Orthodox Reflections

By the grace of God and the intervention of the Holy Spirit, the new Patriarch of Bulgaria is His Beatitude Daniil! It took two rounds of voting for this outcome, which was a close run thing as the final was only 69-66 for the new patriarch.

Why is this important? After all, Bulgaria is a small country of only 6.5 million in a part of the world most Americans can’t even find on a map. Four big reasons, actually.

1. Because His Beatitude Daniil is an Actual Orthodox Hierarch

According to the 24 Hours website, the first words of the new Primate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church after his election were: “Let us keep the Orthodox faith: it leads us to God!” There is no indication that the new Patriarch will be willing to support the various “modernization” efforts emanating from Constantinople / Alexandria, and championed in the U.S. by figures such as Archbishop Elpidophoros.  We are not likely to see support for “LGBTQ Rights”, communion of unconverted spouses, Female Ordination, concelebration with heterodox clergy, support for isolating the Russian Orthodox Church, the “Green agenda”, or any number of other items on the wish list of the World Economic Forum / U.S. National Security State.

Patriarch Daniil seems fully committed to preserving the Faith Once Delivered to the Apostles. Glory to God for that!

As noted, Bulgaria is small. However, its constitution names Orthodoxy as the “traditional religion,” which is practiced by some 85% of the population. If you are hoping to “modernize” the Orthodox Church, as many within and without the Church seek to do, taking over the Church of Bulgaria would have been a huge victory. Just look at the way enemies of the Church twisted the political “gay marriage” victory in Greece to attack Orthodoxy from the “left” and the “right”. The modernizers put Greece forward as a “model” for the Orthodox Church peacefully co-existing with all manner of societal corruption. Heterodox “traditionalists” put forward the Greek legalization of gay marriage as “evidence” that the Orthodox Church is impotent, a paper tiger, unable to even influence the societies in which the majority of people are Orthodox Christians.

Thanks be to God, the Bulgarian Church gave us Patriarch Daniil who should spare us any more such controversies in the Balkans.

This victory for Orthodoxy is especially impressive given that the modernizing faction within the Orthodox Church is led by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the so-called “First Among Equals”. His All-Holiness was recently quoted as denouncing “sterile conservatism”:

Serve faithfully and sacrificially, holy brother, a tradition of faith, love, and hope that is an inexhaustible source of vital truths for humanity and the world. Faithfulness to this tradition has nothing to do with sterile conservatism, which ultimately “kills tradition”. It is rightly written that conservatism is “anti-traditional”. Genuine tradition listens to the voice of the Fathers, while at the same time, it hears the voice of its contemporaries, and selects and highlights the relevance of Christian truths and their existential content. The Church knows that Christian witness cannot be given by indifferent people to their fellow humans and the world, nor by believers with a secular mindset that undermines the creative powers.

Patriarch Bartholomew’s representative in the U.S. is Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, who was recently photographed with female acolytes.

It is of really cold comfort that this brazen act is not even the worst transgression committed by Archbishop Elpidophoros against Holy Orthodoxy.

All this follows on the heels of another Greek Patriarch, that of Alexandria, authorizing the ordination of a female to the Orthodox Diaconate.

At a time when immensely powerful forces are attacking the Orthodox Faith around the world, the victory of such a truly God-fearing, humble, faithful Orthodox bishop as Patriarch Daniil can rightly be considered a miracle in and of itself. This outcome is even more miraculous given that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, a wholly-owned asset of the U.S. National Security State, was in Sofia for the election and enthronement of the new Bulgarian Patriarch. His presence was a breach of Church protocol, which dictates that Orthodox Churches send representatives but not their Patriarchs, whose presence might prove a distraction. This was the first time, in fact, that a Patriarch of Constantinople had ever attended an enthronement in Bulgaria. Patriarch Bartholomew’s attendance was almost certainly an effort to influence the outcome of the election in a pro-Globalist direction. Given the perceived stakes in this election, His All-Holiness was also assuredly not the lone Western intelligence asset on hand. Yet, despite what must certainly have been furious “electoral” interference, the Holy Spirit protected and guided the Orthodox Church of Bulgaria.

There is no way to overstate the impact this heroic act of “Orthodoxy” will have around the world. Through God’s grace, even the Orthodox Christians of a small nation can stare down Eye of Sauron.

2. Continued Support for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniil, interviewed by Bulgarian National Radio in June 2024, lashed out at Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and described the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) as uncanonical. This was nothing new. For years, His Beatitude has been critical of the Patriarch of Constantinople both for his granting of “autocephaly” to the schismatic OCU, and for his continuous grasp for more power. His Beatitude, when he was still only a bishop, even penned a very challenging open letter to Bartholomew:

Can the Patriarch of Constantinople call himself a father (in the sense of the words quoted above) of the people of God who live in Ukraine? What pastoral labour has he done there, how many souls has he gained; for how many has he been “in the torments of birth” until they have become the image of Christ? How many churches has he built, how many monasteries has he embellished? Or did he endure persecution during the time of atheism there? Rather, did not some Constantinople Patriarchs collaborated with the Bolshevik regime at certain times when the holy Church of Russia and Kiev suffered persecution?

 

In this instance the Patriarch of Constantinople is not a father but a person who has attempted by means of force to acquire power for himself. And these ambitions extend not only to the Metropolis of Kiev, which does not belong to him, but to the whole Orthodox Church; he lays claim to interfering in the internal life of the Local Churches. If we are true children of our Mother the Holy Orthodox Church, we should raise our voice and state what is happening, otherwise we will be guilty alongside those who try to abrogate rights for themselves which belong solely to the Conciliar Church.

 

We ask the question: has any of the Local Autocephalous Churches ever throughout its history recognized anybody other than the Lord Jesus Christ as Head of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church? 

The election of a strong supporter of the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and her primate Metropolitan Onuphry, is a massive loss for both the Patriarch of Constantinople, and the Globalist agenda he serves. The U.S. was behind the creation of the OCU, and has been instrumental in enabling the ongoing persecution of the canonical Orthodox Church. This was done for at least four reasons. The first was to create a counterfeit “Orthodox” body that would modernize in alignment with the preferences of the Global Elite. The second was to reduce the Russian Orthodox Church’s global influence, as the Church is considered a source of so-called “soft power” for the Russian Federation. Third was to expand the power of the Global Elite’s pet hierarch in Constantinople. Fourth was to confer greater legitimacy on the post-Maidan government in Kiev that had been born of an American-supported coup.

To shore up its schismatic “Orthodox” body in Ukraine, the U.S. has exerted tremendous pressure on Orthodox Churches in Europe to recognize OCU. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, the President of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece, admitted in an interview that recognition of the schismatic OCU in Ukraine by the Greek Church was a direct result of U.S. pressure, “I’ll confess to you that I was visited by the American ambassador and three times by the Russian ambassador on this issue. And I told the American ambassador that I will join the Patriarch and therefore your will will be done.”

Despite all its efforts, however, the U.S. National Security State has come up dramatically short of its goal of gaining widespread recognition of the schismatic, uncanonical OCU. While the surrender of some parts of the Orthodox Church does sting, the vast majority of Orthodox Christians around the world have stood strong for the Orthodox Faith. The election of Patriarch Daniil can only be seen as a massive failure for the U.S., NATO, and Patriarch Bartholomew. Nick Stamatakis succinctly summed up the situation that the collective “West” now finds itself in:

As I said yesterday, the “deep state” is now faced with a Balkan peninsula almost totally against the Ukrainian Autocephaly: Albania, Serbia, Skopjie, Bulgaria, Romania, most of the Greek Metropolitans, and half of Cyprus are against Bartholomew!! This is a disaster and, under normal circumstances, should result in the immediate resignation of Bartholomew. What is next? The collapse of what is left of the Ukrainian Army is going to set a hard ending to this “monument of hubris”, the Ukrainian Cacocpehaly policy by the Patriarchate.

While the momentum is swinging to our side, we must still seize any opportunity we can to publicize the severe persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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3. Isolating Constantinople, Instead of Russia

The new Patriarch had hardly been elected when the Associated Press published an article entitled, “Bulgaria’s Orthodox Church elects a new patriarch with pro-Russian views” 

What constitutes being “pro-Russian”? Well, as mentioned, Patriarch Daniil supports the actual canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The UOC, which is self-governing under Ukrainian bishops and to which the majority of Ukrainians belong, is erroneously branded in Western media as a “Russian Church”. (See Lie#3: The UOC is a “Russian” Church)

Patriarch Daniil, however, goes much further than just supporting the UOC. His Beatitude is also willing to tell the truth about the origins of the Ukrainian War.  In November 2022, the then bishop authored a diocesan letter correctly pointing that the post-Maidan Ukrainian government bears the guilt for provoking the ongoing war. This is absolutely true, of course. The post-coup government in Kiev oppressed ethnic Russian citizens, waged a bloody war against ethnic Russians in the Donbass, sought NATO membership, walked away from two separate peace agreements (Minsk I & II), and was preparing a massive assault on Donestk and Lugansk in early 2022. It was the preparations for a major offensive against ethnic Russians that finally brought on Russian military intervention. Jacques Baud, ex-member of Swiss strategic intelligence and a specialist on Eastern countries, explained how NATO and Kiev led us to the current war:

In his speech of February 24, Vladimir Putin stated the two objectives of his operation: “demilitarize” and “denazify” the Ukraine. So, it was not a question of taking over Ukraine, nor even, presumably, of occupying it; and certainly not of destroying it.

 

The dramatic developments we are witnessing today have causes that we knew about but refused to see:

• on the strategic level, the expansion of NATO (which we have not dealt with here);
• on the political level, the Western refusal to implement the Minsk Agreements;
• operationally, the continuous and repeated attacks on the civilian population of the Donbass over the past years and the dramatic increase in late February 2022.

In other words, we can naturally deplore and condemn the Russian attack. But WE (that is: the United States, France and the European Union in the lead) have created the conditions for a conflict to break out. We show compassion for the Ukrainian people and the two million refugees. That is fine. But if we had had a modicum of compassion for the same number of refugees from the Ukrainian populations of Donbass massacred by their own government and who sought refuge in Russia for eight years, none of this would probably have happened.

Patriarch Daniil is willing to tell the truth about why the war started, and why it is continuing. According to the Western propaganda machine, being honest is “pro-Russian”.

Needless to say, Patriarch Daniil will not be joining the ongoing drive, organized in the West and led by Constantinople, to “isolate” the Russian Orthodox Church for her sin of “heretically” supporting the Russian War effort. Further, Patriarch Daniil is almost guaranteed to continue poking holes in NATO war propaganda every chance he gets.

What a massive inconvenience for Western war mongers who wish to destroy Russia and the authentic Orthodox Faith everywhere it is found.

4. Decentralization Protects the Orthodox Faith

As Patriarch Daniil said in his open letter to Patriarch Bartholomew, “We ask the question: has any of the Local Autocephalous Churches ever throughout its history recognized anybody other than the Lord Jesus Christ as Head of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church?”

The answer to that question, of course, is “No”.  Not, however, for lack of trying on the part of Constantinople since the early part of the 20th Century. Thankfully, the drive for an “Orthodox Pope” has so far failed to gain traction among the Orthodox Churches. (The election of Patriarch Daniil is just the latest setback, but there have been many others.) Unfortunately for those who wish to crown the Patriarch of Constantinople with supreme power, we Orthodox have a very obvious, and cautionary, example of exactly what happens when a bishop goes from being “First Among Equals” to “First Without Equals”. Namely, the Roman Catholic Papacy.

Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas was one of the most popular Roman bishops on the Internet. His X (Twitter) following alone was over 128K. On his X (Twitter) timeline, he was extremely hard on Pope Francis. Strickland even questioned the Pope’s fidelity to the Christian Faith in a May 12, 2023 Tweet, “I believe Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith. Follow Jesus.” In orthodox (traditional) Roman Catholic circles, he was often referred to as “America’s Bishop”. The Vatican removed him from office in November 2023.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former apostolic nuncio to the United States, has been an outspoken critic of Pope Francis for years. In June 2024, he said “I repudiate, reject, and condemn the scandals, errors, and heresies of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who manifests an absolutely tyrannical management of power.” Viganò has 65.5k followers on X (Twitter). For being a pain in Francis’ side, Viganò was recently sentenced to the most severe penalty in the Catholic Church: excommunication.

Regardless of what the Vatican says, the real crime these two Roman Catholic hierarchs are guilty of is what Patriarch Bartholomew referred to recently as “sterile conservatism”. They are traditionalists at a time when the absolute, supreme head of the Roman Catholic Church is committed to a program of extreme “modernization” that makes Vatican II look tame in comparison. A Roman Catholic bishop (or priest) can remain in good standing while molesting children / seminarians, calling for LGBTQ “rights”, performing gay marriage blessings, engaging in financial improprieties, openly questioning Catholic doctrine, promoting blasphemous imagery, and just generally undermining the Roman Catholic Faith. All that is just fine with Pope Francis.

Be as “radical” as you like, but don’t be too outspoken about your “sterile conservatism” or too forceful in your criticism of the “Vicar of Christ”. That gets you removed from office and/or excluded from Eternal Life through excommunication.

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew are soul mates. A fact even secular commentators readily recognize. The Atlantic magazine recently ran glowing comments about the “modernizing” of Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew:

On one side, Bartholomew has spent three decades trying to make Orthodoxy more compatible with the modern liberal world. He openly urges the faithful to accept evolution and other scientific tenets. He has been a passionate advocate for environmental protection. And, like Pope Francis, he has quietly promoted a more accepting attitude toward homosexuality. But Bartholomew’s power is more limited than the pope’s. There are eight other Orthodox patriarchs, each of whom presides over a national or regional Church, and Bartholomew’s role is that of “first among equals.”

The major difference between the two? Pope Francis can crush his opponents and enforce his agenda because of the centralized nature of the Roman Catholic Church. Patriarch Bartholomew cannot. The decentralized nature of the Orthodox Church makes the election of a Patriarch Daniil possible. The “First Among Equals” had no other option but to grin and bear what was, in reality, a serious humiliation. He had no ability to do otherwise. Outside of his local Church, he has no power to go after his critics. Further, while he can decry “sterile conservatism” all he likes, his office lacks the authority to force his agenda of “modernization” on the other local Orthodox Churches.

The “First Among Equals”, the “Spiritual Leader” of Orthodoxy, had no choice but to accept the enthronement of a Patriarch who has been sharply critical of him

Traditionalist Roman Catholics are among the most conflicted people in the world. They will criticize Pope Francis, but then simultaneously tell us Orthodox that we must be in communion with Rome to be truly part of the Church. Orthodox counter that Pope Francis is nothing new. He is an unfaithful bishop. We have dealt with those many times, and even named heresies after them. In fact, we have some unfaithful bishops of our own right now. What makes Francis so dangerous is the modern power of the Papacy. The centralized Papal system, which Roman Catholic traditionalists frequently endorse, is actually the root cause of many of their problems. How does one ever get a meaningful return to authentic Tradition, when the Pope can simply excommunicate his critics and/or remove them from office?

The Patriarch of Alexandria can ordain all the female deacons he likes. It is an ungodly travesty, but at least he can’t force that innovation on the rest of the Orthodox world. The Patriarch of Constantinople can scheme and scheme for decades with the Global Elite to increase his own power. Then, a little Balkans nation of 6.5 million people just up and tells him “no”. Following such a rebuke, there is nothing for him to do but play along and quietly seethe.

Roman Catholics may think our ecclesiology is messy and disorganized, but thanks be to God for that. As one Orthodox priest once said, “The Roman Catholic Church is an organization that provides some sacraments. The Orthodox Church is a sacrament which makes some effort at being an organization.”

Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America