Archbishop Chrysostom II

The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus voted ten to 7 not to oppose the decision of Archbishop Chrysostomos to establish communion with the schismatic entity of Ukraine that masquerades as a Church. While it is still not entirely clear what this means for the Church of Cyprus over the long term it is apparent that nothing good can come from the outcome of these deliberations. The best case scenario indicates that the Church of Cyprus is going to be split with a possible schism occurring.

Patriarch Bartholomew’s destruction continues. Patriarch Bartholomew openly challenges Orthodox ecclesiology by claiming Papal style authority for himself and has made a mockery of the conciliar tradition of the Orthodox Church. The Church of Ukraine (the real one) has been undergoing a process of persecution by the government of Ukraine and a variety of neo-Nazi militia groups and white supremacists. The Greek Churches are all in a state of chaos having been morally and spiritually compromised as a result of blindly obeying the dictatorial Patriarch Bartholomew.

The Church of Greece has been split because of this Ukrainian situation. The Patriarchate of Alexandria has been split by the Greek hierarchy and many of the native African priests which has resulted in ugly allegations of racism being directed against the Greeks. The Patriarchate of Alexandria was a bright light in Orthodoxy and had very warm relations with the Russian Orthodox Church. Those relations are destroyed.

The chaos has spread to the Church of Cyprus. Even more disturbing are the rumors surrounding the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Hitherto, Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem has been a rock and stood firm in refusing to recognize the schismatics. Early on in the Church crisis, the Patriarch cancelled a meeting with Ukrainian President Poroshenko when he realized he was going to be pressured to recognize the schismatics.

Patriarch Theophilos also called a Pan Orthodox meeting in Jordan back in February in defiance of Patriarch Bartholomew. This was a sign that the Patriarchate of Jerusalem was maintaining its independence. Now it appears Patriarch Theophilos has met with the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, a sign that appears to be ominous.

Greeks forget that the Patriarchate of Jerusalem is not an ethnically Greek Church. Its hierarchy is mostly Greek but its faithful are Palestinian Arabs who have legitimate grievances over the way they have historically been treated. If Jerusalem recognizes the schismatic entity things are going to get very ugly real fast. Other Orthodox Churches have refrained from interfering in the internal affairs of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

This may very well change if Jerusalem recognizes the Ukrainian schismatic entity. The Russian Orthodox Church has a strong presence in the Holy Land and the Russians may very well back the Palestinians with their legitimate grievances. On the other hand, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem has historically maintained its independence from Constantinople.

Jerusalem has never adopted the modern calendar and throughout the twentieth century maintained communion with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Of Russia (ROCOR). Patriarch Theophilos may very well resist Constantinople’s encroachments. It not, the Greek speaking world will find that losing Hagia Sophia is by no means the worst thing that could happen to Greek Orthodoxy.

The Holy Shrines in Jerusalem have for centuries been maintained by the Greeks. On the one hand, this is a source of pride for those of us who are Greeks, but on the other hand the treatment of the native Arab Orthodox has been racist and shameful. The Patriarch of Jerusalem should refuse to bow to Patriarch Bartholomew’s bullying and should maintain communion only with the canonical Church of Ukraine.

In addition, Patriarch Theophilos should finally proceed to admit Arabs into the hierarchy of the Patriarchate and begin the process of reconciling the hierarchy with the faithful. The Arab faithful have a right to determine the course of their own Church and to decide what happens in relation to Church finances. Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem has stood bravely against the pressures imposed on him by the thuggish Patriarch Bartholomew. He must remain strong.

This entire Ukrainian affair has been nothing but utterly destructive for Orthodoxy. Only the blind can continue to support Patriarch Bartholomew at this point in time. Patriarch Bartholomew must be deposed! Of this there can be no question.

Ukrainian Schism engulfs Church of Cyprus

Four Bishops of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus have angrily responded to the commemoration in the divine liturgy by Archbishop Chrysostom II of Epiphanios Dimenko, the “bishop” of the schismatic entity in Ukraine. The Archbishop’s commemoration of a man who has no priestly ordination or bishop’s consecration and is therefore not the head of an autocephalous Church is a serious violation of the canonical order of the Orthodox Church. This threatens to lead to a rupture of communion between the Orthodox Church of Cyprus and the Russian Orthodox Church of which the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an autonomous part of.

It is quite probable that the Archbishop has succumbed to pressure from the Ecumenical Patriarch and his powerful friends in the American government. The Members of the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus are rightfully furious with the Archbishop for making a decision that could destroy relations with the Russian Church and affect its relations with the rest of the Orthodox Church unilaterally.

Archbishop Chrysostomos II is only the latest Greek hierarch to disregard the holy and sacred canons of the Orthodox Church and to recognize the fake entity in Ukraine. Originally, the Bishops of the Church of Greece entered into communion with the fake “church” of Ukraine. Some of the Greek Monasteries on Mount Athos concelebrated the divine liturgy with some of the fake “bishops” of Ukraine. Like Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria, Archbishop Chrysostom had stated that he recognized only the canonical Ukrainian Church but then turned around and recognized the schismatics.

This action on the part of the Archbishop of Cyprus has now engulfed the last of the Greek speaking Churches in Orthodoxy. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem has refused to recognize the Ukrainian schismatics but while the Patriarch and most of his Bishops are Greek, the Patriarch’s flock is Arab. Jerusalem is therefore both an Arab and a Greek Church.

It cannot be stressed enough that Patriarch Bartholomew is provoking a schism in Orthodoxy that widens each time an autocephalous Church enters into communion with the schismatics. As all the Churches to have recognized the schismatics are Greek, this will leave the Greek Orthodox world estranged and cut off from the whole of Orthodoxy. Since the Ecumenical Patriarch invaded the Russian Church’s territory in Ukraine we have seen the following,

1) The persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the Ukrainian authorities.

2) The cessation of communion between the Russian Church and the Churches of Constantinople and Alexandria.

3) The cessation of communion between the Russian Church and some Metropolises of the Church of Greece.

4) The division and estrangement between the upper ranks of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and the native African Bishops that resulted when African Bishops protested the Patriarch’s decision to establish communion with the Ukrainian schismatics.

5) A division within the Church of Greece between twelve principled Bishops who refuse to violate the canons of the Church, priests, monastics, theologians, and faithful on the one side and the Archbishop of Athens and a vast majority of Bishops on the other side who endorsed entering into communion with the Ukrainian schismatics.

At a time when Greece and Cyprus face increasing encroachments on their territorial rights from Turkey, this latest development in the two year crisis within the Orthodox Church is especially unwelcome. Over the past two years, Patriarch Bartholomew has sought to portray himself as a Greek nationalist. His infamous chauvinistic comments about the Russians needing to recognize “our people” at the head of Orthodoxy comes to mind.

Patriarch Bartholomew has failed to recognize the damage he has done to Orthodoxy. From the outset, the Ecumenical Patriarchate made itself an accomplice in the fierce persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. By colluding with American officials in Washington and Athens to pressure the Church of Greece (and later the Patriarchate of Alexandria) to establish communion with schismatics, the Ecumenical Patriarchate made their synods complicit in the persecution of Ukrainian Orthodoxy.

In recent days, Russia has released statements supporting Greece’s territorial rights in the Aegean against Turkey. Russia has released a statement reminding Turkey of the Russian bombardment of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Navarino in 1828. Very crucially, the Russian government has condemned the Turkish decision to reopen the town of Varosha in the Turkish occupied territories of Cyprus.

The decision of Archbishop Chrysostom to commemorate the fraudster Dimenko is despicable first and foremost for violating the canons of the Orthodox Church. It is also inherently stupid for alienating the Russians at a time when Russian diplomacy has been stepping up for Cyprus and Greece. The violation of canon laws by the Greek speaking Churches and the appalling treachery and cowardice by Greek hierarchs in four Churches demonstrate that the Greek Orthodox world has reached its greatest spiritual crisis in at least two centuries.

All this can be blamed on the Ecumenical Patriarch, the so called Greek “ethnarch”. Many Greeks scattered throughout the world have remained fervently loyal to Patriarch Bartholomew. This misguided loyalty has not been returned by the Ecumenical Patriarch.

If Patriarch Bartholomew cared for the Greeks and the Greek speaking Churches he would not have sought to divide them from their sister Churches in the communion of Orthodox Churches. Nor would he have destabilized them by creating one crisis after another in Greece, Alexandria, and now Cyprus. Greeks who continue to support Patriarch Bartholomew should ask one question.

If the Ecumenical Patriarch cared about Greece and Cyprus would he be creating divisions and conflicts not only between the Greek Churches and the Russian Church, but divisions among Greeks themselves?