ONGOING THREATS AND TWISTED LOGIC
After going through a massive number of letters and comments regarding the abnormal and uncanonical situation which continues to exist in the community, and which will soon be resolved in the preservation of the Holy Canons and the Uniform Parish Regulations of our Archdiocese in the United States of America, please allow me to object to those individuals who have repeatedly taken the name of His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Olympos in ways, I am totally convinced, which are totally disrespectful to his reposing soul.
Yet more threats? Was it not the Metropolitan who promised to honor, albeit grudgingly, the "split survey vote" (87% AGAINST splitting the community) in his letter to this community, December 6, 2007?
The title of the deceased bishop reflects the fact that he was a titular bishop with no administrative authority. When a bishop has the title of a non-existent city, this indicates that he has no authority of his own and always responds to the wishes of his superiors. When Bishop Demetrios was located in Los Angeles, California, he served the ecclesiastical needs of the parishes. He never had any administrative responsibilities.
According to this tortured logic, bishops whose titles have included names of cities no longer in modern existence, have no administrative authority. This is utterly disingenuous. If we were to believe this, then it surely follows that His Eminence, who in 2002 was still Metropolitan Isaiah of Proikonisos (an ancient city in his title) had no administrative authority to disband a properly elected Parish Council in September 2002 in this city. Presumably, this would hold true with any and all other "administrative" actions he might have taken, while still Metropolitan of a no-longer existent church entity?
Bishop Demetrios had an ancient city affixed to his title; this has not been uncommon then or now. Nevertheless, he was the presiding hierarch of the Greek Archdiocese, Western States District, to which our church belonged at that time. If, in fact Bishop Demetrios had "no authority of his own" and always had to respond "to the wishes of his superiors...", then clearly he must have consulted those superiors in order to go ahead and send those letters under his signature. To say that Bishop Demetrios, eternal be his memory, had no administrative responsibilities or authority when he was our presiding bishop is to impugn his honor and his memory, and implies that he was a liar and a fraud by sending those letters and signing them! And it is not WE who have implied it!
Finally, when I was assigned as the assistant priest at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Salt Lake City in March 1962, under Father Steven Katsaris, who could not wait to leave the parish quickly enough, it was Archbishop Iakovos who assigned me, and not Bishop Demetrios.
There was only ONE Greek Orthodox church in this valley at that time. No one who was around then seems to recall anyone treating then-Father Isaiah so badly as to cause such rancor on his part. Further, nearly all parishioners in our memory held Father Katsaris in high esteem. Frankly, both the negative second-hand assertion about Fr. Katsaris and the fact of the Metropolitan's first assignment as a new priest are not relevant. It is simply clear that the Metropolitan, along with the Proistamenos-of-Prophet-Elias-only, holds our Cathedral campus and parishioners who mainly attend there, in great disdain. Inexplicably, the Metropolitan cannot resist demonstrating his contempt, both in how, and to where, he addresses his increasingly vitriolic missives. How sad and how unseemly.
May our loving God forgive those individuals who have been attempting to besmirch the name of my brother in the Lord, Bishop Demetrios, who was kind enough to do the funeral of my father in California. May these individuals be forgiven by our Lord Jesus Christ, and may the soul of Bishop Demetrios continue to rest in peace.
Interestingly, the Metropolitan fails to mention that Bishop Demetrios also ordained him to the priesthood in 1962 - a rather curious omission. Regardless, the only reason Bishop Demetrios might not be resting in peace is the assertion that he lacked any authority to affix his name to the letters he signed and sent to this community in 1964. That assertion was made by Metropolitan Isaiah, and NOT by anyone who holds the unity of this community dear.
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