ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΜΕΤΑΦΡΑΣΗ ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΕΙ

By Nick Stamatakis

Since yesterday, we have received frantic calls and emails reporting that during the Good Friday service at Saint Nicholas of Ground Zero, AB Elpidophoros co-officiated at every stance with Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan. It happened during the Holy Saturday “Orthros” (Matins), performed on Good Friday Evening, known to all of us as “Lamentations” (“Εγκώμια”). They walk together outside and inside Saint Nicholas and sprinkle together “agiasmos” on the Epitaphios!! The Archbishop later posted a video on his FB page to ensure the point was not lost. You can see this FB post by linking here, but you can also watch the full video of the service below (at 1:21:00 the critical scene begins). Here are some photos:

I will leave most of the commentary to you, but below, I note the following:

  • This is not an accident. It constitutes one more step towards Pat Bartholomew’s planned Easter co-celebration with the Catholic Church for Easter 2025, which is meant to initiate a union of the two Churches.
  • Most Orthodox people totally and unequivocally reject this planned “Union”. None of the reasons why the schisms with the Western Church happened a thousand years ago have been remedied, and no Panorthodox Synod has been called to decide on such an important issue.
  • This move will further deepen the Schism within Orthodoxy, which started with Bartholomew granting “Autocephaly” to Ukraine in 2018. He had no right to do that, and he was rebuked by many Orthodox hierarchs. The most powerful reaction was from AB Anastasios of Albania, the most erudite Orthodox hierarch alive. Anstasios’ two famous letters to the Patriarch will remain in Orthodox history as monuments of Faith (link here and here).
  • When a Hierarch with the stature of AB Anastasios of Albania (theologically speaking, Bartholomew cannot even hold a candle to him: the Patriarch is known to be of very low theological knowledge, while his real interests lie elsewhere) asks for a Pan-Orthodox synod to decide on Ukrainian autocephaly, what do you think he will do now? Most Orthodox hierarchs are sure to follow the true faith and knowledge represented by Anastasios.
  • The first nickname I gave Elpidophoros in 2019 (before he arrived in America) was not “Elpidoktonos” (“Hope-Killer”). It was “Cardinal Elpidophoros.” Why? Because of his infamous “thesis” about the position of the Patriarch of Constantinople, “Primus Sine Paribus” (meaning “First Without Equal”), essentially turning an Orthodox Patriarch—who is bound by a fundamental “synodical” structure—into a Pope who is endowed with “infallibility.”
  • Finally, if we judge from what we already know, this will further divide the Greek-American community. In the last five years, many Greek-Americans have moved to other Orthodox churches, primarily the Russian ROCOR, OCA, and Antiochian Church. Let me remind you here that when Amb. Alexandra Papadopoulou visited the Phanar last November, her number one complaint to Bartholomew about AB Elpidophoros was that he is “divisive.”  We will not talk about his divisiveness from now on but about his destructiveness. If I were the Turkish Foreign Minister, I would be extremely happy that Elpidophoros (who declares his pride to be a Turkish citizen frequently) has devasted GOARCH and caused its membership to diminish by more than half in a few years.  Do you want proof of that? Ask GOA to publish comparative numbers of marriages and baptisms….

From now on, we should ask ourselves whether we should unite our forces and 1) From another Orthodox church or 2) Go to OCA, ROCOR, or Antiochian and ask to be under them, as parishes or individuals. 

May 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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PLEASE GO TO 1:21:00 TO SEE THE CRITICAL MOMENT

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Μια ακόμη ιεροσυλία: Ο Ελπιδοφόρος συλλειτουργεί με Καθολικό Καρδινάλιο τη Μεγάλη Παρασκευή!!

Του Νίκου Σταματάκη

Από χθες, λαβαίνουμε ξέφρενα τηλεφωνήματα και emails που αναφέρουν ότι κατά τη διάρκεια της λειτουργίας της Μεγάλης Παρασκευής στον Άγιο Νικόλαο του Ground Zero, ο Αρχ. Ελπιδοφόρος συλλειτούργησε – και μάλιστα πάνω στον Επιτάφιο – με τον Καθολικό Καρδινάλιο Timothy Dolan.  Συνέβη κατά τη διάρκεια του Ορθρου του Μεγάλου Σαββάτου, που τελείται το απόγευμα της Μεγάλης Παρασκευής, γνωστό σε όλους μας ως «Εγκώμια». Περπατούν μαζί έξω και μέσα στον Άγιο Νικόλαο και μαζί ραντίζουν με «αγιασμό» τον Επιτάφιο!! Ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος δημοσίευσε αργότερα ένα βίντεο στη σελίδα του στο FB για να βεβαιωθεί ότι δεν θα χαθεί το γεγονός. Μπορείτε να δείτε αυτή την ανάρτηση στο FB συνδεόμενοι εδώ, αλλά μπορείτε επίσης να παρακολουθήσετε το πλήρες βίντεο της υπηρεσίας παραπάνω (στις 1:21:00 ξεκινά η κρίσιμη σκηνή). Εδώ μερικές φωτογραφίες:

Θα αφήσω τα περισσότερα σχόλια σε εσάς, αλλά παρακάτω σημειώνω τα εξής:

  • Αυτό δεν είναι ατύχημα. Αποτελεί ένα ακόμη βήμα προς τον προγραμματισμένο από τον αιρετικό Πατ. Βαρθολομαίο συνεορτασμό με την Καθολική Εκκλησία για το Πάσχα του 2025, ο οποίος προορίζεται να ξεκινήσει μια ένωση των δύο Εκκλησιών.
  • Οι περισσότεροι Ορθόδοξοι απορρίπτουν ολοκληρωτικά και κατηγορηματικά αυτήν την προγραμματισμένη «Ένωση». Κανένας από τους λόγους για τους οποίους συνέβησαν τα σχίσματα με τη Δυτική Εκκλησία πριν από χίλια χρόνια δεν έχει αποκατασταθεί και καμία Πανορθόδοξη Σύνοδος δεν κλήθηκε να αποφασίσει για ένα τόσο σημαντικό ζήτημα.
  • Αυτή η κίνηση θα εμβαθύνει περαιτέρω το Σχίσμα εντός της Ορθοδοξίας, το οποίο ξεκίνησε με τον Βαρθολομαίο να παραχωρεί «Αυτοκεφαλία» στην Ουκρανία το 2018. Δεν είχε δικαίωμα να το κάνει και αποδοκιμάστηκε από πολλούς ορθόδοξους ιεράρχες. Η πιο δυνατή αντίδραση ήταν από τον Αρχ Αναστάσιο της Αλβανίας, τον πιο σοφό Ορθόδοξο ιεράρχη εν ζωή. Οι δύο περίφημες επιστολές του Ανστασίου προς τον Πατριάρχη θα μείνουν στην Ορθόδοξη ιστορία ως μνημεία της Πίστεως (σύνδεσμος εδώ και εδώ).
  • Όταν ένας Ιεράρχης με το ανάστημα του Αρχ. Αναστασίου της Αλβανίας (θεολογικά ο Βαρθολομαίος δεν μπορεί να του κρατήσει καν ένα κερί: ο Πατριάρχης είναι γνωστό ότι έχει πολύ χαμηλές θεολογικές γνώσεις, ενώ τα πραγματικά του ενδιαφέροντα βρίσκονται αλλού) ζητά μια Πανορθόδοξη σύνοδο. για να αποφασίσει για την αυτοκεφαλία της Ουκρανίας, τι πιστεύετε ότι θα κάνει τώρα; Οι περισσότεροι ορθόδοξοι ιεράρχες είναι βέβαιο ότι θα ακολουθήσουν την αληθινή πίστη και γνώση που εκπροσωπεί ο Αναστάσιος.
  • Το πρώτο παρατσούκλι που έδωσα στον Ελπιδοφόρο το 2019 (πριν φτάσει στην Αμερική) δεν ήταν «Ελπιδόκτονος». Ήταν  «Καρδινάλιος Ελπιδοφόρος». Γιατί; Λόγω της περιβόητης «θέσης» του για τη θέση του Πατριάρχη Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, «Primus Sine Paribus» (που σημαίνει «Πρώτος χωρίς ίσους»), μετατρέποντας ουσιαστικά έναν Ορθόδοξο Πατριάρχη —που δεσμεύεται από μια θεμελιώδη «συνοδική» δομή— σε Πάπα. που είναι προικισμένος με το «αλάθητο».
  • Τέλος, αν κρίνουμε από όσα ήδη γνωρίζουμε, αυτό θα διχάσει ακόμη περισσότερο την ελληνοαμερικανική κοινότητα. Τα τελευταία πέντε χρόνια, πολλοί Ελληνοαμερικανοί έχουν μετακομίσει σε άλλες ορθόδοξες εκκλησίες, κυρίως στις ρωσικές ROCOR και OCA και την Εκκλησία της Αντιόχειας. Να σας υπενθυμίσω εδώ ότι όταν η πρέσβης Αλεξάνδρα Παπαδοπούλου επισκέφτηκε το Φανάρι τον περασμένο Νοέμβριο, το νούμερο ένα παράπονό της στον Πατριάρχη για τον Ελπιδοφόρο ήταν ότι είναι «διχαστικός». Δεν θα μιλάμε πλέον για τον διχασμό του από εδώ και πέρα αλλά για την καταστροφικότητα του Ελπιδοφόρου. Αν ήμουν Υπουργός Εξωτερικών της Τουρκίας, θα πετούσα από την χαρά μου που ο Ελπιδοφόρος (ο οποίος δηλώνει περήφανος ότι είναι Τούρκος πολίτης) κατέστρεψε την ελληνική Αρχιεπισκοπή Αμερικής και προκάλεσε μείωση των μελών του κατά περισσότερο από το ήμισυ σε λίγα χρόνια. Θέλετε απόδειξη; Ζητήστε από τη Αρχιοεπισκοπή να δημοσιεύσει συγκριτικούς αριθμούς γάμων και βαπτίσεων….

Από εδώ και πέρα, θα πρέπει να αναρωτηθούμε αν πρέπει να ενώσουμε τις δυνάμεις μας και 1) Να ιδρύσουμε άλλη ορθόδοξη εκκλησία ή 2) Να πάμε στις ρωσικές εκκλησίες, την OCA ή την ROCOR ή επίσης στην Αντιοχειανή και να ζητήσουμε να είμαστε κάτω από αυτές, ως ενορίες ή ως άτομα.

May 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.

TO SUPPORT HELLENISCOPE OR BECOME A SUBSCRIBER, LINK HERE!!

 

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20 COMMENTS

  2. The cabal plan for Christianity is destruction. For there are many unruly men, empty talkers and mind-deluders, whose mouths must needs be stopped, men who are upsetting whole houses, teaching the things which ought not to be taught – for the sake of base gain. Titus 1:10-11

    Orthodox Christians are being spiritually abused by their hierarchs. How much more will we avert our mind and heart from this truth?

  4. How come nobody reacted? I guess these people that went to an Orthodox church on Good Friday didn’t expect a Catholic priest to sprinkle them! They were caught by surprise… Maybe it is not a good idea to go to a church that theological clowns and jugglers perform?

  5. We are lucky that the old calendar
    churches are much, much more than
    the new therefore our souls will find
    the right spiritual harbour to continue
    the the voyage during our staying
    on earth.

  6. Oh this wretched, underwhelming expensive $100 million dollar concrete slab called St. Nicholas Shrine –
    it doesn’t even faintly look spiritual as a church should –
    more like a mosque or sterile army bunker. They couldn’t even make a large size cross on top?

    • Wow. For once, I happen to agree with Zoey. Saint Nicholas is an unsightly poor excuse for an Orthodox church. And so much financial abuse was conducted while building it. From the choice of Calatrava, a man known for project over runs, who had never built an Orthodox church, while we have plenty of church architects that could have built a true representative of our faith, on the site of 9/11, an area visited by millions, that would have made us proud.

    • And does everyone realize by now that these millions were poured into a structure that is built on land that doesn’t belong to the Archdiocese, but to the Port Authority (government) by eminent domain decree?

      Have you ever spent millions to build a structure on someone else’s property and call that a “good investment”, let alone to build a church structure that is supposed to last forever after consecration?

  7. The real question here is, what else to people need to see in order to stop attending any service that Elpi officiates? At this point, it’s best to leave him alone with empty buildings to bring his heretic friends to…when he fails to collect enough revenue for his overlords, he will be removed…

  9. The bigger question is, will anything be done or will this just be another scandal in the long list of scandals that just keep on coming?

    Still waiting for him to be removed or for there to be any real opposition…

  11. They do these things because there is “luke-warm” response.

    There is “luke-warm” response by the people because they have been diluting the Orthodox mindset in the diaspora for many decades now, using the following strategy:

    1) Turning “oikonomia” into the norm – There used to be a rigorous process of vetting to certify that someone could join the Orthodox Church. They not only had to perform at least an entire year of intense organized Catechism, but also had to fully “renounce Satan” by renouncing their previous false dogma…literally, they had to read off and deny their prior beliefs that were contrary to Orthodoxy. If they refused to… Who has seen that in GOARCH lately? I witnessed this several years ago in another jurisdiction in N. America, where someone from a muslim background had to read an entire statement publicly, on record, renouncing the false prophet, etc…you can imagine that those in the country of origin of this individual would automatically put this person on a target list for bad things, but that was the “spirit of martyrdom” that makes a Christian “worthy of Christ”, per the Scriptures…Instead, GOARCH has expanded the “oikonomia of Chrismation” by Local Synod decision-making (vs. Ecumenical Synod decree), causing a problematic influx of “luke-warm” mindset population, calling themselves “Orthodox” on the surface, but still carrying their previous beliefs deep down…the obvious reason was to “keep people from leaving the Church”, so that the future (revenue – 30 pieces of silver) would be sustainable.

    2) A take-over of Synodical voting power by “luke-warm” and “progressive” individuals, and a restriction of conservative-minded clergy to the “subjugation” of “luke-warm” bishops. Everyone saw what happened in the vote for Archbishop in Cyprus for a 2nd time in a row…Everyone sees the recent events in the Church of Greece, including how “able men” who are recommended by the people of a local metropolis to replace a deceased metropolitan are ignored by Athens, only for the “Synodical vote” to apply, in clear violation of Ancient Church canons, tradition, etc.

    3) After luke-warm domination of Synods & parishes, prevention of conservative dogmatic teaching has been achieved, paving the way to “focus on similarities” and to “ignore differences” which has been the cornerstone of “decades of dialog” between Orthodoxy and the Vatican (and its satellites via the WCC)…by focusing only on the “similarities” for about 50 years, eventually the “old timers” who had the spirit of early Christian Church martyrdom die, and the younger generations, who have witnessed 50 years of “luke-warm” entrants into the Church (mixed marriages without proper Catechism, etc), also “warm up to the idea” of a “Union” with Rome…

    So that’s the quick reminder of how we got here…the real problem is that these perpetrators have likely already factored into the equation that there will be a defection (20-30%) of “traditional Orthodox” parish population to other jurisdictions when they make their final Uniate move with the Vatican…they simply don’t care about “collateral damages” of a schism of that size at this point, because they will have achieved their primary goal…

    If on the other hand, church buildings empty out and the people let the unworthy heretics preach to themselves, the money (30 pieces of silver) won’t be flowing into the coffers, and that failure will result in a setback to their grand plans…however, we keep saying it, and it doesn’t seem to happen, even if the perpetrators increase their level of provocation with their “public liturgical experiments” every year…

    That is the definition of “luke-warm”…

    “Behold the bridegroom comes in the midst of the night….and unworthy is the servant whom He finds slothful…”

  12. At the time of the False Union of Florence Ferrara, the Orthodox stopped attending the Uniate churches of Constantinople. They were all on the side of Saint Mark of Ephesus who was the only remaining Orthodox bishop. He ordered that these traitors of Orthodoxy not to even attend his funeral if he passes away. The peoples’ boycott was very effective in making these priests and bishops recognise their errors. The true Orthodox Christians would shun every priest who followed their traitor bishop. This needs to be repeated today to stop this cancer from taking over the Church. There is no other way. Do not wait for some pan-Orthodox synod to condemn these heretics because all world Orthodox churches are infected with ecumenism–they are infiltrated by freemasons to are behind this agenda. Walk out and leave behind these traitor bishops like the time of Saint Mark of Ephesus. You can either go to ROCOR (they are traditionalists and against ecumenism) or go to the Greek “Old Calendar” church. Despite their divisions and shortcomings, the Greek Old Calendarists will never bow down to the heresy of ecumenism. If they are divided its because of their stupid super correctness on whose more Orthodox. In 1924 the faithful of the old calendar saw this coming with the calendar change. Their bishops received apostolic succession through ordinations received from saintly ROCOR bishops in the early 1960s….Saint John (Maximovitch) of San Francisco being one of them who empathized with the old calendar struggle. Above all pray that all the true Orthodox Christians and clergy are united in our common struggle to defend the faith from these wolves in sheep’s clothing.

  13. We have to stay and fight for our churches that our pappoudes and yiayithes built, they are our Churches and not Elpidoktonos’ or any of these compromised and corrupt fools.

    It amazes me that anyone would advocate to join the russian churches, they are as corrupt as anyone and have a myriad of their own problems, its just that most stories never get out, where as Greeks love to spew and dump on their own.

    • You are right Tom that the Greeks have to resolve our own problems from within and not go to other ethnic churches. I too have respect for the hard earned money the Greek Diaspora put into building these churches. What would you suggest because the EP has done nothing to remove him? No one is standing up to him which is emboldening him to do more to bring the path to perdition to the Orthodox faithful. No one spoke up in that church when this happened on Holy Friday because of the lukewarm Orthodox who attend there that do not even know their own faith but go there for cultural, folkloric reasons. I brought up the example of the Orthodox in Constantinople during the time of the false union what they did. They walled themselves from the heresy of the bishops of the time and it worked.

    • IActually, Jk ..the Churches belong by deed to Bartholomew , Epidophoros , Mistotakis and the Archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church! On top of that ..they receive management fees from all churches and in the case of Greece state funded!
      And if you think the leaders of America and Ukraine consider their churches the Body of Christ , then you should read ..what the New Messiah and desciples of the U.S government and Congress preaches from Orthodox Churches in the Ukraine to kill Orthodox Christians…

      in his Easter message, Jewish leader of Ukraine ,Zelensky recorded a video at Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, making war propaganda with pseudo-religious rhetoric. According to Zelensky, Ukrainians are “God’s chosen people.” He described Kiev’s troops as “servants” of divine will against the Russians. In the same vein, Zelensky called on all Ukrainian Christians to unite against Moscow and of course .. he uses the Mantra of the Protestant Church leaders of the U.S.Congress.to justify Righteous Endless Criminal wars against the world and Russia….
      And Jk . I guess you think the self proclaimed Christian leaders of the U.S government and Congress represent the Body of Christ!

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