®Monomakhos

More Gaiety from the Phanar

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In case you were wondering, the Ecumenical Patriarchate doesn’t seem to be getting the memos.  Which ones?  Those that have to do with hitching their ecclesial wagon to the progressive star of the Episcopal Church.

As you can see from the picture to the left, a certain Fr Evageros, a Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne is praying with the Very Reverend William Ogburn, the Rector of St Paul’s Church in Brooklyn.  The Very Reverend is “married” to a certain Jonathan Vantassel, who, we are told, “works for an advertising firm in Manhattan.”

Perhaps Archbishop Elpidophoros is not passing these memos on to Istanbul –a miscommunication as it were.  More likely, this ecumenical service was given the go-ahead by Elpidophoros, acting on his own.  It’s even possible that this was instigated by Patriarch Bartholomew himself.

The timing is somewhat concerning, given that this service took place after the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops (AOB) concluded their annual meeting which was held in Atlanta.  I would like to think that had said meeting taken place after Fr Evageros “prayed” with Ogburn, things might not have gone so smoothly for Elpidophoros.

This is all water under the bridge.  What has happened, happened.  I have given up all hope that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese will right itself, or at least, take stock of the progressive trajectory it’s on and turn things around.  The only concern now is whether the rest of the bishops who sit on that Assembly will continue to provide theological cover to the GOA.

In my humble opinion, they have to denounce this.  It’s possible, after all, they derailed the elevation of Alexander Belya to the episcopate.  If they don’t, then they’ll be contaminated with the same rot that infects the GOA.  Not only has Elpidophoros continued to celebrate Gay Pride month by serving the Divine Liturgy at St Bartholomew’s Church in Manhattan, he has done so for the last three years.  As if that’s not enough, two of the GOA’s dioceses (Chicago and Atlanta) encourage girls to serve in the Altar.  And now this.

I won’t even go into the multiple spoon kerfuffle, the BLM march and the horrendous speech given by Elpidophoros at the Annual March for Life.

That’s three strikes.  The only question now is:  when will he be “out”?  My sources in the Big Apple assure me that highly placed laymen in the GOA have tired of the Archbishop’s antics, that it’s only a matter of time before he is “retired.”  I wish I could share their optimism.  Hopefully, I’m wrong.  That being said, I’m not sure that this progressive trajectory can be reversed, even if he is replaced by a conservative bishop.  (Look what the Phanar did to Demetrios; it took a while but they got their way.)

So what’s on the horizon?  The rest of the non-GOA bishops on the AOB following the course of ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate bishops?  I can’t see any other option.  I even foresee problems within the GOA, that is to say, some of the Metropolitans not being on board with this nonsense.  I can’t see the Athonite monasteries thinking this is all hunky-dory.

Regardless, it can’t be called schism.  Not with so many heterodox actions perpetrated by this particular eparchy of the “Ecumenical Throne.”

 

Comments

  2. George,

    I hear your frustration. I too have “given up all hope” as you say, that our shepherds are capable of reforming themselves. I am speaking from inside the Antiochian camp. Believe me, we Antiochians are holding our noses from the stink of corruption that’s been swept oh-so-quietly under the administrative rug. For anyone with eyes to see, our archdiocese is a hot mess. The thing is, the longer this rot is ignored, the stinkier it gets. At some point folks will have to walk out before they vomit.

    As you say, George, we HAVE to denounce this. Like it or not, it is our duty to defend the faith, even if it means defending it from our own ranks. To not denounce is to comply. To not stand against this is to stand with it. If we are not partakers of the solution, we are partakers of the problem.

    If expecting that our higher-ups are capable of humbly denouncing their treachery before us pions sounds like wishful thinking, I fear you’re right. But isn’t denouncing precisely what’s needed from these servants-turned-elitists from leading us down the rainbow brick road of full blown wokeism?

    I propose two ways we pions can act: Stop funding their wokeism with our dollars. We can still support our church by paying for its upkeep, like paying repairs bills, and buying supplies. Two, let HQ know full funding resumes AFTER they have 1) publicly made a full confession, 2) publicly sought forgiveness, 3) Proven they are taking tangible steps at reform. It would then be our job to trust but verify.

    If none of this sounds pleasant, it isn’t, and will make trouble for your priest, it will. The thing is, our archdioceses are already in trouble and in graver danger of full-on woke apostasy unless we act pronto. There’s simply no complying our way out of this. I’m wide open to alternative suggestions to what I proposed.

    We shouldn’t be shocked into hand-wringing hopelessness by this. Paul’s epistles are replete with confronting the fake apostles, teachers, and waterless clouds of his day that infiltrated so many of the churches he started. Let’s be like Paul and deal with it, head on.

    • Good Evening,
      Change Will happen in the Antiochian Orthodox Church when all of the prisoners in the lady stand up and say we wanna ask you some questions and we need to sit down and talk. Nothing happens until the discussion occurs and an exchange of information. The prisoners inside of the Antiochian Orthodox Church have to learn to use their mouth and to verbalize what needs to be discussed. They’re also has to be recognition that there seems to be this “not functioning. in reality” population inside the Antioch and Orthodox Church that needs to be sat down and spoken to about.“This is not reality and these are not the facts in front of us” it feels like everybody has not functioning at the same place. There needs to be a big Townhall meeting for everybody to be able to communicate either frustration, problems, or input.

    • For anyone with eyes to see, our archdiocese is a hot mess.

      I would be curious to hear more, as this is not the impression I get.

  3. The GOA is not a monolith. A GOA parish in Colorado is quite different from a GOA parish in New York. Outside of the GOA’s traditional (heavily) Greek Northeastern Core, you have what could be termed “the American Mission Lands,” which are much more convert heavy. That can be seen by a simple skimming of the parish directories (for instance, in the Northeastern Core, you might see roughly 80% Greek priests and 20% converts—–out on “the frontier,” that is reversed, or there is more parity).

    Factor in Elder Ephraim’s Monasteries, and you have a jurisdiction that is quite diverse, taken as a whole. That is why when one speaks of the GOA (or any EP jurisdiction), it is more helpful to speak of particular Metropolises or regions.

    Archbishop Elpidophoros is of the Pope Francis mold (including the weaponized ambiguity)—–I suspect most GOA laity just politely ignore him and focus on their own parish priest and Bishops (unless of course Archbishop Elpidophoros IS their Bishop, then that is something else). I see a lot of people raging online about “normie Orthodox” in EP jurisdictions who are “asleep” and don’t seem to see what is happening.

    This “normie” sees what is happening. The question is this: What to do about it? The solution to division is not more division. Patriarchs come and go (as do Archbishops, etc…). When the Ukraine nonsense exploded, I saw people online leave for the Russians, only to later leave the Russians because they didn’t support the war. I’m sure there are people who have left the Antiochians because they don’t like their “anti-Israel” stance. This is what happens when politics becomes the measure, rather than Christ.

    The reality is, most GOA laity have a good parish priest, and most of the bishops in the GOA are good overall (of course they have to play court politics some, and they have their own political opinions which don’t necessarily contradict the faith). Those who are tied to the Ephramite monasteries wish to maintain those ties.

    Of course, there red lines. The formal recognition of homosexual relationships, women’s ordination, a Unia, etc…

    IF (another key difference here, “normies” see it in terms of “IF” not “WHEN”) any of that were to occur, THEN a decision has to be made as a parish and as an individual. I think it is safe to say that most people in the GOA are not prepared to burn bridges and deepen the schism over the antics of an Archbishop who will likely not even be around in a year. “Wait and See” is the default position of faithful GOA laity. That might annoy anti-EP partisans who are eager to be rid of the Phanar, but that is the reality. The other jurisdictions are not prepared to throw those faithful laity under the bus or condemn the entire jurisdiction over the actions of a few politicians in cassocks.

    • “Patriarchs come and go (as do Archbishops, etc…).”

      The prime examples of this are the various replacements
      of Athanasios the Great, who came and then went;
      while he came and went and came and… etc.

    • [QUOTE]When the Ukraine nonsense exploded, I saw people online leave for the Russians, only to later leave the Russians because they didn’t support the war. [/QUOTE]

      I’m a bit surprised to read this because both the ROC Patriarchal parishes abroad and ROCOR are very neutral in the conflict. Unless those disgruntled individuals demanded a ‘denouncement’ (which is not being neutral, of course).

      More likely they may have been afraid to have been associated with a Russian jurisdiction because of the potential local political ramifications of being associated with anything Russian.

    • As someone who goes to a GOA parish that’s in one of the Metropolises in the “sunbelt” and as someone who has more-or-less spent the majority of the past almost 10 years in the GOA…I completely agree with David.

      George/Gail, and anyone else who regularly reads this blog knows that I am constantly critical of Ab. Elpidophoros & Pat. Bartholomew so this isn’t a cope.

      Here in the Southeast (and in the sunbelt in general), GOA parishes, including my own, are packed to the rafters every Sunday. My home parish probably has anywhere from 300-500 people every Sunday, our homilies are always very solidly Orthodox and there is a focus on Orthodox education.

      This has been my experience of the GOA for almost 10 years…BUT…this is exclusive to the South & West coast. From what I have gathered over the years things are different in the Northeast (please correct me if I’m wrong).

      The GOA, probably more than any other jurisdiction, is *very* focused inward on it’s own Metropolis/parish, with very little emphasis on the Archbishop. Because of how the Archdiocese is structured the Archbishop has essentially no authority outside of his jurisdiction (in this case essentially only New York). Also, I agree with David that most people (including myself) have very good parish priests and mostly seem to ignore anything above the Metropolis level.

      As an example, I know for a fact that my Metropolitan has told Ab. Elpidophoros to “pound sand” on more than one occasion. I also know that most (all?) of the other Metropolitans have done the same, or, are not fans of him.

      George you said:
      ***Perhaps Archbishop Elpidophoros is not passing these memos on to Istanbul –a miscommunication as it were. More likely, this ecumenical service was given the go-ahead by Elpidophoros, acting on his own.***

      ->-> Based off of what I’ve seen I’m actually increasingly coming to this opinion. Namely because no other Eparchy under the EP, as best as I can tell, participates in things like this and it seems to almost solely be Ab. Elpidophoros. Also, this stuff *always* seems to happen in the Direct Archdiocesan District which he is over.

      I do agree that the other non-Greek bishops on the AOB really, really need to speak up and I’m very much of the opinion that it will be the non-Greeks that save the GOA.

    • David, very well said.

      That’s why I need to be more careful when speaking of the GOA. When it comes to the rot, I should endeavor to use the term “79th Street” or the “Upper East Coast”.

      In the Red States, I see more conversion-friendly GOA parishes.

  4. Yes, it’s H-I-G-H time that the other hierarchs on the Assembly address the tragically comedic elephant in the room!