For context see the voluminous Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 linked at the top of this page. Patriarch John and Metropolitan Joseph can rest assured that they have not heard the end of this.

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Metropolitan Joseph (Al-Zehlaoui)

Buzz Learn, a website where one goes to “learn about celebrities,” contains a page for Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese. While Orthodoxy in Dialogue cannot verify the source or the accuracy of Buzz Learn’s information, we share the link with our readers around the globe as relevant to any investigation of the Metropolitan’s activities. The link to his Buzz Learn profile was sent to us by one of our concerned readers.

The site describes Al-Zehlaoui as “a successful Bishop” and one of the richest people from Syria, having made his millions “from his primary career as a Bishop.”

(Insider sources at Englewood consider the Buzz Learn figures to be dated, and estimate $15,000,000-$20,000,000 as more accurate.)

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The following observations were sent to Orthodoxy in Dialogue this morning by a highly placed layperson with contacts in parishes throughout the Antiochian Archdiocese. For context see the Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 section linked at the top of this page.

Metropolitan Joseph (Al-Zehlaoui)

I’ve been speaking to lots of people about the scandal. The general story of the average parishioner goes like this: When Orthodoxy in Dialogue published the email, everyone was shocked and most would call their priest. Most priests, certainly not all, would say that Orthodoxy in Dialogue is run by a disgruntled LGBTQI+ member.

When you published the story of the homes Metropolitan Joseph owns, even the priests were stunned. That won credibility. Read More

The Patriarchate of Antioch posted the following message from Patriarch John to its Facebook page around 8:00 p.m. Syrian time today, August 29. For context see the Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 linked at the top of this page. Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s sources note astutely that the Patriarch bypasses Metropolitan Joseph in communicating directly with the people. He voices neither support for the Metropolitan, nor an exhortation to withhold judgment in the matter, nor a rebuke to the global outrage ignited by our reporting on the scandal. Together with the Arabic version, the Patriarch’s message is the pinned post on the Patriarchate’s Facebook page. [ADDENDUM 8/31/22: The post has been unpinned. Scroll down to 8/29 to find it.] Our insider sources at Englewood tell us that Metropolitan Joseph refused to obey the Patriarch’s instructions to post the message to the Archdiocesan website until Orthodoxy in Dialogue published it. Englewood assumed no one would see it on the Patriarchate’s Facebook page.

We encourage our readers around the world to be patient with the Patriarchate over the coming few days. Decisive action seems inevitable and imminent. At the same time, we encourage the Patriarchate to suspend Metropolitan Joseph and appoint a locum tenens without further delay. We are already receiving complaints that the Patriarch’s message lacks substance.

To our beloved in the Lord,
The hierarchs, priests, deacons, and spiritual children of our Holy Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America,

“Peace be to all!”

I begin this letter with this greeting of peace, a greeting that we proclaim in every Divine Service. My desire is to express to you that we, in your Mother Church, where “the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26), are united with you always and in all circumstances, in the peace of Christ. This peace crosses all distances to reach you whenever we pray, and I hear in my heart your answer comes back to us: “And with thy spirit.” Read More