Still Dreaming !

The proistameno of Prophet Elias only reiterated for the umpteenth time at the Anastasi dinner that he would retire here and for everyone to be joyous because the split will take place.

The above is the front cover of a Holy Week schedule that was freely distributed at Prophet Elias.  Did the proistameno of Prophet Elias only not receive the March 24, 2011 letter from the Holy Synod?  Are his actions purposely and blatantly defying the order of the Archbishop and the Holy Synod?  How can he continue to be disobedient to the Archbishop and the Holy Synod without ramifications?

Fri., May 6, 2011 9:00 a.m.
Spring Meeting of the Archdiocesan Council The Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers
Boston, Mass.

Since the proistameno of Prophet Elias only is a member of this body and since he is openly defying the instructions of the Archbishop and the Holy Synod, how will he conduct himself at this gathering?  It is presumed that he will be attending since he has again taken time away from the community.

From the March 24, 2011 letter from the Archbishop and the Holy Synod we read:  "Since at this time the community will not be separated into two entities, there will be only  one stewardship pledge form for the parish and all stewardship funds will be centrally administered by the parish council."  The president along with the parish council have failed this community miserably by their inability to take action.  In a phone conversation with Fr. Matthew, I was assured that after this coming Monday night's parish council meeting, we will have one unified pledge card which should be available in less than two weeks. 

In the very near future, time will show us how correct the proistameno of Prophet Elias only is in his prediction that we will be splitting in the very near future, despite the Synod's decision, OR the Archbishop's instructions.

ΛΑΟΣ  ΕΝΩΜΕΝΟΣ  ΠΟΤΕ  ΝΙΚΗΜΕΝΟΣ
Ο ΚΑΙΡΟΣ  ΓΑΡ  ΕΓΓΥΣ

Yannis Armaou

Dream on!

To the proistameno of Prophet Elias only.....
It seems that even the Holy days of Pascha can not have an effect on your arrogance.
You made your statements, now I will make mine.
You are gone and you don't know it or don't want to admit it!
I told you before and I will say it again:"ΘΑ ΦΥΓΕΙΣ ΝΥΧΤΑ".
Χριστος Ανεστη!


Yannis Armaou

MOUNT ATHOS FEATURED IN 60 MINUTES SEGMENT ON PASCHA EVENING

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
8-10 East 79th St. New York, NY 10075-0106
Tel: (212) 570-3530 Fax: (212) 774-0237
Web: http://www.goarch.org - Email: communications@goarch.org

Contact: PRESS OFFICE
Stavros Papagermanos
pressoffice@goarch.org

NEW YORK - The Holy Mountain Athos, the over a thousand year sanctuary of Orthodox Christian monasticism, and which is directly under the spiritual jurisdiction of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, will be featured on the CBS News program “60 Minutes”, scheduled to air on Pascha Sunday. The segment, “The Monks of Mount Athos”, will recount 60 Minutes Correspondent Bob Simon’s journey to a remote peninsula in North Greece that millions of Orthodox Christians consider the most sacred place on earth, Mount Athos.

On the recommendation and with the blessing of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who opened the doors for the “60 Minutes” team, and after two trips to the mountain and two years of dialogue with the Anthonite community, last Fall Simon and the “60 Minutes” team were given unprecedented access to document monastic life on the Holy Mountain. The result is a portrait of a place rarely seen where prayer has been offered by holy men everyday, with no interruption, for more than a thousand years.

The “Monks of Mount Athos” will be broadcast Sunday, April 24, 2011 on the CBS Television Network at 7:00 PM EST. Harry Radliffe and Michael Karzis are the producers of the segment.

“60 Minutes” is the pre-eminent investigative television news show in the United States and has run on CBS since 1968. It has been among the top-rated TV programs for much of its life and has garnered numerous awards over the years. The show will also be broadcast over the Internet on the “60 Minutes” website: www.60minutes.com

More information about the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as well as texts of his addresses of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, may be found at: www.patriarchate.org.

From the National Herald - "Analysis: The Schismatic Tragicomedy of St. George’s Church"

An Analysis by Theodore Kalmoukos

BOSTON - If anything is more evident with the sad developments in the historic community of St. George’s Church of Lynn, Massachusetts, where the celebration of the holy sacraments were forbidden, is that the scandalization and the hurt of the faithful continues in this tragic-comedy mentality and behavior of the Metropolis of Boston. All this is taking place just before Holy Week of the Sacred Passion and Resurrection of Christ, the establisher of the Church, which He cared with His own blood. To begin with, I don’t think that there is anyone who believes the order to stop sacraments came from Fr. Barbas, Chancellor and that Metropolitan Methodios was not behind this. Second, it appears that Methodios doesn’t realize that this vindictive action creates a “schism” in the Metropolis of Boston, since the prohibition of the sacraments cuts off a local church, the parish of St. George in Lynn from the whole Church. In other words it cuts off the sacramental connection and unity of a parish within a Metropolis. The tragic comedy is the sacrament of Holy Eucharist continues at St. George as if this is not a sacrament, and further more, the par excellence sacrament of sacraments of our faith. But the sacraments of weddings and baptisms are forbidden. One wonders will the sacrament of Holy Unction be administered on Holy Wednesday?

It would be very naive for someone to expect that Methodios and Barbas to know that the sacraments in the early Church were connected to the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. And that you cannot pick and choose which sacraments can be performed or not performed at that same Church which is cut off from that local Metropolis, where Methodios (George Tournas) has been appointed Bishop, meaning overseer and teacher of faith. He is either so confused or lacking basic theological knowledge because on one hand he allows the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, but prohibits the sacraments of weddings and baptisms. The late Archbishop Iakovos, who selected and ordained him and appointed him Bishop of Boston must be spinning in his grave, because Iakovos would never go to these extremes, because the Bishop should unite the faithful, not divide them as Methodios does, not only in Lynn but to other parishes also. It is sad to say it but it seems he is the most hated hierarch this New England area had throughout its history. Just imagine that he prohibits the sacraments of the Church! Oh God! He does all of this over money. Yes, for the money, using the so-called “National Ministries” as his excuse! If at any time the faithful in America discover the “myth” of the National Ministries I’m afraid we will have rebellion the same as in Egypt. The slogan of the last two Clergy/Laity Congresses, Gather My People To My Home, presented with mush pseudo piety by Archbishop Demetrios, is now dust.

Here we talk about the lives of people, the relationship they have with their church, which is a relationship with the truth and salvation found in their local church, the parish. And here comes Methodios for $20,000. he forbids them to hold their wedding. He is using these young people and their families to pressure their parish into paying more, and at the same time he shows his power. Who will assume the responsibility if these young people leave the Church forever or join another jurisdiction? After all they pay for everything, their stewardship to their parish, the application fee for the Metropolis license, everything. The Metropolis gives them nothing except bitterness and sadness.

In the meantime, the people see Archbishop Demetrios, who writes, “That you are blessed with a distinguished, compassionate and wise hierarch and I kindly urge you to follow his instructions.” These same people are outraged by the magnitude of hypocrisy in general. The people have knowledge, opinion and memory and they remember very well that the Ecumenical Patriarchate had come to the point to impose an Ecclesiastically Reprimand on Methodios in the past and also dismissed him from the Presidency of Hellenic College and Holy Cross School of Theology, and that is why the people make fun when they read Demetrios’ description of Methodios, whom Demetrios knows very well, as this writer is in a position to know. The situation in New England is deteriorating month after month, and things got to such a point of withering of our communities, Lynn is one of them. Many people ask: “Who should we turn to? Who should we trust?”

We should be reminded that the Archdiocese of America, along with its Metropolises, including, of course, the Metropolis of Boston, is an Ecclesiastical Eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Patriarch Bartholomew is the Archbishop per se the shepherd and teacher of faith of the Church of America and that is why his name is commemorated at the Eucharist and the Sacred Services. The question that has been raised by many faithful, not only in Lynn, but in the Greek American Community in general is: Does Bartholomew agree with the doings of Methodios? Or doesn’t he care about the Archdiocese and the Greek American Community which are diminishing at the vices of hierarchs such as Methodios, and eventually will cease to exist and His All Holiness will find himself in a big surprise not know what to do? His symposiums around the world for the protection of environment are good and useful, but here in America a whole Church and Community are withering, and Bartholomew doesn’t seem to care about it and many wonder why. The excuse that Demetrios and Methodios are responsible here does not convince anyone and also it won’t be long before the situation becomes the nightmare of the Patriarchate.

Orwellian Orthodoxy?

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. – George Orwell
Πεταει ο γαιδαρος? Πεταει. (Do donkeys fly? Yes, they fly.) – Greek proverb

Most of us keep thinking, “well, now we’ve seen and/or heard everything. What more can our clergy, hierarchy and selected parish council throw at us?”

On a national level we are appalled to witness that a Metropolitan has actually forbidden sacraments in Lynn, Massachusetts because the community will not raise its yearly allotment from $68,000 to $88,000. At a time and in an economy where most of us are making do with less, the Metropolis of Boston and the Archdiocese demand MORE. The community is informed by the Archbishop that their Metropolitan is “synponetikos” (compassionate) and that he asks them, “eugenika”, (politely) to comply with the Metropolitan’s wishes. The actions and consequences are anything but compassionate or polite.

Locally, we were told by His Eminence that for the time being we were to remain united; stewards were to be identified and asked to pledge on a single, unified form, and the community should be encouraged to seek a badly needed harmony. His Eminence offered the Archdiocese’s assistance in these matters and others, also asking that Metropolitan Isaiah “kindly” implement these measures with the Archdiocese “firmly” by his side. Instead of “kind” implementation, we received a rambling, semi-comprehensible missive, insistent, as usual, on the Metropolitan’s prerogatives.

Adding insult to injury, the Metropolitan delves into a derogatory diatribe against a local “kind of” leader, who happens to be a Greek-born professional who has given nearly 50 years of devoted service to this community, painting all the Greek-born who arrived in the past half-century as “dishonorable” to the memory of the earlier Greek immigrants. (In fact we honor them greatly enough to engage in this unequal struggle with a clergy that has become anything but kind.) We who are immigrants, or who are related to immigrants who arrived “later” from the “old country” (please, who uses these terms anymore?) resent and are deeply offended by these assertions. It is, further, not the first time the Metropolitan has made his disdain toward “Hellenes” evident. (We wonder how his ancestors would feel about that, or for that matter, Archbishop Demetrios, who is, after all, a Greek immigrant who arrived “later”?)

Finally, there are our local priests and our selected parish council (where nary a Greek word, let alone, accent can be heard!) We have all witnessed how quickly they have rushed to comply with the Archbishop’s directives with regard to stewardship and unity.

But then again, ignorance apparently IS strength.

AS THINGS ARE PROGRESSING IN LYNN, MA: OUR PROBABLE FUTURE SITUATION

TOWARD THE MAKINGS OF A "SCHISM" IN BOSTON
-BY THEODORE KALMOUKOS (translated from the original Greek; see previous blog)

SATURDAY, 2 APRIL 2011 6:18 PM

BOSTON. A glaring schism is emerging in the Metropolis of Boston in response to banning the administration of holy sacraments by Metropolitan Methodios for the community of St. George in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Specifically, in a letter written the day of the Annunciation and also that of Greek Independence, Friday, March 25, 2011, the chancellor of the Metropolis of Boston, Fr. Theodore Barbas, informed Lynn parishioners, Katherine Griffin and Christopher Haber, who were planning to get married at St. George’s in Lynn, that no sacraments will be allowed to take place there and they could contact the Metropolis for assistance in making other arrangements.

The letter reads: "Dear Katherine and Christopher, as you may have learned due to canonical rules and administrative matters, wedding ceremonies are not to take place in the parish of St. George, Lynn until further notice. We regret that this affects your marriage, which is scheduled for Saturday, October 15, 2011. Please contact my office to help you make other arrangements. If the ban gets removed we will notify you immediately."

This progression of events, that has placed the historical community of Lynn outside any sacramental regularity, constitutes, from an ecclesiological and theological point of view, a “schism”; this [situation] is the result of unanimous decisions taken by the (St. George) parish council and general assembly on February 16, 2011, wherein each entity refused to approve an increase of 20,000 dollars required by the archdiocese's annual contribution allotment, raising the amount due from $68,000 to $88,000.

Speaking to the "National Herald" the mother of Katherine Griffin, Mrs. Helen Griffin, who married her husband in the church of St. George, and baptized their children there, said, "my heart is bleeding with this situation, we are all terribly sad," and added "I do not know what to do; I called Fr. George (Tsoukalas) who told me that he will try to do everything he can to perform the wedding of our child in the church of St. George."

When asked how the young engaged couple felt, [Mrs. Griffin] replied that "they are highly upset and terribly sad.” She further added: "we do not want to go to another church, this is the church of our family for four generations, we have had all our sacraments here and we want to continue this tradition."

When [Mrs. Griffin was] asked "if you had before you Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, what would you say?" Mrs. Griffin, in a tearful response, replied, "I would ask him to allow my daughter to marry in the church of our parish."

Inquiries by the "N.H.” to Archbishop Demetrios, Metropolitan Methodios and Fr. Tsoukalas remained unanswered by the time this story was released.

Archbishop Demetrios, in a letter to the community on March 24, 2011, stated that the issue was discussed at the meeting of the Eparchial Synod, which "unanimously supported the decisions and actions of the Metropolitan Methodios", encouraging the community to comply with the Uniform Parish Regulations. Also stressed was that [referring to the community] "you've been blessed with a very distinguished, compassionate and wise prelate in the person of His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios, and I politely urge you to kindly follow his instructions.”

Meanwhile, the Archdiocese returned the monthly checks sent by the community from January forward. The community had been sending, based on the allotment of $68,000 per year, the monthly sum of $5,666.67.

In a letter to the community, which accompanied the returned check, dated March 30, 2011, signed by President George Vourvoulos, Economic Commission of the Archdiocese, and Jerry Demetriou, CEO, the following was stated: "The chancellor of the Metropolis, Fr Theodore Barbas, in his letter dated January 14, 2011 informed you that the parish of St. George Lynn, is accessed to contribute the amount of $88,000.00 for the year 2011. There is also a balance due of $20,000.00 for 2010. This total amount of $108,000.00 is due in 12 monthly installments of $9,000.00 on 20th of every month. The sent checks were returned because the amount entered is wrong and not in compliance with the letter of the chancellor."

Prior to 1998 when the current proistamenos, Fr. George Tsoukalas was appointed, the community had little relationship with the Metropolis of Boston since it did not accept the Charter.

With the appointment of Fr Tsoukalas, who had been a strong supporter and confidant of Metropolitan Methodios, and who was appointed Chief Justice of the Spiritual Court, which disbanded the parish council of the Community of the Transfiguration of Lowell, the Lowell community began to re-form. One can also recall that Fr. Tsoukalas had at one point served as chancellor of the Diocese of Boston, but came into conflict with Metropolitan Methodios, who as a result, denied him [Fr. Tsoukalas] a chance to serve in a community; as a result, he had to open a laundromat in order to support his family.

Three years ago the [Lynn] community announced via the “National Herald” its intention to establish a Greek day school; in fact, Tom Demakis, along with other community members and Fr Tsoukalas, had shown the building sketches to the “N.H.”

ΩΣ ΦΑΙΝΕΤΑΙ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΛΙΝ: Η ΠΙΘΑΝΗ ΜΕΛΛΟΝΤΙΚΗ ΚΑΤΑΣΤΑΣΗ ΜΑΣ

Σάββατο, Απρίλιος 02, 2011 Τελευταία Ενημέρωση: 6:18 μμ

Προς δημιουργία «σχίσματος» στη Βοστώνη
Του Θεόδωρου Καλμούκου

ΒΟΣΤΩΝΗ. Δημιουργία σχίσματος εξυφαίνεται στη Μητρόπολη Βοστώνης με αφορμή την απαγόρευση τέλεσης ιερών μυστηρίων από τον Μητροπολίτη Μεθόδιο στην κοινότητα του Αγίου Γεωργίου του Λιν Μασαχουσέτης.

Συγκεκριμένα, με επιστολή του γραμμένη ανήμερα της ημέρας του Ευαγγελισμού της Θεοτόκου και της Ανεξαρτησίας της Ελλάδος, Παρασκευή 25 Μαρτίου 2011, ο πρωτοσυγκελεύων της Μητρόπολης Βοστώνης, π. Θεόδωρος Μπάρμπας, προς τους ενορίτες Κάθριν Γκρίφιν και Κρίστοφερ Χάμπερ, οι οποίοι έχουν προγραμματίσει να τελέσουν το γάμο τους στο ναό του Αγίου Γεωργίου του Λιν, τους λέγει ότι απαγορεύεται να γίνονται μυστήρια εκεί και να επικοινωνήσουν μαζί του για να γίνουν άλλες διευθετήσεις.

Στην επιστολή αναφέρονται τα εξής: «Αγαπητοί Κάθριν και Κρίστοφερ,
όπως ενδεχομένως να έχετε μάθει, λόγω κανονικών και διοικητικών ζητημάτων, δεν επιτρέπεται η τέλεση μυστηρίων στην ενορία του Αγίου Γεωργίου του Λιν μέχρι νεότερης ειδοποίησης. Λυπούμαστε που αυτό επηρεάζει το γάμο σας που έχει προγραμματιστεί να γίνει το Σάββατο 15 Οκτωβρίου 2011.
Παρακαλώ επικοινωνήστε με το γραφείο μου, προκειμένου να σας βοηθήσουμε να κάνετε άλλες διευθετήσεις.

Εάν αρθεί αυτή η κανονική απαγόρευση θα σας ενημερώσουμε αμέσως».

Η εξέλιξη αυτή να τεθεί η ιστορική η κοινότητα του Λιν, εκτός μυστηριακής κανονικότητας, πράγμα το οποίο εκκλησιολογικώς και θεολογικώς συνιστά «σχίσμα», ανέκυψε επειδή με ομόφωνη απόφαση του κοινοτικού συμβουλίου και της γενικής συνέλευσης στις 16 Φεβρουαρίου 2011, αρνήθηκε να εγκρίνει αύξηση ύψους 20.000 δολαρίων που απαιτούσε η Αρχιεπισκοπή στην ετήσια συνεισφορά της ανεβάζοντας συγκεκριμένα το ποσό από 68.000 που δίνει σήμερα στις 88.000 δολάρια.

Μιλώντας στον «Εθνικό Κήρυκα» η μητέρα της Κάθριν Γκρίφιν, η κ. Ελένη Γκρίφιν, η οποία παντρεύτηκε στο ναό του Αγίου Γεωργίου, βάφτισαν τα παιδιά τους σ’ αυτόν, είπε, πως «έχει ματώσει η καρδιά μου με αυτή την κατάσταση, είμαστε όλοι μας φοβερά λυπημένοι» και συμπλήρωσε «δεν ξέρω τι να κάνω, τηλεφώνησα στον π. Γεώργιο (Τσουκαλά) ο οποίος μου είπε ότι θα προσπαθήσει να κάνει ό,τι μπορεί για να γίνει ο γάμος του παιδιού μας στην εκκλησία του Αγίου Γεωργίου».

Στην ερώτηση πώς αισθάνονται τα παιδιά, οι μελλόνυμφοι, τόνισε πως «είναι αναστατωμένα, είμαστε όλοι μας φοβερά λυπημένοι». Και πρόσθεσε: «δεν θέλουμε να πάμε σε άλλη εκκλησία, αυτή είναι η εκκλησία της οικογένειάς μας επί τέσσερις γενιές, κάναμε όλα μας τα μυστήρια εδώ και θέλουμε να συνεχίσουμε αυτή μας την παράδοση».

Στην ερώτηση «εάν είχατε μπροστά σας τον Οικουμενικό Πατριάρχη Βαρθολομαίο, τι θα του λέγατε;», η κ. Γκρίφιν με φωνή γεμάτη λυγμούς είπε ότι «θα τον παρακαλούσα να επιτρέψουν στην κόρη μου να παντρευτεί στο ναό της ενορίας μας».

Μηνύματα του «Ε.Κ.» στον Αρχιεπίσκοπο Δημήτριο, στον Μητροπολίτη Μεθόδιο και στον π. Τσουκαλά παρέμειναν αναπάντητα μέχρι την ώρα που ολοκληρώθηκε η παρούσα έκδοση.

Ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Δημήτριος με επιστολή του στην κοινότητα στις 24 Μαρτίου 2011 αναφέρει ότι το θέμα συζητήθηκε στη συνεδρίαση της Επαρχιακής Συνόδου, η οποία «υποστήριξε ομόφωνα τις αποφάσεις και τις ενέργειες του Μητροπολίτη Μεθόδιου», προτρέπει να εφαρμοστούν οι Κανονισμοί των Κοινοτήτων. Υπογραμμίζει ακόμα πως «έχετε ευλογηθεί με έναν πολύ διακεκριμένο, συμπονετικό και σοφό ιεράρχη εν τω προσώπω του Σεβασμιωτάτου Μητροπολίτη Μεθοδίου και σας προτρέπω ευγενώς να ακολουθήσετε τις οδηγίες του».

Εν τω μεταξύ, η Αρχιεπισκοπή επέστρεψε τις επιταγές της κοινότητας για τη συνδρομή της από τον Ιανουάριο μέχρι σήμερα. Η κοινότητα είχε στείλει βάσει του ποσού των 68.000 κατ’ έτος το μηνιαίο ποσό των 5.666,67.

Σε επιστολή, η οποία συνόδευε τις επιστραφείσες επιταγές με ημερομηνία 30 Μαρτίου 2011 προς την κοινότητα, την οποία υπογράφουν ο Γεώργιος Βουρβούλιας πρόεδρος της Οικονομικής Επιτροπής της Αρχιεπισκοπής και ο Ιερώνυμος Δημητρίου Εκτελεστικός Διευθυντής της αναφέρονται και τα εξής: «Ο πρωτοσύγκελος της Μητρόπολης, π. Θεόδωρος Μπάρμπας, στην επιστολή του στις 14 Ιανουαρίου 2011 σας πληροφόρησε ότι έχει οριστεί στην ενορία του Αγίου Γεωργίου του Λιν το ποσό συνεισφοράς των 88.000,00 για το έτος 2011. Υπάρχει ένα υπόλοιπο 20.000,00 από το 2010. Αυτό το συνολικό ποσό των 108.000,00 είναι πληρωτέο σε 12 μηνιαίες δόσεις των 9.000,00 στις 20 κάθε μήνα. Επιστρέφονται οι επιταγές σας διότι το ποσό που αναγράφεται σ’ αυτές είναι λάθος και δεν είναι σύμφωνα με το γράμμα του πρωτοσύγκελου».

Η κοινότητα πριν το 1998 που διορίστηκε σ’ αυτήν ο σημερινός της προϊστάμενος π. Γεώργιος Τσουκαλάς είχε ελάχιστη σχέση με τη Μητρόπολη Βοστώνης καθότι δεν αποδεχόταν το Καταστατικό της Αρχιεπισκοπής.

Με τον διορισμό του π. Τσουκαλά, ο οποίος ήταν εκ των στενότερων συνεργατών και εξ’ απορρήτων ανθρώπων του Μητροπολίτη Μεθόδιου και τον οποίον είχε διορίσει αρχιδικαστή του Πνευματικού Δικαστηρίου, το οποίο απέπεμψε το κοινοτικό συμβούλιο της κοινότητας της Μεταμόρφωσης του Λόουελ, η κοινότητα άρχισε να ανασυγκροτείται. Υπενθυμίζεται ότι ο π. Τσουκαλάς διετέλεσε στο παρελθόν πρωτοσύγκελος της Μητρόπολης Βοστώνης, πλην όμως ήλθαν σε σύγκρουση με τον Μητροπολίτη Μεθόδιο, ο οποίος τον έδιωξε, δεν του έδινε κοινότητα, ενώ για να ζήσει την οικογένειά του είχε αναγκαστεί να ανοίξει καθαριστήριο ρούχων.

Πριν από τρία έτη η κοινότητα είχε εξαγγείλει δια του «Εθνικού Κήρυκα» την πρόθεσή της να ιδρύσει Ημερήσιο Ελληνικό Σχολείο, ενώ ο ίδιος ο Τομ Δημάκης εκ των στελεχών της κοινότητας, με τον π. Τσουκαλά είχαν δείξει τις κτιριακές εγκαταστάσεις στον «Ε.Κ.».

Απρίλιος 01, 2011

APRIL FOOLS!??? ? NOT !

The original of this letter which most of us in this community received (expecting, in light of Archbishop Demetrios' message, to perhaps receive something else, no doubt), can be found by clicking here.

GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLIS OF DENVER

March 21, 2011 (Moderator's note - the DATE is NOTEWORTHY)

Reverend Michael Kouremetis Proistamenos
Reverend Matthew Gilbert, Proistamenos
The Esteemed Parish Council Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake
c/o Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church
5335 Highland Drive
Holladay, UT 84117

Beloved in the Lord,

Having recently returned from our recent Holy Eparchial Synod meeting at the Archdiocese in New York City, at which a number of issues were discussed, including the pending matter in your beloved community, various decisions came about.

In the press release from the Archdiocese, dated March 18, 2011, the following was stated:

The Holy Eparchial Synod discussed current and urgent administrative matters related to the life and activity of the Church of the Holy Archdiocese. It was noted by all the Members that the responsibility of shepherding the parishes in each Holy Metropolis of the Holy Archdiocese belongs to the respective Hierarch who shepherds them according to the order of the Church, her Canons, the Charter, and the Regulations of the Holy Archdiocese

This indicates that the Archdiocesan process regarding the Salt Lake City matter is now over.
It is now time to move ahead for the good of the faithful members of the Greek Orthodox people of Utah. This means that all of the Uniform Parish Regulations of the Archdiocese must be followed faithfully. For this to be done, it must be understood that any reincorporation statements that call the Greek Orthodox parishes in Salt Lake City "The Association" rather than a religions institution, such as the reincorporation in 1974, must be eliminated from the legal documents of the Greek Orthodox community. There are also other statements made in the 1974 documents which are completely contrary to the Uniform Parish Regulations and the Canons of our Holy Orthodox Church which must also be eliminated.

It is long overdue for the faithful Orthodox Christians of the greater Salt Lake City area to express themselves and to decide if they want to identify their church as an "Association" or as a religious institution. It is time to honor once again the founders of the Greek Orthodox community of Salt Lake City, who incorporated their parish over one hundred years ago as the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. It is time to re-incorporate with the Original name of the parish of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church and the Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church. In so doing, all of the Greek Orthodox people on Utah will see themselves as a continuity of the Church which our Lord Jesus Christ established almost two thousand years ago, and not as a secular investment entity hiding behind the respected name "Hellenic".

As for those individuals who came to Salt Lake City from the "old country" much later, and have achieved a kind of leadership status, who are responsible for eliminating the most revered name of our loving God, the Holy Trinity, and who show no sense of honor for those who established the Holy Trinity Church over a century ago, let us pray for them that they will see the errors of their ways. Our loving God also desires their salvation.

As we continue on in this holy period of Great Lent, let us beseech our loving God to soften the hearts and minds of those expressing un-Christian feelings against us, and to forgive them their sins. Let US also fervently pray to our Lord that He will also forgive our sins, thereby furthering our progress toward Christ and His Coming Kingdom.

With Paternal Blessings,
/s/
Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver