This is what happens when men are double-minded. Not only are they unstable in all their ways (James 5:1) but the fruits of their actions are often disastrous.
Like much of 2020, a lot of what we believed, “would never happen,” happened.
The destruction of Confederate monuments in America, fait accompli.
The statues of our Founding Fathers, Christian Saints, and even abolitionists, firmly within their sites. Especially, if the Demsheviks take over.
And now the Orthodox Church is catching up with 2020, as well. We got a jump on it last year, when Patriarch Bartholomew upended centuries of conciliar tradition in Ukraine. Like so many other things that bled into this year, we can put yet another of our certitudes to rest.
But wait! There’s more: The Ecumenical Patriarch hasn’t finished with his “healing of schisms” –yet. Estonia was his first foray into exercising his new-found papal powers; Ukraine his second. Now, he’s busy roiling the waters in the Balkans (no doubt at the behest of the globalists at the State Department). Serbia is also in his cross-hairs with Montenegro. Bulgaria is going to have to grab the ankles, as far as the new Macedonian sect is concerned (or so he expects). Word on the street is America could be in for a “Ukraine” as well, assuming he manages to convince the OCA it’s all in the name of unity.
Now, as most of us know (or at least, feels) nothing has been settled in the Orthodox world with these antics. So far, only two Churches –Alexandria and Greece–have kinda, semi, sorta agreed to recognize Mikhail Dumenko and his schismatic cult in Ukraine. And like sausages and laws, it wasn’t a pretty sight. Not by a long shot. Even the geopolitical ramifications have been disastrous. President Petro Poroshenko, the instigator of the drive for Ukrainian autocephaly, was beaten like a red-headed, bastard stepchild at the polls –to the tune of 75%. He lost to a Jewish comedian for God’s sake!
And now it looks like Cyprus was to be local Church #3. It was all but in the bag: like Athens and Alexandria, it was to be a hush-hush primate only thing. But it didn’t quite work out way, did it? Unfortunately for the EP, there are men like Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol who have no intention of recognizing un-ordained schismatics and charlatans. That’s what happens when double-minded, self-serving men like Bartholomew who assume they can change 2000 years of history and have it fly. Their plans eventually go up in smoke, sooner or later.
But this is all water under the bridge. Schism has happened and no one has “gotten over it,” as Patriarch Bartholomew assured us. Nothing has been settled and thanks to Bartholomew’s disastrous actions, things are spinning out of control elsewhere, as well.
One example is the aforementioned Church of Greece. They had their chance to stand up to Bartholomew’s globalist pretensions and uphold Orthodoxy, but they failed; not because of Russia, but because when push came to shove, they couldn’t stand up to the Phanar.
To be sure, Bartholomew’s ham-fisted granting of “autocephaly” to Ukraine was shocking in and of itself. It violated every known canonical protocol. Everyone saw it for what it was, including the Church of Greece, which is why nobody in his right mind on that synod wanted to put their stamp of approval on that schismatic sect’s “autocephaly”. The bishops of the Church of Greece played hot-potato with their archbishop, hoping he would blink. Lord knows, he wanted to, but like any civil flunky, he knows which side of the bread is buttered. Hilariously, that Church’s diptychs still include the canonical Ukrainian Church with Metropolitan Onufry as its head. (See what I mean by “double-minded”?)
Anyway, their game of kick-the-can didn’t work. The Church of Greece blinked and at the end of the day it was a win for the Phanar. An ugly, sordid, pyrrhic win to be sure, and one that stinks to high heaven, but a “win” nonetheless.
The Church of Greece, however, is now caught in yet another pickle of its own making. The train-wreck that is Ukrainian “autocephaly” is playing out next door to Greece and in ways not to its liking. You can read it for yourself here:
https://orthochristian.com/134352.html
What did they expect? That Bartholomew’s globalist aspirations would stop in Kiev? Sure, Ukraine, with its significant Uniate minority, could conceivably serve as a vehicle for eventual union with Rome. That much is obvious. But it is also obvious that Bartholomew is not the master of his own house. If he was, then all the other local Churches would fall into place in short order. That’s not happening.
I don’t know what he promised the State Department but he ain’t delivering. Sure, he is a globalist, of this there can be no doubt, but only a minor, somewhat useful one no one would ever categorize as a “player.” He’s just not that important. And he knows he can be replaced once his utility is over.
To be sure, I’m scandalized but I’m going to go out on a limb here interject that I’m not too worried. For one thing, I see globalism spinning out of control, pretty much everywhere. Secondly, as far as Orthodox Christians are concerned, we understand what an Orthodox phronema feels like. We can intuit it and very little of what the Phanar has wrought, whether it’s in Estonia, Ukraine, or now in the Balkans, doesn’t have that Orthodox “vibe” to it. This goes all the way back to the heyday of the whole “Green Patriarch” thing. There are several reasons why Greece’s Holy Synod were far from enthusiastic about the process. This is one of them.
Is there still time for the Greeks to do some serious thinking and change their mind or do they no longer have a choice in the matter but to choke on it at this juncture? How will they halt the Phanar from doing further damage in the Balkans? Do they have the wherewithal to stop the recognition of the Macedonian and Montenegrin “Churches”? I’m guessing not a chance. At the end of the day, the Greek bishops like their state-supported paychecks, just as Judas liked his thirty pieces of silver. For awhile.
And don’t think for one minute that the issue of the name of one of those schismatic sects –i.e. “Macedonia”–won’t be an issue. It will. And it will continue to rub the Greeks’ noses raw.
But you know who else is caught up in this pickle? Why, Patriarch Bartholomew himself. Because you see, in the final analysis, he’s very much an ethno-phyletist, all protestations to the contrary. Look it up yourself: a year or so ago, he told us that his “Slavic brethren” would have to get on with the program, because, “our race [Greeks]” have always had the pride of place in Orthodoxy”. That sounds awfully ethno-phyletist to me. In any event, it’s a contradiction; a house built on sand.
And then there’s the fact that the Greek government has been the primary source of funds for the Phanar, since Lord knows when. Pompeo, Pyatt, and Brownback will force him (and the Church of Greece) to recognize the Macedonian church as the “Macedonian Orthodox Church”. And that will be a very bleak day for all who went along with this charade, don’t you think? The Greek government won’t like it one bit but they will be hoist on their own petard. Oh, well.
The Church of Greece, the Greek government, and the Phanar, will all be trapped in a box canyon; one, unfortunately, of their own design.
It didn’t have to be this way, either. The bishops of the Church of Greece could have stood firm on principle alone. That’s what the canons are for. But they didn’t. They caved. Worse, if the Greek government thinks that the Russians are going to come to their aid in the diplomatic sphere, they’ve got another “think” coming. I, for one, would not be surprised if Putin recognized the name of North Macedonia as simply, “Macedonia”.
Confucius say: “Revenge is a dish best served cold”.
I think Cyprus might avoid going the way of Athens and Alexandria. Met. Athanasios has belled the cat and there seems to be enough open resistance from the bishops to stop this dead in its tracks.
“Today, while the overall teaching of the Fathers is under attack and the shipwrecks of Faith are numerous, the mouths of the faithful are silent.” [St. Gregory the Theologian]
“Anyone who is capable of speaking the truth but remains silent, will be heavily judged by God — especially in this case, where the faith and the very foundation of the entire church of the Orthodox is in danger. To remain silent under these circumstances is to betray these, and the appropriate witness belongs to those that reproach [i.e., those who stand up for the faith]. [St. Basil the Great]
Thank God for Met Athanasios of Limassol and Met Onouphry and a sprinkling of Orthodox priests in Greece and the US honoring the above.
Definitely worth remembering.
But George, I thought that “Revenge is a dish best served cold,” was a Klingon saying? Say it ain’t so, Joe. Er, um, I mean George. 😉
Surely: “very little of what the Phanar has wrought…[has]
that Orthodox “vibe” to it.”
For the accuracy of the record, we have to recall that what [Kopro]-nymos II of Athens did was a unilateral declaration/recognition of the Schismatic Ukrainians, and a few Greek metropolitans followed suit, without having formally modified the Diptychs of the Church of Greece (yet), because, rather simply, they didn’t have enough votes in the Synod of Greece that day when he tried to bring it up…(it actually requires a formal voting process to do this, legally and procedurally, apparently).
This is the reason why Moscow has not formally severed Communion ties with Greece like it has with Constantinople, but rather, maintains a dynamic list of Greek Metropolitans “to avoid”, and others to continue to have normal Communion status with. (At this point we can remind the public that it takes 3 bishops to continue a viable Canonical Church, in the event of Schism, according to the Canons…pick your bishops wisely, ladies and gentlemen…)
The same ambush was exercised by the Pope of Alexandria, in the middle of a liturgy, without informing his Synod…
The same tactics are being applied now by the Archbishop of Cyprus.
The article is correct. Schism is a reality in Greece, Alexandria, and now Cyprus, as a result of a corrupt regime which is now openly a tool of global manipulation. The real question to investigate is, what kind of “file” do they have as leverage on all these Church “leaders” in order to convince them sell the Faith like this? An honorable man would have resigned rather than sell his Faith, History, Ancestors, Tradition. But then again, we don’t seem to live in honorable times, do we?
As the old Chinese curse goes,
we live in ‘interesting’ times.
Markos, I think that you’ve hit the nail squarely on the head. An honorable man WOULD have resigned rather than sell their faith, history, ancestors, and tradition! (And, yes…what kind of leverage (or files) do the world powers and Bartholomew have on these ‘compliant’ hierarchs to make them bend?)
The vicious little man in Istanbul continues to mimick the spirit of Metaxakis…on steroids.
There is a rumor floating around that the funerals for the EPs of the last century have all been closed casket. Can anyone corroborate this?
An interesting few facts. Metaxakis, the heretical patriarch, and Venizelos, the uber secular prime minister, are cousins. Then the exchange of populations. Then responsibility for Greek churches in America transfers from the Church of Greece to the EP. Then the calendar change. Then the creation of the GOA. All in no particular order but all definitely related.
So, what are the hierarchs going to do about it?
The only ones who seem to be saying anything are the ones who fall under the territory of the Church of Greece (mostly western Greece) and not under Constantinople (eastern Greece). Most notably the Metropolitan of Corfu and a couple of others who are usually outspoken. Even on Athos there has not been as much vocal pushback which I think shows the spiritual sickness in the rest of the Church.
Specifically for the Church of Cyprus, Metropolitan Isaiah of Tamassos has summed it up nicely: https://orthochristian.com/134949.html
And unlike the majority of Greece, Cyprus has a sizable Russian resident/visitor population and there is even a church for Russians on the island: https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/russian-church-of-st-andrew-and-all-russian-saints-episkopio/
Will the Russians set up a parallel jurisdiction in Cyprus and Greece like they said they will do in Turkey and the Patriarchate of Alexandria?
Sadly, we can see the apostasy all around us. Add to this… Satan using COVID to shut down and restrict Liturgy. End times must be near.
I suppose we should expect a Biden win due to mail fraud and ballot harvesring.
I really hope you are wrong about the second point.
As for the first, I have to wonder what the faithful felt like during the Arian crisis, surely it felt to them that the great apostasy was happening when only a few bishops remained faithful to Orthodoxy
Curiously, Biden ended the question at the 2nd debate re Trump’s tax returns with this word: “Inshallah”. That’s Arabic for “God wills”. In its modern colloquial rendition, it means “whenever”.
I remember reading somewhere that Biden was “Dajjal” or the Antichrist (according to the Moslem tradition). This was during an earlier Dem debate in which his right eye started bleeding. According to some Islamic lore, Dajjal would have a bleeding or some such deformed eye.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYTal96XJIY
“This was during an earlier Dem debate in which his right eye started bleeding.”
Zechariah 11:17.
1599 Geneva:
O idol shepherd that leaveth the flock: the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye. His arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
KJV version:
Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition:
O shepherd, and idol, that forsaketh the flock: the sword upon his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall quite wither away, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
If you’ve ever wondered about Occultists and their fixation with one eye symbolism, here is your answer: because, at least spiritually, their master has only one eye.
I doubt that the MP will do much of anything until the time is right. And frankly, I hope they don’t.
It seems to this observer that they are patiently waiting (as indeed they should) for all things Bartholomew and Constantinople Patriarchate/Greek world axis to come into full, complete, obvious, undeniable view of the faithful world-wide so that when they propose the drastic changes most of us here know to needed, it will be evident to all the faithful everywhere – and not just folks like us – that the time for it has come.
Meanwhile, they (relatively) quietly keep telling the truth. Some say propagandize, but it is the truth nevertheless. Has anyone caught them in a lie? A slant, perhaps, but never a lie. And they patiently and unashamedly maintain a break in communion for as long as it takes for the truth to prevail.
Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
Not to fall into despair or anything like that, but, it really feels lately we have had nothing but losses in the Church lately, it would be really great to have a win every once in a while to boost moral of the troops (faithful)
1 Timothy 3:1-15
Love has grown cold.
I agree Petros. We need a big win. I am sorry to sound like a skipping record…but we need another Saint Mark of Ephesus to lead us out of this COVID hell… and away from the ecumenism of the apostates.
Sorry…that’s 1 Timothy 4:1-15
Petros, look to Montenegro and you can see a win. That’s what faithful Orthodox look like.
Very true, and the Lord just received their steadfast hierarch into His kingdom as a reward for his labors. Memory eternal to Metropolitan Amfilohije!
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-security-lyon/orthodox-priest-shot-and-wounded-at-church-in-france-idUSKBN27G0P6
Orthodox priest shot.
The priest in Lyon France was allegedly shot by an Orthodox monastic. Lord have mercy.
https://www.pappaspost.com/former-greek-orthodox-monk-and-far-right-political-candidate-arrested-in-priests-shooting-in-lyon/?fbclid=IwAR0XzBEWj44ZUFP0iVLTHsinQPtqrv3b_EX9GsnGHjquGhf6mgpaaVnkbq0
The situation in Cyprus and Greece is not surprising when one looks at what is happening geopolitically. Erdogan is stoking the flames in the Eastern Mediterranean, and unlike his predecessors he does one thing well: he presses the euroatlantic block just shy of its breaking point. He knows he’s never going to get the boot from NATO, for its geographic location is too appealing and no match for Greece when it comes to being an operational nugget for any Eurasian military activity (esp. when one considers Russia), as well as a key energy transit point.
The State Department is thrilled because now it has Greece and Cyprus in a desperate position, practically begging for help. The East Mediterranean energy pact of 2019 says in black and white that a Russia cleansing operation is part of the deal.
Just as Archp. Chrysostomos uttered Dumenko’s name, Mike Pompeo’s boys were visiting Cyprus. One of the key points of discussion with the Cypriot government was “Refuse to allow Russian ships port, this is important to us”. So it’s pretty obvious the timing was just right: it was a way of checking off the “we have no special relationship with Russia” boxes in the East Med energy deal of 2019, authored by Bobby Menendez. That likewise dovetails with Chrysostomos’s comment about his discussions with Anastasiades and his request to put things off for a while. All a clear sign of diplomatic poker, using relations with the Russian church as a negotiating chip. Sad, but not uncommon alas.