EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis): Persistent rumors kept circulating in the last few days in Greece regarding the back-and-forth negotiations between the Mitsotakis government and the Phanar about the removal of AB Elpidophoros.  It seems that Pat. Bartholomew finally conceded to the demand of removing Elpidophoros with one condition: Greece should send SWAT teams to Mt. Athos to kick out the monks from Esfigmenou Monastery, which had for many years been resisting Bartholomew’s heretic demands and is a great obstacle to his efforts to unite with the Catholics next year!

The issue was brought up in the Greek Parliament by Kyriakos Velopoulos, leader of “Elliniki Lysi”, who explained he had information the SWAT teams of the Greek Police would invade the Esfigmenou Monastery on August 1st. Velopoulos warned the Mitsotakis Government not to dare touch the monks and violate thousand-year-old rules that establish the autonomy of Mount Athos from ANY outside authority. Bartholomew, being the corrupt and heretic Patriarch he had turned out to be, does not hesitate one second to throw the Athos monastic autonomy to the trash in order to impose his minuscule theological stature on the monks.  The fool that he is, he believes that respect and moral authority can be drmanded from outside powers… It never crossed his arrogant and heretic mind that respect is earned and never imposed!…

BELOW THE REVELATIONS BY KYRIAKOS VELOPOULOS IN THE GREEK PARLIAMENT 

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8 COMMENTS

  2. Apart from this having the semblance of a classic “turkish negotiation”, apart from this being reminiscent of the ethics behind the New Testament story “I’ll give you anything (including someone’s head on a platter)”…the main reason the scenario proclaimed in this Velopoulos video is actually plausible and believable is because this is the same model used by Bartholomew / Epiphanios and Zelensky to take over the Kiev caves recently (and that’s a far bigger “prize” than Esphigmenou, by the way)…Thus, there is precedent to leverage local law enforcement to take over a monastery on behalf of the Phanar.

    There have also been some attempts by Greek police in the past to lay siege upon and raid Esphigmenou, but they did not “go all the way”, even when boiling oil was poured down upon them from above one time when they were trying to break the door down, resulting in a subsequent court conviction for the abbot [who willingly took the blame for the monk that actually perpetrated the action] by a female judge (they made sure to have a female judge hear a Mt. Athos abbot’s case, in order to maximize humilation)

    There is no purpose in going into the details of the 33 year old vendetta between Esphigmenou and Bartholomew (and prior to him other predecessors), but we should summarize that Esphigmenou has always been at the forefront of not commemorating and defying “bishops of Constantinople” that they feel have “crossed the line” in their dealings with heretics, with or without the support of the remaining 19 monasteries on Mt. Athos. At some point, the Greek police forcefully evicted monks from the monastery “annex building” (κονακι) in the central town of Καρυες, where of course Bartholomew has for years temporarily placed the “new Esphigmenou” abbot of his choice, which is the one who actually attends assemblies and signs documents “officially” on behalf of Esphigmenou these days. It is extremely difficult to visit the original monastery of Esphigmenou, where 120 monks remain in an unofficial state of “embargo” and “quasi-seige” for many years.

    Finally, we should also highlight that Esphigmenou’s dealings with old Calendarist splinter groups (παρασυναγωγες) such as Γ.Ο.Χ. has also been extremely unfortunate and problematic for a long-term solution, because they opened a can of worms that bear the same types of counter-accusations about Esphigmenou’s association with non-canonical groups, the exact thing that they have been accusing the Phanar of for many decades. Of course, when you are under seige and food/fuel embargo, you will accept help (and new novice monks) from whoever supplies your monastery under “cover of night”, and that’s sort of how this relationship with Γ.Ο.Χ. evolved over time. This has also historically been one of the main reasons why the other 19 monasteries for years have not given “full support” to “the cause” that Esphigmenou has been fighting for, and unfortunately even played a role in worsening the isolation. Also, for those that are not aware of the details of Mt. Athos, a significant percentage of “κελια” on the Holy Mountain have for many decades been taken over by monks that are also affiliated with Γ.Ο.Χ., which complicates the situation on the Holy Mountain even further.

    If the Velopoulos claims are a “leak” of actual plans that are pending in the next couple of weeks, the other interesting angle to discuss is how Elpidophoros feels about being leveraged as a “bargaining chip” on an “international poker table”? At least his value in the eyes of Bartholomew would be known in this case…a disposable item, but useful in certain “exchanges”.

    On the other hand, selecting August 1st to enact unpopular legislation or administrative action, when the majority of the country will be on the beach, not paying much attention to current events, and not being able to react has been a long-standing policy of Greek governments of the past, so the “date” makes sense, if they were to plan something unpopular like this…And unfortunately, despite this Velopoulos video circulating online, none of the media outlets, including conservative Orthodox newspapers have really broken or discussed this story yet in Greece, apparently…

  3. Wow

    So Elpi might *actually* be finally leaving.

    Lord Have Mercy on the monks and May He protect them. The forced removal of monks by SWAT on the Garden of the Theotokos is not only a new low for Bartholomew, but, quite literally playing with Hell fire…

    My main concern is even if Elpi is removed, who will replace him. There’s nothing but rotten eggs in many corners of the Patriarchate.

    lχθὺς ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὄζειν ἄρχεται…

    • I]f we hear fervent calls to battle, to division, to the salvation of Orthodoxy even to death, when we hear such slogans as, “Orthodoxy or death,” we need to beware of such preachers. The Lord never said, “My teaching or death.” Not one apostle said, “Orthodoxy or death.” Because Orthodoxy is eternal life, joy in the Holy Spirit, joy of life, beauty of life, but death is decay, the result of the fall, and the devil’s influence. Among us even today appear, from time to time, false teachers who tempt the people with the call to save Orthodoxy, to save its purity, and who repeat that dangerous, sinful, and contradictory slogan, “Orthodoxy or death.” In the eyes of such people you will not find love; in them burns the demonic fire of pride, the striving for Church power, and the destruction of Church unity.

      — Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, Homily on the Sunday of Orthodoxy (March 8), 2009

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