Archbishop Elpidophoros of America publicly desecrates cross 

It has been two weeks since Turkish immigrant and first without equals wannabe, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, flung a handful of horse manure in the face of the Most-Pure Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary on the eve of the feast of her Annunciation. (See our report with video here.) This came to our attention at Orthodoxy in Dialogue on April 5. Over the past three days, the horror gripping my body and soul has only intensified.

In remarks to President Trump on that sacred day, the archbishop began,

Through your leadership. you embody the values of our Christian faith and love for the Gospel. You remind me of the great Roman emperor, Constantine the Great.

While placing the precious and life-creating Cross in the president’s pussy-grabbing hands, the archbishop recounted Constantine’s vision, In this, victory!, and exhorted him to follow in Constantine’s footsteps to Make America Invincible! The crowd of Greek-Americans gathered to celebrate Greek Independence Day (Annunciation? What’s that?) roared their approval.

In his lust for power, influence, recognition, publicity, popularity before the audience du jour, photo ops, the cynically smiley archbishop has sold his soul to the father of lies and become his son. He left the shepherdly duty of speaking truth to power in Washington to the Bishop of Rome and a woman bishop of the Episcopal Church, “heretics” both of them in the eyes of many Orthodox.

Aside from the fact that the American people and mainstream media don’t know or give a rat’s behind who the “Archbishop of America” is, how does his shameless adulation of Donald Trump differ from that of Patriarch Kirill for his beloved bedmate, Vladimir Putin?

What depths of hypocrisy does it take for the archbishop to march with Black Lives Matter, to baptize the adopted children of a celebrity gay couple, and then to lick the smelly aperture of a president hellbent on destroying those very lives? You are no Archbishop Iakovos, sir. You never will be.

Has the Archbishop of America considered that, in the first two and a half months of his second term, Donald Trump has moved with lightning speed to demolish more families and individual human lives in America and around the planet than Vladimir Putin has done in Ukraine in over three years of his invasion of that country?

Has the Archbishop of America considered that Greek Orthodox Palestinians are to be bombed and bulldozed out of existence, alongside their Muslim neighbours, to make way for a Trump resort for millionaires and billionaires?

How foolish must the Archbishop of America feel to accept an invitation to celebrate Greek Independence Day at the White House, only to stand by helplessly as Greece falls victim to American Liberation Day one week later? Keep Talking Greece reports,

Greek exports are reportedly expected to suffer a double hit following the US government’s decision to impose new tariffs, just as the American market was growing in importance for Greek products.

Can the Archbishop of America name one domestic, foreign, fiscal, health, educational, or other policy, any policy, a single utterance from Trump’s filthy, lying mouth, that reflects the president’s embodiment of “our Christian values and love for the Gospel”? Take all the time you need.

Does the Archbishop of America not realize that Donald Trump despises immigrants with foreign accents and strange names, even if their presence in the US is “legal”? How ironic. How long before ICE comes after you, Archbishop? How long before the state department revokes whatever document makes it legal for you to be in the US?

How proud must it make the Archbishop of America to receive the praise of right-wing, reactionary, anti-Ukraine, anti-Constantinople, Kremlin-Moscow Patriarchate disinformation mill, the so-called Union of Orthodox Journalists?

Patriarch Bartholomew has spared no words in condemning Vladimir Putin. When will he condemn Donald Trump? When will he publicly rebuke the Archbishop of America for his words two weeks ago? The Patriarch’s silence proclaims loud and clear his agreement with the Archbishop and his complicity with the Trump administration’s contempt for humanity—and for the environment, so dear to the Green Patriarch’s heart.

America’s Orthodox theological community has likewise spared no words in condemning Patriarch Kirill. Yet, the silence from them was deafening when the former Antiochian Metropolitan Joseph’s sexual and financial misdeeds came to light on these pages. Will we hear a peep of protest against Archbishop Elpidophoros from our theologians and their main platform?

Let’s not hold our breath.

Giacomo Sanfilippo is an Orthodox theologian residing in Toronto, Canada, and the founding editor of Orthodoxy in Dialogue. He is most known globally for his work with Father Pavel Florensky’s theology of same-sex love. He is currently on leave from writing his PhD thesis.