Elpidophoros’ Middle Finger

Now a bishop must be above reproach… he must be well thought of by outsiders, or he may fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

(I Tim. 3:2,7 RSV)

The inimitable archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has done it again. Elpidophoros used the occasion of Bartholomew’s name day, June 10, to make the provocative move of returning to St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Manhattan for another service.

St. Bart’s has updated their pride flag since this photograph was taken in 2017.

Now we have the transcript of the little non-homily that he gave at the vespers service there, about which I have some things to say. First of all, the clericalism that spills trippingly from the archbishop’s lips leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Elpidophoros lays the obsequious praise on thick when he says,

“His All-Holiness is the very definition of ecumenicity,” and, “The Ecumenical Patriarch is a spiritual father for all people, whether they realize it or not.”

I write this on Father’s Day. Allow me to use this occasion to say unequivocally that, if Bartholomew is to be termed a father, he has failed miserably in his role.

Take Ukraine, for example. Bartholomew has betrayed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by creating a phony copy of a church by a similar name at the behest of corrupt political leaders in Ukraine and the United States. Now that the war with Russia is on, Bartholomew has nothing to say in protest against the monstrous treatment that the OCU and Pres. Zelensky have dished out to Met. Onuphry, Abp. Pavel, and the monks and seminarians of the Kievan Caves Lavra. UOC clergy and their parishes throughout Ukraine have been placed in the crucible of terrible suffering for Christ. If Bartholomew is a spiritual father, as Elpidophoros claims, he has behaved like a father who has abandoned his children. He needs to be held responsible for it.

Saints of the lavra

Must it be reiterated to a hierarch that we Orthodox refuse to accept the contention that the “Ecumenical Patriarch” is “a spiritual father for all people”? “All people“, you say? An Eastern Pope is he? Elpidophoros is certainly a stubborn man. He just will not drop the heretical notion of primus sine paribus. No, sir, that patriarch – no patriarch – is first without equal, regardless of the personage who occupies that throne or any throne. An incumbent Patriarch of Constantinople may be an unparalleled saint like St. John Chrysostom, but his preeminence among bishops is only one of honor, not one of authority. It was Rome’s own claim to universal and immediate authority throughout the Church that ironically led Rome astray from the Church, where it remains to this day.

“The Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.”

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, Para. No. 882)

This papist claim is rejected by the Orthodox Church, which maintains an ecclesiastical polity of conciliarity. All ruling bishops are equals who render honor to their several patriarchs, but do not relinquish authority over their own dioceses. When they need to make decisions binding upon the wider Church they meet in councils

“His All-Holiness acts like a spiritual wheel in the world – holding the traditions fast in the hub of the Holy Mother Church. But he reaches out as well through spokes that extend in love and compassion to all people. No one is ever beneath or unworthy of the love of God.”

Elpidophoros

Met. Onuphry, UOC

Yeah, tell that to Metropolitan Onuphry, whom Bartholomew has betrayed. No one is unworthy of love except perhaps the people of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which “His All-Holiness” has abandoned like a deadbeat father! Elpidophoros’ obsequious praise rings hollow when one realizes that he is partly responsible for the current suffering in Ukraine. It’s outrageous.

“Being in this church, borrowed from another Christian tradition, is a sign of our expansive and embracing love for all people. It is a symbolic act that many will try to interpret through their own filters of grievance, prejudice, and lack of basic human kindness.”

Elpidophoros

If Elpidophoros did not know what he was doing the first time he rented all-gay St. Bart’s Episcopal Church two years ago, he certainly must have known this time. St. Bart’s is a buzzing hive of the Woke Gospel of Sexual Deviancy. It is not the behavior of a bishop who is above reproach to purposely leave his own cathedral behind and make a not-so-subtle gesture of solidarity with the flaming heretics at St. Bart’s. Elpidophoros’ very presence there officiating at a vespers service was in-your-face scandalous behavior. He could just as well have conducted the service at the cathedral on 79th Street or down in the Battery at St. Nicholas Shrine, but he was deliberately making a gesture to the faithful of the Greek Orthodox Church and other Orthodox in this country. What gesture, you say? Elpidophoros was raising his proverbial middle finger at us. We know it, and he knows that we know it, but he did it despite of it all. A lot of people are justifiably angry at him.

Ouch!

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord

Ephesians 6:4 KJV

That’s a note for spiritual fathers, as well. Don’t provoke us with deliberate acts of spite and veiled words of scorn.

“Because of this vision, His All-Holiness has stood – an immovable rock of faith and piety – against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the complicity of the Russian Orthodox Church in its shameful support for this unconscionable war of aggression.”

Elpidophoros

War-torn Ukraine

If HAH Bartholomew had not taken sides against the Russians and created a bogus ecclesial structure before the special military operation began, Ukraine might not be in this mess. Certainly the Ukrainian Orthodox Church would not be, since the Ukrainian government would not have a counterfeit church to claim as the legitimate one. Elpidophoros might be able to proclaim the love of Christ for the Russian Orthodox, too. Both he and his boss may be in for an historically rude awakening if Russian wins this war and occupies Ukraine. The vaunted Ecumenical Patriarchate may be taken down a peg then.

“But more than his long and glorious tenure, he (Bart.) has opened the Mother Church’s embrace to the world, by engaging world leaders at every level. And now, with World Orthodoxy on the brink of fragmentation, he has stood firm for the truth of the Gospel.”

Elpidophoros

Oh, please! World Orthodoxy is indeed on the brink of fragmentation, and Bartholomew’s antagonism to Russia and his ultra vires meddling in the affairs of Ukraine have been the direct cause of the split. Perhaps Bartholomew considers himself to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ who proclaimed that he had not come to bring peace, but a sword. (Note the sardonic tone.)

Elpi and Bart

Elpidophoros’ first visit in 2021 to St. Bart’s Episcopal Church was shocking; this second visit is absolutely exasperating. Unconscionable. I know that I speak for many other people when I express my disgust at his chutzpah, a quality of character that is not normally associated with of a bishop who is above reproach. It’s astounding that Elpidophoros has not been deposed for his repeatedly outrageous behavior. How far has the Greek Orthodox Church sunk that they continue to tolerate this man? How long will the other American hierarchs put up with his heresies?