On Hold

Earlier today, Monomakhos published a story about the upcoming visit of Patriarch Bartholomew to the US.  We are going to take it down, temporarily, until we can provide more information.

 

Comments

  1. 80 plus old man, he would be advised not to be visiting anywhere currently.  

  2. Sage-girl says

    Why? Is Patriarch canceling trip to Southampton, NY in May?  I’m planning to be there… and it’s strange he’s not going to visit Cathedral in Manhattan – he was there 2009. The Cathedral, where I attend, is also Archbishop’s home church – I’ll see him tonight at Lenten supper + ask him, but hmmm… these Men in Black are secretive.

  3. Sage-Girl says

    Why is Bartholomew Not visiting NY Cathedral as he did 2009? That doesn’t sound right – this time he’s scheduled only for D.C. + Southampton, NY., we’re having big luncheon for him + I’m hoping he sign one of his books so I can ask him my questions about his ecumenical plans with the Pope.

  4. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find two articles from Wednesday in The National Herald.
     
    Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Issues Lenten Homily
    By TNH Staff 
    March 4, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/289355/ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew-issues-lenten-homily/
     
    Encyclical of Archbishop Elpidophoros for the Holy and Great Lent
    By TNH Staff 
    March 4, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/289626/encyclical-of-archbishop-elpidophoros-for-the-holy-and-great-lent/

    • This lenten homily of Bartholomaios to the people, illustrates all that is wrong.  It is totally correct in what it says but it is the theoretical school room lecture that will mean nothing  to the ordinary  believer to whom it is aimed,  as delivered in professional, technical language to  a  theoretical believer in the never  never land .  Even the odd priest might struggle. 
      To be fair Bartholomaios is not the only one to live in this theoretical world.
      It is interesting re Phanar that when in 1923 Republicans Turkey wanted to expel  from Istambul, Metaxas, and Phanar generally, it was because they deemed it a totally political institution.  And underlying all financial corruption. 
      Indeed it can be argued  that under  the Ottomans, the Phanerhad far greater political power over it’s Orthodox Christian believers than the  Pope of Rome, who had to deal with powerful nation states.  

      • Perhaps a bit ‘heady’ in its terminology, but otherwise not bad, IMHO.

        And I actually thought Archbishop Elpidophoros’s was quite beautiful in its simplicity.  I particularly appreciated this:

        “It was a calling for Adam and Eve to exceed themselves, and to give up something for the sake of love. Real love cannot be forced; it can only be offered freely.”

  5. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from today in The National Herald.
     
    Visit of His Beatitude, Patriarch Irinej of Serbia at the Archdiocese Headquarters
    By TNH Staff 
    March 6, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/290040/visit-of-his-beatitude-patriarch-irinej-of-serbia-at-the-archdiocese-headquarters/

  6. Sage-Girl says

    OK, finally saw Archbishop Elpidoforos at Lenten supper tonight + after slobbering crowd left his table I asked him why Patriarch Bartholomew is skipping NYC in May and he said he just doesn’t know…
    not that I should believe he’d tell me anyway… 
    His Eminence left early; he got up + said he’s got work to do in morning.  I rather liked that about him — a man needs time out from the crowd.
    Fr. John, dean of our cathedral says to me, don’t worry Patriarch isn’t going to merge Orthodoxy with Pope’s Catholicism. 

    • Gail Sheppard says

      Fr. John is right that the “Patriarch isn’t going to merge Orthodoxy with Pope’s Catholicism”. What he may not understand, or is not saying, is that they intend to unify. Neither side will merge with or be absorbed the other. Francis is calling it “unity with diversity.” The things that separate us, theologically and logistically, will remain, e.g. filioque, infallibility of the Pope, immaculate conception of Mary, purgatory, dispensations, indulgences, married priests, no divorce etc. The only thing that will change is Catholics & Orthodox will be able to receive the sacraments in both churches. (Which is huge.) This is only the beginning, however. Through the RC, Episcopalians, Lutherans, etc. will be brought in, as well. The ultimate goal is a SINGLE faith-based Church which will include all religions. The perception of the outside world will change, as well. Coalescing multiple churches into a single entity is a political maneuver to enable governments like our State Department and globalists, like NATO and the UN, to leverage Christianity so they can “push” a single message: Messages like not protecting the environment is a a sin, not to care for the world’s poor by supporting migration is a sin, etc. The Gospel will take second place (if it has a place at all).

      Interestingly, Bartholomew may nix the deal because of one thing: The unification is looking more and more like he will fall under the Pope in importance. This is why he is so bent on changing the meaning of primacy so he can go from “first among equals” (the reality) to “first without equal” (the fantasy). He is jockeying for position. If he is not accepted as first without equal in the Orthodox world, he has no hope of being the “first” in anything after this unification comes into being. I think he initially envisioned a scenario where he and the Pope would share primacy within their respective roles. He even had a statue made of himself, possibly in preparation for being represented at the Vatican (we only do this in the Orthodox world after someone dies). Bartholomew has to accomplish two objectives, and quickly, before he is relegated to #2 in 2025. He has to establish primacy (first without equal) for himself AND he has to claim ownership of all us “barbarians” in his imaginary diaspora. If he has only a handful of metropolitans over places that no longer exist, he may earn a place at the table of the RC but it won’t be at the head. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jayhawk7/22964988679

      • FirstWithoutGivingAHoot says

        Gail,
         
        I think you’ve been hitting the bottle a little too much and too often. Really. You need another hobby. 
        Your little home brewed conspiracy theories are just ridiculous. 
         

        • George Michalopulos says

          Gail must have allowed this post to go through. I would not have.  In any event, I agree with her analysis, I think she’s on to something.
          Why is this so? Mainly because the modern ethos is towards “tolerance” & “diversity”. Satan’s great victory will be to invalidate Christianity.

      • Sage-girl says

        Dear Gail: OMG! Need to read your salient message a few times over – very informative ma’am… I’m beginning to see… +
        hey, enclosed photos of Halki are nice viewing, much appreciated.  But that statue of the Patriarch Bartholomew — aah… am I alone in finding his image looks scary?

        • Gail Sheppard says

          It scared me,too!!!

        • Barthol-Moloch’s statue looks like it was commissioned by Rome:

          – Legs cut out from under him
          – No hands
          – No arms

          It’s a figurehead.

          • “Moloch is a Canaanite deity associated in biblical sources with the practice of child sacrifice.”
             
            Bartholomew demands that we sacrifice the salvation of our children and grandchildren in the fires of his ego so that he can raise himself to be “First Without Equals.”
             
            What kind of Orthodox Christian faith, what kind of salvation can we offer to future generations if we submit to the whims of one (okay maybe two if we count Elpidophoros) man’s vanity?

            • Ex-ROCOR schismatics now have their own vicarate within GOA.

              On Monday, March 9, 2020, following approval of the Mother Church of Constantinople last November after the request of the Holy Eparchial Synod, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, announced the creation of the Vicariate for the Orthodox Christian Communities of Slavic Tradition.
              The new Vicariate will report directly to Archbishop Elpidophoros and at the beginning includes hundreds of faithful belonging to the following three Orthodox communities: Saint Matrona of Moscow Cathedral of Miami, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker Monastery in North Fort Myers, Florida, and Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist Cathedral of Brooklyn. The clergy of the Vicariate are Very Rev. Archimandrite Alexander Belya, Very Rev. Archpriest Vasiliy Deyak, Rev. Archpriest Oleksandr Belya, Rev. Archpriest Ioann Spasyuk, Rev. Protodeacon Rostislav Zadorozhnyy and Rev. Deacon George A. Hero. 
              Archbishop Elpidophoros has appointed Very Rev. Archimandrite Alexander Belya as the first Vicar of the Vicariate.

      • How’s this for unity, maybe somebody will throw that statue of the EP into the Tiber river beside the pachamama idols 

      • Agree 100% Gail, those that saw the writing on the wall of where Patriarch Bartholomew was taking the Church from years ago were thought as believers of a Conspiracy Theory, now it’s all unfolding before their eyes unfortunately. We know our Greeny Bartholomew will be in DC at the Trump International Hotel attending a dinner  @$200pp, you can see the patriarch receiving the Inaugural “Patriarch Bartholomew AHEPA Environmental Award”.  There will also be a mandatory closed door meeting of All Metropolitans. Wonder if the Coronavirus will hinder any from attending ! 

        • Greatly Saddened says

          I wonder if there is any truth of the present Metropolitans being rolled back to bishop status and perhaps the Metropolis of NJ being dissolved. I guess only time will tell for sure. The Byzantine intrigue continues. Lord help us and have mercy on us all!

  7. “Messages like not protecting the environment is a a sin, not to care for the world’s poor by supporting migration is a sin, etc. The Gospel will take second place (if it has a place at all).”
    Certainly the entirety of the Gospel is encapsulated in the active support of the creation and the poor. Policy aside, not protecting the environment and disregard for the poor (including migrants) are the most terrible of sins according to the Scriptures and the Orthodox Fathers.

    • Gail Sheppard says

      Greg, I think you understand the distinction I was trying to make. No one is advocating we shouldn’t protect the environment or disregard the poor.

      Even during Christ’s incarnation, some of His disciples wanted to make His mission about a revolution against Rome. People were also poor and oppressed at the hands of the Romans. But the Church is not political if the Church is faithful to the Lord’s purpose. Neither is it economic or cultural in nature. You may wish to emphasize these things, but Jesus did not. Changes may be needed in these areas, but that is not why Jesus died on the cross.

    • Monk James Silver says

      Here, ‘Greg’, you are accusing ‘the Scriptures and the Orthodox Fathers’ far too broadly.
       
      It would be good if you’d write here about which ‘Orthodox Fathers’ said what, and where the Scriptures record something which you find difficult to reconcile with the things you find ‘most terrible’ in their citations by your dialectic opponents.

  8. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from yesterday by The Associated Press, in The National Herald.
     
    Bethlehem’s Storied Greek Orthodox Church of the Nativity Closes amid Coronavirus Fears
    By Associated Press 
    March 6, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/289801/bethlehems-storied-greek-orthodox-church-of-the-nativit-closes-amid-coronavirus-fears/

  9. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from today in The National Herald.
     
    Encyclical of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and the Eparchial Synod on the Covid-19 Pandemic (Coronavirus)
    By TNH Staff 
    March 7, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/290246/encyclical-of-his-eminence-archbishop-elpidophoros-of-america-and-the-eparchial-synod-on-the-covid-19-pandemic-coronavirus/

  10. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from yesterday on the Orthodox Times website.
     
    Home > Orthodoxy > Ecumenical Patriarchate
    Ecumenical Patriarch: They are asking for Synod now. They should have recognised Pan-Orthodox Council of Crete and have come
    Mar 07, 2020 | 20:14
     
    https://orthodoxtimes.com/ecumenical-patriarch-they-are-asking-for-synod-now-they-should-have-recognised-pan-orthodox-council-of-crete-and-have-come/

    • jim of olym says

      Note to Bartholomew and Cyprus: Please send a letter by mail to ‘Constantinople’!  It will no doubt be returned to senders.  city no longer exists in the real world. It is now Istambul. Sorry guys!

      • Gail Sheppard says

        Therein, lies the problem, Jim. Their whole lives revolved around a world that no longer exists.

    • Antiochene Son says

      The gall of this man. I didn’t realize the topic of Ukraine was on the agenda for the council. (And as we recall, the agenda was impossible to change, despite Antioch asking to discuss some subjects that actually mattered.)

  11. are there any views on worship and the virus. ?  Our  very physical worship is very relevent to this  virus risk and I know the greek church in USA has brought out, to me as  hospital trained,  sensible measures.  I as someone with underlying serious health problem am at risk so i have been  following these rules here in Bulgaria.  
    Whst are people’s thoughts on Communion. ?  

    • My understanding from our patristic GOA priest today:  Never in the history of Orthodox Christianity has anyone sickened from Holy Communion because it is the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ and can only make us healthy and well.  Our understanding of Communion is different from Roman Catholics and Protestants.  However (he described) our fallen world consists of material objects which can carry germs and viruses, etc. and therefore to be mindful of that for ourselves and others books were removed from pews, no kissing of priest’s hand or receiving antidoron from him, no kissing of the icons just prostrations/reverences before them and the altar and there was hand sanitizer at every entrance/exit.  He encouraged anyone who took the antidoron to pick carefully so as not to touch other pieces.  Then he demonstrated how to do so. Of course antidoron is optional to receive and not Holy Communion.  

      Another source:  GOA Abp. Eldiphoros had sent out a memo to the GOA churches (forwarded by Met Gerasimos in CA) encouraging the ill to stay home to protect others who are elderly and immunocompromised and also encouraged anyone who had recently traveled internationally to stay home from church for 14 days.  (Would be great for our communities if all such travellers and any who have pertinent symptoms self-quarantined from all activities ).

      As a doc  I have always been saddened by the number of the elderly and immunocompromised who are coughed on by unthinking younger folks all year round, so hope this awareness will “awaken” a needed sensitivity ever after.

      Praying for your health, Nikos!

      • Is not the one right hand of the celebrant, especially if he washes it just prior to distribution, much less a vector of contagion than many hands grabbing at a bowl full of bread? I find the logic of the GOA in this matter incomprehensible.
        If the pastor is not distributing the bread (NOT really antidoron because it’s taken by all rather than non-communicants) what is the meaning of grabbing a piece and munching it? Useless, meaningless and unsanitary.

        • Tim R. Mortiss says

          Exactly what our priest has done at the advice of our member infectious disease physician: priest hands it out.

      • Nicole thank you. Yes I worked all my life in physical and mental health in NHS in Uk with amazing  colleagues, many believers..  I,  when in psychiatric liaison work got pericarditis from a severe streptococcal throat in 2008 with pericarditis as i carried on working.  And now have cardiomyopathy and aortic regurgitation and dilated aorta and take tablets etc every day and have arythmias.  My local church Parish here in Bulgaria is the chapel of St Minas below me.  It gets very crowded in small space.  Need bigger church as growing, but for me is a current danger.  So i go to quiet sat vespers and I bow in front of but do not kiss Icons etc. I have to be careful.  
        As i said I am not accusing anybody on this blogg, especially our good George,  or Gail of  OBSCURANTISM, NO.   They are thoughtful intelligent people, but we cannot disregard the advances of last 100 yrs  in medical science that enable our children to grow to adulthood. All the great doctor saints. St Luke of Crimea +1961, the surgeon bishop as example, lived with total faith but in the physical reality of our disease riddence world. Good hand hygene should be practised all the time.  Why hospitals have problems.   Washing hands was greatest medical advance, up there with antibiotic therapy. 

        • We do not have seating here in Bulgaria except around walls.  Makes it easier. 

        • Gail Sheppard says

          Thank you, Niko. And I understand that some people need to take special precautions. I put that 24 hour sanitizer on my lips and at the bottom of my nostrils. What I like about it is it lasts at least as long as it takes most people to what they have to do in the world and get back home. If you kissed an icon, you wouldn’t get germs or leave germs. It has a sila base so it’s great for moisturized lips and hands. It’s not toxic. I once mistook it for contact lense solution when I was traveling. I was in the desert with my daughter and she looked at me very strangely when I told her it was unusual for the desert to have that kind of fog. Of course, there was no fog and she thought I was having a stroke. Until I figured out what was happening, I thought I was having a stroke, too! I washed my eyes out and it took a few hours but the “fog” went away. Again, the stuff is non-toxic

          • Which 24 hour sanitizer?

          • Thank u Gail. Yes not the best for lenses. Yes that seems a good idea.  I will have Communion with faith and fear of God but will limit my church going to quieter moments , AND YES IT PAINS ME, and venerate icons with a bow etc until normal service can resume.  Just in same way we have to keep our forth coming  June uk trip under review with my high risk level.
            It is difficult. Am I not showing enough Faith and falling short of the greek priest who served the leppers?  Or am I being sensible in dealing with this fallen world of illness and infection?  
            Also I do not want health matters dragged in to politics.  It should have no place there.  God bless. 
             

          • It might be ‘non-toxic’, but if it’s alcoholic,
            you might get to like it…   🙂

    • Tim R. Mortiss says

      I just took communion with my son and four grandchildren. We are in a GOA parish in Tacoma, which is 30 miles south of Seattle.
      Per the archbishop, as of today no service books in the pews, bow to icons rather than kiss, receive antidoron from the priest’s hand but no kissing hand, lots of hand sanitizer around the narthex and downstairs in the hall. Our priest has sanitizer in the altar and using it regularly throughout.
      No restrictions on communion. Also taking communion were our four member physicians, including one who is a prominent infectious disease specialist, who in turn gave a short talk during announcements at the conclusion of the service. She is on the local response teams. She gave the advice you have all heard: lots of hand washing and use of alcohol/sanitizers, avoid handshaking and face-touching, stay away from those coughing, get plenty of sleep and eat well.

      • Tim now i have read the ROCOR bishop’ s message,  he is not denying taking health measures but saying we should.   But saying. how a Christian should see things. and of course Holy Communion does NOT  bring  disease BUT LIFE  and we should not stop to receive , BUT some one who is ill in infectious way should always inform the priest to be given Communion SEPARATELY as would happen to ill in hospital. 
        But I stand by my criticism of politicizing health and in wider area the denigration of the advances in health, relating to infection over last century. Or do some people want to see a majority of children dying young from infection as was the case?   And I am no lover of GOA or elpidophoros, as u know, but before we accuse the GOA of wishing to deny Orthodox worship, let us wait til facts show that.  There is enough to have criticism of now, to be going on with. 
         

    • Antiochene Son says

      My parish has placed tissues and hand sanitizer in convenient locations throughout the church, and all the doorknobs, icons, blessing cross, etc will be cleaned with alcohol wipes after every service.

      Even with that, I witnessed a number of people blow their noses and not wash their hands yesterday, which is bad hygiene irrespective of any virus. Since Coronavirus has no treatment, the only way to deal with it is to create a stigma about bad hygiene and use social pressure to make people behave properly.

      The Mythbusters once demonstrated how fast a single runny nose can contaminate a whole room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wPKBpk7wUY

      – Stop shaking hands until after Pascha
      – Don’t touch your face
      – Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds

      • The hand shaking should stop permanently. Isn’t that a rather recent innovation amongst the Greeks and Antiochians?

        • Antiochene Son says

          The innovation of shaking hands at the kiss of peace is terrible, and thankfully of all the Greek and Antiochian churches in my area, only one of them ever had this custom.
           
          But I mean ALL hand-shaking.

        • And my Parish here in Bulgaria, re hand shaking.!! ? 

  12. And Nikos here is ROCOR on Coronavirus (via Byzantine TX blog:)
    http://byztex.blogspot.com/2020/03/rocor-on-coronavirus.html

  13. Here is the link to Abp Elpidophoros’ Encyclical : https://www.goarch.org/-/encyclical-covid-19-pandemic

  14. Right before the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the Greeks issue a directive not to kiss Icons. Ugh! There is also no kissing of the priest’s hand. It is a stark contrast to the ROCOR statement. I noticed that the Greeks did not proclaim a restriction on the community passing of the donation basket.

    • Mikhail, you’ll never see any restrictions on the community passing of donation basket(s)! 😉

      • Sage-girl says

        Yes Alex & Mikhail,
        no restrictions on touching paper money… yet cash is contaminated with germs big time. We should wear plastic gloves ? when touching $? !

    • Antiochene Son says

      LOL

  15. George, maybe I’m late to the game, but Elpidophoros just today announced the creation of “the Vicariate for the Orthodox Christian Communities of Slavic Tradition.” 

    The new Vicariate includes St. Matrona of Moscow Cathedral of Miami, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Monastery in North Fort Myers, Florida, and St. John the Forerunner and Baptist Cathedral of Brooklyn but this is only “the beginning,” warns the GoArch site. 
     
    Does this story ring a bell? That’s because the new vicariate comprises the self-nominated bishop wannabe and suspended “Little Philaret” Alexander Belya, his kid brother Oleksandr Belya, and their daddy Alexander.
     
    You and I have been granted not only the protection of the Patriarchate in which Mt. Athos is located, but also the protection of the government of the United States.” noted the Belyas. 
     
    Yesterday in Russia, today in America.
     
    See: 

    https://www.goarch.org/-/2020-03-09-vicariate-of-slavic-churches?fbclid=IwAR3QUQkmfDhnfGXhbMc1RhnWPwTzxn_RM8l9Z-sHHBgRU3Q7OmRZseaQEDA
     
    https://orthochristian.com/125429.html
     
    https://orthochristian.com/124812.html?fbclid=IwAR0VzjM_phTW9c-7wAx8Q3oV2xosy7jWyEm9KA7C12s9PvUc47CuRdNtGlY
     

    • LonelyDn,

      Well, one day he may read,
      ROCOR just today announced the creation of “the Vicariate for the Orthodox Christian Communities of Greek Tradition.” 

  16. Tim now i have read the ROCOR bishop’ s message,  he is not denying taking health measures but saying we should.   But saying. how a Christian should see things. and of course Holy Communion does NOT  bring  disease BUT LIFE  and we should not stop to receive , BUT some one who is ill in infectious way should always inform the priest to be given Communion SEPARATELY as would happen to ill in hospital. 
    But I stand by my criticism of politicizing health and in wider area the denigration of the advances in health, relating to infection over last century. Or do some people want to see a majority of children dying young from infection as was the case?   And I am no lover of GOA or elpidophoros, as u know, but before we accuse the GOA of wishing to deny Orthodox worship, let us wait til facts show that.  There is enough to have criticism of now, to be going on with. 
     

  17. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from today in The National Herald.
     
    Archbishop Elpidophoros Announces the Creation of a New Vicariate in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
    By TNH Staff
    Match 10, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/290812/archbishop-elpidophoros-announces-the-creation-of-a-new-vicariate-in-the-greek-orthodox-archdiocese/

  18. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find another article from today in The National Herald.
     
    Encyclical of Archbishop Elpidophoros on the Sunday of Orthodoxy
    By TNH Staff 
    March 10, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/290826/encyclical-of-archbishop-elpidophoros-on-the-sunday-of-orthodoxy/

  19. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from today in The National Herald.
     
    Sunday of Orthodoxy at Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York
    By TNH Staff 
    March 11, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/290973/sunday-of-orthodoxy-at-holy-trinity-cathedral-in-new-york/

    • Wow! He did not talk about the construction of the St Nicholas National Shrine. It’s a miracle!!!

  20. It is quite astounding. AB Elpi gives a sermon on the Sunday of Orthodoxy about Orthodox “love and unity” right after receiving an uncanonical community he names the “Slavic orthodox churches” after they were suspended and defrocked from the ROCOR. He is certainly not trying to achieve Panorthodox unity in America, but rather schism and heresy. The sermon reeks of complete hypocrisy. I am perplexed as to why (and how) Bishops from other jurisdictions can possibly serve with him and listen to his empty words.

  21. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from today in The National Herald
     
    The Real Purpose of the Meeting in Amman was to Downgrade the Ecumenical Patriarchate
    By Hieromonk Nikitas of Pantokratoros
    Monastery of Mt. Athos 
    March 11, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/290992/the-real-purpose-of-the-meeting-in-amman-was-to-downgrade-the-ecumenical-patriarchate/

    • “His Master’s Voice”.
      The author of the article is Hieromonk Nikitas of Pantokratoros Monastery of Mt. Athos and is simply trying to justify Bartholomew. 
      However he does not address the main problem, but keeps protecting…

      Yet, he can not avoid writing the following statements (highlighting mine): 

      “…all the prerogatives granted to the Ecumenical Patriarchate by the Church through the Ecumenical Councils”.

      The Councils of Chalcedon and of Constantinople decided that the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Pope of Rome shared the same primacy of honor”.

      “but the Ecumenical Councils decided to grant those prerogatives to the Ecumenical Patriarch. Unfortunately, anyone who questions those prerogatives questions the very decisions made by many divinely inspired Fathers”

      Well, holy Hieromonk Nikitas, by the same token:

      Unfortunately, anyone who questions the higher authority of the Councils  questions the very decisions made by many divinely inspired Fathers”!

      The Councils have more authority then Bartholomew and they gave him some authorities. How then can he (being lower than the Council) object to a gathering of the Council?

      In other words, the Council has given him some authorities and he tries through these authorities to become higher than the council?

      What is going on?

      Suppose, Bartholomew never wants to call a meeting of the Council, and because of this, such a meeting never takes place. What does that prove, who has more authority, the Council or Bartholomew?

    • This Hieromonk resides on the holy mountain?!? Wow! Segments of Mt. Athos are fracturing into apostasy. Bartholomew has unleashed a firestorm.

    • It is tragic in the extreme to see an Athonite monk beclown himself with multiple historical and canonical inaccuracies.
       
      What he fails to mention – or even consider – is that it is precisely the failure of the ‘Ecumenical’ patriarchate to act in accordance with, as well as within the limits of, its canonical coordinating role that precipitated this meeting and motivates all calls for similar meetings (to which he is always invited, but refuses either to initiate or to attend).
       
      It is, in fact, his refusal to FULFILL HIS ROLE that is “a stain on the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church.”  If there is any “down-grading” of his role in the eyes of others, it is self-inflicted by his steadfast, stubborn refusal. 
       
      What he doesn’t seem to grasp is that the likelihood of the Church actually “downgrading” his (appropriate) role is next to nil, for it would involve altering the canons – a drastic step for which there is doubtless little appetite.  Even so, the fear of losing his canonical primacy that seems to motivate his refusal (and that of others) grows more likely to be realized each day his stubbornness continues.  He can either accept the limits of the role the Church has granted to his office or lose the Church’s recognition of that role, be it in either a canonical or practical sense (by which I mean being ignored though the canons be unchanged).

  22. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find another article from today in The National Herald.
     
    Archbishop Elpidophoros Guest Speaker at Stockton University 
    By TNH Staff 
    March 11, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/290917/archbishop-elpidophoros-guest-speaker-at-stockton-university/

    • You’re killing me GS!
      Elpi wants to make a statement about the one holy catholic and Apostolic Church…and he quotes MLK instead of one of the holy fathers!?!
      Lord have mercy!

  23. Denmark is shutting down, The Evangekical Lutherans have cancelled all Liturgies, Choir Practices, Baby Psalmesangs, etc. The whole place is now even quieter than it used to be; which I would not have believed possible – but there you are…

  24. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from today in The National Herald.
     
    Greek Orthodox Archdiocese to Host First-Ever Spanish Outreach Conference in the U.S.
    By TNH Staff 
    March 12, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/291258/greek-orthodox-archdiocese-to-host-first-ever-spanish-outreach-conference-in-the-u-s/

  25. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from yesterday in The National Herald.
     
    Archbishop Elpidophoros, Patriarch Bartholomew Honor Rabbi Schneier at UN Alliance of Civilizations Event
    By TNH Staff 
    March 13, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/291576/archbishop-elpidophoros-patriarch-bartholomew-honor-rabbi-schneier-at-un-alliance-of-civilizations-event/

  26. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from Thursday on the Orthodox Christianity website.
     
    WHO DO THE ARCHONS OF THE PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE SERVE?
    Kirill Alexandrov
    Translation by Matfey Shaheen
    Union of Orthodox Journalists
    3/26/2020
     
    https://orthochristian.com/129620.html

  27. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from today in The National Herald.
     
    TNH Exclusive: Visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Clergy-Laity Congress Cancelled
    By Theodore Kalmoukos
    March 28, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/294664/tnh-exclusive-visit-of-ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew-and-clergy-laity-congress-cancelled/

  28. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from today in The National Herald.
     
    Official: Apostolic Visit of Ecumenical Patriarch to the U.S. Postponed Due to Coronavirus
    March 31, 2020
     
    https://www.thenationalherald.com/295150/official-apostolic-visit-of-ecumenical-patriarch-to-the-u-s-postponed-due-to-the-coronavirus/

    • I thought he is a bishop, how come “Apostolic visit” ?

      • I don’t think it necessarily means the ‘Visit of an Apostle’.
        It could mean the ‘visit on which he has been sent’.
        The question then arises: who sent him?
        Erdogan? Francis? The State Department?

        • Brendan, 
          you could search further, to the left, to the right, higher and lower, but: 
          The Crown-Arrow or Crown-Venom
          (one ancient translation of Corona-Virus)
          proved stronger than any of those.