Tag: Ukrainian Orthodox Church

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faith

Mount Athos, Church Of Greece, And The Struggle For The Faith

The Monasteries of the Holy Mountain have written a letter to Patriarch Bartholomew opposing the impending visit of Archbishop Elpidophoros. The reason for this are the controversial baptisms of two children of a gay couple. In addition, the Athonites cited the photograph of the Archbishop with the two men and suggest that the hierarch appears to endorse gay marriage.

This is an accurate assessment of the photograph. The monks have made clear that they do not wish to appear as if they are in agreement with the Archbishop or endorse his actions. We should recall that when the Archbishop asked for permission from Metropolitan Antonios of Glyfada to conduct the baptisms, he failed to mention the “parents” were gay.

The Archbishop deceived this hierarch and the Church of Greece in general. Furthermore, the use of a surrogate mother to provide these men with children represents a further moral issue with the entire affair. Archbishop Elpidophoros by all rights should be deposed.

This baptism is by no means the only controversy that he has stirred up. He has received into the Patriarchate’s Slavic vicariate a defrocked Archimandrite from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and sought to elevate him into the episcopacy. Only threats from the other Orthodox Churches in the episcopal assembly forced the Archbishop to cancel his plans.

During the fall of 2021, the Archbishop attended a ceremony at the Turkish consulate in New York one year after the Turks converted Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. The Archbishop was in the presence of Ersin Tatar, the leader of the Turkish occupation of Cyprus. This move angered the governments of Greece and Cyprus.

Archbishop Elpidophoros gained notoriety from an article he wrote in 2013 stating the Ecumenical Patriarch was “first without equals”. In reality the Ecumenical Patriarch is considered “first among equals” with a “primacy of honor”. The then Metropolitan also compared the Patriarch with the first person of the Holy Trinity. This writing gave the current Archbishop a good deal of notoriety.

Considering Patriarch Bartholomew’s subsequent actions in Ukraine (the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church) it makes the Archbishop the minister of propaganda to Patriarch Bartholomew. Both the Patriarchate and the Archdiocese have aligned themselves with American pro war foreign policy establishment.

Even worse, they compromised the Patriarchate of Alexandria, several Athonite Monasteries and bishops in Greece and Cyprus when the latter all established communion with the fake “church” in Ukraine. Certainly all the above have to take responsibility for entering into communion with the artificial entity calling itself “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”. But it was Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Elpidophoros who started all this by trying to bestow on the Patriarch authority and power he does not have.

The Monasteries of Mount Athos contributed to the schism in Orthodoxy when they decided to let each Monastery pursue its own policy toward the illegitimate Ukrainian “church”. Furthermore, they permitted the fake “bishops” of Ukraine to desecrate the holy mountain by permitting them to participate in liturgical services. These frauds also raised the Ukrainian flag on Mount Athos and sang the Ukrainian national anthem. Such expressions of nationalism are supposed to be prohibited on the holy mountain.

The expressions of opposition to gay marriage by the Church of Greece and Mount Athos deserve praise. But there is much more to be done. The holy mountain and the Churches of Greece and Cyprus must reverse their decisions to recognize that thing in Ukraine masquerading as a “church”. The holy mountain and the Church of Greece must restore communion with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and to condemn the persecution of this legitimate and canonical Church.

If this can be done, the Church of Greece and the holy mountain will be restored. Then the Greek Church must prepare itself to act against the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Archbishop of America who have caused so much chaos in Orthodoxy and sought to ruin the name of Hellenism by carrying out their ecclesiastical crimes under the Greek flag which they have desecrated.


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The Greek Orthodox Bishops And Ukraine


OPINION; The Greek Churches Must Speak

ByHellenic News of America

May 4, 2023

ΦΩΤΟ: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ

by Theodore Karakostas

In the year 988 AD, Emperor Basil II of Constantinople of the reigning Macedonian Dynasty performed a deed that can be considered splendid not only in the earthly realms of politics and diplomacy, but in the spiritual and heavenly realms as well. Emperor Basil had once intended to become a monk, but accepted his destiny to become the Emperor of Christendom in the God protected City of Constantinople and arranged for the baptism of holy Rus whose culture and civilization began in Kiev. It it a fact that what Constantinople is for the Greeks, Kiev is for both Russia and Ukraine.

Those of us of Hellenic ancestry have felt the enormous pain of losing Hagia Sophia three times. First in 1453, after the fall of Constantinople, then in 1922 when Greece was denied Constantinople by the Western powers, and in 2020 when the world sat silently as the Turkish government made Saint Justinian’s Church a Mosque. The Kiev Caves Lavra are in Kiev what Hagia Sophia is to Constantinople. The Kiev Caves Lavra is more than just a Monastery. Within its sacred walls reside two hundred monks and three hundred seminarians.

A wave of repression has been undertaken by the Kiev government against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). There is a rival “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU). The situation is not unlike Greece in which the “Orthodox Church of Greece” peacefully coexists with the various Old Calendar-traditionalist Churches. Democracy and the right to religious freedom and freedom of conscience dictate that individuals should be free to worship where they like. The Ukrainian government has for several years forcibly seized Churches belonging to the UOC and given them to the OCU. It has also attempted to force the UOC to rename itself and pressure has effectively been imposed to subsequently ban the UOC outright.

Orthodox Churches throughout the world have raised their voices in protest against the persecution of the Kiev Caves Lavra. Only a few bishops in Greece and Cyprus have raised their voices. This is particularly disturbing considering that Kiev carries on the great spiritual heritage of Constantinople. It is important to recall that until 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek Churches had refused to recognize schismatic entities in Ukraine that later became the OCU. They had recognized only the UOC which is the inheritor of the Church that was established by Prince Vladimir of Kiev when he accepted the Christian faith from Emperor Basil II of Constantinople.

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For moral and spiritual reasons, as well as historic reasons the Greek Churches must raise their voices to protest the injustices against not just the monks of the Kiev Caves Lavra, but against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a whole. Another prominent reason why my conscience dictates that I must write about the present horrors inflicted on Orthodox Christians in Ukraine is because of the past silence of the world to the injustices of Greek Orthodoxy in Asia Minor and Constantinople. It should be remembered that the world was indifferent to the Greek Orthodox in 1922 when the Turks burned the City of Smyrna and slaughtered the Greek and Armenian Christians.

After the 1955 pogroms in Constantinople and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of Greeks from the heavenly city, the Western world was not only indifferent but bullied Greece into appeasing the Turkish aggressors. It is in memory of the destroyed Greek Churches of Constantinople and Turkish-occupied Cyprus (where the Turks have destroyed or Islamicized over five hundred Churches and Monasteries) that I lament the seizure and destruction of Churches and holy sites belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Since when do holy and pious Greek bishops remain silent on issues pertaining to our Orthodox faith? Patriarch (Saint) Gregory V gave his life by refusing to expose to the Sultan the plans for the liberation of Greece. Metropolitan (Saint) Chrysostom of Smyrna defied death and the Turks by announcing he would never leave Smyrna and his flock. He was butchered but gained martyrdom and eternal glory in the kingdom of God. Archbishop Chrysanthos of Athens refused to cooperate with the Germans in 1941 and openly defied them. Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens risked his life under Nazi occupation
to rescue thousands of Greek Jews.

In September 1955, Archbishop Spyridon of Athens resisted government pressure not to offend the Americans when denounced the anti-Greek pogroms in Constantinople and the silence of America and NATO. In our own lifetime, Archbishop Christodoulos of blessed memory condemned the bombing of Orthodox Serbia and called the faithful to the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki to protest plans to diminish the influence of Orthodoxy in Greece. When any religious group is oppressed (Jews, Roman Catholics, Muslims) we would be called upon by the gospel to raise our voices.

How then can it be that Church leaders in Constantinople, Athens, and Nicosia have remained silent when our own brothers in the Orthodox faith suffer and are being oppressed. The tradition of Greek Orthodoxy demands that the Patriarch and the bishops raise their voices. This too is part of the spiritual inheritance of Constantinople as can be seen by the examples of Saint John Chrysostom and other Patriarchs. The Greek Churches must speak!

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faith

Church Crisis Worsens

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.

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faith

On the inaccurate statements of a Church of Greece hierarch

His Eminence Metropolitan Anthimos of Alexandroupolis has criticized the Russian Orthodox Church and accused it of trying to erase the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This assessment is completely and entirely false. The Russian Church has done nothing to harm the Ecumenical Patriarchate other than to defend itself, its clergy, and its faithful from persecution.

It is abundantly clear that many of the hierarchs of the Church of Greece are ignorant of what has been happening in Ukraine. Furthermore, there is no excuse for being ignorant considering that fact that several hierarchs of the Church of Greece including Metropolitans Serapheim of Pireaus, Serapheim of Kythyra, Nektarios of Corfu, and Simeon on New Smyrna have informed the Synod as to what has been happening in Ukraine. In addition, prominent priests and theologians such as Father Theodore Zisis, Father Anastasios Gotsopoulos, and Professor Demetrios Tselengides have all spoken against recognition of the Ukrainians schismatics in great detail citing the Church canons.

Over one year ago, a petition in Greece signed by priests, theologians, monastics, and lay people was sent to the Holy Synod asking them NOT to recognize the schismatics. There is simply no reason for the hierarchs of the Church of Greece to be issuing statements based on ignorance. The true facts regarding the situation in Ukraine are well known and it is only because of laziness that Greek hierarchs refuse to be enlightened about Ukraine.

It is an established fact that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the synod of Metropolitan Onuphry is the canonical Church of Ukraine. The Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the Church of Greece maintained communion with this canonical synod until 2018-2019. An “autocephalous” Church cannot be established on the territory where a canonical Church already exists.

The canonical Church consists of two thirds of all Ukrainians. This fact has either been disregarded by Greek hierarchs or these hierarchs are too lazy to get information. The legitimate Church has been fiercely persecuted and Greek hierarchs refuse to open their eyes. We Greeks can’t really complain anymore about the plight of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey since we are in effect supporting the persecution of Orthodox in Ukraine.

His Eminence Metropolitan Anthimos seems to forget the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s previous attacks on the Church of Greece. It has been reported previously by the Greek language “Orthodox Typos” in Athens that the late Archbishop Serapheim (1974-1998) refused to invite Patriarch Bartholomew to Athens because of the Patriarch’s encroachments on the canonical territory of the Church of Greece. Furthermore, the late Archbishop Christodoulos (1998-2008) very publicly feuded with Patriarch Bartholomew because of Constantinople’s aggressive actions in Northern Greece.

If the Church of Greece today had the kind of strong leadership that Archbishops Serapheim and Christodoulos provided it is unlikely that the Athens Synod would have recognized the Ukrainian schismatics. The two previous Archbishops were both independent minded and provided guidance to the Holy Synod. The present Archbishop Ieronymos on the other hand has not only not provided leadership he has bowed before the secular interests of the State Department and the American Embassy in Athens.

The Russians have never tried to undermine the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Moscow has always affirmed both by its statements and attendance at Pan Orthodox gatherings that the Ecumenical Patriarch is “first among equals”. Moscow has never tried to remove Constantinople from holding first place in the dyptychs or abolishing its “primacy of honour”.

Moscow has only challenged Constantinople when the latter Church has attempted to exceed its authority by attempting to grab Moscow’s territory as it did during the mid 1990’s when it established its own Bishops in Estonia. His Eminence Metropolitan Anthimos should recall that the late Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens openly supported Moscow during the Estonian crisis. In addition, the Church of Greece has resisted Constantinople’s encroachments just as Moscow has.

Yet, it would not be accurate to say that the Church of Greece was trying to “erase” the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The state into which the Greek Orthodox world has fallen is truly lamentable. Our Churches are now under the influence of the State Department.

How ironic this is. His Eminence Metropolitan Anthimos accuses the Russians of trying to “erase” the Ecumenical Patriarchate. His Eminence should reread the history of the Church of Constantinople during the 1950’s and the 1960’s. When the Turkish government waged its campaign of ethnic cleansing against Orthodox Greeks through pogroms and mass expulsions the State Department uttered not a single word of protest on behalf of the Patriarchate’s flock.

Who is really trying to “erase” the Ecumenical Patriarchate? It is not the Russians.

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faith

Pompeo must go!

While on a visit to Athens Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the Russians of trying to “coopt” the Orthodox Church. This is laughable coming from a buffoon whose employees at the American embassy in Athens have interfered blatantly in the affairs of the Orthodox Church of Greece and on Mount Athos. It is the fake “church” of Ukraine that is persecuting the bishops, priests, and faithful of the canonical Ukrainian Church.

This artificial creation calling itself “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” is a political creation and has nothing to do with the Church of Jesus Christ and the Holy Apostles! The sickness of anti Russian racism is so depraved that all Russians are apparently being targeted. In the estimation of Mike Pompeo and the State Department Russian Bishops, Priests, and ordinary believers are nothing more than instruments being used by Moscow.

This is utterly despicable. It is Washington alone that has successfully co opted the Ecumenical Patriarchate and a significant portion of the Church of Greece along with the upper ranks of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. At a time when Turkish aggression is manifesting itself against the territorial rights of Greece, Pompeo should have stuck to political and diplomatic matters.

Pompeo should be fired as Secretary of State for being a violator of religious freedom. As a Greek Orthodox, I find it infuriating to watch the Greek Orthodox world being co opted by these secularists as part of their insane anti Russian agenda. The Trump administration has made some mistakes.

One mistake had the name John Bolton and was taken care of. Another mistake is named Mike Pompeo and it is time for him to be shown the door.

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faith

The Patriarch of Alexandria and Ukraine

Patriarch Theodoros of the Patriarchate of Alexandria the second highest ranking Patriarchate in the dyptychs of the Orthodox Church took a cheap shot at the Russian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch criticized the Russian Church and said its reaction to the recognition of the pseudo Church in Ukraine by Constantinople, Alexandria, and Greece was “not correct”. The schismatic entity in Ukraine that the aforementioned Churches have established communion with is not a Church as it does not possess catholicy, canonicity, or apostolicity.

The Patriarch knows that the recognition of his Patriarchate of the pseudo Church in Ukraine at the expense of the canonical Church is wrong. When the Ecumenical Patriarchate began the process that would lead to the recognition of the “church” with the bogus bishops in Ukraine, Patriarch Theodoros responded by traveling to Ukraine to concelebrate the liturgy with bishops, priests, monastics, and faithful of the canonical and legitimate Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The Orthodox Church is in a state of crisis because the Churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Greece have bestowed recognition on a political movement whose leaders dress like Orthodox Bishops and Priests but have no ordinations or consecrations as each and every cleric of this “church” has either been defrocked by the canonical Orthodox Church or has never been a part of it. This statement by the Patriarch of Alexandria is a reminder of how dishonest the Churches that have entered into communion with the Ukrainian schismatics really are. Of the three Churches that have recognized the schismatics none have addressed either the canonical issues at stake regarding proper ecclesiology or the political factors that instigated this crisis.

Political factors include the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the state and by various Neo-Nazi militias. Political factors also include Washington’s influence over the three Churches that recognized the schismatic entity. Patriarch Theodoros says that the Ukrainians have a right to have their own Church.

The Polish Orthodox Church has also said that the Ukrainians have a right to have their own Church. But not at the expense of the canon laws of the Church and the disregard for the sacredness of the Holy Orders of the Orthodox Church. Furthermore, the Patriarch of Alexandria surely knows that the canonical Ukrainian Church consists of two thirds of Ukrainians.

The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has rejected seeking autocephaly from the Russian Orthodox Church on the grounds that it already enjoys a great deal of autonomy from Moscow. In most areas, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church governs itself without Moscow’s interference. It is hard to believe that the Synods of the three Churches that have established communion with the Ukrainian schismatics have done this with any sincerity or good faith.

On the positive side, the number of Churches recognizing the Ukrainian schismatics has been contained to three. As serious as the crisis remains, it is at the very least contained. Given some time the three Churches may come to reverse their decisions once they realize there will be no further recognition bestowed upon the lay people in Ukraine masquerading as bishops.