggressor armies. Constantinople was also known as the Heavenly City because of so many beautiful churches and the presence of so many sacred relics of the holy apostles and other saints. Aghia Sophia was completed in the year 537 AD under the auspices of the emperor, Saint Justinian. This was the Patriarchal Cathedral and the successor to previous temples which had been destroyed.

Constantinople was the center of Christendom and the greatest city in the world. It possessed manuscripts of the classical Greeks and the philosophers. It was a city that became the center of civilization and culture. During the eighth and ninth centuries, the Church of Constantinople converted the Slavs to Christianity. The conversion of Russia in the tenth century during the reign of Emperor Basil II was a remarkable achievement. The Empire that was known as the Eastern Roman Empire had many flaws, such as palace intrigue that brought about the violent removal of many emperors.

On the other hand, the emperor, who was known as ‘Viceroy of God and equal of the Apostles’ would fulfill many obligations as a Christian. Books have been written about the birth of institutions such as the hospital in the Eastern Roman Empire and the philanthropic activities undertaken by Church and State alike. During the reign of the great Saint Justinian, the concept of ‘symphonia’ or ‘synergy’ came about which defined Church-State relations. According to this theory, Church and State work together as partners. This tradition holds in the Greek Orthodox world today in which the Church and State in Greece are close. There remain certain challenges to this conception of Church and State in Greece today as a result of the activities of pro-European secularists.

Heresy was a major problem in the Empire of New Rome. Arianism, Nestorianism, and Iconoclasm were among the most notorious heresies that divided the Christians of New Rome. The Church always overcame these crises through the convening of an Ecumenical Council presided over by the Emperor. The great fathers of the Church gathered together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to clarify the dogmas of the Church. The heretics were always exposed and condemned.

In the year 1071 AD, the Empire suffered significant losses after the Battle of Manzikert, when much of Anatolia was lost and the process of Turkification and Islamicization was begun. The treachery by the knights of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 destroyed Constantinople and deprived the City of its treasures and wealth. The Queen of the Cities would never recover and from then on the Empire declined as the Turks gradually seized more and more territory. At the end of the fourteenth century, Emperor Manuel Paleologos successfully defended Constantinople from the Ottomans. He would successfully defend Constantinople again in 1422.

The Emperor Manuel also travelled to England and France at the beginning of the fifteenth century to gain assistance from Europe. Such assistance would not be forthcoming. In 1439, his son John Paleologos paid the high price.of abandoning the Orthodox faith by agreeing to the Pope’s demands at the Council of Florence in Italy. The Greek Church had watched the Latins abandon Orthodoxy during the eleventh century as a result of serious errors such as inserting the filioque (the words “and the Son”) into the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and insisting that the Pope had universal authority over the Church.

In 1439, the Ottoman Turks were at the gates of Constantinople. The Latins were attempting to humiliate the Greeks by forcing them to abandon the true faith of Christ. At such a moment, a giant emerged. The holy and pious monk Saint Mark of Ephesus travelled to Florence with the Emperor and the bishops. Saint Mark alone refused to accept the heretical union with Rome. Upon the return of the Greek delegation to Constantinople, the people of God revolted against the union and Saint Mark became a beloved hero who remains an example and inspiration for Orthodox Greeks up to the present day.

Emperor Constantine Dragases Paleologos was a tragic but heroic figure. He was known as a good and honest man, but he had the misfortune to come to the throne of Constantinople when the Empire had been nearly decimated. He was crowned in the Church of Saint Demetrios at Mistras where he had been serving when his brother John died. Because of the controversy over the Union of Florence, the Emperor was not crowned at Aghia Sophia, and at the beginning of April 1453, the Sultan Mehmet began his jihad and siege of the City.

The Emperor Constantine refused the Sultan’s offer of mercy to the people of the City if they surrendered. With the full support of the people, the Emperor led the defense which would last nearly two months. The Greeks had only five thousand men able to fight, and two thousand Italians from Venice and Genoa arrived to fight with the Greek – but it was much less than the Emperor had anticipated. The Ottoman Sultan had eighty thousand soldiers at his disposal. In addition, European treachery enabled the Sultan to purchase canons which the Turks used successfully to attack the Theodosian Walls which had protected the City on so many previous occasions.

Despite the bravery of the Emperor and the people of God, they could resist no more. Throughout the siege, the common people helped repair breaches in the walls and bringing food and water to the soldiers. In the end, the Ottoman Turks prevailed. The Emperor Constantine had been urged throughout the siege to flee the City and to go into exile. He refused such appeals by declaring, “as my City falls, I shall fall with it”. The Emperor Constantine Dragases Paleologos, defiant to the end, fell in front of the Romanus Gate on what we now call ‘Black Tuesday’,  May 29, 1453.

The Fall of Constantinople was accompanied by slaughter. The Sultan had warned the Greeks that if they resisted three days of pillage and destruction would follow the Ottoman victory. For three days, the Turks slaughtered the people of Constantinople or enslaved them. The liturgy in Aghia Sophia was interrupted and men, women, and children were tied in pairs and taken away to the slave markets. The holy chalice and the altar of Aghia Sophia were defiled. One of the Emperor’s loyal officials, George Sphrantzes, lamented and mourned the destruction of Aghia Sophia and the City in his memoirs.

With the martyrdom of the Emperor, it was demanded that Constantine be made a Saint of the Greek Orthodox Church. The pious Monk Georgios Scholarios (disciple of Saint Mark of Ephesus) became patriarch and agreed to adding Constantine to the list of saints. The new patriarch would take the ecclesiastical name of ‘Gennadios’ and would have the painful task of trying to lead the Church under the new realities that Greek Orthodoxy faced. The Church of Constantinople by a miracle of heaven would maintain the light of Christianity throughout the horrible centuries of Ottoman occupation.

The sacrifice of Emperor Constantine and the Church of Aghia Sophia would never be erased from the consciousness of Orthodox Greeks. Nationalist myths were told to children by their parents of the ‘marble Emperor’ – it was said the Emperor did not die but was saved by an Angel at the last moment and was turned to marble. It was believed that the day would come when the Angel would awaken him and bring him his sword and that he would reclaim his City. Tales were also told about the priest or priests (the stories vary) of Aghia Sophia. It was said that the priest or priests serving the liturgy in the Great Church were taken away into the walls of the Great Church at the last minute so that the infidels would not desecrate the holy gifts.

Even today, it is believed that Constantinople will be redeemed. It has been said that Saint Cosmas Aitalos (martyred by the Turks in 1779) predicted that Constantinople would be Greek again.

More recently, it has been said that Saint Paisios predicted that Constantinople will be redeemed. What is certain is that the Queen of the Cities will never be forgotten by Greek Orthodox Christians. Turkish rule ushered in centuries of brutal oppression.

Generations of boys were lost to the Janissaries, generations of girls to the harems, and generations of Greek Christians were lost to Islam. Legal courts in the Ottoman Empire favored Muslims and Churches were frequently seized. Christians were forced to dress distinctly from the Turks and had an inferior status.

In 1922, the dream of the Greeks to liberate Constantinople (known as the ‘Megali Idea’) was destroyed when the British, French, and Italians prevented the Greek Army from liberating Constantinople. After the anti-Greek pogroms in 1955, the final exodus of Greek Orthodox from the City of the Emperors and Patriarchs began. The Greek Orthodox population of Constantinople is now around 1,500. In our own day, the Great Church of Aghia Sophia has been
converted into a Mosque once more.

The great spiritual and cultural heritage of Constantinople should never be forgotten.

Categories
faith

New Autocephalous Church

The Orthodox Church of Ohrid (Skopje) which has been out of communion with the Serbian Orthodox Church (and by extension the whole of Orthodoxy) has been formally recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Serbian Church. In addition, the Serbian Orthodox Church has bestowed autocephaly on Ohrid. It appears another Church crisis which could have worsened the schism in Orthodoxy has been avoided.

Unlike the situation in Ukraine where Constantinople intervened without the approval of the Russian Orthodox Church, it appears the Serbian Church has cooperated with Constantinople. The Serbian Church has accepted the autocephaly of this new Church and this brings a close to a schism in the Church of Serbia which began in 1967.

This brings us back to the Ukrainian schism. The Russian Church has been in the right in that situation. However, the Russian Patriarch’s silence regarding the war in Ukraine has cost the Moscow Patriarchate credibility among the Ukrainian faithful. At least twenty four bishops of the Ukrainian Church refuse to commemorate the Patriarch of Moscow during the liturgy.

Autocephaly for the Ukrainian Church may be inevitable. Patriarch Kyril of Moscow should consider granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church. Then Patriarch Bartholomew should use his influence on the schismatic bishops to join the canonical Church through repentance and to be legitimately ordained. The possibility of ending the schism exists and both Constantinople and Moscow should compromise.

Much praise should be bestowed on Patriarch Porphyrios of Serbia and his synod of bishops. Their attitudes are genuinely Christian and they avoided what could have been a further crisis in Orthodoxy. Here we have a real example of a shepherd guiding his flock. This is in contrast to the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Moscow.

Categories
Letters

Letter To Congressman

To Congressman Lynch,

My name is Theodore Karakostas and I am writing to you about a matter that I consider to be of great importance. This has to do with the unrestrained behavior of Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland who over the years has become notorious for her pro war and interventionist activities. At the present time, this woman is said by various news reports to be interfering with the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos. Mount Athos is one of the great spiritual centers of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is located in the Greek province of Macedonia. 

There are twenty active Monasteries and some Sketes on what Orthodox Christians refer to as the “holy mountain”. Most of the Monasteries are Greek as Mount Athos is located in Greece. There are numerous Monks however who are of non Greek ancestry. Many of the Monasteries include converts who are American, Western European, Australian, African, or Asian. The Holy Mountain is an example of Monks of many nationalities living together communally in brotherhood and who follow the daily cycles of prayer and liturgical services of the Eastern Orthodox Church. There are three non Greek Monasteries (Serbian, Bulgarian, and Russian) and this seems to be what has attracted the attention of Nuland.

The Monastery of Saint Panteleimon is Russian and Russian Monks have lived on the holy mountain for one thousand years. Allegations have been put forward that the Russian Monks are in service to the foreign policy of the Russian government.This is absurd and ridiculous. In the climate of anti Russian hysteria, it appears ALL Russians are viewed collectively as agents of Moscow and not seen as actual individuals. This is the definition of bigotry and racism. 

Monks of all nationalities have been living on Mount Athos for centuries without incident. This includes the Russian Monks. To suggest that the Russian Monks are promoting a Russian takeover of the holy mountain is like suggesting that Germany or Argentina were conspiring to take over the Vatican because the last two Popes were of German and Argentinian heritage. The Greeks are always going to have a numerical advantage on Mount Athos so it is utterly false to suggest the Russians are planning on taking over Mount Athos. 

Victoria Nuland and other American officials have no business intervening on Mount Athos. The Monastic Republic of Mount Athos is dedicated to the honor of Panagia (in Greek this means, most holy) the Mother of God. It is a sacred place and the 
first Monastery was established in 963 by the pious and Christ loving Emperor of blessed Memory Nikephoras Phokas. The Monks of Mount Athos have historically served as guardians of Orthodox faith and worship and have given their lives as martyrs in witness to the Orthodox faith during the Crusades and under the infidel rule of the Ottoman Empire. 

Mount Athos is a very sacred place for Orthodox Christians and many of us are becoming very angry that the garden of Panaghia (as Greeks call it) is becoming gradually politicized by ambitious non believing and power hungry officials such as Victoria 
Nuland and others like her. There are those of us who are also outraged that the sovereignty of Greece is gradually being violated by Nuland and other American officials. The holy Mountain is an autonomous part of the Hellenic Republic and is accountable under Greek law to the government in Athens. It is not accountable to the United States which as a non Orthodox country has no business or rights there.

Since 2018, the Department of State has been intervening blatantly in the affairs of the Orthodox Church. It has encouraged a schism that was created by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and it is an incontestable fact that the Patriarch is being propped up over the Orthodox Churches by Washington. Patriarch Bartholomew has challenged the ecclesiology of the Orthodox Church and claims power and authority that he does not rightfully possess. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt supported Patriarch Bartholomew’s claims in the name of combatting the Russians. 

The activities of the State Department in the affairs of the Orthodox Church (chiefly, the Greek speaking Churches) and on Mount Athos constitute a violation of religious freedom and have an impact on Orthodox Christians everywhere (including myself) 
who will have to make decisions about their spiritual future as the schism which Patriarch Bartholomew created with the assistance of his American friends has shown no signs of abating. One of the outcomes of this political meddling has been to prevent the Orthodox Church from using its influence to end the war in Ukraine. 

I respectfully ask that you give consideration to the issue regarding Mount Athos. Sacred places should not be disturbed by secular political interests. Monastics on Mount Athos should not be expelled because of their ethnic heritage. Mount 
Athos is a sacred place dedicated to the Mother of God. 

The politicization of the holy mountain can only be seen by Orthodox Christians in America and around the world as profoundly disrespectful to the Mother of God and to Jesus Christ himself. It is a disrespect for the monastic life which is based on a life of prayer, asceticism, and fasting. It is based on a withdrawal from the world. Monastics in all parts of the Orthodox world strive to achieve a level of holiness and spend much of their time praying for the future of the world. Its activities are strictly spiritual, and not political. 

It is morally unacceptable for any government to attempt to bring the holy mountain under its influence. I hope you will consider asking the State Department to cease and desist from engaging in any activities on the holy mountain,from commenting on any of the Monasteries, and from further violating the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic.

This letter is written during the Orthodox Christian season of Pascha (Easter) when Orthodox Christians greet each other with the joyous phrases “Christ is Risen” and “Truly he is risen”. We would like our holy places to be properly respected and treated
with reverence. Mount Athos belongs to the Panagia which Orthodox Christians believe was gifted to her by her son and our God and savior Jesus Christ. It is not a strategic base or asset. 

Thank You 

Theodore Karakostas

Categories
political

Two More Reasons To Reelect Trump

Anthony Fauci has said he will resign if Donald Trump gets reelected in 2024. Fauci holds a lifetime position at the National Institute of Health. He has been in this position since 1984 and for some unexplained reason cannot be removed by anyone, including the President!

Fauci supported gain of function research at the Wuhan Lab in China. In 2012, he wrote in a Scientific journal that he believed risking a pandemic was worth the risk if scientists developed new knowledge regarding vaccines. President Obama banned funding for gain of function research because of the risk for a worldwide pandemic.

In 2017, without consulting President Trump or Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Lazar, Fauci ordered a resumption of funding for gain of function research. Fauci is a shady character largely responsible for the misery the world suffered in 2020. Republicans in the Senate (in contrast to the Democrats) have been trying to hold Fauci accountable for his actions and statements.

Donald Trump was an elected President (and hopefully will be again). A man in Fauci’s position should not be taking partisan political stances. The man has long been out of control and should be removed from his position as health dictator.

Frankly, if Trump is reelected Fauci will not resign. The scientific version of Stalin will never voluntarily resign. He is interested in absolute authority and the media and the Democrats have established a personality cult around him. Trump over Fauci any day!

Another reason to bring back Trump is George W. Bush. Being the buffoon that he is, Bush fell for a prank from a Russian who led him to believe he was talking to Ukrainian President Zelinsky. Why the Ukrainian President would want to talk to a former and disgraced American President is something that did not occur to Bush.

Bush admitted that the US lied to Mikhail Gorbachev about not expanding NATO. He also said Ukrainians should kill more Russians. This odious man who invaded Iraq and contributed to the deterioration of relations with Russia is a war criminal.

It is to the credit of Donald Trump that he is disliked by Fauci, the Bush family, the Clinton family, the Cheney family, and the Biden family. Trump for President in 2024!

Categories
books

The Greeks

Book Review

The Greeks A Global History

by

Roderick Eaton

Basic Books. New York. 2021.

Roderick Eaton’s “The Greeks” is a recommended read. It is a book for Greeks and philhellenes as well as newcomers interested in Greek history and culture. Easton is a fine historian generally but struggles in some of his views of modern Greece.

The book traces Greek history from its origins in the classical period up to the present day. Eaton covers Homer, the wars between Athens and Sparta, Alexander, Christianity’s arrival, Byzantium, the Ottoman Empire, and modern Greece. It is a great survey of Greek history.

The best parts are those covering the classical and Byzantine eras. The rest is very good also but the modern Greek period is less detailed than the earlier periods of Greek history. Beaton is a fine writer who follows in the footsteps of Christopher Montgomery Woodhouse and Richard Clogg who wrote many books about Greece (mostly modern Greece).

There are two kinds of history books. One is the kind written by Beaton which is a general history in its entirety. The other kind is a book confined to a specific era of history which is more detailed and specific. For example, Mark Mazower’s, “The Greek War Of Independence” looks at the long and difficult struggle of the Greeks to achieve independence.

Both types of history are crucial. It is fortunate that Beaton’s book and Mazower’s were published during the same time. Both are excellent and are mandatory for public and private libraries regarding Greek history and civilization.

It is fortunate that Greece still attracts talented academics who write about Greek history. The book is very well written and is highly recommended.

Categories
faith

Hagia Sophia Diaries 28

The Turkish Newspaper Cumhiriyet has reported that Hagia Sophia may not survive t0 the year 2050. In one day a few weeks ago as many as 100,000 people visited Hagia Sophia. The article states that the moisture from the breaths of so many people could bring about the ruin of Hagia Sophia.

It is apparent that Hagia Sophia will in fact be destroyed over time. In the end only the Greeks cared for Hagia Sophia. We who are exiled from Justinian’s Church.

Categories
faith

The Desecration Of Mount Athos

Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland is paying attention to the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos. Since the tenth century, Athos which is located in the Greek province of Macedonia has been a Monastic Republic. There are twenty Monasteries (most of them Greek).

The Serbs, Bulgarians, and Russians have one Monastery each. It is the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon which has attracted the attention of Nuland and the State Department. Russian Monks have been present on Mount Athos for centuries. It is only in the minds of Russophobes and fanatics that every Russian is doing the bidding of Moscow.

There are disturbing reports of plans to expel the Russian Monks on the grounds that the Russians are serving Russian interests. American leaders being secularists do not comprehend that Russians might have gone to Mount Athos for reasons of faith. Greeks should be enraged by the plans to expel the Russian monks.

Greece is a Christian country with countless Orthodox shrines that are visited by pilgrims. Mount Athos is one of the most important. Politics do not belong on the Holy Mountain which is dedicated to the Mother of God.

The American government’s intervention on Mount Athos is sacrilege. The greatest blame for politicizing the Holy Mountain lies with Patriarch Bartholomew who for his own selfish plans for power has invited the State Department into the affairs of both the Holy Mountain and the Greek Churches. The silence of the Greek Bishops to both Bartholomew’s effort to become an Eastern Pope and their own failures to resist the Patriarchate’s hostile takeover of the Church of Greece speaks volumes.

The Greek government stupidly ignores the Phanariot-State Department alliance at the expense of Greece’s sovereignty. Bartholomew has become the King of Greece cutting deals with Washington even at the expense of Greek national interests and independence. The Greek Government and Church look the other way.

Greece and Cyprus face an existential threat from Turkey. It is insane for Greece to allow a Turkish citizen to accumulate the power and influence that the Patriarch has. The only good news is that the more conservative bishops, priests, and theologians are hostile to the Phanar. The bad news is they are a minority and many of them have been subject to bullying for daring to criticize Bartholomew’s anti Orthodox actions.

Greeks should be alarmed by the American influence on the Holy Mountain. The idea that Russia is going to take over is itself stupid and irresponsible. Mount Athos is in Greece and so Greeks will naturally be the majority. Saying the Russian Monastery is going to take over Athos is like saying that Argentina is going to take over the Vatican because of the present Pope’s nationality.

A further problem lies with the fact that the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America is a Turkish citizen. The Archbishop gave himself away when he attended that Turkish dinner in New York last fall. It is time to think about reforming Greek Orthodoxy.

The Church of Greece must be fully autocephalous in both fact and theory. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens is a moral failure and a stooge of Patriarch Bartholomew. He must be deposed and all funding to the Patriarchate from Greece must cease.

Crete and the Dodecanese islands must be taken from the Patriarchate and given to the Church of Greece. Mount Athos should also be taken from the Patriarchate. The last vestige of Turkish influence in Greece must end.

The Church of Greece needs bishops such as those it had in the past. An Archbishop Damaskinos or an Archbishop Christodoulos. A man of spirituality and morality mixed in with healthy nationalism in defense of the Hellenic nation and its Orthodox faith.

The desecration of Mount Athos must awaken Orthodox Greeks from their slumber!

Categories
faith

On The Patriarch Of Alexandria And Ukraine

Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria has denounced the Russian Church as “predatory” for establishing itself in the continent of Africa. There are reasons to criticize the Russian Church which pertain exclusively to the war in Ukraine. The war aside, the ecclesiastical chaos in Orthodoxy has not changed. The Russian Church is still in the right.

When Patriarch Bartholomew recognized the schismatic entity in Ukraine in 2018, Patriarch Theodoros travelled to Ukraine to support the canonical Church under Moscow. Orthodox Christians are not stupid. It is impossible to ignore the complete turnaround by Patriarch Theodoros regarding the Ukrainian Church.

Like Patriarch Bartholomew, the Patriarch of Alexandria has offered no explanations for changing his stance. Until 2018, ALL Orthodox Churches were in full agreement that the synod of Metropolitan Onuphry was the canonical Church. It is impossible not to suspect that there were sinister political and secular motives for the recognition of the schismatic entity by Constantinople and Alexandria.

The Russian Church might want to withdraw from Africa at this point. Not because they were wrong to go there. Because the Russian Church itself which HAD the moral high ground has now lost it because of its failure to condemn the military invasion of Ukraine.

Constantinople, Alexandria, and Moscow are morally compromised by politics. There are twenty four bishops of canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church which refuse to commemorate the Russian Patriarch. Ukraine may very well get its own autocephalous Church but it must be the legitimate Church.

The clergy of the fake Church need to be reordained and reconciled with the real Church. On these terms, autocephaly will become a reality. A solution to the Alexandrian crisis lies in Moscow withdrawing from Africa and the Alexandrian synod opening up its ranks to native Arabs and Africans who make up the faithful of the Church.

Secular politics, Greek, Ukrainian, and Russian need to be separated from the Church of Christ.

Christos Anesti!

Christ is Risen!