PHOTO: Eleni Bousis with her son Angelo Bousis

According to Eleni Bousis’s “logic”, just because we suspect or we know (just do a search of Helleniscope) that some priests commit several crimes or sins (let’s say theft or adultery, and God knows we have some of those) we should all accept those crimes or sins (otherwise we would be “hypocrites”) and Orthodoxy should officially bless them!! Has Eleni Bousis ever attended a Sunday School? 

By Nick Stamatakis

Eleni Bousis, mother of Angelo Bousis (of the “gay baptism” couple seen together in our main photo), angered by Mt. Athos’ letter to the Patriarch and its scathing rejection of gay marriage, issued a bitter response to Mt. Athos just hours ago… You can read the whole response by linking here... But she is clearly bitter and misguided, confusing Christian love with sin and unable to understand the basic teaching of the Orthodox church.  Orthodoxy, Mrs. Bousis, does not reject anyone and the Orthodox Church has its doors open to all.  The fact that you are a generous philanthropist doesn’t give you the right to change 2,000-year-old teachings of Christianity… You should be ashamed!… 

Here is part of her confused response – probably written by someone else, we were told…

“God does not judge Love. God is merciful, he doesn’t care what our sexual orientation is. He only cares if we love and respect each other.

For almost two years now, my family has been the target of hate messages coming from some supposedly ΄΄ultra-orthodox, so to speak, God-believing people΄. They crucified my children because we chose to follow tradition and our hearts and baptize our grandchildren in our country Greece, according to the Orthodox standard.

They attacked us with fury, they attacked the Archbishop of America Elpidophoros with unholy hatred, and all this why? What is our sin? Don’t my grandchildren have the right to be baptized in an Orthodox Church because their parents chose a different form of Love than the one approved by some Priests in Greece? Is that fair? Is this God’s will? Definitely no.

Yesterday, I received another blow. Some Holy Monks, with treacherous motives, chose to target and crucify my family for a second time by sending an unacceptable letter to His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, aiming to attack Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and prove that they have the power to play political games. They have nothing. Whoever signed this statement does not serve God. It serves hatred and division. He puts two innocent kids in front and throws them into the arena as if we were in the Colosseum in Rome. Some Monks found their enemy in the innocent faces of our children. Judge yourselves first for what you do behind closed doors before you judge the Archbishop of America and my family.

So far, I will not accept this vile attack anymore, they are hypocrites.

I have dedicated my whole life to Orthodoxy, to charity, to giving, I have built churches, monasteries, orphanages, and hospitals. I try hard to be a good Christian, a good person, a protective mother. I’m not saying I’m perfect; only God is perfect. But I’m not a hypocrite. And I’m proud of that.

I respectfully ask, stop playing political-ecclesiastical games on the backs of my children, I know that every mother around the world and in Greece who protects the family and the truth will identify with me at this time. Don’t let hatred cover our souls. Accept Love, accept each other. Let your souls be filled with the Word of our Lord and then you will see the Truth.

I WILL LET THE AUDIENCE OF HELLENISCOPE ANSWER THIS MISGUIDED LADY WHO THINKS THAT HER WEALTH CAN CHANGE THE ORTHODOX FAITH. Every word of her statement is a testament to her lack of true faith, her confusion, and her ignorance. And I will stop here…

January 4, 2024, 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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32 COMMENTS

  1. Too much botox, money interests, and Chicago progressivism have clouded her thinking…that is if she ever had any clarity of mind.

  2. Nick, I think you are misguided for attacking Eleni Bousis. You are called by God to love Eleni and her children and her grandchildren. You blatantly refuse to follow God’s commandment to love. You are in the wrong and should seek repentance before its too late.

    • I was among the first – if not the first – to report the “gay baptism” and in that first report I showed great respect for Eleni and Jim Bousis and their philanthropic work. But in the months after Eleni proved for all to see her arrogance, seeking to change our faith and push down our throats her misguided ideas. She has to repent and ask forgiveness from “some monks” in Athos… her shameful and bitter response will be forever a monument to arrogance.. We are lucky she didn’t demand Athos to allow women to enter the holy community… she thinks that she can buy everything with her money. Well, she cannot buy Athos – period.

      • Philanthropic? Really? What is philanthropy to collect loaves of bread and hand out crumbs in pretentious and useless so called philanthropic services? Please. Refuse to accept tainted money under the hypocritical guise of philanthropy…

    • Dear David:
      YOU are the one who lacks love —
      love of God’s commandments —
      God’s divine laws:
      Sexual deviancy in any form is anathema to spiritual holiness!
      Eleni & you undoubtedly never studied holy scriptures nor the Philokalia nor the saints… you both know NOTHING on tenets/canons of Christianity .

  3. I don’t even know where to begin. As an Orthodox Christian, I’m hurt angry and
    want to come to the defense of our Church and Holy Tradition. In her arrogance and ignorance, one has to assume that she has NEVER read the New Testament, especially the Apostle Paul, nor any of the Church Fathers or Mothers. She must know nothing of Holy Tradition that remains unchanged.

    She has no respect for our monastics, our ascetics…but why should see, she doesn’t respect Christ and His Church (she must think it’s for sale…just because Elpi might be). The Church has a collective mind. Not hers, not Elpi’s…it’s a shame she bought an Archbishop and he didn’t act like a loving Father, like a Spiritual Leader. If he had, maybe it would never have gotten to this point.

    But you know, refreshing myself with how the baptism took place…she knew exactly what she was doing! Exactly. As for her building things-big deal. The Saints and the Monastics are the true builders…in fact people like her tear down only so they can build some garish tribute. I’m furious, I tell people I and my family owe our life to the Elder Ephraim and his monastics. And she insults them all. Even worse, she judges them. Actually even worse, she accuses them.

    She should have some respect for others but especially for Christ and His Church. What did she expect to happen when her and Elpi made sure to do everything in secret. Does she even know anything about Orthodoxy? Does she even care? Obviously not. I rambled but I’m so angry.

    • George Costalos: absolutely!
      The idle & shallow rich think they can BUY their delusions as fact into everything.
      This woman Eleni is bitter as hell & never can admit it’s because her son is a homosexual .
      THIS Is Her Deepest Angst!

  4. “Rules for thee, but not for me”.
    Get over yourself, lady – the Church and Holy Tradition and the Sacraments are not for picking and choosing. If you want to do that, become a protestant.

  6. Short Answer: The Fathers did not attack her or her family. They wrote a letter to the Patriarch requesting that Elpidophoros not come to Mt. Athos. That’s all. That’s it. Nothing about her and her family and her ego.

    Elpidophoros actions as Arch-bishop has all but destroyed the Church. He has behaved so heretically, plastic spoons, secret baptisms misleading Bishops, assisting the laity in their sin, joining in their sin, lying to fellow Hierarchs…changing Holy Tradition, to suit himself and profit monetarily. As for her, she knows nothing about her Church, she doesn’t care and I’m sure she’s never cared. She got what she wanted by conspiring with Elpi, misleading a Hierarch.

    And did she read the Fathers letter before she judges and accuses monastics who have dedicated their lives to Christ and His Church.

    It’s a shame. She doesn’t have someone to correct her…but then she wouldn’t listen anyway…she got what she wanted and she knew what she was doing. You’d think she would shut her mouth and not bring any more attention to herself.

    • George, you are incorrect when you write, “They wrote a letter to the Patriarch requesting that Elpidophoros not come to Mt. Athos.” Their letter says no such thing. All it does is express concern not about the Baptisms, but about the events SURROUNDING the Baptisms, and I think they’re referring to the photo-ops that took place and essentially publicized an otherwise private event, giving the perception that Elpidophoros supports gay marriage (which he does not). Elpidophoros is NOT considered “persona non grata” on Mount Athos. His trip will take place as planned (despite what Nick says), and I wrote a comment on this article offering my views, which has not been made public yet. (I think I was a little harsh on Nick and he may not even put it up! LOL! But he’ll get over it.)

      • No, you are WRONG.. It turns out that your “beloved” Phanariot Elpidophoros tried, like the Sultan that he is, to make Mt.Athos “obey” him. Elpi involved Batholomew: He asked the Patriarch’s “permission” to visit Athos in writing and Old Bart obliged: he wrote a letter to Athos on December 8, 2023, demanding Athos to accept Elpidophoros with honors. What Athos did you saw in their letter: Athos told both Bartholomew and Elpi to reaffirm the faith. In other words we are dealing with an UNPRECEDENTED open revolt of Athos against a HERETIC Patriarch and an even more heretic Archbishop… Stay tuned…

        • I most certainly am NOT “wrong” in terms of what I wrote. I merely said that the Agion Oros letter does not even mention the words “persona non grata”, “unwanted” («ανεπηθύμητος»), or “unwelcome” («μη0ευπρόσδεκτος»). NOWHERE. All this letter does is express concern over the misunderstandings surrounding the events surrounding the Baptisms (e.g. photo-ops, public display of the Sacrament with gay parents of the children, etc.). And by the way, do you have a copy of the Patriarch’s letter of 12/8/2023 that you mention? I’d like to see the wording. Bartholomew telling Elpidophoros to “reaffirm the faith” does NOT mean to keep Elpidophoros out. Trust me, they’re NOT going to deny him entrance. He’s going to go with his group from America and that’s it. And again, how do YOU know he doesn’t want to go seek forgiveness from the Patriarch for possibly causing this misunderstanding? Even you, the great Nick Stamatakis, doesn’t know everything, or in this case, what’s going on in the background. The Patriarch is NOT a “heretic” (see what I mean about losing your credibility? See what I mean about your choice of words?) I’ve said it before: I am NOT Elpidophoros’s biggest fan, and yes, he has made some bad judgment calls. But let’s not make stuff up for the sake of printing “hot” journalism. Post that letter…

          • You are WRONG and I will post the Patriarch’s letter later tonight. It was a total REBUKE. He was and is totally UNWELCOME. All twenty monasteries signed the letter.

          • ELLHNAS – No more comments on this issue unless you can be polite. Go post your trolling comments on TNH and see if they let you… Or on the Orthodox Observer…

  8. I went to her article and here is the title:

    “ ELENI BOUSI AT THE CHURCH ONLINE FOR THE EPISTLE OF SAINTS: HYPOCRITES! WHAT DO YOU DO BEHIND CLOSED DOORS – I HAVE GIVEN MY LIFE TO ORTHODOXY”.

    That’s Eleni Bousi calling the Fathers hypocrites and asking what they do behind closed doors”. Is she making an insinuation?

    • She is unable to distinguish between the teachings of Christianity and the sins of people. The Athos monks know that we are all sinners – but this doesn’t mean we have to change the teachings of Christianity to fit our sins. On the opposite – we have to struggle with our sins and imperfections to become a mirror of Christ!… just because a few have decided that homosexuality is not a sin, it does not mean that we will change the scriptures to accommodate them… They can go to churches who approve of this – there are plenty. ORTHODOXY WILL NEVER ACCEPT THIS…

  9. What does Eleni Bousi not understand … No one is stopping Transgenders, LGBQT..or any other Christian or on Christian denomination from attending the Original Church of Christ ..the Greek Orthodox Church for Thousands of years .. look “Mommy Dearest” you are talking about the caretakers of the Birthplace of Christ at the Church of Nativity, Bethlehem, and the Holy Seplucher …the holiest sites in Chrystomdom! What “Mommy dearest”… do you think that thru all these years , when Gays were not selling their “label” , they were not attending Greek Orthodox Churches! I mean we have War Criminals like George Bush Jr and Tony Blair parading thru the Evangelical Christian churches or calling themselves “reborn Christians” planning the next genocide of humanity but do you think their lifestyle is blessed by the Greek Orthodox Church or God, well maybe Bartholomew and EPI, ! Mommy Dearest Eleni … What do you not understand …whether it is the Greek Orthodox Church or MIcrosoft Corporation … they are “Private” entities entitled to sell anything they want with protection by the Constitution of the Uniteded States and U.N. …And what they sell and what rules as to who they sell too…is not negotiable! And the product of the Greek Orthodox Church of the World does not allow it to bless Gay marriages ,Period! So Eleni….no one is persecuting Gays or anybody they are more than welcome to attend Masses and participate in the worship of God , but unfortunately , their lifestyle is not accepted by our God according to thousands of year of worship in our Chruches , and consequently, it appears that their are other religions whose product does bless Gay Marriages and I recommend you join that church , Temple or Mosque! !

    Finally, Eleni , in a capitalist system, continuing to defame and slander the Greek Orthodox Church is subject to a lawsuit ..if you didn’t know !

  11. Using the grandchildren who are blameless to avoid acknowledging the sins her son is clearly deceitful on her part. No doubt she approves her son’s lifestyle despite what the Gospel teaches—and for her Apostle Paul is a hater. Funny how the people who know the least about the Bible are shooting their mouths off the most. Her supporter, Elpidophoros took the opportunity to get this baptism out in public to prove how progressive he is.

  12. From this blog:

    https://www.orthodoxytoday.org/blog/2023/11/the-lord-directly-commands-that-we-rebuke-a-sinning-brother/

    “ In order to strengthen their shaky “position”, such false preachers of this trendy, pseudo-“Christianity” like very much to abuse the Lord’s famous saying, Judge not, that ye be not judged (Matt. 7:1). This is their very favorite saying, which nevertheless does not hinder them in the least from judging and condemning in the cruelest manner all of those who do not agree with their heresy, which is no more than a totally deceitful distortion of the Gospel teachings—a fraud by which they confuse and disturb many.”

    • You are totally misguided on this issue – along with many western Christians who use this expression as a “candy” daily… If we take it face value then everything is allowed in the Church and all abnormalities and sins and crimes are blessed.. But those who speak Greek can find the real meaning of what judgment means here. I will try to translate it later – it’s very hard to translate and I would appreciate the help from anyone of you guys at HCHC.

      https://www.helleniscope.com/2023/12/11/gia-ton-archiepiskopo-afstralias-den-yparchei-stin-orthodoxi-ekklisia-to-rima-krino/

      • Apologies, I think I was being unclear. I posted that link and excerpt to say that many people (including Mrs Busis) use the “judge not” to muzzle anyone who goes against their heresy, and it is intentional trickery. We do see the use of this phrase like candy. It’s not my position that we should “judge not”. In the link, the author condemns this misleading “Christian” approach, and I agree with him.

  13. Who made Eleni Bousis a Hierarch to demand this gay trash?
    Let’s guess – it’s Prince of Darkness Karloutsos who’s out campaigning for sodomite rights ?

    • It’s likely AB Elpidophoros who gave her additional “rights”… But they are both followers of money primarily and not faith.

  14. No parent can possibly be proud that their son is homosexual. Period.
    Its why Eleni Bousis is out of control enraged and lashing out using her big bucks $$ to disrespect and infringe upon a 2,000 year gospel.
    The hubris of this sick Godless lefty!

  15. If Eleni has specific information about things that are happening “behind closed doors”, and if she is truly sincere about dedicating her life to do good for the Church, it would be great if she can assist the larger Church body with some much needed “deep cleansing”, by disclosing what she knows, so that we can start removing any “cancerous tumors” lurking within…

    After this initial beneficial exercise, then she will have to come to grips with Orthodox reality & 2000 years of Orthodox teaching…she can start with a deep study of the following 2 biblical phrases:

    1) «Υπερηφάνοις Κύριος αντιτάσσεται» (Α΄ Πέτρ. ε΄ 5) … “God stands/is against “the proud”…” how does this clear statement compare to anyone who is involved in imposing the “gay pride” agenda upon the Orthodox Church, while at the same time still claiming to be Orthodox? If Eleni wants to spend time talking about hypocrisy, this is a great place to start..

    2) ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἄδικοι θεοῦ βασιλείαν οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν; Μὴ πλανᾶσθε: οὔτε πόρνοι οὔτε εἰδωλολάτραι οὔτε μοιχοὶ οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται (1 Cor 6:9) ….
    The use of the term αρσενοκοιτια is not limited to the 1st century text of this epistle…Canons from Ecumenical Synods, as well as multiple other Byzantine writings use this word as well…it’s very hard for anyone to dispute what this word means in Orthodox tradition, even though some “slick” modernists (wannabe “Theologians”) are trying their best in recent years…so, we can all ask Eleni, is this “we” who are “judging”, or is it simply a New Testament statement that is very clear to anyone that bothers to try and read it?

    This statement is also clear about who is “in the Church” and who is living “outside its boundaries”…if you are actively in a clear category with those that “won’t inherit the kingdom of heaven”, and if you refuse to repent, then you are clearly living a life “outside of the Church” today, and the Church has every right to deny the “proud and non-repentant ones” its Mysteries, including the “Glyfada baptism” that shouldn’t have ever taken place.

    Just like in the story of the Prodigal Son, it was the son’s choice to “leave” his home…likewise, it was Eleni’s son who decided to live a life outside of Orthodoxy, fooling himself and others that this sort of modern-day state-approved “union” would be legitimate in the eyes of God.

    We’ve already covered the “sob story argument” about “oh, what about the poor children?” in a previous post…
    If a muslim couple shows up and says “I want to baptize my children Orthodox, but I will teach them my own traditional values at home”, would the Church be wrong in denying a formal blessing & sanctioning of this diseased spiritual situation? For comparison purposes, what do you feel is the probability of Elpidophoros’ “Glyfada duette” teaching the children (victims) that ἀρσενοκοῖται will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven? That’s exactly why the Church can’t fall for this “sob story”, folks….at some point we need to get serious about reality and tradition, and stop this mockery. You are either in the Church, or out, and being “in” has nothing to do with how fat your wallet is (certainly not from the Church Fathers’ point of view)…

    In light of the above, what exactly is incorrect about Mt. Athos monks refusing to allow a hierarch that “crossed the line” to visit their home?

  16. With all that money, she can build her own church and take elpi and barto with her and leave us all alone. Slandering the holy monks of Mt. Athos won’t solve anything. She will suffer greatly from doing this. May God guide her because she is clearly confused. Heresy can’t be washed with her money and the Church of Christ doesn’t need her money in exchange for a compromise and change of dogma and cannons. Forgive her Lord, for she does not know what she asks for!

  17. Let me preface my commentary by saying that it will deal directly with the subject at hand and NOT personalities…I read the article that Eleni posted and struggled with my response simply because it will NOT be popular…Eleni is a beloved person that through her philanthropic works has established herself in the community here in Chicago and internationally…that being said, my response is not directed at her or her family or her philanthropic offerings but rather at the subject at hand, which is the formal position of the Greek Orthodox Church in the matter involving homosexuality…I believe we as individuals have the absolute right to live our lives as we deem fit as long as they don’t impose harm on our fellow human beings and if this were a lay controversy I would be in full support of Evangelo and his partner’s personal life choices…this controversy however deals with the laws of the GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH which have been in place for over 2,000 years and as such has to be looked at very differently…I don’t believe that the elders of Mt. Athos ( I will not comment on Mr. Stamatakis’ observation as he has a right to his opinion) in their rejection of the baptism of the two children in question intended to compromise the Bousis family and their standing in society…they, as they are bound by the faith they serve, which supports their commentary, made their disdain public just like any other entity which had their core beliefs compromised…the church has very CLEAR beliefs about its standing on the subject at hand…individuals priests, bishops etc. have nothing to do with basic dogma…it has been in place and followed for 2 millennia…it is not meant to become manipulated in any shape or form ESPECIALLY by its elders to suit individual purposes…I believe that his Eminence Elpidoforos given his high standing in the church, should have known that! by sanctioning the sacrament of holy baptism of the children of an openly gay couple he was going directly against the very law he swore as a high ranking member of the church to uphold!…and to make matters worse the belief in the community is that had it NOT been the grandchildren of the BOUSIS family, the whole matter would be moot! I feel that a great deal of the blame lies in his lap! He should have known better! It might sting, but his “boss” would not approve of his decision! He as a hierarch, made a HUGE mistake which has boomeranged into the controversy we are dealing with now…again, it would’ve been easy to stay quite and not voice my opinion…indeed it would’ve been the popular thing to do…in these very difficult, challenging days we live in I feel that the popular thing, the well liked thing, is to let sleeping dogs lie…not to stir the pot…but my name is Eleni and just like Eleni Bousis I am not afraid or squimish to express my opinions…as I look around at our world at large I feel we have by adopting a nonchalant policy when dealing with very important life issues, done a great disservice to our selves and our children…there are laws to everything in this life and they should not be callously swept under the rug…we invite CHAOS if we choose the easy way and stay SUBMISIVE and SILENT…once again I respect and admire Eleni and all of her good works, our lord in heaven will repay her in his own holy way…

    • Very well stated. As you know Helleniscope was among the first to report the so-called “Gay Baptism” event on July 10, 2022 and there we raised a number of issues still valid today. You well said that AB Elpidophoros is to blame for a number of theological reasons but above all because he agreed to turn the event into a “carnival” in social media and eveywhere. He knew what he was doing and Mt.Athos rightfull criticized him then and now.
      In this originaL article we recognized at length Eleni Bousis’s generosity and refrained from attacking her – although it was obvious to all that her wealth played a role in the whole saga. Here is this article:
      https://www.helleniscope.com/2022/07/10/has-ab-elpidophoros-just-legitimized-gay-marriage-through-baptism/
      More problematic is her behavior in the months after the “gay baptism” until today because she cannot recognize that, as you well said, this is a Church issue and the Church is ALL OF US. Her millions are not enough to change a 2,000-yr-old faith.

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