ΕΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΙΜΑΤΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ
Instead of supporting ministries and parishes in America, they are wasting their efforts overseas… Should I remind you of their geo-political trips under the guidance of their “spiritual father,” Karloutsos, to Bulgaria, Romania, and Africa? What business do they have to involve themselves, e.g., in the election of the new Patriarch of Bulgaria? Or, to apply pressure on the Romanian Church? Shameless!!…
By Nick Stamatakis
Today’s announcement by “The Archons of Disaster” (link here) boasts a staggering $73,969,933” in support for the Ecumenical Patriarchate since 2002 “directly or indirectly”… Can anyone explain to us what “indirectly” means?.
This self-congratulation masks catastrophic strategic failures. The Archons have acted more like a geopolitical agent of Washington than a spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy. Indeed, We have repeatedly warned that Bartholomew’s and the Archons’ Ukraine policy – fully backed by U.S. interests – has wrought human devastation and division in the Church.
Please allow us to recapitulate:
- Canon Law Betrayed: Patriarch Bartholomew himself acknowledged the Russian Church’s exclusive authority in Ukraine in a 1992 letter. Yet he later granted autocephaly to the schismatic OCU under Western pressure, despite explicit warnings of violence. This “reckless” choice makes him “the worst Patriarch of Constantinople since Meletios Metaxakis” because of the human devastation left in its wake. The Archons – as his chief supporters abroad – are complicit in that fiasco.
- Deep-State Operatives, Not Shepherds: The Archons’ focus has become political grandstanding. Their recent Athens conferences and honoraria are PR stunts for U.S. policy. For decades, Archons and allies in the State Department have done “didly squat” to help Constantinople; the Halki Seminary remains closed, and Hagia Sophia has been turned back into a mosque. (Ironically, the only breakthrough – reopening Pontus’s Panagia Soumela monastery – came from Putin’s intervention, not any Archon effort.) Archons even publicly honored former Secretary Mike Pompeo – “the same man whose political arm-twisting helped engineer the disastrous Ukrainian autocephaly” – and gave him the Patriarchate’s award. Are these “Archons of Orthodoxy or Archons of the State Department and the Deep State?” In short, their international lobbying “achieved nothing” for the Patriarchate’s true needs.
- Anti-Russian Agitprop: The Archons have vilified Russia and the canonical Ukrainian Church in lockstep with Washington’s narrative. Helleniscope pointed out repeatedly that AEP communiqués slandered UOC clergy as “Putin boosters” when they protested in the U.S., calling their testimony “false and defamatory”. This is part of a cynical “Russia, Russia, Russia” campaign to isolate Moscow’s Patriarchate. (Bear in mind, Russia is a 150-million-strong Orthodox nation.) By insisting Orthodox believers in Ukraine owe allegiance only to Bartholomew’s OCU, the Archons have fanned the flame of ethnic strife – exactly the opposite of their supposed mission of religious freedom.
- Fracturing Orthodox Unity: Far from defending Orthodoxy, the Archons have driven schisms. The Archons’ backing of Patriarch Bartholomew’s anti-canonical moves has hurt both Orthodoxy and Hellenism. Instead of supporting ministries and parishes in America, they are wasting their efforts overseas… Should I remind you of their geo-political trips under the guidance of their “spiritual father,” Karloutsos, to Bulgaria, Romania, and Africa? What business do they have to involve themselves, e.g., in the election of the new Patriarch of Bulgaria? Or, to apply pressure on the Romanian Church? Shameless!!…
While the Archons plead for donations to fund the Patriarchate, they have neglected the people whom their own faith calls them to serve. Only 16 out of 500 Greek Orthodox parishes even joined the Archon fundraising program. As we have reported, Greek-Americans are sick of…galas, tone-deaf photo ops and of seeing zealots for foreign policy like Pompeo feted in their name. Parish leaders won’t be coerced into financially supporting an institution that acts more like a geopolitical agent of Washington than a spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy. Faithful people want their offerings spent on local ministries, youth programs, and outreach, not on the “political debts of an Istanbul-based patriarchal machine.
In short, the Archons’ boastful $73.97 million tally is cold comfort to observers who see policy failures at every turn. True “diakonia” (service) isn’t measured in bank statements but in healthy, united churches. All the money spent has not prevented decline—it has coincided with a crisis of trust. If anything, the Archons’ State-Department-driven agenda has pushed Orthodox Christians apart. Their “leadership is nowhere to be found” in the crises on the ground.
February 16, 2026, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
They had to sell a whole lotta pizzas to send $74M !
This article needs to be passed around in every Greek Orthodox Church ministry. Save this article for reference!
Who is funding the Archons? Are their meetings open to Greek Orthodox to attend? Is there a list of donors available? Does anyone know the names of donors?
I wonder from these 74 millions, how many ended up in Bart’s Swiss bank account? We know he got 15 millions for recognizing the Ukrainian church. I guess we will never find out. Only Turkey could legally ask Switzerland about this…
The organization known as the Archons… or whoever is pulling the strings …increasingly presents itself in ways that appear disconnected from the humility and spiritual focus central to a Christ-centered Church. Rather than embodying the Lord’s call to sacrificial witness, its public statements seem more aligned with preserving political and economic arrangements than with safeguarding the integrity of Christian belief. The steady stream of politically framed proclamations raises serious questions about its priorities and spiritual orientation.
Eleni, thank you well stated. Forgotten are the words of our Lord, one thing is needful.
He is playing with millions while the UOC is at risk of losing all the Lavra Churches that they worked so hard to repair and maintain.
While the faithful in UOC is praying in basements and the UOC churches are stolen by his minions
While the UOC faithful is beaten, hurt, and even killed
While Hierarchs are still in prison like Metr. Arseny, guilty of nothing
While many other hierarchs are dragged in courts for bogus reasons, like Metr. Luke, Metr. Teodosy, Metr. Longhin, etc
While the stolen UOC churches stay empty because there are barely any OCU supporters interested in prayer. The places that once were full of people singing to God, stay completely empty.
Most recently Metr. Teodosy was found guilty of the most bizarre things:
https://spzh.eu/en/zashhita-very/91231-a-word-as-a-crime-what-the-court-found-metropolitan-theodosiy-guilty-of
How can Barto feel no shame?
Sandy, besides the shame, how can Bartholomew look at himself in the mirror—and see his reflection?
Alex,
Perhaps he has no mirrors? I visited a monastery founded by Elder Ephraim of Arizona and it has no mirrors, so the nuns don’t know how they look over time. He is supposed to be a monk, so no mirrors necessary.
He is a vampire, so no mirrors are necessary.
An archbishop who was informed by external parties knowledgeable about the leaders’ dealings with the Archdiocese of America was subsequently ostracized. Has there been an inquiry with certified public accountants regarding the financial returns on the donations purportedly contributed to the archdiocese, as well as the proceeds from a substantial portion of their donations derived from investing the funds through their philanthropic activities, which included establishing opulent restaurants aimed at providing a single meal to individuals experiencing homelessness? Has any investigation been conducted into how the funds were subsequently returned to the leaders? Former minor informants from the diaspora previously conveyed these matters — were they personally acquainted with the details? What role do politicians play in this scenario? 🤔
Excellent questions.
There are two sides to every accounting equation: assets and liabilities. If this huge sum was given to Bart, one must ask where did Bart spend it?
Until the pervert makes his accounting transparent, we can only conclude he and his criminal enterprise are a den of thieves.
Keep on sending Millions of Greek American Dollars into the Banks of the
Turkish Treasury! Congratulations!
I’m happy I haven’t donated a dime to these idiots. Supposedly, they’re fighting for “religious freedom” all over the world. That means they’re fighting for Islamism, Buddism, paganism and all the thousands of other faiths. That makes no sense. They haven’t done zilch for Orthodoxy and they’re worried about others?
No good deed goes unpunished. I wish I was an archon. These guys are freedom fighters and pillars of the Orthodox Church. They have my utmost respect.
Really? Freedom fighters? Barto seems to care more about trees than Orthodoxy. Ask the people of Ukraine if “the one without equals” fights for their religious freedom. Barto thinks he is catholic now and he he even wants us to pay for the pope’s travel. He does not act like his is orthodox anymore. He commemorates the pope before himself. Pillars of the OC for giving money to an ecumenist patriarch and we don’t even know where the money goes? Pfffff Maybe pillars destroyers, since Barto is into the heresy of ecumenism, which is a destroyer of Orthodoxy. What good deeds? Ask the millions of persecuted Christians in the UOC about their good deeds and Barto’s goods deeds. They are not fighting for religious freedom in Ukraine. They are fighting against the freedom of the Canonical OC of Ukraine. Barto is a monk. He does not need millions of dollars. Let’s not forget the millions he received in exchange for destroying UOC and replace it with the fake OCU made of defrocked priests and bishops. No wonder their “churches” are empty!
Freedom to do what? To make a mockery of the sacrament of baptism and thus sanction same-sex marriage? To bless women to have abortions because it’s their “right?” To have Neo-Nazis terrorists harass and butcher Orthodox in the name of “democracy “? You’ll not get communion in my OCA parish, sir! I don’t care that the OCA is in communion with your so-called patriarch. Incidently, OCA clergy guidelines allow priests to withhold communion for up to six months before the bishop has to get involved.
Monk Alexi, what you write is a scandolus, disgraceful lie. The GOA does not sanction same sex marriages nor does it bless women to have abortions.
JK,
Not so quick…
The baptism in Glyfada was a travesty. It is not the tradition of the Church to baptize infants that those (guardians) who live a life “outside of the Church” will take home and actually indoctrinate in the “life outside the Church”…period. Those “outside the Church” include pagans, heretics, etc, and, guess what…unrepentant “big-time” sinners who find themselves in a state of excoummunication… That’s been Church Tradition forever. By doing what he did, Elpidophoros “de facto sanctioned” the guardianship (child sacrifice) of an infant adopted by a same-sex duo, by ignoring the obvious fact that the guardians (who ‘proudly’ live a life outside the Church) were not actually going to teach the kid anything “traditional” or “Orthodox” regarding the type of life they were living “outside the Church”. You simply can’t minister Mysteries to those who “proudfuly” live a life outside the Church. It’s a mockery of the Mystery to do so. And for anyone arguing that the “recipient” of the Mystery was the infant, we must remind everyone that infant baptism has a pre-requisite…a sponsor AND parents combined who will guarantee the upbringing of the child in an Orthodox manner. Do we need to teach this detail to Elpidophoros? Not really..he knew EXACTLY what he was doing…it was intentional on his part to violate Tradition.
On the second point, the disastrous comments that Elpidophoros made in that interview about supporting the right of women to decide if they want to become mothers and comparing that to the Theotokos cannot be misconstrued…as a hierarch, he opened that door…that means…he “sanctioned” the “taboo” with his statements…the only argument here may be surrounding whether he “sanctioned” it implicitly or explicitly…either way…he did it. His words are quite clear:
https://gorthodox.com/en/news-item/i-support-birth-control-abortion-in-certain-cases-women-should-decide-head-of-greek-church-in-us-abp-elpidophoros
Markos, because of the baptism in Glyfda you believe that the stated position of the church is to sanction same sex marriages- that’s a real stretch. Regardless of the equivocating ambiguous statement made by LP about abortion the position of the church is that abortion is a sin unless the life of the mother is in danger.
“Regardless of the equivocating ambiguous statement made by LP about abortion the position of the church is that abortion is a sin unless the life of the mother is in danger.”
The statements of a hierarch should not be ambiguous, especially when it comes to life, which is a gift from God. He purposely crafted his speech, so he could please his pro-death followers. He cause a lot of stir, there are a lot of questions addressed to him regarding his statements… not that he ever intends to answer them…
As usual, you present me as saying things I never said…focus your cranial neurons for a critical minute and stop “squirreling”:
– Elpidophoros is a bishop. He is a “local Church” in the ancient sense (See the book of Revelation).
– He decided to deviate from Tradition and baptize an infant whose “guardians” proudly live a life outside of the boundaries of the Orthodox Church, clearly not caring if the child would be “tainted” by a non-Orthodox upbringing at that home.
– This constitutes a “de facto” legitimization of individuals living a “life outside the Church” being eligible to receive and participate in Mysteries without showing any meaningful repentance.
– There was a large outcry by many bishop in Greece. Not any outcry from bishops of GOARCH. That’s an “eparchial Synod-Church”
Therefore, per the original comment above, the GOARCH Synod’s (Eparchial “local” Church) silence and unwillingness to protest is a quiet (official) “sanctioning” of this action, absolutely. That’s not a stretch.
Likewise, the lack of outcry about Elpidophoros’ comments from the GOARCH Synod constitutes another “passive acceptance” of his position, no matter what happens to be “on paper”…A lot of Canons are also “on paper”, and they are violated in front of our eyes every day by the same bishops who are supposed to uphold them, aren’t they? This is no different. Heretical and anti-Traditional actions warrant an outcry.
Hieromonk Alexei, I do wonder what His Eminence, Archbishop Melchizedek, would say about that. If you find out, please let us know.
Joseph, you need to book your act at a comedy club!
Joseph. I usually agree with your comments. But calling Archons freedom fighters is naive at best, dumb as a brick at worse. Can you tell us how you came up with that “hero” thing? The editorial analyzes and asks questions of where the money went and what was accomplished with $74 million. Since you consider them heroes, you must know of heroic acts. Dont keep us in the dark. Enlighten us.
Bob, the $74 million over 25 years, let’s just call it $3 million annually, is privately funded, not from the U.S. government. It is precisely this voluntary work of the archons that keeps the ministry of the Ecumenical Patriarchate alive and free from government funding.
The alleged “money for Ukrainian autocephaly” has never been proven. Even if there was money given, the intention and repentance of the EP to provide autocephaly for Ukraine was not “purchased”, but rather a direct result of the war that broke out in 2014.
The EP stated that, given the war, it was unconscionable for Ukrainian schismatics to remain outside of the Orthodox Church merely because of their insistence on autocephaly. The fact that Russia would invade Ukraine in 2022 has proven that Ukrainian autocephaly was indeed justified.
Yes, there is still schism in Ukraine, but both sides of that schism are now within the boundaries of the Orthodox Church. This is the position of the EP, the Alexandrian Patriarchate, the Church of Cyprus, and the Church of Greece. It is only the Moscow Patriarchate that has broken communion with Constantinople over this.
This statement is the epitome of “delusional propaganda”:
“…Yes, there is still schism in Ukraine, but both sides of that schism are now within the boundaries of the Orthodox Church…”
That’s equivalent to the belief that oil and water mixed into the same cup constitute a unified liquid….
And by the way, it is NOT the position of the Alexandrian Patriarchate, Church of Cyprus, and Church of Greece…ONLY Constantinople had a full OFFICIAL Synodal vote on the matter. In the remainder of cases, you have a unilateral decision by the cronies (Theodoros / Chrysostomos (now Georgios) / Ieronymos) and some fellow hierarchs to commemorate Epiphanios in the diptychs and concelebrate with him…the rest of the hierarchs didn’t…that’s why Moscow has maintained lists of “which bishops” in Alexandria / Cyprus / Greece they no longer commune with, and which ones they do…
The fatal day in Greece when a “bar fight” almost broke out in the Synod in Athens when Ieronymos brought the matter to a vote, he stopped the proceedings, and illegitimately claimed that he “heard more yelling in favor than against”, and that’s when he went outside and read the prepared statement in front of the cameras…however, a REAL vote never took place because he never had the votes…
Theodoros surprised his fellow hierarchs on that fatal day in Cairo when he unilaterally read Epiphanios’ name, causing a schism in Alexandria when hierarchs walked out…same in Cyprus…
It is for all the above reasons combined, that ONLY the Synod of Constantinople had a unanimous signing of a decision to recognize Epiphanios that Moscow ONLY severed ties with the ENTIRE Church of Constantinople…
You know all this, we’ve written this “umpteen times” in this forum, and yet you continue to spew false propaganda here….that’s disgusting, and serpent-like behavior.
Joseph,
Again, you are failing to acknowledge that this “church” is comprised of mostly defrocked priests and bishops. No one wants to join even though they are beating up people and steal the canonical churches by force. So OCU, if you watch the videos, looks more like a gang than a church, stealing vestments and items from UOC for their own use and attacking people. If you would really be honest and follow what those caricatures of men are saying, you would realize they have nothing orthodox in them. Even fasting and prayer is secondary because they think is “Russian propaganda”. Some of those “priests” are telling people publicly that is ok to eat sausage and drink milk during Lent. Really? They are clearly in a cult, making up their own rules, their own churches, their own cannons, they are clearly not in the OC. Ukrainians are destroying each other. There is no way they can survive this crises unless Barto’s OCU Band of Thieves is dismantled. They should repent and return to the canonical OC.
Joseph:
“Yes, there is still schism in Ukraine, but both sides of that schism are now within the boundaries of the Orthodox Church. This is the position of the EP, the Alexandrian Patriarchate, the Church of Cyprus, and the Church of Greece. It is only the Moscow Patriarchate that has broken communion with Constantinople over this.”
You broke your own record on this propaganda. Do you consider a small thing that NONE of the other OCs that are NOT in the arm twisting sphere of influence of EP, recognize the schismatics? The Bulgarian, Romanian, Antiochian, Serbian Patriarchates, that of Jerusalem, etc I understand EP is becoming irrelevant because of the sinking numbers in his followers, but stealing churches in Ukraine using violence, and trying to do this in other partes of the world will backfire.
Every week I see a priest or metropolitan from Greece or Cyprus expressing their support for UOC and Metr. Onuphry, so stop saying that the Greek Church recognizes the schismatics. The Greek Church is all of the priests and metropolitans, not just a couple that are recognizing this abomination. The Church always had traitors. Since Christ there was always a Judah.
Sandy, the Patriarchates of Antioch, Jerusalem, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria are all under the arm-twisting influence of Russia, and mostly for the political and military protection reasons of not wanting to, at least exclusively, rely on NATO. None of these patriachates want to alienate Russia. However, that may soon change.
Joseph how do you hope this will change? The war is lost, Russia won. If any peace deal is signed, the first item will be “religious freedom” and please don’t tell me you don’t understand what that means.
Joseph,
And the response can be that the history and tone of your rhetoric makes many readers question if you are under Uniate influence or even on the Uniate payroll…
The only “arm-twisting” that visibly occurred here is the historical fact that “somebody” twisted Bartholomew’s arm in reversing 27 years of his own signatures previously affirming that
a) Philaret and his gang (including Epiphanios) were legitimately deposed by Moscow, and that they were Schismatics.
b) The situation in Kiev (Ukraine) was under the jurisdiction of Moscow.
To blame Moscow when it is self-evident that the perpetrator of the Schism is Constantinople is a “serpentine / diabolical tactic” at a minimum…but Uniates have always exhibited “serpentine” behavior against the Orthodox Church, haven’t they? Why should we be surprised by any of this pro-Uniate rhetoric?
Russia is now sending to the front lines Kenyans from Africa, misled with the promise of skilled jobs in Russia:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-trump-putin-zelensky-counteroffensive-live-b2924108.html
That’s how desperate Russia is. The war isn’t over, and there won’t be any peace deal.
Russia will likely be forced to withdraw from Ukraine as military tensions continue to heat up in the Middle East. The Russian Federation can’t let Iran fall to the U.S./State of Israel.
Joseph – the British media and especially Independent are known propaganda machines… if that was the case Trump wouldn’t force Zelensky to sit at the negotiations…
Joseph
None of the above justify your elevation of the archons to “heroes”. The fact is that during this time that the $74 mil were spent, Orthodoxy shrank in Turkey, Israel and the wider Middle East, such as Syria and Iraq.
Agia Sophia was turned into a mosque, the school of Halki is still closed and falling apart, the Orthodox in Israel are being spat upon and their property taken from under them. Not only they’re not “heroes”, they are cowards, using their puny donations as a badge of honor. I would call them anaxioi
Joseph:
Where do you come with these lies? Romania is in Nato, it is not arm twisted by Russia. Neither are the others that you mentioned. Seriously, aren’t you afraid to spread so many lies? This is propaganda and has nothing to do with the truth. Like I said, in many aspects you are going further than the communists with lies and propaganda. Russia will win the war and will be here until the very end. Turkey? Not so much! Read the holy fathers and don’t rely on lies. There is room for repentance… You are defaming all the OCs that are independent because you hate Russia. Even Elpi doesn’t go this far. Lent is around the corner. Read a good orthodox book and throw your propaganda away.
Pillars you say? Hmmm…what type of pillars? Financial pillars (enablers) of a “gluttonous abyss” of fiscal waste / irresponsibility and Uniate / pan-heretical Ecumenistic corruption, perhaps….spiritual pillars of Orthodoxy, not really.
And it’s very interesting that you PUBLICLY disclose that your dream is to become an archon, when it was Jesus Christ who pointed out that the woman who gave 2 “mites” offered more than the Pharisee who PUBLICLY flaunted donations of “treasures” that most mortals couldn’t afford….
We’ll definitely find out on judgement day whose offering was accepted by God, and whose financial management of the Church’s treasury was actually pleasing to Him.
This is how Barto’s “freedom” looks like: https://uoj.news/news/86471-exclusive-bp-emilianos-speaks-to-uoj-on-eps-decision-to-suspend-his-liturgical-ministry
“All the Patriarchate managed to do is to take away — more or less — six Divine Liturgies I would have celebrated at the OCA Cathedral in the next six months. I can live with it. They cannot stop me from talking about God, even if they were to canonically and unethically defrock me in the way they just punished me. However, I could write books about them with the things I know. It could be interesting. Also, I’m not interested in contacting them to resolve the case. Time will pass. ”
I hope Bp Emilianos writes a book because I want to read it! God bless him!
With money amounts that large, shenanigans are inevitable. Fuzzy Accounting always gets exposed eventually.
There is a disconnect between the Archons and their orbit (the Northeastern Core), and the rest of the GOA, which gets less Greek the further out you go. Interestingly, the latest article in Public Orthodoxy is from an OCA priest who calls for the GOA to switch to English as their primary language, joining the OCA and Antioch (they use the old world languages as a pastoral exception, rather than the rule).
Conversely, there should really be more emphasis within all Orthodox churches on learning and using Greek. Greek is the language of the New Testament, a language used by Christ and the Apostles, a language of the Ecumenical Councils, and the predominant language of the Church Fathers.
Joseph, you are hilarious. You paint yourself as such a strong supporter of the EP and the ‘Greek’ world, yet you don’t attend a parish under the EP umbrella. (You stated so yourself, on this blog, some months ago!) You also stated, very recently, that the ‘future’ of Orthodoxy in America will be through the GOA…because they have the numbers and resources to be successful. Yet, the GOA is facing declining membership and many parishes are drowning in debt. (The OCA, ROCOR and Antiochian Archdiocese are the ones facing impressive growth.)
The BIG question here is why don’t you attend a parish under the EP, since you are so enamored with everything that Bartholomew does, and the fact that you think all Orthodox in America should be learning and using Greek in our services? Why, is God’s name?
We await your answer…
Alex, why the big question? I simply said that I wasn’t a member of the Greek Archdiocese. There are plenty of non-GOA parishes in the U.S. under the EP umbrella.
No, Joseph. You stated in the past that you don’t attend any EP parish. That would include both the GOA and their other entities, the Ukrainians, Carpatho-Russians, etc. You either didn’t articulate yourself very well or are back peddling. And, I’m sure that there are other posters here that can back me up on that.
I also still think that you should take your Schismatic/Uniate act onto the road. Take a look at what your heroes at the evil OCU are doing:
https://orthochristian.com/175910.html
Care to comment on that?
I would prefer that people be encouraged to learn the scriptures rather than learning Greek.
Well, obviously that would make more sense. It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to learn Greek.
Yikes, David, Public Orthodoxy?! I hope that you threw some Holy Water on your eyes after viewing that website!
Late Abp Anastasios decried that disastrous situation Barto created in Ukraine. He continues to speak from behind his grave through others:
https://uoj.news/news/86502-athonite-archimandrite-shares-late-abp-anastasios-concerns-over-ukrainian-church-issue
Barto is isolating himself through his action. He has almost no one on his side except a bunch of defrocked “clergy” dressing up in vestments they stole from the canonical Orthodox Church. What a bunch of clowns!
I check out Public Orthodoxy from time to time, as they do post good articles on occasion (“even a broken clock is right twice a day”).
I agree that a working knowledge of Greek should be required in certain situations (as some knowledge of Latin is required in other professions like the Law). For Metropolitans, certainly. But for a married priest in Nebraska in a parish? NO.
The Archons as “heroes” is odd, considering that they were the ones who almost destroyed pan-Orthodox unity in America when they accused the non-Greek jurisdictions of being Russian agents. Father Tom Soroka called for the OCA to leave the Assembly, and there were murmurs of the same in the other Jurisdictions. Archbishop Elpidophoros issued a panicked and almost groveling apology to prevent this (along with deleting all the stuff in favor of this horrific statement from GOA social media and publications), denouncing the Archon’s position without naming them. They still have no retracted that statement, and it has alienated the other jurisdictions from the GOA (at least at the leadership level). Local clergy and parishes are the ones holding it together, as priests/parishes who have been friends for years are not going to let this stupidity destroy what we the people in the parishes have built.
None of this nonsense is “heroic” in the least.
Schismatics OCU are trying to spread the schism outside Ukraine. They claim that they have Barto’s approval. This is horrible!
https://uoj.news/news/86523-ocu-says-presence-abroad-is-coordinated-with-ecumenical-patriarch
I found these statements interesting:
“Territories are the main issue. Everything else is secondary. I am confident that the Ukrainian people will reject any plans concerning our land. All occupied territories will remain temporarily occupied and will inevitably be liberated over time,” the Presidential Office chief stressed.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/will-ukraine-make-territorial-concessions-to-russia-presidential-office-chief-responds/ar-AA1X9z2n
“All occupied territories will remain temporarily occupied
and
will inevitably be liberated over time” ???
Without details of a timeline? Does this mean acknowledgement that the end of the war is near, but as a politician, he just doesn’t want to admit Ukraine lost the war, so he places wining back the territories, to some undefined point in time, in the future?
All the political and manipulations will come back and hunt both Elpi and Barto. God is not asleep: https://uoj.news/news/86713-human-rights-lawyer-accuses-abp-elpidophoros-of-supporting-religious-intolerance