Change

Submitted to The National Herald, October 12, 2004

Change in Command is next?

Two very important items appeared in the National Herald issue dated September 25-26, 2004. Both were summations by Mr. Kalmoukos The one that appeared on page 1 is an alleged account of events that took place on August 30 and 31 when the Holy Synod met at the Phanar. Mr. Kalmoukos’ account describes His Holiness as being quite upset with the status of the Church in America, and this led His Holiness into what one can describe as a most embarrassing “tongue lashing” of Archbishop Demetrios in the presence of his fellow Hierarchs! I dare say there was nothing complimentary in that assessment made by the Patriarch. Also, the report mentions a private meeting that followed between the Archbishop and His Holiness but makes no comment on the discussion that may have occurred in the private chambers.

The second item reported on by Mr. Kalmoukos was on page 3 of your paper. He summarizes the gist of a personal letter sent to the Archbishop dated September 18, 2004 - approximately 3 weeks after the Holy Synod meeting where the Archbishop was openly and sternly criticized. Yet, in his personal letter, His Holiness went to another extreme - namely, he poured on compliments that amounted to extreme praise and satisfaction of a job well done! He tempered his praise with the acknowledgement that “everything human, by its very nature, comprises an element of incompleteness and admits the possibility of improvement.” This statement is an announcement that “it is time for you, my dear Archbishop to move on”- namely, retire!

One is left with one of two conclusions upon reading these two accounts: [1] the Patriarch allows the reader the unpleasant thought that His Holiness has allowed himself to be criticized as having committed an act of hypocrisy or [2] that he has chosen the well traveled path utilized by administrative executives wherein one will first tell the subject his ineffectiveness and then praise the employee in order to rebuild his dignity as he prepares to replace him! Such executives need to show that in reality they [the executives] are the real victims whereas those who are given the “go away” notice are not.

The appointment of his Eminence Demetrios as the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in America was a move to bring to a strife-torn Church a leader who symbolized love, peace, dedication and “old fashion diplomacy” with the hope that he could unite the laity and bring back some order to our Church. All accounts indicate that Archbishop Demetrios did succeed by utilizing his warm personality and dignified demeanor, coupled with the profound respect his disciples had for his intellectual gifts and spirituality. However, as events have unfolded, the predictable became evident - namely, that an excellent man of letters and academic acclaim does not include administrative excellence as a part of his expected expertise. Throughout history, it has been shown that it is rare to expect an academician of excellence and a capable administrator to co-exist within one person’s capabilities.

Events show that His Holiness now feels the time has come to take the next step- to consolidate his commands, actions [new charter], and control [new parish regulations] wherein he can demonstrate to the religious world that he in fact does have an organized and controlled following; and therefore, he remains the “senior among equals”! One of his first steps was to prepare all for the eventual replacement of Archbishop Demetrios in such a way that the faithful would express a sigh of relief that he will no longer be our leader.

There is a serious flaw to his planning. His Holiness will awaken to the unhappy news that the faithful will see that His Holiness is the problem and that it was not Archbishop Demetrios that they will blame. In time, as the laity absorbs the real meaning of the new parish by-laws and regulations, they will realize that the precious position of respect and appropriate labors they expended over the years in building our Orthodox communities in America the past 75 years are now lost, and the laity as well as the clergy have been reduced to a level of subservience and at best to advisory roles. The clouds of dissent are on the horizon, and if action to correct his autocratic plans is not forthcoming, I believe His Holiness faces the sad reality of a SCHISM in the Greek Orthodox Church which will include both laity and clergy. Hopefully, he will want to avoid the development of a small, purely ethnic Church and a much larger American Church whose governance he will no longer enjoy!

The realities of the changing events in our Church coupled with the need to have the clergy and bishops understand the desires and needs of the western culture - these should all bring a sense of urgency to His Holiness that he will need to rethink his strategy and come to realize his path leads to disaster; whereas, reaching out to his flock in order to understand and accommodate their needs is the ultimate road to salvation of our Church in America. His Holiness needs to stop making unilateral decisions that he believes are for our benefit. Rather, he needs to have extensive dialogue with a broad cross section of the laity and clergy [individuals from all dioceses representing a majority of his “flock” in America] to learn from them about the special nature and issues that affect us in America - and let us work with him as respected team members in order for an accepted program of operations to evolve. Yes, we have pride, and just as he desires our respect for him as a person, he would do well to understand that the laity and clergy believe they deserve the same courtesy from him! Events that have taken place at several Clergy-Laity Congresses [especially the last New York assembly] are vivid examples of non-representation and perfect examples of strong-arm autocratic rule. The sad reality is that these were the tactics orchestrated in compliance with His Holiness’ wishes!

We pray that the Good Lord assist him in seeing the LIGHT before DARKNESS sets in!



Volume 6 Number 42 - Tuesday, October 19th, 2004	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY