I'm watching what is happening to UOC parishes and clergy right now and wondering if he mentioned the violence and persecution done by the Ukrainian state against Orthodox there? I don't see it mentioned here.
(Orthodox Times) - Archbishop Elpidophoros of America was the honored guest at the National Intelligence University’s Presidential Lecture Series where he addressed the faculty and student body on the topic of “Russia’s Weaponization of Religion in the Ukraine Conflict.” This historic visit marks the first-ever address by the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to the US intelligence community. The National Intelligence University (NIU) is the US intelligence community’s elite flagship academic institution, and its faculty and students are comprised of members of all 18 agencies of the intelligence community (including the CIA, NSA, NGA, FBI, etc.) as well as all branches of the US armed forces.
NIU President Dr. J. Scott Cameron extended an invitation for Archbishop Elpidophoros to visit NIU and to share his unique perspectives, insights, and experiences about the religious dynamics of the Ukraine conflict. Facilitating the event was Dr. Jake Sotiriadis, Director of NIU’s Research Center for Futures Intelligence and senior Air Force intelligence officer, who moderated the discussion for the hundreds of attendees in the university’s auditorium. The Archbishop delivered a speech on the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s granting of autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and discussed the implications of Russia’s distortion of the Orthodox faith in the Ukraine conflict. In recent times, these topics have been increasingly coming into focus within Western academic and political circles. Archbishop Elpidophoros sought to make a meaningful contribution by enhancing the US national security community’s awareness of the ideational aspects of war and conflict. The Archbishop answered numerous questions from students and faculty who appreciated his unique knowledge and personal experience of a convoluted conundrum that demands both nuanced understanding and a sense of urgency.
The Archbishop presented NIU President Cameron with a copy of a book on the Ukrainian Church authored by the Archbishop, which will be displayed at the NIU library, as well as a commemorative icon in honor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s centennial anniversary. After receiving a standing ovation from the audience, Dr. Cameron presented a commemorative NIU folio to Archbishop Elpidophoros and thanked him on behalf of the NIU academic community.
Upon concluding the lecture, Archbishop Elpidophoros traveled to Constantinople, where he is now participating in the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
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The UOC has a credibility problem within Ukraine. Some clergy from the UOC have been convicted of collaborating against the Ukrainian government during the war, and the UOC hasn't made any statement denouncing these clergy's collaboration. This stands in contrast to the righteous example of St. Tikhon of Moscow who forbade his clergy from collaborating against the Bolshevik government.
ReplyDeleteWhile the UOC has condemned the war and distanced itself to some extent from the Moscow Patriarchate, there remains a sense that the UOC is actually still part of the MP. There is no definitive statement yet that clarifies the UOC as fully independent and autocephalous. So, this has caused many people in Ukraine to view the UOC distrustfully as something like a Trojan horse, appearing benign but perhaps ultimately seeking to undermine the Ukrainian government and military. It also probably didn't help matters when the UOC took a stand against the Ukrainian government by contacting the United Nations. That's just going to feed the credibility problem.
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ReplyDeleteI am not the biggest fan of Elpidophoros, but as the saying goes; even a stopped clock is right twice a day. The most charitable thing that can be said of the Russian Church is that it looks like it has fallen back into its familiar role as a de facto department of the state. It seems to have become a religious propaganda organ for Putin's dictatorship. More troubling to my mind are statements in recent years from the MP and prominent clergy that appear to be promoting a dangerous and potentially heretical strain of ethno-nationalism and militarism.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely MP in the last year has showed why being in power isnt good for Orthodox Churches with its actions... UOC has definitely been persecuted unfairly but agree with Joseph it has not done a sufficient job of convincing people of its independence.
ReplyDeleteOnce heard an interesting theory from an Syriac Christian that ethnocentrism of Byzantine Orthodox was the most harm to Persian evangelism of Christianity and rise of Islam there.
ReplyDeleteIslam on Iran is entirely an Arabian creation though ex-Zoroastrian Iranian workers made it their own as Shi’a mullahs and ayatollahs. Arabians were at least as racially supremacist as hellenophone Romans.
DeleteI just do not understand what makes the Greek Archbishop an expert on this topic. In my opionion it in incredible that such an uncredible source was taken to be such an expert. The oar of the Geeks in this issue makes them extremely biased and not a voice of impartiality or reason.
ReplyDeleteI see it as a mere media sop. No scholar of ecclesiology and Church history would consider such fluffery a reliable record of actual Church life. The junket accomplishes propaganda goals of establishing a media byline authored by a vaunted hierarch. It’s mutual boosting of collaborators in a joint project.
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