Orthodox Reflections

A couple of years ago, I had to attend the heterodox wedding of the child of one of the couples from our parish. They had embraced Orthodoxy, but their adult children had stayed Episcopalian. One of their daughters was getting married in an Episcopal ceremony, and they asked a few of us to attend for moral support. When my wife and I arrived, we saw that our priest was already there. He was dressed inconspicuously in a suit and tie. I had never before seen him in public without a cassock. Sitting next to him, I asked him why he was in “civilian” attire.

“Because,” he said, “If I were here in a cassock and pectoral cross, some people could think I am endorsing what is happening here. There could be pictures of me. They could put those next to pictures of an Episcopalian priestess on Social Media, and the result will be confusion on all sides. I’m only here because two of my parishioners needed me here.”

He sat quietly through the marriage “service” conducted by the Episcopalian priestess. He then spent a few minutes at the reception, before hugging his parishioners, congratulating the happy couple, and quietly making his way to the exit.

He drew no attention to himself. He caused no scandal. Few at the wedding even realized he was an Orthodox priest. A simple parish priest understood the power that images of him at such an event, attired in clerical garb, would have had for Orthodox and heterodox alike. He wisely avoided all that, while still being there to support his beloved parishioners who were both happy (wedding, yeah!) and troubled (heterodox, boo!) at the same time.

If only more of our Orthodox Bishops displayed such discernment. As we shall see, some of our bishops are either clueless about optics, or they are intentionally trying to undermine the Orthodox Faith. We tend to think the latter is the case, but intentional or not, the effects are harmful.

Here are some examples.

On October 4, 2023, a His Grace Bishop Athenagoras Nazianzos of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America participated in an “Interfaith Harmony Day” held at a large Hindu temple in Robbinsville, New Jersey. The event brough together representatives from Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Mormonism, Judaism, and Buddhism. It was part of the celebrations that culminated in the consecration of the temple a few days later on October 8.

At the event, Bishop Athenagoras read a letter from Archbishop Elpidophoros, head of GOARCH. Here are some of the sentiments expressed:

In the boundless tapestry of creation, we are called to recognize and celebrate the diverse ways in which humanity seeks to connect with the divine. As Orthodox Christians, we are continually reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words, for from Him and through Him and for Him are all things.

 

In this spirit, we celebrate the unity and oneness that underline our shared human journey towards a world of peace and reconciliation. May the opening of this beautiful shrine be a beacon of joy, understanding, harmony within the Hindu community and beyond. May this unique peace of Indian art stand as a testament to our common humanity and may its sacred hall be a place where hearts are uplifted and souls find solace.

Such words are very much in keeping with the ecumenist beliefs frequently expressed by the Patriarch of Constantinople and the bishops under him such as Archbishop Elpidophoros. After all, it was not long ago that His Eminence scandalized so many with his “many paths to God” speech at a conference on freedom of religion.

This is from a speech given by Patriarch Bartholomew on February 1, 2024 at the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Constantinople.

To this end, we must recognize that there is nothing to divide us from our brothers and sisters of other denominations or religions. On the contrary, there are many things that unite us; the life of every individual, irrespective of their religious beliefs, unfolds as a sequence of crucifixion and resurrection moments and days. It is precisely this sequence that will bring us closer, enabling us to offer one another encouragement, optimism, vigor, and hope. This mutual support will assist us in navigating through challenging situations, knowing that resurrection days will come.

Such ecumenist teaching is very much at odds with Orthodox Christian Tradition. They are the sentiments of politicians looking to build coalitions, not the thoughts of holy men who rightly divide the Word of Truth. Ecumenism of this variety falls in line with the expressed goals of the Global Elite, Freemasons, New Agers, and others who, inspired by Demonic beliefs, seek to join all religions into one. Such talk from “Orthodox” hierarchs demoralizes the Orthodox Faithful, while giving inquirers the wrong idea about who and what the Orthodox Church really is.

But while the speeches, interviews, articles, books, and academic writings espousing ecumenist teaching are bad, the pictures are worse. Way, way worse. As Orthodoxy has understood for over 2,000 years, you may forget words, but images stay indelibly etched in your mind. Below are two of the pictures of Bishop Athenagoras at the “Interfaith Day”.


These striking images go far beyond being a “good neighbor”. They also go far beyond merely being an advocate for religious freedom. A bishop of the Church, posing with non-Christians in celebration of their paganism, will be seen as endorsing an equal status for that religion to Orthodoxy – “We are all just seeking God in our own way, so bless you in your search!”

A few days later, Bishop Athenagoras did apologize for his participation. While any act of public contrition by an Orthodox Hierarch is a welcome change-of-pace, an apology is of no real value. Bishop Athenagoras was not sent there by accident. The men who sent him are not idiots. They knew exactly what they were doing, and why. This was not a “mistake”. This was a calculated move to push forward the ecumenist agenda within Orthodoxy. Another opportunity to habituate Orthodox Christians to images of our hierarchs praying / officiating / participating with heterodox Christians and non-Christians.

As the images pile up, those of us complaining will get a pat on the head, and a condescending smile, while we are told, in a voice full of pity, “There’s nothing to see here. We’ve been doing this for years. Don’t be such a paranoid conspiracy theorist.”

Unfortunately, there is something to see here. There is a faction of Orthodox hierarchs, academics, rich laity, and clergy that truly believe Orthodoxy is antiquated and greatly in need of “modernization”. We have covered them before.

When trying to transform a 2,000 year old Divine / Human organization that prides itself on never changing, one thing above all is crucial. People cannot be allowed to connect the dots on what you are doing. Each subversive action must appear to be an isolated incident. If a pattern becomes too obvious, Orthodox Christians might actually wake up and take some action.

Ecumenism is not the only front on which attempts are being made to change Orthodoxy. There is a serious drive afoot to “revive” the office of Deaconess. The newly re-envisioned office of Deaconess is expected to have a liturgical role, unlike the historic office which most definitely did not. But a liturgical role for women brings up a problem. Orthodox Christians are not used to seeing women at the Altar. Suddenly putting women there would cause an uproar, and might even bring about a schism. It is necessary to go slowly in a way that gets the laity accustomed to seeing women functioning in liturgical roles.

Which brings us to The Most Reverend Michael, Archbishop of New York and New Jersey. (There’s New Jersey again, just like with the Hindu Temple incident!) It has been reported to us, by a member of one of his parishes, that at least 4 times, most recently on 2/25, His Eminence Michael has blessed a female Seminary student, Amber Prather, to give the homily at Sunday Divine Liturgy. The St. Vlad’s student is pictured below. Find the video here (her sermon is around the 1:32:00 minute mark). Amber’s husband is Andrew, who appears to be working towards ordination in the Orthodox Church.

Probably all of us have attended workshops, speeches, classes, etc. with female Theologians. A woman teaching is not an issue, if her talk is separated from the Divine Liturgy. However, this was not the case with Amber Prather. In the middle of a campaign to “modernize” the roles of women in the Church, Archbishop Michael has seen fit to put a woman in front of the Altar on multiple occasions to preach the homily at Divine Liturgy. There is no way Archbishop Michael is unaware that this symbolism bolsters the drive towards deaconesses and more. His Eminence must have seen the work of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, who have have put real money and effort into promoting deaconesses. We have even seen Ancient Faith Radio recently wade into this debate by hosting a roundtable discussion on the topic.

Of course, it’s not just women preaching homilies. We are also seeing attempts to put female acolytes at the Altar. The picture below is of Varvara Gulina and her daughter. An Antiochian parish in Boston let her stand on the solea with her daughter and the acolytes. The Metropolitan had to “talk to” the clergy there to correct the situation. Perhaps such an incident will not be repeated in that parish. Unfortunately, however, Varvara had already got what she wanted – pictures that she put into public view, and a guest column on Public Orthodoxy to promote female acolytes titled Orthodox Christian Altar Girl.

By the way, Varvara is wearing a tiara in the picture above. She does not have a Theological education, and seems inclined to play “princess” dress-up at Church. An individual who knows her described her as “not well” and little more than a “tool” for those pushing for women at the Altar. As you might suppose, this isn’t really about women Deacons or women preaching homilies or female Altar servers. Those are all just steps towards making Orthodox Christians comfortable seeing women at the Altar, taking on male roles. After a specific comfort level has been reached, the next move is the real goal – women’s ordination to the priesthood. A goal that the most honest opponents of Orthodox Tradition, such as Aristotle Papanikolaou from Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center, are already open about.

Of course women can preach! Archbishop Michael has given his blessing on multiple occasions for a woman to preach homilies in one of his churches. What other hierarchs will join him in doing so? That remains to be seen, but it is a good bet that more will. Women can obviously serve at the Altar, look at all the pictures proving that!  At some point in the future, the modernizers will remind us that the world did not end when women preached homilies and fulfilled Liturgical roles. So why would the world end just because women can now be ordained?

Please do yourself and Orthodoxy a favor – don’t think all of these things are simply coincidences. This is a sophisticated propaganda effort along the lines of the ones used to successfully transform Rome, the Episcopal Church, and other mainline Protestant denominations. Do all of the people playing roles in this even understand the combined ramifications of all these efforts? Surely not. But we owe it to ourselves to understand what is happening, while there is still time to do something about it.

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