Well, this is good news.
His Eminence, Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Archdiocese paid a very friendly visit to His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of ROCOR.
I sense an opening here. I also sense that these two primates sense an opening as well.
What do I mean by that? Simply this: that the grand unification of America plans under Archbishop Elpidophoros of the GOA is going nowhere. For one thing, ROCOR is out of the Assembly of Canonical Bishops of the United States. As you can read from ROCOR’s press release (below), Joseph and Hilarion are planning on increasing their joint participation in many avenues, particularly in celebrating divine services together.
In addition, word on the street is that Patriarch Bartholomew will not be coming to America this November. This is probably because he didn’t get much traction from his recent trip to Ukraine.
Mind you, the Ukrainian trip wasn’t a complete fiasco but it wasn’t anything to write home to mother about either. Moreover, it didn’t do anything in particular to burnish his political capital, which he would need to further his agenda.
As for the grand scheme itself, it was audacious. Among other things, he was going to forcibly retire the older metropolitans, bust the rest down to auxiliary bishop status, and bestow a new charter on the Greek Archdiocese; a charter that some have suggested might involve moving all ethnic jurisdictions under the Archbishop, as part of the diaspora.
All this preparation, of course, was necessary to elevate Archbishop Elpidophoros of the GOA to “Metropolitan of the United States”. That is to say, the primate of an “autocephalous” American Orthodox Church in much the same way he did with Epiphony Dumenko in Ukraine.
I highly recommend you read the following and look at the many photographs yourself.
https://www.synod.com/synod/eng2021/20210910_enmetjosephvisit.html
Bartholomew probably knows that he would get B slapped so hard it wouldn’t even be funny. Not just that but the American Orthodox people would likewise flee from that…talk about a great PR stunt to get people to join ROCOR.
I’m sure Met. Joseph, Met. Tikhon, and every other Orthodox bishop outside GOARCH knows that..heck if Bartholomew can read the room I’m sure even he knows that.
One has to wonder what will be said in the assembly of bishops meeting next month
Petros, I see where you’re coming from but Bartholomew has a long history of not being “able to read the room”. Towit Ukraine. After all, anybody who uses papist terminology in his encyclicals “to the Plenitude of the Faithfull…” and believes that a place called “New Rome” exists, is clearly living in a delusion.
Having said that, he is perceptive enough to realize that he needed a home run or two to be able to pull off what he wanted to do in America. So yes, to that extent, he could “read the room”.
As a side note, as I’m sure you know Elpidophoros came out saying that there will be no religious exemption from the vax and that priests in GOARCH are not allowed to sign it.
He has been called out/lambasted for it on Twitter and Instagram, and of course he (or whoever runs his account) has been deleting tweets/insta posts and blocking people..myself included.
Congratulations. Means you’re doing something right
That’s exactly right, Petros! ‘Met. Joseph, Met. Tikhon, and every other Orthodox bishop outside GOARCH’ know that they don’t need Bartholomew (or his Jedi student—Elpidophoros) to continue spreading the Gospel of our Lord in the United States (and other parts of our hemisphere). It’s high time to start spreading the word amongst our lay people now!
Lay people spread it in the beginning from what I understand. Paul would go to a city, gather some folks around him and teach for a while. Then he would leave them and go somewhere else, with the expectation that they would carry on. Hence we have his letters.
Speaking of PR stunts that force people to leave GOARCH, check this out:
https://byztex.blogspot.com/2021/09/greek-archdiocese-dissolves-all.html
Fr. John Whiteford’s first comment sums up my thoughts perfectly.
Yeah because the people running the GOA and EP are freaks. Who wants to be friends with Metropolitan Emmanuel of Gaul? These people are petty tyrants who think they’re God. They have nothing to offer. You can have gay pride with Elpidophoros or venerate icons with Hilarion.
It reminds me of the episode of Always Sunny where they go to their high school reunion, and Dennis assumed that he was cool, but actually he was as much of a loser as his other friends. He goes around the high school gym screaming, “I am the golden god.”
There won’t be one American Church if for no other reason than that ROCOR is international. They would have to dismantle themselves and give up their American properties in order for there to be a jurisdictional merger. Plus, ROCOR people tend to identify more of as being ROCOR than being American Orthodox Christians. It would be a betrayal of their own people for ROCOR to fold into a single American Church.
COMMUNIQUE OF THE HOLY EPARCHIAL SYNOD
NEW YORK – On Thursday, September 16, 2021, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America convened a regular meeting of the Holy Eparchial Synod via video conference, in order to deliberate on significant matters that affect the Archdiocese of America.
At the beginning of the meeting, the synodical hierarchs with joy were informed of today’s communique of our Mother Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, that His All-Holiness will indeed make his previously arranged visit to America, without postponement.
Discussing the topic of the vaccination of the faithful, the hierarchs unanimously affirmed that the Church not only permits vaccinations against diseases (e.g. polio, smallpox), but that She encourages Her Faithful, after medical tests and approbations, to be vaccinated with the approved vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
In addition, although some may be exempt from the vaccination for clear medical reasons, there is no exemption in the Orthodox Church for Her faithful from any vaccination for religious reasons, including the coronavirus vaccine. For this reason, letters of exemption for the vaccination against the coronavirus for religious purposes issued by priests of the Archdiocese of America have no validity, and furthermore, no clergy are to issue such religious exemption letters for any reason.
The Holy Eparchial Synod urges the faithful to pay heed to competent medical authorities, and to avoid the false narratives utterly unfounded in science and perpetrated on the Church by those who have succumbed to the disinformation and conspiracy theories that are widely available on social media sites.
https://www.goarch.org/-/holy-eparchial-synod-ccmmunique
Lord have mercy
Good thing the FDA disagrees with him. Seems they, too, read the “false narratives” we call THE TRUTH.
“The Holy Eparchial Synod urges the faithful
to pay heed to competent medical authorities…”
I do listen to the competent medical authorities;
eg – Dr Vladimir Ze’ev Zelenko: “Why should I take
a poison death shot from a man who wants me dead?”
Dr Zelenko has successfully treated thousands more
COVID patients than the Holy Eparchial Synod…
GOA dissolves all religious exemptions for vaccinations.
http://byztex.blogspot.com/2021/09/greek-archdiocese-dissolves-all.html
Fascinating hypotheses about mRNA. She connects symptoms to specific nerves in the brain stem. https://www.bitchute.com/video/CaObk5y1964e
RE: “GOA dissolves all religious exemptions for vaccinations.”
That is tragic for the clergy and faithful of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. But the mandate applies to no other Orthodox priests–certainly not those of us in ROCOR, thank God!
I’ve been furnishing template letters of request and letters of reference for numerous frantic Orthodox Christians here in America for weeks, and by the grace of Almighty God, not Archbishop Elpidophoros, I shall continue to do so.
Dear Father Alexander,
There are many employers that now require documentation for the religious exemption, as such how can we get template letters of request and letters of reference from you?
It’s hard to believe what America has become.
Thank you in advance.
What the “holy” Eparcial Synod probably says behind closed doors:
“Forgive them Fauci, they know not what they do in denying the vaccine of immortal life”
It quite literally would not surprise me at this point if they say that…even if it’s not in those exact words. Sad that all American Metropolitans in GOARCH sit on that synod (assuming it’s the American synod). That means Met. Isaiah is on there as well.
I’ve done what I thought I would never end up doing…I won’t be stepping foot inside a GOARCH parish again. I tried my best to still go to the parishes that were solid, and there are some, but, not any more. As much as I hate to say it, I don’t think I’ll be going to any of the Ephraim monasteries either..if I can’t justify darkening the door of a GOARCH parish, how could I justify going to a monastery? Should they chose to leave GOARCH then I will for sure go.
He’s Baaack …Bart !
https://orthodoxtimes.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=44f1188c57293c15f8955fef4&id=6fad2710ca&e=68e3891ca0
In case anyone still thought the ‘vaccine’ is about vaccinating against a flu, consider:
New York City’s (legally questionable) demand that all representatives and diplomats who attend next week’s UN General Assembly meeting show proof of vaccination is threatening to derail the annual summit of world leaders as Russia and China protest the fact that their locally developed vaccines won’t be accepted.
NYC’s request that diplomats and their entourage show proof of vaccination before being admitted somehow received the backing of General Assembly President Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid. In a statement released on Wednesday, NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio and International Affairs Commissioner Penny Abeywardena thanked UN diplomats ahead of time for “working with us”, calling them “true New Yorkers”.
Unfortunately, not all diplomats are equally enthusiastic. In a letter to colleagues released on Wednesday, Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya denounced these new requirements as “clearly discriminatory” and accused NYC and Shahid of violating the UN charter, which states that the UN is international territory.
In the face of Russia’s complaints, Mayor de Blasio doubled down: “If the Russian ambassador is against it, I’m for it.” So much for the spirit of international diplomacy.
Keep in mind, the biggest issue here isn’t that diplomats aren’t vaccinated. It’s that they’re vaccinated with jabs that haven’t been approved in the US.
Sputnik V, a vaccine backed by Moscow and widely administered in Russia, does not have approval in the United States and is not on the World Health Organization’s emergency use listing either.
To try and make everybody happy, NY officials have promised to dole out free doses of the single-dose J&J jab by the UN Headquarters in Midtown. But it’s not approved in all member states, either (though it has been approved by the WHO, even as questions about dangerous side effects linger).
To Mayor de Blasio, this amounts to a sufficient olive branch. “If their vaccine isn’t good enough, then they should go and use one of the other vaccines.”
With so many parties bristling at NYC’s attempt to exert sovereignty over a piece of supranational territory, it looks like NYC’s demands likely won’t be met. A statement from a UN spokesman said the UN has traditionally relied on an “honor system” and that they were working with “the sitting President of the A” to continue the honor system. Another spokesman said the letter from NYC authorities doesn’t specify any single vaccine for use, despite de Blasio’s comments about offering the JNJ jab.
There’s also the question of discrimination: only 2% of the nearly 6 billion jabs produced have reached Africa.
With hundreds of world leaders preparing to fly into New York City next week, there’s a chance for ructions that could disrupt, or maybe even delay, the start of the assembly.
See: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nycs-demand-diplomats-follow-vaccine-mandate-creates-uproar-un
Here is an important video, of an Australian interviewing an English funeral director. He lays it out in the clearest of terms:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/gigUyK3yLtMU/?fbclid=IwAR0EfsqVML18L-5aanNNO1OXQ4L5UD27vA1T_O6ioSQTX-F4QKghZmN4_Tw
I really can’t recommend anything that better illustrates what these shots signify. What does it mean when even our own church betrays us? I say the conscience and the Truth are always primary, this is what it means to be created in God’s image and to value His Spirit. Our faith is immediate and living, and its institutions are either alive to their mandates to serve, or they show themselves as dead husks. Does anyone know of any Orthodox diocese that is cleaving to the Truth in this matter? — it seems even the Russian Patriarch is telling us to take the shot.
Read the following article on the upcoming synod of synodality that will be starting in the Roman Catholic church.
I only link it because if you read Bartholomew and Elpidohphoros into it, it makes sense what their aim is from an Orthodox perspective
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/spirit-assembly?utm_content=buffer171b7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Gail/George, I’m curious what your thoughts are for a Greek Vicariate within the Antiochians/Serbians/ROCOR? Given that the Greeks now have a Slavic vicariate, I was thinking it was likely.
I have my doubts that Met. Joseph would create one, that would rock the boat too much with relations to the GOAA, which he unfortunately still has. The Serbians, and especially ROCOR would be my best bet.
Some decades ago a number of US Greek parishes entered ROCOR and were able to retain their Greek practices with no issues.
The Greeks would consider this completely unacceptable. Church, for them, includes their culture. I can’t see them getting along with converts. I can’t see them adhering to the way more traditional Churches practice their faith.
I think you are correct with regard to older Greeks, especially the ones for whom Greek is their primsry language. But the Greek and Greek-American millenials who continue to go to church might actually be into this. I’m thinking of the people who split off from the parish in SLC about 10 years ago to start a mission…I also know at least one (very) Greek couple (the husband is a priest in a GOA parish) who are struggling with the current issues and I believe would be very tempted to try to get a release to such a jurisdiction if this happened. Granted, theyre the types of people who are currently considering trying to get released to the Serbs or ROCOR anyway…..but in any case, I just wanted to say that I think there are some generational differences that might be relevant here. I think many of the people who wouldnt consider leaving if it got bad enough for them probably dont go to church much in the first place. I believe you know a few Greeks who have happily left the GOA 😉
It’s interesting for me to see (hear??) you say this because these were almost my exact words a few years ago. Marrying George was a huge eye-opener for me. I really like Greek people but some of them (second-generation maybe) stick to what they know and who they know which can lead to some very strange behavior. Some really believe in that evil eye sort of thing. They don’t have enough grounding in the Faith to realize that harboring that kind of anger is poison.
GOARCH is having their annual Southeast US Diocesan General Assembly this year in about a month (October 17) in Greenville, SC. I thought about going as a visitor (I’m in the OCA).
The main issue that I would like GOARCH to address is their new teaching that the EP is the vertical supreme head over all Orthodoxy. It’s the same problem that split the Catholic and Orthodox Churches 1000 years ago.
But I’m inclined to think that if I showed up at a GOARCH assembly and handed out information on the topic, people would tend to be annoyed with me, because GOARCH has recently inclined to the opposite view and has been practically implementing it.
I talked to a ROCOR priest a few weeks ago who left GOARCH about 6 decades ago in his seminary days when Fr. John Romanides was forced to resign from his seminary. Issues at that time included GOARCH tending to go against fasting rules, demanding priests shave and not wear cassocks, changing to the New Calendar, and treating the Episcopalians as if they were almost Orthodox. He said that Orthodox in America has had to go through a process of rediscovering what Orthodoxy is because it had been trying to be American Protestant in some ways (eg. having the priest and choir parade into the church at the beginning of liturgy like Protestants did.).
I asked the ROCOR priest if he could have gone to one of the GOARCH assemblies and told attendees about the problems in GOARCH, and whether this could have made a difference. By analogy, the Ecumenical and Local Councils in the EO Churches in general are considered the highest bodies in the Orthodox Church. For example, an All-Russian Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church reinstated the Patriarchate of Russia and installed Tikhon as Patriarch in 1917-1918. And the Sobor/Assembly of the Metropolia/OCA voted to be in communion with the MP and to try to restore relations with the MP in 1945.
The ROCOR priest told me that he didn’t think that my suggestion would have been effective. He felt that GOARCH assemblies were top-down affairs in which the leadership basically tells the rest of the attendees what course GOARCH is going to take. He said that the best way to communicate with or affect Greek Orthodox in America is through talking to the membership over time.
They are “top-down affairs” indeed. I attended to Clergy-Laity Congresses as a lay delegate (in 1998 and 2002). A complete waste of my time.
As you probably remember, George, a few years ago Abp. Elpidophoros announced at a clergy-laity conference’s Q &A session that nonOrthodox spouses could commune because the marriage counted as their conversion. In reading the transcript, it’s noteworthy that no one corrected him regarding the Canons, or for that matter agreeing with him. The format was simply repeated questions on the topic from the audience and the Archbishop reiterating his same answer.
In the OCA and Moscow Patriarchate, the highest decsionmaking body is the Assembly/Sobor, which can take place every several decades. For example, an OCA Assembly in the 2000’s voted to bring in Met. Jonah as the new Metropolitan of the OCA. The Assemblies have delegates who are both clergy and laypeople who belong to parishes.
Does the EP have Assemblies like this that are officially the highest making decisionmaking body? Or is the legally officially highest body just the Patriarchal Synod with the EP and a few other bishops, with the clergy-laity congresses being purely advisory?
If we agree with the ROCOR priest that I talked to that the EP as a jurisdiction could just be affected by its memberships’ beliefs, then is the EP’s vertical supremacy over all Orthodox simply an issue that Greek Orthodox overall don’t care about or else usually just agree to whatever Pat. Bartholomew and the US Archbishop decide?
I have been watching WWII documentaries, so it makes me consider how large memberships affect their group’s decisions. In Hitler’s Germany, Hitler had maybe 44% of the population supporting him, but not all of those people supported his repressive measures. Probably most people didn’t care enough to do anything besides the fact that many of his opposition was scared. It’s too simple to say that the good Germans were just scared into compliance because there were plenty of instances when Germans disagreed with Hitler and weren’t killed for disagreeing or even were able to change his decisions. Two that come to mind were when Germans resisted the Nazis’ removal of crucifixes and when non-Jewish wives protested in Berlin over their Jewish husbands’ deportations and the deportations were halted.
George,
The site of the 2020 Clergy Laity Congress of GOARCH has a “summary of the motions that were passed at the 2018 Clergy Laity Congress in Boston, all of which have been implemented.” This summary helps us get an idea of what GOARCH actually lets its membership vote on.
It looks rather narrow. The three sections are budget, youth protection manual, and changes to the “Archdiocesan Regulations”. The last one is the most relevant to my question about the powers of the national GOARCH assemblies. This section concerns the scope of the powers of the Archdiocesan Councils and leadership and also does a nice thing by demanding that the Metropolises have audit committees.
I guess that theoretically if GOARCH members mistrusted their leadership enough, they could vote to severely restrict the powers of the leading organizations. The summary’s section on GOARCH regulations includes votes on i-iii below:
_
(i) the composition, powers and duties of the Archdiocesan Council Executive Committee;
(ii) the composition, powers and duties of the Archdiocesan Council;
(iii) the composition, powers and duties of the standing committees of Archdiocesan Council;
_
Back in 2018, Abp. Demetrios was still in charge of GOARCH, and people might not have had the same amount of concerns regarding his decisionmaking powers.
After Abp. Elpidophoros was appointed the head of GOARCH by Pat. Bartholomew, he made some unexpected, significant decisions affecting GOARCH’s functions, such as retiring some leading GOARCH bishops like Met. Evangelos of NJ who had notably supported Pat. Bartholomew’s actions in Ukraine.
I am skeptical that the GOARCH membership is dissatisfied with Abp. Elpidophoros enough to vote to drastically restrict his powers at a national assembly. But it seems that the structure of GOARCH’s decisionmaking process allow its membership at least this democratic option.
Thanks for your ongoing criticisms of the EP’s new vertical papal supremacy policy and its assertions of power over the Orthodox world, George.
Me, too! Me, too! Oh, and a good percentage of the GOA, if what we’re hearing is true. Admittedly, that’s not from those who see the Church as more of a Greek club, but even they’re getting tired of being embarrassed.
This is the second time in recent history he’s bailed on a U.S. visit. I can’t blame him for not wanting to come. He would receive a lukewarm reception at best. At least they wouldn’t line the streets with signs like they did in Ukraine. That had to sting.
But God isn’t done with him yet. He still has time to repent. If he did and backed away from Rome, I would proclaim him a hero of the Faith. Yes, he did a lot wrong, but if he could do this ONE last thing right (it would take a lot of courage, I grant you), I would sing his praises.
What portion of GOARCH members agree with the EP on his vertical supremacy powers and his Ukraine decision?
My sense is that they don’t typically have strong feelings about it, but I occasionally hear Greeks and Greek Americans in documentaries and clergy lectures mentioning in passing in that he is the EP over all Orthodox. It’s annoying for me.
I converted in the OCA and attended a lot of OCF meetings in college. My understanding and learning had long been that the medieval Pope and the EP were purely “First Among Equals”. I occasionally attended a GOARCH church after graduating, but EP-Supremacy was not a theme that I remember hearing from them until 2 years ago.
More specifically, I watched some documentaries on Greek Orthodoxy made in the last 20 years and in a few of them they mentioned in passing about the EP’s supremacy over all Orthodox.
I think that the term “Ecumenical” Patriarch could be interpreted to imply that he is the Patriarch over all Orthodox “universally”, ie. throughout the “ecumenical”/universal Orthodox Church. And “Ecumenical Patriarch” is a common term for the Constantinople Patriarch, but I don’t recall the “EP” title carrying practical supremacy powers before the controversy of the last few years broke out.
What portion? I’m not sure what you mean by this. A “good” portion, I guess.
The Assembly of Canonical Bishops took down a study they did which you might find interesting. – I found it, however. If you just glance at it you’ll get a feeling for the answer to your question: https://faithcommunitiestoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CoronavirusUSOrthodoxParishesReport_Phase2.pdf
I’m going to let someone on the blog answer your other questions. They’re important. . .
Gail,
When I meant when I asked, “What portion of GOARCH members agree with the EP on his vertical supremacy powers and his Ukraine decision?”
Was:
Can you estimate what percent out of all GOARCH clergy and laity agrees with the Ecumenical Patriarch that he stands vertically above all Orthodox all over the world as their supreme hierarch in terms of authority and decisionmaking?
This vertical power arrangement that he asserts is the justification that he used to declare that the “OCU” in Ukraine is canonical according to him (Pat. Bartholomew).
You linked me to a survey on Orthodox parishes regarding COVID. I don’t know which section of that survey you want me to pay attention to.
I think maybe 10% see him as “first without equal.” This is of the people who understand what this is. New converts wouldn’t know all this stuff.
Unless Erdogan kicks him out of Turkey or the patriarchate is moved out by an invasion or something, he will continue to be “first among equals,” which means when they list the bishops on the Diptych, his name is mentioned first. He can call Councils and he can mediate disputes if both parties agree. (However, the last time he did this, he took all the parishes that were in dispute for himself which I can’t imagine either party asking for.)
BTW, he doesn’t speak for the entire Orthodox Church (in case you were wondering) nor is he allowed to go into another bishops’ territory and set up a semi-autocephalous church that reports to him. All but one (I believe) of the Churches told him to NOT go into Ukraine without the blessing of a Council of Local Bishops. He ignored them. In my mind, he walked away from the Church at that moment. The Church is synodal/conciliar. He refuses to play by the rules of the very model that defines the Church so, like Elvis, he’s “left the building” so to speak.
“I think maybe 10% sees him as “first without equal.”” – Gail.
Wow, that’s quite low considering it’s the official position of Abp. Elpidophoros and Pat. Bartholomew. They have stated that the EP is both “First Among” and “First Without” Equals.
Personally, I find the Vertical-Supremacy affair disturbing because it was the issue that split the RC and EO churches 1000 years ago. Pat. Bartholomew is repeating the medieval RC position on the topic. The Churches of Greece, Cyprus, and Alexandria are all going along with him on this destructive teaching, whereas their opposition would be important to resisting it. As far as I can tell, Greek Orthodox in the US on average don’t seem to care about it and are going along with it.
Isn’t it, though? Something else I didn’t find out until after Ukraine, only an emperor or the Ecumenical Patriarch can call a Council. We don’t have emperors anymore and Bartholomew refuses to do it because he knows the other bishops will give all of Ukraine back to the Moscow Patriarchate. They must have a plan, however, because Russia has exercised considerable restraint.
I don’t believe only an emperor or the EP are the only ones who can call a Council.
I don’t see an emperor as being necessary because in past times early enough there was no Christian emperor.
Further:
SOURCE:
https://mospat.ru/en/news/50932/
The article continues on this topic.
Not everyone within the Greek/Cypriot/Alexandria Churches are going along with this. Their primates, yes. Their bishops, it’s a mixed bag.
And don’t forget, there are a substantial number of clergy within the Alexandrian Patriarchate in Sub-Saharan Africa that have petitioned Moscow to be accepted into their Patriarchate. Moscow is considering it.
I would expect that to play out in the Greek and Cypriot Churches as well, or at least it wouldn’t be a shock at all .
Good answer.
The following article puts in doubt that the EP would necessarily be chairing all Ecumenical Councils that he attended:
“Primacy and Synodality from an Orthodox Perspective”
https://mospat.ru/en/news/50932/
If a council was called to deal with the behaviour
of an errant or incompetent EP, he could hardly chair it.
“Ecumenical” only referred to his archiepiscopal tenure in the “ecumenical” city (i.e. Constantinople).
Think of it as “Federal” in American parlance today. At the corner of 1st and Main in Everytown, USA, is the Federal building. The county seat is four blocks away and city hall may be on the other side of town.
In the Federal building resides the district court judges, the FBI and Federal Marshals. The Sheriff and his deputies are in the county seat, whereas the Mayor is in city hall.
Thanks. I kind of remember “ecumenical” patriarch being a title that he took up about 100 years ago about the time that he gave recognition to some autocephalous churches. I could be wrong.
“Think of it as “Federal” in American parlance today. At the corner of 1st and Main in Everytown, USA, is the Federal building. ”
What about Federal Express? 😉
Touche!