Once again, thoughts and prayers for the health of Patriarch Bartholomew who has entered the hospital for a second time on his American visit. Hoping for the Patriarch’s physical health and his spiritual health as well. Praying that Patriarch Bartholomew will reverse his decisions on Ukraine.
The Patriarch is elderly but there is still time to restore his prestige and the prestige of Constantinople in Orthodoxy.
Patriarch Bartholomew has reportedly stated that he does not care that the Russian Orthodox Church has broken communion with Constantinople. This is a statement that only serves to further demoralize those of us under Constantinople’s omophorion who do care that we are not in communion with the Russian Church. Patriarch Bartholomew has no right to speak for his flock.
He speaks only for himself. As a member of his flock, I am opposed to everything that Patriarch Bartholomew has done in Ukraine. His actions violate canon law and the precepts of Orthodox ecclesiology. He has made the Church of Constantinople complicit in the violence and persecution of Orthodox Ukrainians by the government in Kiev and the fake and artificial “church” established by the Patriarchate.
This madness must end. Patriarch Bartholomew sucked the Patriarchate of Alexandria and the Church of Greece into the madness. Sentimental Greeks have closed their eyes and followed Constantinople down the path of ruin. Patriarch Bartholomew has created division among the bishops of Cyprus.
It is apparent that Patriarch Bartholomew does not care about any of this any more than he cares about being out of communion with the Russian Church. It is hard to see how this ends except with Patriarch Bartholomew being deposed. The Orthodox Churches can remain patient for only so long before they convene a council and choose to depose the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Patriarch Bartholomew visited the White House and President Joe Biden. Two elderly men declining in health who should be prayed for. One has damaged his country by his reckless actions because of how he withdrew from Afghanistan while the Patriarch damaged the unity of the Orthodox Church as a result of his uncanonical actions in Ukraine.
Patriarch Bartholomew called the President a “man of faith”. This President began his Presidency by restoring funds for the World Health Organization for use in supporting abortions around the world. This President passed the “equality act” which supports transgender ideology and enables boys at school to use the girls restrooms and play in girls sports. What “man of faith” supports anti Christian policies such as these?
It should be remembered that as Vice President, Biden presided over a marriage between two men. He was also a supporter of the bombing of Serbia and the seizure of Kosovo with its historic Serbian Churches and Monasteries which was followed by the ethnic cleansing of Orthodox Christians. As a Senator, Joe Biden voted in favor of the Iraq war and as Vice President supported the arming of jihadists in Syria. The Christians of Iraq and Syria became victims of genocide as a result of these policies. Man of faith?
Patriarch Bartholomew has tried to cover his ecclesiastical crimes in Ukraine under the Greek flag. Former Vice President Biden’s Syria policies helped to flood the Greek islands with Syrian refugees. Both Patriarch and President are intent on keeping Greece (Church and Country) in a state of permanent tension with Russia.
Patriarch Bartholomew’s referring to Biden as a “man of faith” is indicative of how isolated the Patriarch has really become. Between 1994 and 2013 there were about eight assassination attempts on the life of the Patriarch by jihadists and Turkish nationalists. Patriarch Bartholomew admirably stood his ground and refused to leave Constantinople.
The one thing that the Church of Constantinople had going for it was that it was a martyred Church. It should be remembered that the Russian Church supported Patriarch Bartholomew when Russian bishops participated in liturgies served in the old caves of Cappadocia and the Monastery of Panagia Soumela in Trebizond. Regrettably, Patriarch Bartholomew by his actions in Ukraine and his chosen alliances has damaged Orthodoxy and his own Patriarchate.
Aside from Biden, the Patriarchate has aligned itself with the American foreign policy establishment which is as anti Christian as Biden’s social policies. The Patriarch forgets that the Greek Orthodox faithful of Constantinople and the islands of Imbros and Tenedos were ethnically cleansed by the Turks during the the 1950’s and 1960’s with the support of Washington.
Washington supported the Turkish invasions of Cyprus long before the destruction of Serbia and the genocide of middle eastern Christians. Patriarch Bartholomew should have aligned the Ecumenical Patriarchate with Russia. Instead, he is working to estrange the Greek Churches from the whole of Orthodoxy.
Patriarch Bartholomew came to the throne of the Church of Constantinople with the honorable aim of protecting the rights of the Church of Constantinople and the small Greek Orthodox minority that remain in Turkey. He should have spent his energies on that noble effort. Tragically, he became a partisan in Church matters and began a quest for grabbing complete and total authority over the Orthodox Church.
Tragic decisions have been made. It is not too late for the Patriarch to repent. Otherwise, he can and will be deposed.
Patriarch Bartholomew arrived in the United States and was soon hospitalized. We wish the Ecumenical Patriarch a speedy recovery. This blog has been critical of the Patriarch over Ukraine and other issues but the Christian way is to pray for even those who happen to be in the wrong.
Joe Biden’s doctor has offered his services to the Patriarch. This was very kind gesture. Politics aside, acts of compassion should always be acknowledged and recognized. Best wishes for the Patriarch’s recovery.
Celebrations are due to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the enthronement of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Tragically, there is nothing for any Orthodox Christian to celebrate. On this anniversary, the Orthodox Church faces a schism that could very well become permanent and irreversible. The tenure of Patriarch Bartholomew that began promisingly will end in the total destruction of Orthodox unity, the destruction of the Greek speaking Churches and Mount Athos, and the destruction of the Church of Constantinople itself.
In March 1992, only a few months after becoming Patriarch, Bartholomew presides over a rare gathering of Orthodox primates in Constantinople. Only the Archbishop of Cyprus and the the Georgian Patriarch were absent. The Churches at the time agreed by consensus to terminate all discussions with the Vatican except on the matter of the Uniates (so called “Eastern Catholics”). This was the period when the Soviet Union collapsed and the opportunity to establish real Orthodox unity was at hand.
The primates that met in Constantinople did so under the Presidency of Patriarch Bartholomew in his capacity as “first among equals”. In 1993, Patriarch Bartholomew visited Russia where he was well received. What could have been?
By 1995, Patriarch Bartholomew alienated the Russian Church by establishing a parallel jurisdiction in Estonia. In 2003, Patriarch Bartholomew provoked a reaction from Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens when he began meddling inside the Church of Greece. These were the warning signs of what would come later in Ukraine.
Patriarch Bartholomew had his moments when he concelebrated the liturgy in the long abandoned monasteries and Churches of Trebizond and Cappadocia. He forgot that Russian Church hierarchs were with him when he celebrated the liturgy in those holy places. The Patriarchal reign of Patriarch Bartholomew is a disastrous failure.
In addition to the Ukrainian mess that the Phanar created, the Patriarchate has presided over the destruction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. Everything is in ruins! Patriarch Bartholomew has also harmed the Monasteries of Athos and the Church of Greece by making them accomplices to the ecclesiastical crimes in Ukraine.
Patriarch Bartholomew has attempted to hide behind the Greek flag. Greek and non Greek Orthodox are all mistaken if they believe the Patriarch cares about Greece. The appearance of Archbishop Elpidophoros at the Turkish center alongside the ethnic cleansers who preside over the occupation of Cyprus demonstrates how much the Patriarchate cares about Greeks.
For the hierarchs serving Constantinople’s uncanonical expansionism, Greece and Cyprus are useful as weapons in their anti Russian campaign. Beyond that, the Ecumenical Patriarch and his exarch in America have no use for Greece or Cyprus. It is a tragedy that so many Greeks support Patriarch Bartholomew uncritically.
It should be remembered that Patriarch Kyril of Moscow and Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev (the real bishop of Ukraine) congratulated Greece on independence day last March. Guess who did not not? The Ecumenical Patriarch did not.
Patriarch Bartholomew’s primary purpose thirty years ago was to open the theological school of Halki. If he had stuck to fighting for the Patriarchate in Turkey, things might be well today in Orthodoxy. But the Patriarch became a partisan figure demanding complete power and authority over the other Churches.
The conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque was a disaster. The bigger disaster was the downfall of the Church of Constantinople as a result of Patriarch Bartholomew’s anti canonical actions which have resulted in schism. The present situation was not inevitable.
There is only one way out for the Church of Constantinople. Repentance by withdrawing entirely from Ukraine and humbly asking forgiveness from the bishops of Russia, Ukraine, and the whole of Orthodoxy.
OPINIONS – COLUMNISTS
Greece, Cyprus, NATO, in the Context of Afghanistan
Αssociated Press
A Taliban soldier walks on the tarmac at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon)
9/21/2021
By Theodore G. Karakostas
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All people should be sympathetic to the plight of the refugees in Afghanistan. Orthodox Greeks should feel sympathy as the conquest of Kabul by the Taliban resembles in some ways the horror of the conquest of the liberated Christian city of Smyrna by the Turkish Kemalists in September 1922. The Turkish conquest in Smyrna was accompanied by the wholesale and indiscriminate slaughter of Greek and Armenian Christians in the city. The book The Great Fire that was written by historian Lou Ureneck a few years ago did a masterful job in documenting and describing the genocidal campaign by the Turks. In those days also there was widespread panic and fear that preceded the arrival of Kemal’s murderous armies.
With regard to the events that are still playing out in Afghanistan, American and European advocates of internationalism and interventionism are lamenting that perhaps NATO will lose credibility.
For Greeks, NATO does not have credibility for several reasons. It should be recalled that during the anti-Greek pogroms in Constantinople in September 1955, the Greek Orthodox community (along with Armenians and Jews) were terrorized in a campaign of violence and terror. Greek army officers who were serving with NATO in Smyrna were assaulted and beaten by Turkish hoodlums. Neither the NATO alliance collectively nor its individual members condemned the attack on the Greek community or on their Greek colleagues serving as members of NATO.
We are now supposed to be horrified by the prospect that NATO’s ‘credibility’ will diminish. In 1974, NATO member Turkey invaded the Republic of Cyprus which is not a member of NATO but was a nonaligned country during the Cold War. The Turkish army ethnically cleansed over 200,000 Greek Cypriots and committed war crimes including murders and rapes against Greek civilians. There are over five hundred and fifty Greek Orthodox churches and monasteries that have been destroyed by Turkey which has been actively Islamicizing the occupied territories.
In 1999, under the leadership of the Clinton administration, NATO engaged in an act of aggression against Christian Serbia. The Serbs were forced to withdraw from their ancestral homeland of Kosovo and instantly became the targets of violence, persecution, and pogroms. NATO has never intervened to stop the violence against Serbs and hundreds of Serbian Orthodox Monasteries and Churches were destroyed.
While the news media focuses on the crisis in Afghanistan (and one cannot help but have sympathy for the people who are at risk from the Taliban) it has ignored two other instances of horrific crimes against humanity. The western world has ignored the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated against the Armenians by the aggressor terror states of Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Azerbaijani forces have committed horrific war crimes against Armenians and this humanitarian crisis has been completely ignored by the powerful of NATO, Europe, America, and the world’s media.
The Kurds of Syria fought heroically on the American side against the genocidal Islamic State which was supported by Turkey. The Trump administration betrayed the Kurds in an act of appeasement and permitted Turkish forces to occupy Syrian territory.
This was another crisis featuring the fanatical jihadist regime of Turkey which was ignored by the powerful of the world.
There is more. The Germans have denounced the Biden administration. Now, it is certainly true that the Biden administration chose to withdraw from Afghanistan in a terrible way and created a crisis. The Germans however are the best example of the hypocrisy of NATO and the European Union. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has asked Germany to stop arming Turkey. The Germans have refused to do so.
Turkey has threatened war against Greece and claims several of the Greek islands. If Turkey were to invade and occupy any Greek islands, the result would be ethnic cleansing and genocide which are the polices of any and all Turkish conquests. The likelihood that Germany, Europe, or NATO will show any support for Greece or will condemn any Turkish atrocities against Greece are non-existent.
It is quite possible to have empathy as a Christian and as a human being for the suffering people of Afghanistan. It is also possible to simultaneously reject the propagandistic false image that NATO and the West are trying to present to the world.
Both NATO and the European Union have been disastrous for Greece and Cyprus. Even at this late date as Turkey has openly become a jihadist state aligning itself with ISIS and Al Qaeda, Ankara continues to enjoy uninterrupted support from America, NATO, and the European Union.
It is unclear what repercussions the crisis in Afghanistan will have for Greece and Cyprus. More migrants flooding into Greece is possible. The Syrian war which the Obama administration pursued flooded the Greek islands with Muslim refugees. Greece pays the price for the military adventures of the West even though Athens does not participate in them.
Commentators on cable television are warning of the ‘Russian threat’ in the midst of the Afghanistan crisis. This does not bode well for Greece or Cyprus. When the western world finds enemies either in the Middle East or Russia, it will look to Turkey for support. The abolition of NATO and the weakening of Europe may very well be to the best interests of Greece, Cyprus, and Armenia over the long term.
After fourteen years, the Sopranos are back. The long awaited prequel, “The Many Saints of Newark” finally arrived in theaters. It is not a bad film overall, but it is disappointing owing to the fact that the film did not live up to the expectation that we would see how young Tony Soprano was corrupted. What was expected was to see Tony make his bones (commit his first murder) the way we see Christopher make his bones in the pilot episode of the Sopranos.
Mafia films are fascinating largely because of how they show the ease in which people can be corrupted. Goodfellas did a great job depicting the corruption of young Henry Hill. The first two Godfather films brilliantly showed how once honest men such as Michael Corleone and Vito Corleone can go down the dark path. The Sopranos series also touched on the corruption of Christopher.
The main problem with the film is this is about the Moltisanti family and less about the Sopranos. Dicki Molisanit is the star of the film and he is a great character. His life choices foreshadow the choices that his son Christopher takes in his life. Both father and son murder their girlfriends (for different reasons) and both are murdered leaving behind a wife and baby.
The movie has its moments. The acting is great. Michael Gandolfini is great in the role his father played. But there is no real transformation. There is is no equivalent of Micheal Corleone the nice guy going bad. That is what this film is missing.
Too much time on the race riots. It is one thing to show the background of racial tensions, another to focus too much on them. “A Bronx Tale”, the 1993 mob classic featured the problem of racism but wisely kept it to a minimum. The Sopranos series occasionally featured flashbacks of Johnny Boy Soprano. He was a fascinating character and regrettably was not used very much in the film.
In episode three of the third season, young Tony walks in as as his father cuts off the finger of Mr. Satriale (the guy whose butcher shop Johnny Boy took over and we learned during the series committed suicide). There should have been more of Johnny Boy and more of Tony proceeding with his criminal career.
Tony being inducted into the Mafia would have been a great ending. In the end we learn that Dickie Moltisanti was murdered on the orders of Uncle Junior. This brings into question the information given to us in season four episode one that Dickie was murdered by a dirty cop on the orders of another wiseguy. It also raises the possibility that if Tony was in fact murdered in the series finale (as many fans believe) then perhaps he was murdered on the orders of Uncle Junior as Dickie Moltisanti was.
It is true that Uncle Junior was sick and no longer in good standing with the family during the last two seasons of the shows run, but might it not have been possible he still had friends and could have given one last order? In the film, Uncle Junior ordered the murder of Dickie Moltisanti because he felt disrespected.
In his stay in a nursing home, Uncle Junior was beaten by a younger resident. Humiliation would have been a strong motivation for Uncle Junior to have Tony hit.
Not a bad film, but not a great film either.
The schism in the Orthodox Church is about to get worse. The Russian Orthodox Church has held a conference to address the violation of the canonical borders of Ukraine by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It has also discussed the issue of the recognition of the schismatic entity of Ukraine by the Patriarchate of Alexandria. Most crucially, Moscow is about to react to the concelebration of Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria with the fake bishop of Ukraine on the island of Imbros in August.
Since Alexandria established communion with the Ukrainian schismatics, many African priests have asked Moscow to accept them into the Russian Church. Previous to this, the Patriarchate of Alexandria was at peace with its flock and with all sister Orthodox Churches. When Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople triggered the crisis in Ukraine three years ago, Patriarch Theodore travelled to Ukraine to serve the liturgy with the bishop of the canonical Ukrainian Church.
The Patriarch urged all Ukrainians to remain in the canonical Church of Ukraine. Patriarch Theodore expressed his support for members of the canonical Church who are being persecuted by the Ukrainian government and the schismatics. A year later, Patriarch Theodore inexplicably established communion with the schismatic entity in Ukraine.
Now the crisis has gotten to the point where the Russian Church is going to establish itself in Africa the hitherto territory of Alexandria. Since Moscow broke communion with that ancient Patriarchal see in response to the Patriarch’s recognition of the schismatics all canonical impediments to Africa have been lifted. The ramifications of Patriarch Bartholomew’s desire for power continue.
Patriarch Theodore can stop the further damage to Orthodox unity by immediately reversing his stance on Ukraine. Unlike Patriarch Bartholomew, the Patriarch of Alexandria used to get along with all sister Orthodox Churches. Like the Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem, Patriarch Theodore used to be warmly received in Moscow by Church and state alike.
Patriarch Theodore would be doing the right thing by reversing his stance on Ukraine. A simple expression of regret and a willingness to break with the Ukrainian schismatics would relieve tensions. Patriarch Bartholomew has made very clear that he is intent on grabbing total power at the expense of Orthodox unity.
Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria has sacrificed his reputation and life’s work in support of Patriarch Bartholomew. He is not the first Orthodox Greek to follow the Ecumenical Patriarch on his destructive path. Abott Ephraim of Vatopaidi Monastery on Mount Athos and some other Athonites were once influential over the whole of Orthodoxy by the examples of their monastic lives and teachings. That influence and respect ended when they chose to support Patriarch Bartholomew’s mad venture in Ukraine.
There are bishops in Greeks who likewise lost their reputations by supporting Patriarch Bartholomew. The Churches of Greece and Cyprus are heavily split because of this Ukrainian issue. Patriarch Bartholomew is destroying Orthodox unity and sacrificing the good names of those who have supported him.
Regrettably, the governments of Cyprus and Greece seem to have reconciled with Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. Both Athens and Nicosia seem unwilling to recognize the Phanariots of Constantinople and New York as the sources of destruction and chaos. At the very least, Athens and Nicosia should have made it a point to avoid Archbishop Elpidophoros on any occasion in the future and should have ordered the Archdiocese not to comment on or interfere with Greek and Cypriot diplomatic activities in America.
The Greek government earlier this year pledged two million Euros annually to the Holy Cross theological seminary in Boston. This is indicative of the shamelessness of the crowd at the Archdiocese. They have destroyed their school, the priest pension fund, and the Saint Nicholas Shrine has humiliated the entire Greek Orthodox community in America. The Archdiocese is financially and morally bankrupt.
They get the people of Greece to subsidize Holy Cross School of theology. Did the Greek government ask the people of Greece if they wanted their money to go to any institution of the Archdiocese of America? The Greek government already subsidizes the Ecumenical Patriarchate whose leading hierarch abroad attends ceremonies with leaders of the Turkish occupation of Cyprus.
The schism in Orthodoxy is going to have ramifications for Hellenism and Orthodoxy. Greece and Cyprus need to concentrate on all diplomatic fronts in order to properly deal with the Turkish threat. This means Greece needs to focus on relations with both America and Russia. Greeks should not be split and divided because of Patriarch Bartholomew at a time when Turkey has become more menacing than at any other time since 1974.
Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria should reverse his stance on the matter of the Ukrainian issue. If he were to do that, he will be a hero. Patriarch Bartholomew is protected from his ecclesiastical crimes because he resides in a country that is not Orthodox. Eventually, a major Church council will be held and very likely Patriarch Bartholomew will be deposed.
The Patriarch of Alexandria can distance himself from the whole mess by reversing his stance and offering words of regret and remorse to all Orthodox Churches. He an be an example for the Archbishop of Cyprus and those bishops in Greece who entered into communion with schismatics.
When I first visited the city of Thessaloniki several years ago, I was astounded by the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia. It is a very beautiful cathedral from the Byzantine era. I recall thinking that this would be perfect for use as the Patriarchal Cathedral.
At present, the Greek speaking Churches are in serious disarray. The Ecumenical Patriarchate is the instigator of schisms in Eastern Orthodoxy and is preoccupied with grabbing as much power and authority as possible. The Church of Greece is under the leadership of an Archbishop who lacks the leadership abilities of his two immediate predecessors Serapheim and Christodoulos.
Even worse, Archbishop Ieronymos and his synod established communion with the schismatic church in Ukraine that all Churches (including the Greek ones) considered to be without valid ordinations and consecrations. The Archbishop followed the recommendations of the American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and bowed to the pressure tactics of Patriarch Bartholomew. When Patriarch Bartholomew intervened previously in the affairs of the Church of Greece both Archbishops Serapheim and Christodoulos fiercely defended the autocephaly of the Church of Greece.
There would have been no question of either of these Archbishops permitting any secular foreign power to intervene in Church affairs. Unlike Archbishop Christodoulos of blessed memory, Archbishop Ieronymos does not speak on the various issues of the day whether they be social issues, national issues, or other matters. The Church of Greece needs to regain its voice and its independence.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (under Constantinople) in America has been involved in several scandals over the last few years. The Archdiocese has done spiritual harm to its flock, and has also done harm to Greek national issues as well. The visit of Archbishop Elpidophoros to the Turkich Center is demonstrative of how the Archdiocese focuses on one issue alone- the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Otherwise, why would the Archbishop have attended a ceremony attended by the leaders of Turkey and the authorities who govern the Turkish occupied territories of Cyprus. Turkey has been challenging the territorial integrity of Greece.
The place to begin the housecleaning is at the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Greek world needs to seriously discuss the future of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Patriarchate’s status has diminished greatly in the Eastern Orthodox world because of its expansionist policies against other Churches. It has also led the Church of Greece astray and has created division among the members of the Holy Synod in the Church of Cyprus.
The conversion of Saint Justinian’s Hagia Sophia in Constantinople into a Mosque could be an opportunity to come to terms with reality. There was a time when I considered the possibility of moving the Patriarchate from the city of Constantine with horror and revulsion. The events that have played out have necessitated a change in that stance that began when I visited Thessaloniki for the first time.
The Cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki is named (just like Justinian’s Church) for Christ himself. The Church of the Holy Wisdom of God. The Turks have taken many Churches named Hagia Sophia and have made them into Mosques in recent years. These include the Churches named Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Adrianople, Nicea, and Trebizond.
In my view, this makes the Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki even more special. Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki was a Mosque for hundreds of years under the Ottoman yoke (much like Justinian’s Church). However, this is the Hagia Sophia we liberated and restored to Christian worship! This is the FREE HAGIA SOPHIA!
This is the Hagia Sophia we can freely worship in and where Christ is glorified. Might this not be the perfect home for the Ecumenical Patriarchate? There are historical precedents for moving. The Patriarchate of Antioch left that town many centuries ago and has been located in Damascus. When Constantinople was conquered by the Latins in 1204, both Emperor and Patriarch went to exile in Nicea from where both Empire and Church were governed.
There is a case for Thessaloniki to be the home of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Cathedral of Thessaloniki is a symbol of the glory of Christ and also symbolizes the freedom of Greece from the Turks. This is the free Hagia Sophia!
Saint Paul preached and taught in Thessaloniki during the first century. The city contains the relics of Saint Demetrios the Martyr and Saint Gregory Palamas in the beautiful Churches that receive pilgrims from throughout the Orthodox world. Pilgrims visiting Thessaloniki make pilgrimages to the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian outside the city to visit the tomb of Holy Saint Paisios.
Thessaloniki is also close to the Holy Mountain of Athos. The Holy Mountain of Athos has problems and the Monks have become divided as a result of the policies of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This along with the other problems facing Greek Orthodoxy mentioned above could be alleviated if the Ecumenical Patriarchate moved to Thessaloniki.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate itself would be officially liberated. It would not be the liberation that Greeks have dreamed about since 1453, but the Great Church would no longer be dependent on the terror of the Turks or be dependent on the foreign policy establishment of the State Department. No Greek wants to turn their back on Constantinople but the reality is that there is no future for Greek Orthodoxy in Erdogan’s Turkey.
In the event that the Ecumenical Patriarchate moved to Greece, there would be a reunion of the mother Church of Constantinople with the daughter Church of Greece. The Patriarch would have a real flock to preside over again and would not have to deal with the evil of the Turkish authorities. The Patriarch would be free to speak!
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese could be reformed with new Bishops coming from Greece and Mount Athos to renew the Archdiocese. Saints Cyril and Methodios left Thessaloniki to convert the Slavs to the Gospel. So it could be that a free Patriarchate in Thessaloniki could send Bishops and Priests to rebuild and reestablish the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese with the aim of building a future American Church as the Patriarchate previously established Churches in Russia and the Balkans.
A house cleaning is in order for the Greek Orthodox world. Let it begin by liberating itself from the Turkish yoke and settling the Ecumenical Patriarchate at Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki. This is the Hagia Sophia Greece took back from the Turks. Using it as the Patriarchal Cathedral would be sending a message to the Turks.
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.