Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has baptized the children of a Greek homosexual couple in Greece. Many people would argue that the children being baptized is good despite the life styles of the “parents”. That sentiment is well intended but misguided.
The problem lies with the fact that the “couple” do not intend to live a Christian lifestyle and the children are going to be exposed to a life (and more accurately a political movement) that is anti Christian. That makes the decision of the Archbishop to proceed with these baptisms deplorable. The “parents”, godparents, and others who attended the baptisms (wealthy Greeks the type who I suspect support the Greek left) did not celebrate the reception of these boys into the Church.
They celebrated the idea that the Greek Orthodox Church is becoming “modern” and adapting to the new pagan social agenda. The holy sacrament of baptism seems to have been overshadowed by the celebration of LGBT ideology. It is interesting to see that these baptisms did not occur under the auspices of a bishop of the Church of Greece. Greek Bishops remain traditionalist despite the heavy pressure and bullying that they have endured from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in recent years.
Archbishop Elpidophoros has a disregard for Orthodoxy. Upon being elected Archbishop in 2019 he had a poor reputation owing to his view that the Ecumenical Patriarch was “first without equals”. His views on Orthodox ecclesiology advocate the overthrow of the conciliar tradition which holds that only an ecumenical council in which ALL Orthodox Churches participate has authority in Orthodoxy. He has made horrendous blunders such as marching with the Marxist black lives matter whose members burned Bibles and advocate the defunding of the Police.
He also attended the Turkish gala at the Turkish consulate last year in which the leader of the Turkish occupation of Cyprus was present. It is clear that this man has no business being either an Archbishop or serving in the priesthood. His betrayals of Orthodoxy continue unabated.
He must be deposed.