Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has cancelled a scheduled meeting with Archbishop Elpidophoros at the Saint Nicholas National Shrine in New York. Reverberations are still being felt over the Archbishop’s attendance at a Turkish center which included representatives from the Turkish occupied territories of Cyprus. Previous to this, Cypriot President Anastasiades cancelled a meeting with the Archbishop.
This diplomatic debacle comes on top of years of scandals at the Archdiocese of New York. The “election” of Archbishop Elpidophoros has not fixed the problems that have plagued the Archdiocese. Most likely, his “election” was never intended to address the issues of the financial and moral bankruptcy of the Archdiocese, the financial crisis at Holy Cross theological school in Boston, the missing funds from the priest pension fund, and the Saint Nicholas Shrine. At the time of his selection, Archbishop Elpidophoros was well known for his support of Patriarch Bartholomew’s claims of universal authority over the whole of Eastern Orthodoxy.
When then Metropolitan Elpidophoros was announced as the new Archbishop of America the whole Orthodox world began paying attention. The Ecumenical Patriarchate had instigated a church crisis after trespassing on the territory of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Orthodox hierarchs from around the world had sent letters of warning and protest before and after the beginning of the crisis. Archbishop Elpidophoros was referred to (but not named) as his extreme views on the powers of the Ecumenical Patriarchate had already become notorious.
The election of the Archbishop by Constantinople could be seen as a slap toward the Orthodox world, especially in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. Now nearly two and a half years after his enthronement in New York, the Greeks have finally noticed that the Archbishop does not use good judgement. His appearance at the Turkish Center is an affirmation that his primary concern is focused on promoting the power and authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the expense of everything else.
Greece and Cyprus face mounting dangers from Turkey. Athens and Nicosia do not need to be distracted by the shenanigans that occur at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. One of the dangerous consequences of the schism that Constantinople instigated as a result of its Ukrainian venture is that the Orthodox Church of Greece has gone silent.
The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece followed Constantinople’s direction and established communion with a group of Ukrainian schismatics. As Constantinople has established an unhealthy influence over the Church of Greece, it has been clear that the bishops are no longer as assertive as they once were. Gone are the days when Archbishop Christodoulos rallied over 100,000 into the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki to challenge the secularization of Greece and the European attack on Greek national identity.
Gone are the days when Archbishop Christodoulos resisted the encroachments on the Church of Greece by Patriarch Bartholomew. Gone are the days when various bishops in Greece would speak against Turkish aggression and in defense of Greece and Cyprus. Gone are the days when the Church of Greece protested gay marriage and the imposition of transgender ideology.
Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens is quiet and passive. He is a pushover and failed to demonstrate leadership when American officials blatantly intervened in Church affairs and asked him to follow Constantinople’s line on the Ukrainian issue. The two previous Archbishops of Athens Serapheim (1974-1998) and Christodoulos (1998-2008) would never have permitted any foreign government to interfere in Church matters especially as they pertain to the validity of holy orders and the matters of priestly ordinations and episcopal consecrations.
The Greek government can and should make use of the Byzantine concept of Symphonia (harmony). Symphonia is the concept that emerged under Saint-Emperor Justinian of Constantinople. Symphonia refers to the relationship between Church and State at the time and which has been the model for Church-state relations in Greece and Russia up to the present time.
Under the practice of Symphonia, Church and State are partners and work together for the common good. The Church attends to spiritual matters and the State rules the country. But they do so as friends and partners not as disinterested parties as is the case in secular countries.
The Greek government needs to ask the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese to stand down and to stop representing Greece in any sort of official capacity at the White House and other prominent settings. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese should be focusing on cleaning house and should be carefully pondering on whether there needs to be a new Archbishop for America. Greece needs to be represented by serious and experienced officials who can help make the case for Athens and Nicosia against the jihadist state of Turkey.
Greece needs to conduct its foreign relations very carefully. Relations with both America and Russia are of utmost importance. The Church schism that Patriarch Bartholomew has instigated with the support of the State Department has complicated Greek relations with both Washington and Moscow. Greece needs to use its leverage (financial, political, legal) to force the Ecumenical Patriarchate to cease and desist from complicating Greek relations with the greater Orthodox world.
Greece also needs to address the complex situation regarding the Church of Greece. Mount Athos, Crete, and the Dodecanese islands are part of the omophorion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The parts of Greece that gained independence after the war of independence are governed by the holy synod of Athens. The Metropolises of Macedonia and Thrace are administered by Athens but are under the spiritual jurisdiction of Constantinople.
This means that Patriarch Bartholomew is commemorated in the liturgy in northern Greece instead of the Archbishop of Athens. The late Archbishop Christodoulos attempted to address this issue and to rectify it. The spiritual jurisdiction of Constantinople over northern Greece has destabilized the Church of Greece.
It has been speculated upon that a major reason for why the Holy Synod of Athens followed Constantinople’s direction and recognized the schismatic entity in Ukraine is because Patriarch Bartholomew threatened to seize and takeover northern Greece. If Patriarch Bartholomew could invade the territory of the largest and most powerful of Orthodox Churches, what could he do to the Church of Greece?
Political and ecclesiastical matters have become very blurred at the present time. This is because the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese have involved themselves in international diplomacy and intrigue. The presence of Archbishop Elpidophoros at the Turkish center has demonstrated the extent to which the leadership of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has lost sight of what its proper role really is.
Both the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese have eagerly and enthusiastically embraced the anti Russian policies being pursued by the American foreign policy establishment. The politicization of these ecclesiastical institutions is unmistakable. We should ask ourselves a question? Would Archbishop Elpidophoros have attended a ceremony hosted by the Russians?
We all know that the answer to that question is no. It is good that the leaders of Greece and Cyprus are refusing to meet with Archbishop Elpidophoros. Now that Greek and Cypriot officials are paying attention, they will have to address the problems that have been created by the Archdiocese and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.