Disappointed

Published by The National Herald, September 24, 2004

Patriarch Disappointed in U.S. Church Leadership

By Theodore Kalmoukos
Special to The National Herald

BOSTON.- A great deal of disappointment exists at the Ecumenical Patriarchate about the general course of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and more specifically on the following issues: 1) The ostracism of the Greek language, education and Hellenic identity in general; 2) the events that transpired during the official banquet of the Clergy-Laity Congress, and more specifically, the open propaganda for autocephaly by Metropolitan Philip from the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese; 3) the finances of the Archdiocese and its annual contribution to the Ecumenical Patriarchate; 4) the incompetent way in which the Chancery deals with various administrative matters.

The National Herald notified Archbishop Demetrios in writing two days prior to the publication of this article, requesting comment, but there was no response.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios made the dysphoria of the Patrarchate known to Archbishop Demetrios during the most recent meeting of the Holy Synod, on Monday and Tuesday, August 30 and 31, at the Phanar in Constantinople. Patriarch Bartholomaios told Archbishop Demetrios in the Synod that “all those days of the Clergy-Laity Congress you did not even use one single word of Greek.”

Bartholomaios also made reference to the visit of Natasa Karamanlis, the Greek Prime Minister’s wife, to New York during which Archbishop Demetrios spoke in English: “Natasha Karamanlis came to Astoria, she spoke to the pupils in Greek, they responded in Greek too, but you Your Eminence addressed her in English, why all these? Why do you not want the Greek language?”

While the rest of the members of the Holy Synod listened intently, Archbishop Demetrios replied to the Patriarch: “There are no more people in America who understand Greek. Today’s generation is a different generation.”

Patriarch Bartholomaios did not agree with Archbishop Demetrios’ point of view and recommended that he change his approach on the issue.

The Herald has learned that many hierarchs and Patriarchal officials were astonished at the Patriarchate when last summer the recently graduated class of Holy Cross visited the Patriarchate and the majority of its members were not able to converse even in basic Greek. This annual visit to the Patriarchate, Mount Athos, Meteora, Thessalonica, Athens, Ionian Village, and costs the Greek government an estimated 60,000 euros.

Patriarch Bartholomaios expressed disappointment that Archbishop Demetrios allowed Metropolitan Philip of the Antiochian Archdiocese to use the banquet of the recent Clergy-Laity Congress in New York to do his propaganda in favor of establishing an autocephalous Orthodox Church in America: “You should have stopped him,” Patriarch Bartholomaios told Archbishop Demetrios, who did not respond except to say that, “I invited him because he is the vice chairman of SCOBA.” As Metropolitan Philip himself revealed the night of the banquet, Archbishop Demetrios was the one who insisted that the Metropolitan speak at the banquet.

Bartholomaios also made reference to the annual contribution of the $500,000 that the Archdiocese sends to the Patriarchate. This amount has remained the same for the last ten years.

“You are mocking us by saying that you were going to increase the annual contribution. You send $500,000 a year after we sent you many reminders to send us the money. You said that you were going to increase the amount by bringing the issue for approval to the Clergy-Laity Congress, but you did not even mention it.”

Patriarch Bartholomaios also told the Archbishop that “many hierarchs [from America] say that the monies which are collected through their Metropolises for the Ecumenical Patriarchate and sent via the Archdiocese, not all of it reach the Phanar.”

Patriarch Bartholomaios took issue with the report that Archbishop Demetrios presented about the recent Clergy-Laity Congress in which he painted a “rosy” picture of the Archdiocese. After the usual expressions of congratulations “for the peaceful Clergy-Laity Congress,” Bartholomaios added that he had to make some observations and he then began telling Archbishop Demetrios off, as it was revealed here.

The Herald has also learned that Patriarch Bartholomaios had a stern private conversation with Archbishop Demetrios on Church issues. Bartholomaios mentioned specifically the way the Chancellor of the Archdiocese deals with various issues of an ecclesiastical and administrative nature.



Volume 6 Number 39 - Tuesday, September 28th, 2004	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY