Met. Of Morphou Neophytos: I Am Praying For Putin!!

this video is just an excerpt. If you watch the whole thing, which is 57 min long, you will see that his love for Russia, is really his love for Orthodoxy, not politics. Neophytos is a spiritual and theological man. He also draws a distinction between Judaism and Zionism. He loves the Jews, he says, because the Holy Virgin Mother is Jewish, as were all of the Apostles and Christ, Himself, in the flesh. It is Zionism that we have to be wary of, and you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist. He fully declared that we are not to be anti-semitic. I think Helleniscope would be wise to add a link to the whole interview if they have not already done so.

The current Patriarch is doing a good job at destroying the Patriarchate as its position among the Orthodox Churches has never been as disrespected as it is now.

This is not an accurate statement, when examined under the prism of Orthodox history. In fact your statement confirms the earlier assessment (in a separate thread) that you vehemently objected to that you are advocating for a “Pope of the East”…Here’s the issue:

Historically, the election of clergy and bishops as well was mandatorily done with the active participation and consent of the people, from the days the Apostolic Canons were written… (ref: Trempelas’ 1997 “ΣΩΤΗΡ” publication “Η ΣΥΜΜΕΤΟΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΛΑΟΥ ΕΝ ΤΗ ΕΚΛΟΓΗ ΤΩΝ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩΝ)…From the multitude of examples that Trempelas provides, a wonderful sampling of original Orthodox Tradition can be summarized with the election of Athanasios the Great (Patriarch of Alexandria):

“…ψηφω του λαου παντος…ου φονικως και τυραννικως, αλλ’αποστολικως τε και πνευματικως επι τον Μαρκου θρονον αναγεται…”

and the verification letter written by the bishops of that same synod stated:
“…παν το πληθος και πας ο λαος της καθολικης εκκλησιας ωσπερ εκ μιας ψυχης και σωματος συνελυθοτες ανεβοων, εκραζον αιτουντες Αθανασιον επισκοπον τη Εκκλησια…, σπουδαιον, ευλαβη, χριστιανον, ενα των ασκητων, αληθως επισκοπον ονομαζοντες…” (Migne 25, 260)

And if you want an example from “Konstantinople”, (if in fact we believe in true “succession” by doing what our predecessors did), here’s how St. John Chrysostom became Patriarch (pg. 11 of Trempelas):

“..ψηφισματι κοινω παντων, κληρου τε φημι και λαου ο βασιλευς αυτον Αρκαδιος μεταπεμπεται και επι τον θρονον της Κωνσταντινουπολεως αναβιβαζει…”

And just to make sure you didn’t think this was a one time “fluke”, this is what they wrote about Sisinios, Patriarch of Konstantinople (426):

“…ποθον δε ειχον του ανδρος παντες οι λαικοι, οτι επ’ευλαβεια περιβοητος ην, και μαλιστα οτι τους πτωχους υπερ δυναμιν εσπουδαζε…Κατεκρατησεν ουν η των λαικων σπουδη και χιεροτονειται Σισινιος…”

And later, under Justinian, the Patirarch Menas was elected as per this description:
“…ψηφω βασιλεως, κληρου και δημου..”

etc, etc, etc… (you get the point)

For the first 7 centuries (a time period covering all of the ecumenical Synods), participation of the people was also a reality in the West, (for example in the election of Ambrose of Milan, and others).

It’s only in recent times (after the Turkish occupation) that increasingly corrupt synods figured out ways to remove the increasingly uneducated and naive people from the equation, with the tragic results that we see today…

Feel free to research on the internet, but in the last 30 years there have been multiple newsworthy examples in Greece and in Cyprus where the people were asking for individual “A” only to be ignored by the Synod, who inserted their “own good ol’ boy B” into the bishop’s throne…

Ignoring the will of the people in the process of electing a bishop is a violation of both Orthodox Tradition and explicit Canons. Trempelas eloquently explains how modernists have incorrectly attempted to twist the wording of Canon 4 of the 1st Ecumenical Synod to passively “override” other Canons that explicitly prescribe the participation of the people in the election of a bishop…he explains the intent of the Canon was to limit the possibility of “disorderly incidents”, and not to “exclude” the people from the election process. As proof he lists a multitude of Patriarchs that were elected by participation of the people in Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem AFTER that Canon came to be…

Anyway, it would be nice if the people realize they have been “cut out” all these years, and they start demanding their participation in deciding who the “worthy” bishops really are…

As precedent for the people “rejecting a sitting bishop”, please feel free to read Syropoulos’ account of what happened when the Treasonous delegation set foot on the docks of Constantinople upon returning from the 1493 pseudo-synod of Ferarra…

Eye-roll