Over the Rooftops, Into the Gutters

​Self-marginalized clerics attack the Ecumenical Patriarch online daily. The narrative of these vocal clerics on social media is “Patriarch Bartholomew is heretical”. Various attacks under the pretense analogous identities: Orthodox Witness, Catechism, Orthodox Ethos, Orthodox Path and so on. These clerics feeding at the same troth of hostility regurgitating quotes from each others websites and blogs dedicated to an anti-patriarchal tenor. One can easily become dispirited by the anti-patriarchal attacks, especially when not equipped with the facts.

Righteous indignation, “excuse me as I save the church” clerics, have become parasitic commentators in the blogosphere. Rhetoric inflamed fear-mongering misleading, misinformed definitions of Ecumenism and Ecumenical. Giving pseudo-credence to false allegations on a spectrum of issues. Though most have become fixated on the recent Holy and Great Council, these hostilities, however have gone on far longer than Kolymbari and have very little, in fact, to do with the Council.

The “triumph of ego” is the main motivating characteristic of these false or pseudo-champions of Orthodoxy. Implicit in the self-aggrandizing clerical presentations is a sense of urgency. Reinforced online via self-published blogs and poorly produced You Tube channels promoting personal agendas in classic cult-like fashion. Sharing and promoting each other’s false presuppositions and engineering salacious doomsday conclusions which could arouse any American political ‘spin-room’.

The under-riding theme in these sectarian methodology is “either you’re with us: the only true custodians of Orthodoxy or you’re with the papists”. These grand impostors of Orthodoxy troll the internet in belligerent tones, peddling a quasi-Orthodoxy ecclesiology and in many cases outright lie and slander against the Ecumenical Patriarch and other Patriarchs and Archbishops. 

Websites with close ties to the Moscow Patriarchate, (lets be charitable and call them errors) are replete with fake assertions. Standards have slipped to the point there is no sense of justice, just an agenda. We need to be aware of this disharmony and offer sober and accurate responses.

The altered lexicon and new “code languages” have structural content, based loosely on historical prejudices and theological misinterpretations.  These spokespersons propose as obstacle, impediments to any sort of Christian dialogue or advocacy. The common characteristic is prosecuting the Ecumenical Patriarch on utterly unsubstantiated litany of fake accusations based on primal fears which have brewed for centuries: Filioque, schism, 1204 sack, false union, etc. Suppositions resembling “if we dialogue with heterodox” we will incorporate the various faults of each. Talking to Episcopalians will lead to female and homosexual clergy, talking to Catholics will lead to papist submission, and talking to Islam will force us to accept Mohamed’s false teachings. Obviously extreme and inaccurate extrapolations, but effective propaganda.  
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These crypto-schismatics are incubated by a handful of bishops (Greece, Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria) who themselves have garnered the epithet ‘racist’ or ‘conspiracy theorist’, most notably the local bishop of Piraeus, Metropolitan Seraphim or Metropolitan of Kalavrita and Aigialeia: Mr Amvrosios. The most recent manifestation of these cultish-like leaders are the public pronouncements of cessation of commemoration of their local bishop. Declarations charged with egocentric climax of applause by factions of devoted supporters, an adoration rivaling the local sports team. Leading the charge in Greece are Fr Nicholas Manolis and Fr Theodore Zisis, former professor of the Theological School of Thessaloníki. Both these clerics are relegated to tiny village churches on the outskirts of Salonika due to other infractions not limited to vocal diarrhea.

Another very interesting case, much closer to home is the new professor of Holy Trinity seminary in Jordanville, NY, until recently he also served in the outskirts of Thessaloníki and is web-master and propagator extraordinare. However, when the going got tough in Greece he transferred to ROCOR all along having very close ties to Moscow. Fr Peter Heers is the English mouthpiece for this movement and has attacked many Archons. In addition to myself he has recently focused on Archon Dr George Demacopoulos on several viscous blogs. Being in the cross-hairs of these vocal schismatic partisans is no walk in the park, and those of us who combat this cult online only receive (in deflection) a tiny portion of attacks. The bulk of this onslaught is clearly directed at His All Holiness and the Patriarchate of Constantinople whose burden is awesome, and most are unaware of this attack from within.

Another priest within our Greek Archdiocese who has found fuel for his ego by trashing the Holy Patriarch, the Archbishop, his own Metropolitan, St Nicholas  at Ground Zero, and the Order of Saint Andrew is Fr Emanuel Hatsidakis. It has been made clear to me that Fr Emmanuel is being handled according to, and by the appropriate ecclesiastic authorities. However even under such scrutiny by  his superiors, I found it astonishing that he and his son have resorted to distributing anti-Patriarchal leaflets at recent Pan Orthodox gatherings, during the procession of icons! On the Sunday of Orthodoxy March 5, 2017 at the Cathedral of St Nicholas in Tarpon Springs. 

There are others here in America who decry this propaganda online and within certain circles (ROCOR and others) with inclinations towards Moscow. However, without getting to bogged down in the weeds, I will leave that for a future in-depth “Social Media Briefing”
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In a very cavalier attitude these clergy are under-girded by “sacredness of office” and sanctioned by a bureau in Piraeus, dedicated to ‘heresies’. In most withering terms these clergy attack by perverting canons and misrepresenting out of context, the Church Fathers, cherry-picking salacious deceptively edited quotes and misapplying facts to suite the false narrative. For example, the Synaxis of Patriarchs approved and agreed on a meeting to be held called the Holy and Great Council, these clergy call it “the fake-Orthodox Synod of Bartholomew” (Η ψευτο-ορθόδοξη σύνοδος του Βαρθολομαίου) quoting SS Mark of Ephesus, Mark Eugenikos, Gregory Palamas, and others; all btw who were engaged in dialogue not opposed to it.

This is only the start of pejorative comments made like petulant schoolboy bullies.  Convoluting ecclesiological themes with dialogue. Conflation between ecumenical & ecumenism, both loaded terms, which are very often misunderstood and misrepresented. The propaganda that dialogue is acceptance of ‘heresy’. The inventive theory that “communion of word” is the same as “communion of sacrament”. 

The distortions about common prayer and common worship are mind boggling in the extreme misapplication of (συνπροσευχή) synprosefchi. Now the innovative parasynagogue and a slew of other “code words” to be aware of in this new schismatic movement provoking a hit-a-nerve response: Papism, parasynagmos, ecumenist (Οiκουμενισμo), Masonic, naked head («γυμνi τo κεφαλi») and so on. Ironically the infallibility of their thought has now become their dogma on “matters of faith” a loose reference to canons. These individuals are diametrically opposed to the truth: “God is Love”. Love is patient, kind, always protects, trusts, hopes, and preserves... Love never fails.

These shepherds are found wanting…