A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 28 - Tuesday, July 13th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Iakovos’ verdictArchbishop Iakovos is the kind of a rare man with the wisdom to ask questions and listen when someone else talks. And when he talks, everybody listens. And his words are not forgotten. Just the opposite, in fact. Like a fine bricklayer who builds a great structure, he is a great wordsmith, with a total command of the words he speaks—both in Greek and English—and his words he chooses so very carefully. A deep thinker who can express his thoughts with precision and in an understated, laconic fashion, it is a challenge and a joy to read his interviews. He spoke last week to The National Herald after a long time. And it is a joy to see one of the great ones at work. God knows there are few people left as capable as he is. However, the picture he painted, (like a brilliant painter would), about the state of our church is not a pretty one. He sees a cloud over the Archdiocese. He sees the Church becoming more secular—a grave observation when it comes to a Church—which is contrary to the image portrayed by some. He sees the Church losing its identity and he is furious: I hear that today we become pantheists by saying that “Jews and Muslims and us, all believe in the same God. There is no greater illusion than this. The name Greek and Orthodox was not won in any lottery,” says Iakovos. He responds more to history than to any one person when he talks about the lack of great Greek schools in America: “I would have regretted it if I had the support and the encouragement of people that I disappointed.” He makes a damaging revelation that is bound to haunt Archbishop Demetrios for years to come: that he was given the “directive to reconstruct the Archdiocese from its foundations as the Patriarchate wanted. It was said by trusted confidants that he was told not to have any relationship with Iakovos and the past.
One may agree or
disagree with Iakovos, but one thing is for
certain: He chose to speak. And from now on,
things will not be the same. |
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