Father Josiah Trenham posted a wonderful reflection called The Mother of God Destroys Secularism and Feminism online on the Eve of the Dormition. At the beginning of the video, Father Josiah gave an update on the status of churches in California. They are closed for in-door worship, but Father Josiah went through a list of Protestant pastors that are defying these orders and who are suing to protect the Constitutional and natural-rights of their parishioners to worship God.
No Orthodox jurisdiction or parish was mentioned by Father Josiah among the churches fighting for the right to worship God as He has commanded. In fact, the Orthodox appear perfectly content to live stream worship services from empty churches. Here is an example announcement from the Website of the Greek Archdiocese Annunciation Cathedral in San Francisco:
Scanning the rest of the site’s front page you can see articles on the need to support families in Beirut, an announcement for the program of a cancelled Greek Festival entitled Physically Distant; Spiritually Connected, and an article about Hagia Sophia reverting to a Mosque.
The church is closed until further notice. As in, they have absolutely no idea when will they be open again. If ever. No baptisms. No weddings. No funerals. No Holy Eucharist. Cradle Orthodox children growing up with no Christian services or fellowship. And yet, not even one peep of protest. The most the church can manage is a tepid announcement at the top of the cathedral Website?
Churches in California are on indefinite lock down to combat a virus with a 99.96% survival rate that has killed, officially, 11,523 people with an average age of almost 82 in a state with an estimated population just shy of 40 million. And that is assuming the number of deaths really reflects deaths from Covid, as opposed to with Covid, which we all know is an ongoing debate. Ironically, the closure of churches has been ordered by a government that has openly welcomed riotous demonstrations of tens of thousands on the streets.
If you visit the Greek Archdiocese’s Website, you will find nothing about California’s suppression of the right of Christians to gather and worship God. Same on the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops, though you will, of course, find articles about the Beirut explosion and Hagia Sophia becoming a mosque. Evidently, nothing of sufficient importance is occurring in the United States to warrant a mention by the successors to the Apostles.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Archdiocese even had the chance to pray in front of the entire Democratic Party, including the Governor of California responsible for padlocking his own churches. One would think that it would be a perfect opportunity to pray for a return of religious freedom, or an end to the “epidemic” so that we could get back to normal, or even just a prayer asking God to comfort those whose lives and businesses have been devastated by hysterical government overreaction to the equivalent of a bad flu year.
No such luck. The Archbishop essentially endorsed Joe Biden for president and then prayed, “As we face the future as one American nation, bring us to our best selves, and inspire our better angels in peace, in fairness, and in generosity, that we may fight against injustice, inequality, and hatred, that we may achieve a common good, a greater good, in the name of the Holy Trinity we pray. Amen.”
California closing churches? Tens of millions of unemployed? Portland is on fire nightly? Commentators on all sides of the political spectrum are openly discussing the possibility of civil war? Evidently, none of that is important enough to pray about.
The modern Democratic Party is dedicated to destroying the family, killing babies, fostering transgender madness, attacking Syria and other foreign nations with substantial Orthodox populations, defunding our police, erasing American borders, furloughing murderers, and promoting pedophiles / pedophilia along with other aberrant forms of sexuality. (Not a complete list of perversions associated with the modern Democratic Party, by the way.) The only possible reason to offer a prayer over such a Satanic gathering would be to use the opportunity to speak prophetically. There was no justification for His Eminence to ignore religious suppression by Democratic officials, among a whole host of other evils, in order to pray that God, “would shine the light of Your countenance upon the delegates of this convention, and upon Vice President Joe Biden for the highest office in the land.”
We fully realize what we just said was harsh. But the world we live in is on the fast track to Hell, and the Orthodox Hierarchy, especially the Greeks, are pretending that everything is just politics as usual. Politics as usual does not close churches indefinitely in the largest state in the Union. The Orthodox Hierarchy is implicitly accepting that Orthodox Church sacraments and services are non-essential and can be closed on the order of any executive who cares to justify the decision of the basis of “public health.”
The Very Rev. Fr. Tryphon, Abbot of All-Merciful Saviour Monastery on Vashon Island in the Puget Sound near Seattle, Washington, recently posted this on Facebook:
Nonessential
Is the Church truly less essential than a laundromat?
Live streaming the services does not impart God’s grace in the same way the Mystical Supper imparts God’s grace. Christ’s Church is an essential institution far beyond a drug store or gas station, yet we continue to allow the government to tell us this is not so. How can the Church ever reclaim her position as the grace-imparting institution founded by Christ Himself, while allowing the government to declare us a non-essential service?Is the forced shutdown of our public services really about a virus, or is it something more? Looking at the actual deaths directly related to the coronavirus is not any different than a serious flu epidemic, yet certain elements within our society would have us believe it is indeed a direct threat to the whole of our society, and even the world. Not even the communist revolution was able to declare the Church as a non-essential institution.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Orthodox worship is less essential than laundromats. Than casinos. Than liquor stores. Than marijuana dispensaries. Than box stores. Walmart is open. You can buy a TV in California, but you can’t drink from the Fountain of Immortality. According to the Abbot’s estimation, America has managed to suppress the Church more effectively than even the Communists.
The Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. In her traditions and dogma (including the Bible she gave the world), she preserves the fullness of the Faith once delivered to the Apostles. The Church is perfect. Part of her perfection is the office of bishop, which is essential to the functioning of the Church.
The problem is not with this God-ordained office. The problem is with the men who are occupying the office. They are actually standing by while petty politicians have declared that the Church is non-essential. We, the concerned faithful Orthodox Christians, are not even asking the bishops to go to jail or be martyred for the faith. At this point, they can take action from the comfort of their own offices.
Among those fighting California’s ban on worship is the American Center for Law and Justice, one of the nonprofit law firms representing churches in various lawsuits against the state. Jordan Sekulow is the executive director who said, “This ban is clearly targeted at religion. It is clearly a violation of the First Amendment and a direct violation of religious liberty.” There is no reason Orthodox Bishops couldn’t join a lawsuit, start their own, or at least speak out in favor of the ones ongoing.
Instead, apparently, they are doing nothing but bowing down to authority.
Such passivity in the face of gross injustice is not the Orthodox Faith. Many times in history, Orthodox Christians have met, often in secret, to worship God in defiance of government edicts. Even our brethren in Muslim and communist nations still gathered to worship, despite the dangers they faced. As one priest wrote, “The truth is, however, it has never been safe to be a Christian. In the catacombs around Rome rest the remains of more martyrs for Christ than live in my home city – over half a million martyrs. Being a Christian and going to church was always a risk for them – and so it will be for every generation of Christian, unto ages of ages.”
“They thought that by closing the churches they would stop the virus…Lord have mercy! Is this the first outbreak of a virus? From what I know, during epidemics the churches are open day and night and the Liturgy is offered nonstop. Some have attempted to create doubt about Holy Communion, that it can impart infection. Do you know what is the Divine Liturgy? The Body and Blood of the Resurrected Christ. Do you know of a God who defeats death but transmits sicknesses? And there are Hierarchs who tell you to change the lavida (spoon) and to dip it in disinfectant. . . God forbid!”-Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou
Unfortunately, it appears in North America our bishops do not understand their own flocks. Even if the threat of Coronavirus were 100 times what it really is, many of us would rather risk our health at Divine Liturgy than to risk our souls by keeping our churches closed or hampered by severe restrictions. Did not Our Lord and Savior say, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
We do not want to sacrifice our Orthodoxy for the appearance of safety. We would rather be in Church, in the fullness of the faith, than cowering at home watching live streams and keeping “safe.”
Our bishops have caved to a godless government that says it is perfectly fine to riot and kill, but not to attend Divine Liturgy. The bishops give sermons about the Martyrs of our faith who refused to give even a pinch of incense as offering to pagan emperors. Yet they allow churches to be closed indefinitely without so much as a press release in opposition.
Our bishops need to understand that we have established a precedent now that can be abused more and more going forward. This is not the end, but only the beginning. There will be more “public safety” crises in the future, even if the current “crisis” is allowed to pass. Churches can now be singled out for closure on essentially any pretext, even if other public gatherings are allowed to proceed. God, you see, is uniquely dangerous to those who wield power.
A future crisis could very well be much worse. And since the bishops did not rally the Orthodox to stand for the faith now in the face of relatively mild persecution, why have we reason to expect better in the face of real danger? The powers of this world may tire of simple acquiescence from our bishops. The demands can easily escalate. Having taught the Faithful to value their own health and safety above the Faith, what will happen if the powers that govern this world demand the bishops’ outright apostasy? Will the Faithful, conditioned to obedience of governmental authority above all else, stand with the Bishops in face of an actual grave threat? Or will the Faithful simply watch the bishops humiliated and, perhaps, even marched to the gallows on live stream from the comfort and safety of their homes?
-Nicholas, member of the Greek Archdiocese
[…] But perhaps the spirit of God is raising up those who now know there is an enemy, and will meet, share bread and wine, encourage good works, and defend the faith. Regardless of the church leadership. […]
[…] 11. Why Won’t Orthodox Bishops Fight for California? [Link] […]
I am pleased to announce that “Then Timomen tin heritonia tou Elpidophorou kai ton episcopon tou…Anathema, Anthema, Anathema” I do NOT repect/honor Elpidophoro’s ordination and those of his bishops. Curse, Curse, Curse!
Is funny that you are called fanatic by the high ups .I am called the same and zeloti by the
” many spoons many masters ” in US
It occurred to me that this words and attitude to shame us was prepared by the high up and the sheep educated how shame us and teach us how we have to accept this heresy. For sure this was well prepared in advance. How to deal and what to do with zealots. Notice I do not name this High up because for me they all are under one name Juda.
At the end of his excellent post, Father Josiah Trenham asks: Will the Faithful, conditioned to obedience of governmental authority above all else, stand with the Bishops in face of an actual grave threat? Or will the Faithful simply watch the bishops humiliated and, perhaps, even marched to the gallows on live stream from the comfort and safety of their homes?
If I am reading the writing on the wall correctly, the question may be neither of these. The real question may be, will the bishops simply watch the persecuted faithful be humiliated and, perhaps, even marched to the gallows on livestream from the comfort and safety of their thrones?
So far, Archbishop Sotirios has not only watched the humiliation of many of his flock as they unwilling succumb to his multiple spoons imposition, he has even spear headed the humiliation of those of his flock who will not succumb to this blasphemy by insulting them as “uneducated,” “fanatic” and even “sinful” for refusing his multiple spoons.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, the faithful were urged to patiently and lovingly endure the prolonged lack of active participation in the Divine Liturgy and the Holy Eucharist for the sake of protecting vulnerable people from the virus.
Now that the churches have reopened, we are being bullied and shamed for NOT receiving the Holy Eucharist in a blasphemous manner. We are told that we MUST take it this way for we cannot live without it. If we go without it, we will be living without God’s protection and will become spiritually vulnerable to the guiles of the devil. Such a threat can only be uttered by Satan himself, from the mouth of a hierarch!
The faithful, in case any hierarch cares to know, were actually concerned about going without Holy Communion for 13 weeks straight for precisely this reason during the lockdown. At that time, our hierarchs were more concerned about the virus in our bodies than about the devil in our souls. Now, his Eminence Sotirios pretends to be so concerned about our souls, that he DEMANDS we commune blasphemously from separate spoons, giving us no choice and no option!
Tyrant! Manipulator! Hypocrite! Wolf in sheep’s clothing! When will you see the error of your ways and repent of your arrogance, your blasphemy and your sins against Christ and His Church?! How long will you house the devil in your own soul, granting him your voice for his mouthpiece? You are an old man your Eminence, but sadly, your age in years does not reflect wisdom. You should heed the voice of the Baptist and repent before your soul is required of you.
Axia!!! God bless you Vasiliki! May God give you the strength to keep speaking truth to power. We must stand together and take back our churches from this impostor. He’s turned them into diners and dens for hypochondriacs and heretics. Aisxos!
And he has the audacity to goad us ‘fanatics’ to prove our patriotism and Orthodox faith by going to fight in a war against Turkey, when we have an even more urgent war on our hands right here in Canada – to defend the body and blood of Jesus Christ Himself against this abomination. This man is not our spiritual father, he is an impostor! Ως εδώ και μη παρέκει!
Aren’t the Clergy required to celebrate the Mysteries on Sunday. Could not the Faithful show up at the doors, make their desire to receive the Fountain of Immorality known? Before God, can the Clergy refuse a properly prepared penitant?
Greetings Vasiliki,
My congratulations for your expression of deep faith that not only resonates with so many, it captures the essence of our struggle in Canada. Bravo! Sixaritiria!
What has struck me the most throughout this crisis is how Archbishop Sotirios’ narcissistic traits are on full display for everyone to see.
Narcissists play the victim.
We know that God is all-compassionate, all-merciful, but He is also long-suffering. How could God not be long-suffering in light of the spectacle our church leaders have made of His precious body and blood. Yet the Archbishop paints himself, not God, as a long-suffering victim, and a gracious victim at that, one who says he prays for the growing number of people who call him ANAXIOS, without first asking himself why we call him so.
Narcissists project and twist the story.
When the Archbishop attacked the laity as idolaters for defending the 1000-year old holy tradition of the one communal spoon, he projected his own unhealthy, heretical behaviour and actions on us. In a desperate attempt to twist the narrative, he tried to shift the attention away from his mockery of Holy Communion and focus it on an “uneducated” laity that, according to him, worships the communal spoon and not Jesus Christ. He has also accused members of the clergy who have rightly refused to give Holy Communion under these blasphemous circumstances of committing a great sin – this is projection personified!
Narcissists are delusional and in denial.
The Archbishop stubbornly maintains the government has mandated this radical change to Holy Communion, even though the facts prove otherwise. On this point he has been unwavering, almost to a delusional extent. This may be because he can’t deal with reality, or because the longer one tells a story, the more one believes it, both of which are classic narcissistic telltale signs.
These are but a few observations, there are many more. Taken alone, these traits may be character flaws. No one is infallible after all, not even the Archbishop. Taken together, however, they offer a glimpse into the mind of a heretic hierarch who may just be a narcissist as well.
Dear Sister in Christ, Victoria,
Thank you for your insight and you kind words.
Few people are as dangerous as a smart narcissist in a position of power. It is very unfortunate that Archbishop Sotirios is one of these. Although he has the brains and the power to do so much good, his narcissism serves only himself and his ego rather than the Church. To a large extent, this is also by choice.
Therefore our Archbishop needs much prayer for his healing. For that to work, however, there must be acknowledgement on his part that he needs to change. This is called repentance.
I have purposely written strong words in my other posts in the hopes that by reading them, he will be able to see himself, not as he wishes to be seen, but for who he truly is.
If he can see himself more clearly, perhaps he will have his own Damascus-type experience and change for the better. He is the only hierarch in North America who has behaved in such a forceful manner. No other hierarch, not even those who support the separate spoons, has been so aggressive against both clergy and laity in the push to promote this new innovation. This says a lot about the character of Archbishop Sotirios and it corroborates what we have known about him for the past 46 years.
I fully expect his response to these posts to be that of a victim and a martyr, as he already has publicly expressed his “forgiveness” of those who have criticized him. He needs to understand, though, this is not a personal battle against him. We are battling an army of evil and he has picked the wrong side. We condemn the sin and not the sinner. In that regard, God, Himself, gives us tough love when we need it, to bring us yo our senses and back to the right side.
If he is reading this now, I would like Archbishop Sotirios to know that my family and I have been praying DAILY for him and for all our priests and hierarchs, not just since Covid-19, but for many years. This means that we love him.
However, it does NOT mean that we agree with him or that we condone what he is doing. I hope that Archbishop Sotirios will be able to understand this very important difference. Christ loved the Pharisees as well, but see how strongly he criticized them in order to protect the laity from them, and to help bring the Pharisees to repentance.
May the prayers of our most Holy Theotokos, therefore, save us and enlighten all our hierarchs. They need to wake up and realize that we are living in a time when they need to roll up their sleeves and fight with, not against us. For as long as we are on this earth, we must fight against the evil within and without, with all our might.
One cannot expect to be welcomed into the Church Triumphant if one does not put on the armour of God and fight while in the Church Militant.
Indeed, why won’t Orthodox Bishops, not just in California, but in all of North America, fight for the Church, for Truth, for Christ? After all, did they not commit their whole lives to the Church, to Truth and to Christ?
Not only are they not fighting, but some of them, to justify their passivity, such as Archbishop Sotirios of Canada, even attack the faithful who are fighting by labeling them as “fanatics”. During his Greek sermon on August 24th at the Divine Liturgy that celebrated the feast day of St. Kosmas Aitolos at the Canadian Monastery in King City that bears the saint’s name, Archbishop Sotirios came down hard on the modern day “fanatics” in the Greek Orthodox Church by stating that St. Kosmas, despite his fiery faith was never a fanatic. He goes on to say that fanaticism stems from arrogance and pride; and pride is the well-spring of every type of sin.
Please listen to his Greek sermon here
According to the dictionary, fanaticism is extreme devotion or zeal. According to the expanded definition, fanaticism often begins with a sudden, dramatic shift in world-view, often due to an overwhelmingly disturbing experience that is not readily explainable using “ordinary” or familiar frameworks. This sounds very much like St. Paul’s Damascus experience which certainly changed his world view. Afterwards, St. Paul certainly displayed extreme devotion and zeal in serving Christ by almost single-handedly Christianizing the entire Greco-Roman Gentile world. Was St. Paul a fanatic?
In Revelations 3:15-16, Christ says to the Church in Laodicea, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” “Hot” and “cold” are metaphors for a passionate commitment to or against Christ. Obviously, Christ wants us to be passionately committed to Him. Isn’t passionate commitment the same thing as extreme devotion or zeal? Is someone who is passionately committed to Christ a fanatic?
When Jesus was asked about the most important commandment, He said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” Then he added, “The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31). Jesus made it simple by breaking down the whole law into two to-dos, but just because something is simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. Jesus showed us how difficult it was to live these laws when He, Himself, loved His Father with all His heart, soul, mind and strength and when He loved us, not as Himself, but more than Himself, by dying a most violent and shameful death on the cross. This act of love was pretty extreme. In fact, nothing is more extreme than the Creator dying for His creation. So, when Jesus did that, was He a fanatic?
Furthermore, Jesus invites us to take up our cross and follow Him. Is He inviting us to be fanatics too? Well, if a fanatic, according to the definition, is someone with extreme devotion or zeal, then the answer must be yes, He is inviting us to be that way and He actually prefers us that way. Those of us who do love Christ with all our heart, soul and mind, or at least try to, have no problem being fanatics for Him; but Archbishop Sotirios has a big problem with it. His problem with it is big enough to arbitrarily redefine a fanatic as someone with extreme arrogance or pride, even though there is no such description in the definition of the word.
Of course, someone who has extreme devotion or zeal, can be a fanatic for good, or a fanatic for evil. I can certainly understand how a fanatic for evil can have arrogance or pride, but if St. Paul and Christ, Himself, were fanatics for good (by definition of the word), is Archbishop Sotirios characterizing St. Paul and Christ (just to name a few Christians who gave their lives for us and for the faith) as arrogant and proud?
In his sermon on August 24th, Archbishop Sotirios, praises those Greeks who gave their lives to end the tyrrany of the Turks in order to support freedom, Hellenism and the Orthodox Church; but interestingly, he does not label them as fanatics. Did these people who willingly died not have extreme devotion and zeal for what they were fighting for? Of course they did! But if they were not fanatics, what were they?
Very simply, when someone has extreme devotion or zeal which is to our benefit, we call them a hero. However, if their extreme devotion or zeal is not to our advantage, we call them a fanatic! “Fanatic” is a dirty modern-day word that implies disruptive, destructive, unreasonable, extreme; but that is not what the word actually means.
Because our extreme devotion and zeal to Christ is preventing us from doing the bidding of Archbishop Sotirios and taking Holy Communion with multiple spoons; because we are not obedient to this heresy, and instead, we are obedient to Christ, it suits his Eminence to bully us into obedience by brandishing his multiple spoons while calling us fanatics; or to shame us into obedience by calling us arrogant.
He then continues his masterful mind game by chastising our so-called arrogance. He refers to the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, and compares us to the Pharisee who puts himself and his self-righteousness above everyone else, to the point that God should be obligated to him for being so good, rather than the Pharisee being obligated to God. These are his words.
It is sad beyond any words that his Eminence, has arbitrarily imposed multiple communion spoons so easily without any attempt to clarify any laws against Holy Communion, (which do not exist), or to pacify any local public health authorities. It is horrifying to hear him preach that St. Kosmas would partake of the multiple spoons if he were alive today. It is disappointing that he persists in misinterpreting the canon regarding the vessels people would bring to the church to receive the Body of Christ, by which manner he continues to deliberately confuse the faithful. It is frightening that he has dared to elevate himself above the synod of our Patriarch; above the instructions of the Patriarch, himself, not to not deviate from the single spoon; above the Canadian national and state laws which do not interfere with our communion methods, thereby creating his own communion laws; above past Holy Ecumenical Synods; above Holy Tradition; above the words of St. Paul who said, “stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (2 Thessalonians 2:15; and even above Christ Himself, by trying to convince us that although the Body and Blood of our Lord cannot transmit disease, the Holy Lavida and the Holy Chalice can contaminate us even while coated by the Holy Eucharist – something which has not happened during any plague in 2000 years!
Who, then, is the arrogant Pharisee? Who is the disruptive, destructive, unreasonable and extreme fanatic who has more confidence in his own misplaced judgement, rather than the power of God in the Holy Eucharist? If, rather than imposing the multiple spoons, Archbishop Sotirios had spent half as much of his time and energy emulating the Greek freedom fighters whom he admires so much, by fighting for the Orthodox Church, for Truth and for Christ, then everyone would be united as one family, no one would call him ANAXIOS and everyone would call him “father,” as he says he wishes to be called in his sermon. I feel certain that he would like very much to be called an AXIOS father, but one must first be AXIOS and behave as a father to be called as such.
Someone should tell Archbishop Sotirios that an AXIOS father fights for the Church and not against the Church. Someone should remind him that the Church is the Body of Christ and the Body of Christ is US, the laity. He should therefore, fight for US. An AXIOS Orthodox father becomes the ultimate example of obedience and humility and does not try to impose these virtues on others in order to control and manipulate them, because these are demonic methods that do not work on those who have put on Christ. Those who have put on Christ know right from wrong and cannot be fooled by Machiavellian manipulations and lies. A true Bishop teaches by example and not by force. He teaches with love and not with insults.
It seems that his Eminence and his Bishop peers who will not fight for the Church, all need a refreshing example of a Bishop who does fight. This example will be provided very soon. I hope to God it makes a difference and brings them back from their indifference and their apostasy.
May the prayers of our most Holy Theotokos save us.
Finally a succinct statement of the truths of the matter. No more abjectly servile a group can be seen than the ROCOR leaders. Most of those in favor of collaboration with the tyrannical government edicts unfortunately lack comprehensive information and education. And serious doubts arise that they even pursue them. As a result they know not what they do except to cower and hope for decent treatment from their oppressors. This posture hardly merits a descriptive such as “leadership.” More fitting might be “asleep at the helm.” How eerily this echoes Russia in 1917-1918!
Accusing the ROCOR hierarchs of being “servile” does not apply in the Western American Diocese. Archbishop Kyrill established a mechanism to provide the Holy Mysteries of Christ’s Body and Blood for the faithful, even with the church doors being locked at the order of the state. He also publicly challenged Governor Newsom’s ban on singing and chanting. I do not know what may be taking place in other ROCOR dioceses, but Abp. Kyrill has not been silent. I am thankful that the mechanism he established allows our parish (not located in the People’s Republic of California) to remain open and functioning without limitations, while the churches of other jurisdictions remain closed.
That is great news! Can you share details of the mechanism in place for providing the mysteries to the faithful, or can you direct us online so that we can read them for ourselves? If a system works, then it should be considered by the other jurisdictions rather than simply closing and going to a live stream model. Also, any idea if Archbishop Kyrill will be joining any of the law suits against California?
While I totally understand the frustration, I am even more saddened and disappointed in the information presented above. Actually, you may want to do more research into this before you do a shotgun approach aiming at all of the orthodox hierarchs here in California! Unfortunately you were wrong about some of them and very right about others. Your research and writing needs to be much more discerning before you contribute to the public dialogue on this that can create misinformation and add to the already confusing and disturbing sate of affairs in this state. Remember, blessed are the peacemakers! The truth shall set you free! But unfortunately there is a lot of truth missing in the above article. Lord have mercy!
Please look at the ROCOR open letter sent to governor Gavin Newsom by their hierarch in San Francisco, (orthochristian.com) where he called out the governor‘s actions as hypocritical in the strongest of terms.
And in addition the Antiochian orthodox metropolitan Joseph issued a letter to all his clergy in California after the governor’s second shut down of the churches, in which he instructed them to keep them open at the same 25% capacity that he had blessed previously. He instructed us however to have the live streaming to be audio only, as I assume he is not trying to purposely pick a fight with the authorities but remain faithful to our orthodox practice and faith in the face of the politicization of this crisis. He is not asking us to run out and cause martyrdom on this issue, but he is sticking firm that the churches remain open and be able to do all the sacraments and the services. And that has been our practice since.
I cannot speak for any of the other orthodox jurisdictions as I have not researched them, although I know one specific jurisdictions’ church in my town that all the way through this pandemic has not changed any of its practice at all! Wise or not, They remained open with no limitations except for what the people themselves chose to do. I do not know if that was the policy of their bishop or not, however it wisely perhaps was not advertised. There is no need to have to attract such attention. The early church in the first three centuries of Roman persecutions nor during the times of the communist persecution did not seek martyrdom with several holy exceptions but in general the hierachs were trying to protect and defend their flocks. Perhaps that is the same for many of the California orthodox hierarchs as well? I don’t know. I have not interviewed them nor ask them myself personally. But I would think before writing such a piece, I would seek to do so to give them a chance to speak and a benefit of a doubt rather than blanketly condemning all of them. We were warned by no one less than the Lord himself that we are to judge not lest we be judged as we have judged!
I cannot speak as to what is going on in the Russian Orthodox Church abroad parishes, but I do know that in my own Antiochian parish here, I have already done two funerals, two weddings, three baptisms and all our great vespers and vesper liturgies from inside our church temple building since the demand from the governor to shut down. We do everything outside on Sunday mornings only in order to prevent having to restrict any numbers of attendance and so we can live stream our service to those who have to remain at home. Sadly, we have several refugees of orthodox from other parishes who are currently having to be restricted from their church.
So please, in the future, be much more careful in both your research and writing to get it right before claiming such strong accusations against everyone. I do not believe such writing ends up helping anyone at this time. Forgive me a sinner for my corrections that I have offered, as I do not ever normally respond nor read these comments. But I felt it necessary to do so to defend the hierarchs I know who have done the best they can do, as well as to try to encourage anyone who may have been scandalized by the unfortunate inaccuracies in this article. If the Lord tarries, perhaps after this whole mess is done and the dust settles we will have a better reckoning as to who did what, but for now I believe there is a big diversity as to our bishops response to these restrictions here in California. Time and history will show this. But that takes patience and perseverance to find out. May God grant us all such. God bless you all.
Greetings Father –
Thank you for the contribution and your blessings. This was in the spam box for some reason, or we would have published it sooner. First of all, we are very glad that the Antiochians are active in California, if even at a 25% level. What we can’t understand, is since this is not the Soviet Union (or pagan Rome), why has Metropolitan Joseph not seen fit to at least denounce the lock down by Newsome? Not even in mild terms? We have seen and read the ROCOR letter concerning singing, but that was prior to the lock down. As you can see from the article itself, we looked at multiple official Orthodox sources and did not see any push back or even coverage of California. Should not the bishops be speaking on this topic? If the shepherds are not providing guidance, then lost sheep are inevitable.
We think the quote from Abbot Tryphon is really spot on – the public perception is that Orthodox worship is non-essential. That perception was reinforced by some of the encouragement that bishops gave their flock to “fast from communion” during Lent and other such things that actually painted the church closings in a positive light. This is, of course, horrible. But where are the bishops addressing this perception? Sending private letters to priests and quietly running parishes undercover does nothing to alter the public’s view. And that is a public we are trying to reach for the Glory of God. Nor does it help the Orthodox whose parishes are all-the-way closed or the Orthodox in other parts of the world who look at the situation in California with horror.
In the article we asked for bishops to speak out (none currently are, as you confirmed). Priests, abbots, and even foreign hierarchs are speaking out. But other than the one ROCOR letter, we cannot find anything of a public statement. Why does the Assembly of Bishops have nothing on it? Or Goarch? Or the OCA site? We also asked why aren’t the bishops exercising their Constitutional right to sue? The protestants are. Why are we content with either closed churches or 25% capacity? No martyrdom is necessary at this point, as the article emphasized. We have a functioning court system and the Constitution is still, officially, the law of the land. In fact, as the article made clear, a major legal non-profit is even underwriting the cost of the cases. Why can’t an Orthodox Church go to court?
If the bishops have a reason why Orthodox Christians, unlike other American citizens, should not avail themselves of the court system to protect Constitutional rights, then we need to be taught this. Because right now, we don’t understand the inaction. If you don’t stand up while you have a court system to protect your rights, then do you plan to stand up after you have managed to forfeit them? There is not one of us who is not concerned where this leads if we don’t stand up now while we can. If the bishops see things differently, could they provide some direction?
Did you read this from the Russian Church:
The Russian Church flatly rejects the “new normal” and also gives some indication that the bishops understand that this situation, even in Moscow, was highly politicized and that churches were really closed unjustly. A statement along those lines from American bishops would go a long ways towards calming people down. The fear among many Orthodox is that the Church, overall, caved to the State on what turned out to be spurious grounds and will do it again next crisis. The fear is that the bishops are willing to bow to the state. We don’t need the bishops to justify their actions in the past crisis. We need them to lay down principles so that we can understand how things will go in the future.
And a last thing, there are many, many people saying what I am saying. Did you see the article from this priest:
You can’t counter the negative public perception of inaction in California, Father. The bishops themselves need to come out and talk to us. What makes this worse is that we are not back in March anymore. Back then, with the projections flying around about 1.2 million or more dead just in the U.S., a lot of hysteria was unleashed. If it had been “15 days to flatten the curve,” then no one would have said anything to the bishops. But we are now six months into this, and it is clear that Covid-19 is not the black plague. It is equally clear that closing our churches has had devastating impacts on our people. Yet, here we are. Other synods of bishops actually talk to their people. Ours need to do so as well. Good priests like you do NOT deserve to have to explain the behavior of their superiors. The bishops themselves should be publicly discussing their decisions, their reasons, and addressing the perceived implications. That is their role.
Thank you again Father for your comments and your blessings.
It would be wiser to pray fervently at home for an end to this pandemic. There are prayers available which are powerful. It is not a good thing to attack bishops in the name of defending the right to worship.” Christians do not have rights. Christians have duties, obligations to protect their neighbors. Using the time of the pandemic to help those suffering is a good thing. Praying for those Orthodox infected with the virus is a wise use of time, as well as praying for those who have died. There are online lists for these needs.
Greetings Alice –
Thank you for your response. We should all be praying for our bishops and the health of our country. That is a very good thing to remember. We must remember that we also have a duty to God to assemble and worship. That may be a right under our Constitution, but it is also an obligation to God. We have been commanded to worship. Please keep in mind, Christianity is not safe and has never really been safe. If you read the quotes in the article about the hundreds of thousands of martyrs in just Rome, the truth is that Christians have assembled to worship at the risk of their lives since Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead. Please keep in mind that a virus with a 99.96% survival rate is a lot less threatening than what our Christian brothers and sisters in the Muslim and communist worlds face every Sunday, and yet they gather and worship. The government has no right to interfere in our duty to worship God as a Church. I would refer you to quotes in the article by Abbot Tryphon and Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou. You can find the same sentiment in the Georgian Church (which never shut its doors) and the Russian Church in most of the country outside Moscow. Beyond that, I would also just point out that by any reasonable criteria, the “pandemic” is over. If you take a look at this graph:
https://twitter.com/drdavidsamadi/status/1297480233671692289?s=21
on Dr. Samadi’s timeline, you will see that the mortality rate of Covid-19 is down to almost nothing. All of our hysteria at this point is driven by case numbers detected via testing largely non-symptomatic individuals. It is just as safe now to go to Church as it ever was.
Finally, I would point out that in California, Casinos and liquor stores are open while churches are closed. This is clearly not about safety, but is a targeted assault on the Church herself. If we accept this, then we have no idea where that precedent will lead.
In Christ,
Nicholas
The laity needs to play a more active role in deciding who the hierarchs will be… It it our Canonical right, by the way, but due to corruption it has become customary to ignore this Canon, and turn it into a “good ol’ boy network”, resulting in the ugliness we are witnessing…
I am from Canada, but I believe that what happens in one Archdiocese matters to all Orthodox Christians. The only conversation the Archbishop should have had with politicians was one that demanded the reopening of your churches.
I also hold Archbishop Elpidophoros responsible for the Holy Communion crisis we have on our hands here in Canada. Undoubtedly, Archbishop Sotirios has made matters worse and has his imprint all over this debacle, but this crisis originated from the Archdiocese of America, with a June 1 YouTube video, in which Archbishop Elpidophoros advocated for multiple spoons in the middle of a pandemic saying, “It’s not the way we receive Holy Communion. It’s the Communion itself that saves us, and gives us Eternal Life.”
On the contrary, the way we approach and receive the Greatest Gift of Orthodox life, Holy Communion, determines whether our participation will be a blessing in our lives, or a condemnation.
From what I can see, he has brought with him many radical ideas from Turkey – God help us if he ever becomes Patriarch one day.
This is beyond disgusting. Those bishops should be in fear for their souls, but apparently not. It makes me wonder if they even believe in God.
Keep in mind that there is a long history of “Orthodox” bishops betraying the faith. St. Athanasius stood against the whole world (and its bishops). St. Maximos the Confessor also stood alone against the hordes of bishops who betrayed the faith. Or consider St. Mark of Ephesus, who was one of only two bishops who stood for Orthodoxy when all the rest at the false council of Florence abandoned the faith. Etc.
Stay faithful to Christ in union with His Church, and anathema to the bishops to abandon the flock and disobey Christ!
This is spot on! Hasn’t Archbishop Elpidophoros broken a canon that forbids hierarchs and priests from delving into secular and political matters?
Furthermore, how can the Archbishop expect the Turkish regime to respect religious rights when SCOTUS and our own states don’t respect our first amendment right to religious freedom? How can he expect Ἁγία Σοφία to reopen as an Orthodox Church one day, God willing, when our churches in California, Nevada and elsewhere remain closed under state orders?
Defending the faith begins at home. The Archbishop must use his position to persuade those in power to reopen our places of worship. He must add his important voice to the growing chorus of voices calling for the resumption of in-person religious services and the protection of our religious liberties. This is where his priorities should lie, not with lowering himself to political affairs.
His participation in a political convention was ill-advised and only served to drive a wedge between the faithful along political lines. Henceforth, he must remain neutral and apolitical, devoting his energies towards defending God, the Orthodox faith and the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Sad how the “Church of the Martyrs” bows before Caesar, and the Evangelicals stand up to him, like St. Paul stood against Nero. Kinda makes me wonder if I made the right decision by leaving them for Orthodoxy.
You made the right choice, never doubt that. Just because these men are stumbling right now, does not mean that they won’t find their way. Peter was the prince of all bishops, and he not only denied Christ but also tried to limit Gentile involvement in the Church. A council was needed to correct him. We have had, even in recent memory, bishops in this country that were saints. We need to pray for these men to find their courage. And if they do not, then have faith as God will bring forth leaders worthy of Him.
I feel your frustration, I really do. Defending the faith takes courage, something that is sorely lacking in our Church leaders today.
But, please don’t let the mistakes of men be the reason for leaving the Church. Have faith in God and HIS CHURCH. Nicholas is right, let us pray for our hierarchs, that they find the strength to defend the Orthodox faith against her many enemies, some even from within. Regardless, God will always protect His Church. Have faith my brother in Christ, have faith!
“…Never be timid in your struggles, even if you see the enemies of the Church becoming stronger….The one that struggles for the Orthodox faith and for our holy Church has the Almighty God for an ally, while the one that struggles for deceit has the ever cunning devil for ally, the weak master of darkness, of lies and all heresies, fallacies and wickedness.”
+ Elder Zervakos of blessed memory
Unfortunately, I do not have the English translation of yet another timely quote from Elder Zervakos of blessed memory. Basically this wise elder ensures us that God will not abandon His Church; that He will humble those who wage war against Her; and blessed are those who, to death, confess and remain faithful to their Orthodox faith.
Our hierarchs today are timid and more preoccupied with pleasing the confines of secularism than with defending our faith. In so doing, they have abandoned God, His Church and His flock. But God always has the last word and everyone will have to give an account of themselves before His awesome judgment.
We have our hands full with our impostor of an Archbishop here in Canada, and it looks like you do too with your Archbishop. May God give us the strength to struggle for and remain steadfast in our faith and, rest assured, He will take care of the rest.
«Ο Θεός δεν εγκαταλείπει την Εκκλησίαν Του· και εκείνους που την πολεμούν, θα τους ταπεινώσει και θα τους συντρίψει ως σκεύη κεραμέως· και μακάριοι εκείνοι οι οποίοι μέχρι θανάτου θα μείνουν πιστοί εις την ορθόδοξον πίστιν, εις την ορθόδοξον ομολογίαν».
– Μακαριστός Γέροντας Φιλόθεος Ζερβάκος
Unfortunately, I do not have the English translation of yet another timely quote from Elder Zervakos of blessed memory. Basically this wise elder says that God will not abandon His Church; that He will humble those who wage war against Her; and blessed are those who, to death, confess and remain faithful to their Orthodox faith.
Our hierarchs today are timid and more preoccupied with pleasing the confines of secularism than with defending Orthodoxy. In so doing, they have abandoned God, His Church and His flock. But God always has the last word and everyone will have to give an account of themselves before His awesome judgment.
We have our hands full with our impostor of an Archbishop here in Canada, and it looks like you do too with your Archbishop. May God give us the strength to struggle for and remain steadfast in our faith and, rest assured, He will take care of the rest.