Father Elias Villis: Permanent Chancellor of Both New York and New Jersey?

ΕΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΙΜΑΤΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ

Is This the Beginning of Elpidophoros’s Consolidation of Power? What the unusual dual appointment reveals about the future of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

By Nick Stamatakis

We have received numerous reports from concerned faithful of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey suggesting that Father Elias Villis’s appointment as Chancellor is becoming permanent. Although officially designated Acting Chancellor, the signs increasingly suggest otherwise.

Fr. Villis already serves as Chancellor of the Direct Archdiocesan District of New York. His simultaneous administration of New Jersey raises a disturbing question: Is Archbishop Elpidophoros gradually concentrating ecclesiastical authority in the hands of a small circle of trusted associates?

The Evidence

1. July 28 — The Dual Appointment. Archbishop Elpidophoros appointed Villis Acting Chancellor of New Jersey, effective August 16, while explicitly retaining him as New York Chancellor. The appointment followed Metropolitan Apostolos’s transfer to Canada and the reassignment of New Jersey Chancellor Gregory Gilbert to Manhattan. No expiration date was announced.

2. September 9 — Exercising Authority. Villis participated prominently in a New Jersey clergy gathering in Wilmington, Delaware, addressing more than fifty priests. Cathedral Dean Christoforos Oikonomidis publicly thanked him for his leadership and pastoral care during the transition.

3. September 28 — The Word “Acting” Disappears. An official Orthodox Observer photograph accompanying clergy appointment announcements identified Villis as Chancellor of both the Direct Archdiocesan District and the Metropolis of New Jersey—without the qualification acting.

4. October 18 — Official Correspondence. An invitation to Metropolitan Athenagoras’s enthronement, published in a Virginia parish bulletin, bears Villis’s signature as simply Chancellor, Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey. Again, it mentions no temporary appointment.

5. No Successor Announced. Although Metropolitan Athenagoras was elected October 1 and will be enthroned November 7, no replacement for Villis has been publicly identified. The Archdiocese has also not clarified whether he will continue overseeing both jurisdictions.

Individually, these developments do not prove permanence. Collectively, they make the possibility increasingly difficult to dismiss.

PHOTO: The infamous incident when Fr. Villis allowed a Rabbi to bless him!! A serious lack of judgment…

Which Metropolis Is Next? Boston?

If this dual arrangement becomes permanent, an obvious question follows: Which Metropolis is next? Boston?

Metropolitan Methodios, who turns eighty in November, has led Boston for more than four decades. His eventual succession is inevitable, though no evidence suggests a replacement is imminent.

Could Boston eventually face a similar arrangement, with New York increasingly coordinating administrative control? New Jersey provides ample reason to demand clear safeguards for every Metropolis’s autonomy.

Elpidophoros: The New Iakovos – or a New Centralized Neo-Ottoman Pasha?

Archbishop Elpidophoros appears eager to assume a role extending beyond ordinary ecclesiastical leadership, presenting the Archbishop as a representative of Hellenism and the Greek-American community.

The comparison with the historic Archbishop Iakovos is unavoidable.

But Iakovos’s authority rested on his extraordinary public leadership and his identification with the struggles and aspirations of Greek Americans. Iakovos marched alongside MLK when no other Christian leader would dare to.  He also staunchly supported ALL Greek national causes. What has Elpidophoros done? Only cowardly acts of political expediency, like photos with disgraced Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Centralizing administrative power while diminishing regional independence would hardly accomplish anything.

The concern is straightforward: Will New Jersey’s new Metropolitan exercise genuine authority, including over his own chancellor, or will the Archbishop’s office continue to control essential decisions?

The Turkish Dimension: Reconciliation or Capitulation?

An even more consequential concern involves Elpidophoros’s approach to Turkey.

Raised in Constantinople, having served in the Turkish Armed Forces’ intelligence branch and deeply connected to the Constantinople Patriarchate, Elpidophoros has repeatedly promoted dialogue and reconciliation between Greece and Turkey. But reconciliation must never mean unilateral concessions.

His controversial attendance at a Turkish-sponsored event in 2021, alongside President Erdoğan and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, deeply troubled many Greeks and Cypriots.

His diplomatic approach raises legitimate questions about the price of rapprochement, particularly regarding Cyprus, religious freedom, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Will he ever demand that Turkey withdraw the 1996 “casus belli” against Greece – especially when they are supposedly promoting “reconciliation”? Will he ever demand that International Law be applied in solving all differences between Greece and Turkey? OF COURSE NOT!

The faithful are entitled to demand that reconciliation never come at the expense of Hellenic rights or the diaspora’s independent voice.

The November 7 Enthronement 

Will the Archbishop openly answer questions about Fr. Villis? Will Metropolitan Athenagoras appoint his own chancellor? And will the Metropolises retain genuine independence?

November 7 may provide the first answers.

The faithful should insist on transparency, accountability, and respect for the Church’s institutions. If its leadership cannot provide them, demands for fundamental reform—and ultimately a change in leadership through legitimate ecclesiastical procedures—will be justified.

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America belongs to the Church, not to any Archbishop’s personal ambitions. Its future must never be subordinated to political calculations, foreign interests, or the consolidation of individual power.