Erdoğan’s games with Orthodoxy are nothing new. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs always offers the same excuse. Erdoğan, on his own, is merely placating his audience. The realists who have eyes to see provide an accurate description: the Turks have also deprived us of our “anteri.” For those familiar with church matters, “anteri” refers to a garment typically worn under the cassock. In Greek, it is used figuratively to denote complete deprivation.
Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque , as was the Chora Monastery. The Patriarch’s Archdeacon has become stranded in Greece due to a lack of a residence permit. On other news, eveything is fine.
Obsessions and assumptions
Some may disagree with him on many things. However, we should agree on one thing: Archbishop Elpidophoros of America was the only hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne who reacted internationally to the conversion of the Chora Monastery.
Everyone else just… hid. The Metropolitans in Constantinople keep their distance. It is understandable to some extent. Why did Archbishop of Thyateira remain silent from the safety zone of London? Why doesn’t Archbishop of Thyateira’s friend, lawyer Sakis Kechagioglou, offer him advice?
Why did the Metropolitans of Sweden, Belgium, etc., not publicly oppose the decision regarding the Church of the Chora? Some argue that the discretion towards the Turks is, for some, driven by their desire to secure Turkish citizenship for their future aspirations.
Reforms and… clerical diplomacy
Five years have passed since the election of the Archbishops of America, Thyateira, and Australia. I am looking for the profound reforms enacted by these three hierarchs.
Archbishop of America prevented the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology from bankruptcy. He achieved a hard-won success with the completion of St. Nicholas Church in Manhattan. He rescued the pension fund of clergy in the United States. He has this skill of management, as they call in in the USA.
What he is missing is… clerical diplomacy. He holds firm to his opinions, supporting them to the end, which is why he also garners enemies. Enemies who frequently trivialize issues For instance, the accusation that he wasn’t sufficiently stringent in his reactions to Erdogan regarding the Chora Church!
On the other hand, Archbishop Makarios of Australia established a Provincial Synod within five years. This is a reform he implemented within the Church he leads.
Apart from appointing Sakis Kechagioglou as an archon, the Archbishop of Thyateira has not demonstrated any other notable achievements.
Support for the Phanar
The current period is challenging for the Ecumenical Patriarchate. To some extent, it’s the courtesy extended by the Greek government that Erdogan exploits, along with the disputes between Gerapetritis and Papadopoulou, and the unrest within the diplomatic corps that create complications, all of which tighten the grip on the Patriarch.
The Hierarchs of the Phanar should stand by him, offering support, and set aside clerical diplomacy for the appropriate moment.
From the column of Greek edition orthodoxtimes.gr, Melchizedek
*Published in the newspaper “Orthodoxi Alitheia”
