Helleniscope: The Sh!t Has Hit the Fan

Well, somethings you just can’t make up.

No, I’m not talking about our beloved chief executive, who upon meeting with Pope Francis this weekend had an “accident”.  I’m talking instead about the fact that Patriarch Bartholomew recently engaged in some barnyard banter when asked about his relations with the Patriarchate of Moscow.   

If I had to guess, I’d say that something is sticking in His Holiness’ craw.  Our friend Nick Stamatakis over at Helleniscope, has the story which you can read for yourself: 

Pat. Bartholomew: “I Don’t Give A S…t, If the Russians Commemorate Me!!” – Helleniscope

My take?  This is an example of an unforced error.  People sometimes say unfortunate things when their back is against the wall or when things aren’t going their way.  

And there’s been a lot that hasn’t gone his way lately.  Having said that we know that Bartholomew has a lot of antipathy for Russia.  It’s not something he’s told to do from his globalist overlords, I think he comes by it genuinely.  Regardless, it’s usually a good thing for one to keep these feelings to oneself.  

Comments

  1. Bartholomew is just a bitter, old man. He doesn’t like the Russian Church because it rose like a Phoenix from the ashes of the Communist Yoke. The Russian Church is experiencing huge growth rates from evangelism, something that Bartholomew and his cronies can’t seem to fathom. It’s time for the guy to hang up his cardboard mitre and ride his donkey off into the sunset. He’s toast—and—he knows it!

  2. Pardon my poor Greek, but doesn’t “Σκασιλα μου” translate to something like “my heartache”?

    I’m not convinced that this is a vulgar expression necessarily.

    • A Greek speaker who can explain etymology would be best.

      Info online shows that it means something like ” I don’t care.”

      But it must be a slang expression, because it literally means something else, eg. “My burstshed”, comparing non-commemoration to a certain kind of shed.

      Skao = burst, explosion
      -ila = suffix meaning shed, as in a cowshed.
      Mou = My

      But I don’t know Greek enough to explain skasila.

      The audience laughed and he nodded approvingly, so it’s a comical term, a sarcastic one, or a vulgar one with a comical effect.

    • I ran a Greek Lexical entry through Google Translate and got:
      =============
      skasila female
      the great, the excessive sorrow

      Synonyms
      plantation
      shut up
      gallstones
      disappointment
      worry
      ===============

      So I guess it could mean “My heartache” in a sarcastic way, as if he doesn’t care, but I was trying to find a literal meaning for skasila.

    • “Pardon my poor Greek, but doesn’t “Σκασιλα μου” translate to something like “my heartache”?”

      More or less it does, but it’s mostly used ironically. It’s like saying, “I’m soooo sorrrry” when the message you’re conveying, through tone of voice and maybe gesture, is actually the opposite.

      • I think it means, “breaks my heart”, in a sarcastic sense. Any native Greek speakers may correct me. The idiomatic substance of it is “I don’t care”.

        • RE: “I think there’s a difference though between being vulgar and just being sarcastic. Helleniscope is purposefully portraying the comment as being vulgar, and I’m not sure why.”

          George tells me that the vernacular the EP used was vulgar and Helleniscope presented it as it was written.

    • Steve & Hal,
      to be honest, “Σκασίλα μου” literally means something like “My Bursting”,
      i.e. like saying, ironically,
      “yes, I care so much that I will burst”.
      It is kinda neutral language, does not contain a dirty/slang word component like s??t
      and a close translation might be “I couldn’t care less!”
      This Greek expression is used a lot by Greek schoolchildren in everyday talk, and no body thinks it is bad manners! The only negative thing about it, is that you do not care at all! Now this is surely not the Christian language of a Bishop about another Bishop!

      • Gail Sheppard says

        What makes you think they do not care?

        • Well, Gail,
          Bartholomew obviously does what he likes and “he couldn’t care less” what Kyrill says about him!
          BTW, “you” does not refer to Steve & Hal but to a Bishop who says those words to another Bishop. Sorry for the ambiguous/unclear sentence structure.

      • I am sorry but skasila is very much related to the common Greek word for feces,it’s a more polite way of expressing ,we must be grateful for small mercies ,but it means what it means.
        There are several expressions in every day Greek as .μαλακα,for instance ,that have been ‘ neutralised’ from constant use ,over centuries , especially by young , but that mean what they mean. Malaka being a self masturbator.
        Isn’t it wonderful we can have this conversation about a patriarch!. Just saying!

        • Nikos,
          Skasila = Skao (Burst) + -ila (-shed, as in a “cowshed”).
          As much as I could find online, Skasila means sorrow, depression, etc.

          Burst as a concept in English can refer to “Burst into tears”, “Burst your bubble”, “I’m so excited that I’m going to burst”, “Burst into action,” etc.

          Ioannis wrote earlier in the comments section, “i.e. like saying, ironically,
          “yes, I care so much that I will burst”.”

          Animal/human waste uses a different term from “skao” in Greek – “skatos”.

          So you would need to give a linguistic argument of how skao (burst) and skasila refer specifically to waste.

  3. I don’t really think Patriarch Bartholomew cares if anyone commemorates him TBH. The one exception might be the Greeks, the only time he gets in a tizzy is if the Greeks, his all immaculate genos, isn’t on board with him…which is probably why those are the only ones who have accepted the OCU.

    We are all prideful people, and there is no room to judge others, even Patroarch Bartholomew, but the level of pride he has is astounding.

  4. Talk about it all being out on the table. What a pathologic, malignant narcissist — really, as his behavior has demonstrated for years. Yet many still refuse to see (or remain unable to see) what is right in front of their eyes!

    Patriarch B has absolutely zero interest in conciliarity, in the Orthodox Christian manner of working in brotherly love with his *fully-equal* brother bishops.

    On the contrary, his behavior for years (including this latest “Σκασίλα μου” garbage) screams that he thinks that the Christian Orthodox faith of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ should be according to Patriarch B’s way or the highway. No conciliarity needed or wanted, please.

    Sorry, but if I wanted to be Roman Catholic and be under the Pope, I’d just go be under the real one in Rome, not under some wannabe pathologic narcissist in Istanbul.

    He needs to get lost and get formally cut out of the Church, for the health of the body of the Church. In my opinion, the Russian Church needs to anathematize him sooner rather than later. Sorry if that sounds harsh to some people, but in order for the body to stay healthy, sometimes you have to cut out the tumor and get rid of it.

    As is always true for anyone, Patriarch B is welcome to return to the Church anytime in love, peace, and repentance. God loves him as He loves all of us. But Patriarch B is not allowed to whimsically abuse the Church from his position of authority. Sorry, not OK at all.

    I have compassion for those who can’t see this reality and who unfortunately confuse “Christian love” with “letting themselves be abused.” Praying that everyone has eyes to see the reality of what’s right in front of them.

  5. If you don’t play the game my way I’m taking my ball and bat and leaving.

  6. Depending on the context, he could have been making a humble statement, showing that he does not actually have papal pretensions, etc.

    OR, he could have been showing that he has absolutely no love for half the Church. Because if he did, he would desire them to commemorate him, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the love of the brethren and the unity of the faith.

    We can’t really know which it is. But the Day will reveal it.

    • Follow-up: I just read the article, and the context….doesn’t help his case at all.

      In short: “I have the power. Why shouldn’t I use it? [Even though it would alienate at least half the church and possibly cut my off from the Body entirely, which I knew full well going in.]”

      This kind of phrasing, “After all, why shouldn’t I?” smack heavily of someone who knows they screwed up, but instead of repenting and fixing the problem (which he also has the power to do), decides to double down and pretend he’s the noble one and everyone else is a bunch of shrews.

      It’s extremely prideful phrasing, not to mention curmudgeonly.

      Reminds me of that scene where Bilbo is looking at the Ring of Power, having already decided to give it away to Frodo, but saying to himself, “After all, why shouldn’t I keep it?
      It came to me…” etc.

    • I amafraid yr generosity is misplaced

  7. Antiochene Son says

    And after he said it, the room erupted into laughter and applause.

    https://youtu.be/zMx7y8-CtkU?t=3549

    The sheep know their true shepherd, and this is not a man I will ever follow – be it as “spiritual leader” of the Orthodox Church or in any sense at all.

    • In all good fairness Antiochene Sun, this laughter is hideous, but, please don’t assume that everyone in GOARCH or any jurisdiction under the EP agrees with this. Why they remain, who knows? But I doesn’t mean its condoned by everyone. The people applauding him or probably (almost certainly) the wealthy elite who care nothing for Orthodoxy, not your average in-the-pew layperson

  8. anonsayswhat says

    The whole geo-political shift has forced Pat. Bartholomew to speed up the joining of churches on behalf of the dark forces. While the Patriarch seems to have earned their loyalty over the years, is now feeling the pressure of his actions. It’s really embarrassing though as a Patriarch of Constantinople to have a satanic globalist force supporting you…

    A staretz of Ukraine stated prophetically that the Ukraine schism non-sense would end very quickly by Russian intervention. I for one believe that prophecy. Again, how embarrassing for Bartholomew… Rushing into heresy, losing everything and for nothing.

    May the Lord force some sense into his heart, even if it means retiring into some small monastery to repent, so as to save his soul.

    • A staretz of Ukraine stated prophetically that the Ukraine schism non-sense would end very quickly by Russian intervention.

      May it be true, for the good of the Church.

      The Russian Synod will be held in May 2022, hopefully this will allow the situation to work out, God Willing.

      On October 15, 2021, the Holy Synod, deliberating on the matter remotely, decided that due to the epidemic, the Council of Bishops would be postponed until May 26-29, 2022.

    • I believe there is a greater point here. Are we to endlessly come back to the case of a corrupt patriarchal court as the phanar ,and the moral and practical damage done to the church , rehearsing the same themes like a stuck cd. for ever?
      I believe Bart is corrupted by power as so many of them and money and the good life and much else.
      Adamnakis ,emmanuella is totally corrupt physically and spiritually. .Indeed one wonders what they believe ,or are they as the priest and deacon in Tolstoy’s novel , Reserrection,? Not knowing except it’s a nice little earner for them all.
      I believe that just to keep to one individual, of emmanuella, that he is a crook, greedy financially and sexually , a closet gay paying Bulgarian teenagers for sex in last escapade before decamping having stripped the French diocese HQ bare . Down to the chandaliers destined for his ultra expensive mansion in the most leafy and up market north Athens ,suburb of kifisia or Ekali etc.
      Now all this is publicly repeated yet nothing happens ,NOTHING ,TO THE NEXT PATRIARCH!!
      NOW EITHER IT IS TRUE and which case a scandal of destructive proportions is underway with the church not fit for purpose ,or we are liars and owe him an apology and much more
      So which is it ? Or is the case that if I came back,if in life ,in 5 yrs time, w we will be discussing the same issues and accusations. You may find there is no church to come back to .

      • And to add ,with their pretend minute beards like emmanuella looking like a smug bank manager , I much more respect the clean shaven man as honest at least. I totally dislike but far better than the pretence.

      • Thank you Nikos.stone. Exactly what I am beginning to feel. Lots of analysis of stuff that is going wrong in the world, the Church included. Little to help us find the a way, The way, out of the mess. I know time heals all wounds and vice versa, time wounds all heels. But God says to focus on Him in the storm. We need to learn to do that daily.

        I got a big kick out of reading the first chapter of Peter’s second letter. He writes that he has to keep reminding them of how they should live so that when he is gone, they will continue to hear him. Smart man, Peter. Repeat and repeat and repeat.

        Peter says to make every effort to add certain characteristics to our faith. Goodness, knowledge,self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and finally add love.

        As I read this, I wondered about how many of us stop at faith. What kind of world would we live in if we continued along the road that he shows us.

        One curiosity I see the Church doing is putting crowns on the hierarchs. Paul says we don’t get our crowns unless we persevere and win the race. My understanding is that crowns comes in the next life, not this one. So why do we crown bishops and seat them on thrones? I recently saw a picture of Pope Francis with Patriarch Bartholomew. The Pope wore a simple skull cap, and the Patriarch a large ornate crown. Jesus wore a crown of thorns, in contrast. And no servant is greater than his master, we are told.

        This seems to be an early case of the Church mimicking the secular society.

        • Gail Sheppard says

          If we didn’t “stop at faith” (love that expression of yours!) we wouldn’t need to be “on the road.” We’d be there with Saint Peter and the rest!

          Our traveling along the road is going to be with us for a while, as we struggle to focus on the road ahead. God is taking off our blinders. We are now seeing everything in technicolor. This probably needed to happen. When I’m driving at night time I can miss the turnpike. It’s SO much better in the daylight when everything is clear.

          When He returns, fewer people will be surprised when they see the road littered with skull caps, miters, and crowns as the world is being rolled up like a scroll.

  9. Rev. Edward Pehanich says

    Your blog is to Patriarch Bartholomew what CNN was to Donald Trump.

    • Gail Sheppard says

      That can’t be true. We’re much more popular than CNN.

      • “Your blog is to Patriarch Bartholomew what CNN was to Donald Trump.”

        Except that the hosts of this blog have never been known to accuse Patriarch Bartholomew of Russian collusion.

      • George Michalopulos says

        Touche! mon cherie!

        • George Michalopulos says

          Seriously, Fr, while CNN is manned by deranged maniacs whose minds have been scrambled by The Golden Don, I think I can speak for the vast majority of the patrons of this blog that we would love to welcome back Bartholomew into the fold should he repent.

          • CNN constantly has gone, not after Trump himself, but a caricature of the man. Trump did little in office that was truly objectionable. It’s what he did online that made him the most enemies. Bartholomew has done numerous uncanonical and just plain bad things which are factual, not conspiracy theories, and while many of the patriarchates have tried to stride the fence, their restraint has not caused Bartholomew to come to his senses in the least. If anything, it’s getting worse.

            And here’s the kicker: CNN is continuing to obsess over Trump despite the fact he has not been relevant in 10 months. I seriously doubt George and Gail will be putting out Bartholomew hit pieces 10 months after he passes away.

          • Patriarch is known for advance knowledge of Greek, he knows incredible amount of words and phrases so he carefully chooses this one. It is in accordance with his racist remark that Slavs would have to understand that Greeks are their leaders in Orthodoxy and eventually would accept this historical fact :). He would not repent as he caused all this distruction to the One Holly Apostolic Church with a goal set in front of him. On that path he wants 70% of orthodox out (of his way) so he can finish what he started becasue he is not stupid not to know that those 70% would never support him. Next is that Uniats and schismatic in Ukraine establish “communion” and that would be a complete raskol. And after that who cares, it might be good to happen fast so this tormenting and pretending that he is stil in the Church is over.

          • “God does not desire the death of a sinner but that he repent and live.”

    • All narcissists have their coteries of flying monkeys who enable said narcissists to maintain power and continue to abuse people.

      Typically these flying monkeys are highly codependent people.

      Patriarch B has a well organized set of flying monkeys among some incredibly codependent clergy and fellow (often homosexual) bishops. To be fair, some of them can’t call him out on his toxicity because that would endanger their own livelihoods (such as clergy of the Patr of C’ple) – not judging, just pointing this obvious fact out.

      Patr B’s level of toxic narcissism and team of flying monkeys would impress the wicked witch of the West!

      And yeah, absolutely no one pays attention to CNN anymore. It’s beyond compromised and belongs in the trash heap of history.

    • This priest is a lvl 100 troll, ahahahaha! To write such an open ended post, open to interpretation from every angle – such that every fish, of whatever stripe, would end up hooked – this is the mark of a master. You’re all fools for responding in whichever way you did. He played you all.

  10. I don’t know about this “heartache” translation. The links below seem pretty straightforward. My Greek is minimal but it seems the root of the relevant word is the same as that in “scatology.”

    https://www.wikdict.com/el-en/%CF%83%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%BB%CE%B1%20%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%85

    https://lyricstranslate.com/en/idiom/skasila-moy

    https://www.bsarkari.com/skasila-moy/meaning-english-greek/32996

    • Scatology is from Skor/Skatos (meaning dung) in Greek.

      Skasila is from Skao (burst/explosion) + -ila (shed). Apparently it means sorrow, heartache, and “Skasila Mou” is thus sarcastic.

    • Jim,
      Now that you are here, I want to ask you a bit of a side question: Is there any known trace of where GOARCH’s missing millions went? Millions have gone missing from the Pension Fund, the St Nicholas Shrine construction, etc. etc. The closest trace that I have seen is your own article in 2018 on the Strategic Culture website, where you write:
      ===========================
      “The State Department warning also reportedly noted that federal prosecutors have documentary evidence confirming the withdrawal of these funds abroad on the orders of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.”
      ======================================
      Can you give any more details?

  11. MatthewPanchisin says

    Dear Rev. Edward Pehanich,

    Only a certified or certifying uniate or schismatic okaying could say such a thing.

    You can do much better than that I’m sure. See George Michalopulolos’s comments for back bone relative to love.

  12. Steve & Hal,
    to be honest, “Σκασίλα μου” literally means something like “My Bursting”,
    i.e. like saying, ironically,
    “yes, I care so much that I will burst”.
    It is kinda neutral language, does not contain a dirty/slang word component like s??t
    and a close translation might be “I couldn’t care less!”
    This Greek expression is used a lot by Greek schoolchildren in everyday talk, and no body thinks it is bad manners! The only negative thing about it, is that you do not care at all! Now this is surely not the Christian language of a Bishop about another Bishop!

  13. George Michalopulos says
  14. Does anyone have insight on why the OCA Synod had OCA Archbishop Alexander travel with the EP’s Archbishop Elpi and a representative of the fake, noncanonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church to jointly open the Roman Catholic US Bishops Assembly a couple days ago? It was the very first time Orthodox hierarchs have attended. It seems like an odd choice for the OCA to align with the EP and usuper/EP-created/fake UOC and ally together in support of the Roman Catholic church. Is this really the kind of history the OCA wants to be making? Am I missing something?

    • Gail Sheppard says

      It does sound strange, as was the following when I tripped onto it on LinkedIn. Why do we need a liaison between OCU-OCA when the OCU is comprised of unordained, unrepentant, schismatic clergy? https://www.linkedin.com/in/reader-mark-hamilton-4649a3212

      LinkedIn
      Reader Mark Hamilton

      Reader at Saint John of Damascus Orthodox Church
      San Diego, California, United States

      Orthodox Church in America
      Orthodox Church in America

      About
      I’m a devout Orthodox seminarian that has over 20 years of leadership experience in the United States Armed Forces, in addition to two years practicing various fields of law.
      Experience
      Orthodox Church in America
      OCU-OCA Liaison
      Orthodox Church in America
      Apr 2021 – Present 8 months
      Washington, District of Columbia, United States

      How did you find out about Bishop Alexander, if I may ask?

      • Surprisingly, Bishop Maxim of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Americas also attended..

        • Gail Sheppard says

          What is going on?!

        • Gail Sheppard says

          Maybe they’re collecting bishops who will definitively oust Bartholomew and they’re gathering to make a joint statement. Not sure why Elpi would be a part of something like this. What in the world is going on?

          • Definitely not. I posted the link to the speech, but AB Elpi said to the Roman Catholic church (with no contradiction from the OCA or others):

            “The 21st century should become the century of the restoration of unity…”

            “Ecumenical dialogue bears in itself a synodal dimension that explores the meaning and praxis of the very nature of the Church structure and mission. We know that international dialogue is already examining this issue through study of the interdependence between synodality and primacy. But perhaps, in our American context, as we dedicate our energy and time to sharing this important issue and reflecting together, it will bear fruit in due course.”

            It’s a head scratcher why the OCA would be there and support AB Elpi’s speech of unity, but to also support the representative of the noncanonical, EP-created Ukrainian church.

          • Maybe they’re collecting bishops who will definitively oust Bartholomew and they’re gathering to make a joint statement.

            I’d love for that to be the case, but, I can almost bet the opposite is true. Gathering with the USCCB, putting feelers out for the OCU. My guess is that they are on board with the “plan.”

            The rot isn’t just in the GOA, they just get the most air time. Silence = consent, and there’s no other reason why the bishops from the other jurisdictions would be attending and not combating anything.

        • Unsurprisingly. Bishop Maxim is notable among Serbian hierarchs for his deference towards the EP.

      • Here’s the story: https://orthochristian.com/142950.html

        Here’s the link to AB Elpi’s address: https://www.usccb.org/general-assembly-november-2021

    • You mean they traveled in the same car?

  15. Here’s the story: https://orthochristian.com/142950.html

    Here’s the link to AB Elpi’s address: https://www.usccb.org/general-assembly-november-2021