If the Single-Citizenship Law Passes, What will Elpidophoros Choose?

ΕΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΙΜΑΤΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ

If the Moreno single-citizenship law passes, the question becomes impossible to avoid: What will Elpidophoros choose — American or Turkish citizenship?
And what about the Metropolitans who must hold Turkish citizenship to serve on the Phanar’s Holy Synod?

By Nick Stamatakis

This is not a theoretical issue.

Elpidophoros must retain Turkish citizenship to remain eligible for the Ecumenical Throne in Constantinople. Likewise, the Metropolitans who rotate into the Holy Synod are required by the Turkish state to be Turkish citizens. That condition alone has shaped the leadership of the Greek-Orthodox Church in America for decades. It has kept the hierarchy tethered — legally, institutionally, and psychologically — to Ankara’s expectations.

But if the U.S. were to outlaw dual citizenship, as the Moreno proposal envisions, the entire system would collapse overnight. Elpidophoros and the Metropolises would be forced into a public, irreversible choice:

Remain American and renounce Turkish citizenship — or keep Turkish nationality and lose their U.S. citizenship.

There would be no middle ground, no diplomatic ambiguity, no room for “dual responsibilities.” And perhaps — just perhaps — that would be the moment when the Greek-American community is finally freed from the long shadow of Turkish political oversight that hangs over the Phanar’s hierarchy.

Because the truth is simple: Real Greek-Americans do not need a formal passport to feel or act like Greeks. Identity is not stamped in a booklet it lives in personal sacrifice, cultural loyalty, and communal responsibility.

History gives us the perfect example.

Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, Foreign Minister of Russia, held a Russian diplomatic passport (he never became a citizen of Russia). But when the Greek Revolution erupted in 1821, he did not hide behind his foreign office or legal status. He told Czar Alexander openly that he would resign and devote himself to the liberation and reconstruction of Greece. His heart — and his duty — belonged to Hellenism.

And he became the first Governor of Greece! After he had established the only still active direct democracy system on the planet in Switzerland!! And after he had saved France from being split into many parts by the Germans and the British after the Napoleonic Wars!!

That is what identity looks like. Not paperwork. Not the Turkish state’s permissions. Not a passport that ties a church hierarchy to political demands, far from the needs of the Greek-American faithful.

If the Moreno law forces a clear choice, then the masks fall away. Those who serve the diaspora will show it — and those who serve other powers will reveal that too.

And maybe, for the first time in generations, the Greek-American Church will stand free to chart its own future. AND FINALLY BE FREED FROM THE TURKS AND BECOME DE FACTO AUTOCEPHALOUS!!

December 3, 2025, n.stamatakis@aol.com   www.helleniscope.com

DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.

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