By Lawrence B. Wheeler – Handwritings On The Wall
Writing about the latest manipulations of liberal Catholic bishops and their pressure on Pope Francis, Orthodox intellectual Rod Dreher states this about Abp. Elpidophoros: “The woke head of the Greek Orthodox church in the US has caused a ginormous stir in world Orthodoxy by baptizing the children of a gay male couple, in what is being read (and proclaimed by one of the couple) as an indirect attempt to legitimize same-sex marriage within Orthodoxy. What was so shocking about that is not only that the Archbishop did it, but that he would do this kind of radical thing, heedless of the tradition, and how it would appear to other hierarchs. The rarity of this kind of thing in Orthodoxy, and the protest that it has predictably raised, testifies to the stability of the Orthodox tradition.”
Yours truly has an incurable case of PTSD from the generation of rape of the Anglican Communion, caused mostly by the leaders of the Episcopal Church of my birth, the problem child of worldwide Anglicanism. The Faith, having been betrayed by bishops who thought they knew better -even bishops in the Nippon Seikokai, where I was trained and served as a priest – I will never fully trust a bishop again.
No, please! Not ever!
The bishop who immediately comes to mind today is the unorthodox Elpidophoros, who pulled that gay stunt reported above. So, I am pleasantly surprised that the bishops of the Greek Orthodox Church – the real one in Greece – have rebuked the conceited Elpidophoros, and it is my hope that the conniving titular bishops of the Istanbul-lish Phanar will now see that it is in their best interests to excise their exarch in New York. Let us hope and pray for the sake of the GOA that they will be granted a truly orthodox Orthodox bishop to lead their archdiocese after this debacle.
Boy, did the (expletive deleted) ever hit the electric fan then! The pertinent Greek hierarchs are furious with the archbishop for deceiving them. Elpidophoros is one “walking, talking embarrassment to American Orthodoxy”, as someone close to me has said.
But wait! There’s more! On another topic, the venerable hierarchs of the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in America have told Abp. Elpidophoros in no uncertain terms that they will not tolerate the consecration of a certain scoundrel. They are ready to part ways with GOARCH if the archbishop makes the mistake of elevating one Alexander Belya to the episcopacy. Belya has already made himself persona non-grata with ROCOR by being a cheat, to put it succinctly. He is not episcopal material. So says the Assembly. They have warned Abp. Elpidophoros not once, but twice; not privately, but publicly that they will leave the Assembly is he goes through with the consecration. The proverbial gauntlet has been cast down.
In regard to the last scandal, the prolific Abbot Tryphon has made the following comment. The abbot is well-known for the Morning Offering, where he writes something for spiritual edification every day of the week. He seldom comments on the newsy Orthodox weblogs. But he has now. Notice how the abbot implies that Patriarch Bartholomew is behind this plan to ordain Belya. In fact, Bartholomew is assuredly behind much if not most of the outrages perpetrated by his trusty exarch, Elpidophoros. It is Bartholomew with whom the abbot demonstrates a sarcastic exasperation:
The Greek Archdiocese is moving further away from the Orthodox Church, but are we surprised, given the “Ecumenical Patriarch’s” plans for union with the Roman Catholic Church by 2024? Time to admit we no longer need “Black Bart” as the “Pope of the Eastern Church”. Time to break ties, I would say.
Abbot Tryphon
abbottryphon.com
One gets the distinct impression that some key leaders of American Orthodoxy have about had it with Bartholomew and his devoted lieutenant, Elpidophoros. The status quo may soon become “status gone”.
Make no mistake about it. The church that killed Christ two thousand years ago is the same church today, with the same type of leadership, that would without delay, kill Christ all over again if He were here teaching us:
Good riddance Elpi and to those who licked his boots!
The church did not send our Lord to Calvary. Christ “defeated death with death”. He was not killed – He resurrected. He is here right now teaching us. Through scripture – through prayer – through our liturgies – and through our personal relationship with Him. “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27).
I am glad some of them are finally seeing this. Abbott Tryphon jumping on the bandwagon but he is not much better. He claims that Roman Catholic sacraments are valid.
Aunt Lana, good see you
Are you sure Abbot Tryphon claims that Roman Catholic sacraments are valid? Can you point out some proof because reading his blog I did not come to that conclusion.
The abbott has always been a thespian. He is as monastic as free stuff and paid vacations can make him. How many of the “pilgrims” who fawn over him take as many “vacation” trips as he does, how many get new cars as often or ever? Benny Hinn has about the same credibility.
Disgusted hubris of all of them!
But what’s most tragic is
those babies have no mother to love them.
Elps should be Defrocked!
Hallelujah! Finally! Amen!
Let’s keep this train moving with the purging of all who taint Orthodoxy for abandoning God’s willful order sending a clear and strong message as the the Holy Synod did to the conniving thieves.
Black Bart must be terminated immediately and his keys must be taken and passwords changed so as not to allow access through the backdoor of the abbey; So too must his foolish friends be evicted: Belya, Emmanuella and Elpidoktonos! Make sure their black bags are checked on their way out the back door where I’m certain, one will find the millions of dollars absconded from the faithful overflowing and stuffed inside their suitcases…
Philippians 4:8,
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
So what if helpy is out? He successfully completed his mission to Take the $$$$$$$ and run. Bravo, agori!
The party in Glyfada was a bonus: an ostentatious, open and notorious gala to justify his and others’ “relationships” and actions. Fete accompli. Helpy blew it open.
Every time you take employment, you get a job description-what’s required of you so that you can succeed. It seems to me that whoever interviews, hires and promotes these ppl skins, omits, or overlooks the celibacy part. Probably joins the party. It’s been going on for centuries under the gilded robes.
Certain things I don’t need or want to know. This Glyfada thing, so fancy and spray, is an abuse, at the highest level by someone at the highest level, of all that we’ve all been taught and believe. No need to pray on it. You’ve preyed long enough. Get on a 100’s plane and go away as far as it can take you.
But, do you really think that any replacement will be any more honest or chaste—or God-fearing? My money’s on no.
*Skim not Skin*
-sorry
We feel your pain Ella Marie & I’m Anglican convert – hoping Glyfada scandal sticks on Elpi wherever he goes – there’s no escape from diablo here unless we get Metropolitan Nikolas of Greece.
And the Holy and Sacred Synod of Constantinople just announced that they did nothing to reprimand Archbishop Elpidophoros. They also did not announce that they have officially restored the Charter for the Archdiocese. Basically, Elpidophoros will be Archbishop of America for another year (since he will be a member of the Holy and Sacred Synod). Can the GOA survive another year under these hostile conditions?
After all, Archbishop Elpidophoros and the Eparchial Synod decided to withdraw the Spiritual Court case against an auxiliary Bishop despite ample evidence to demonstrate sexual misconducted occurred. Can we afford to allow scandals to be swept under the rug?
Since they responded to the Greek Church by announcing that they won’t do anything about it, who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes with Constantinople, and what affairs it’s involved with. Abp. Elpidophoros having a baptism for a gay couple could just be one of multiple tips on an iceberg.
Is there a press release on the meeting? Billet points anywhere?
The teflon elp