The CIA’s Man in Constantinople

Everyone knows that the Moscow Patriarchate is aligned with the Kremlin. Few recognize that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is deeply indebted to the United States government.

This lack of awareness is troubling, given that many Greek Orthodox leaders are quite proud of the fact. In 1942, Athenagoras Spyrou—the Archbishop of America for the Greek Orthodox Church—wrote to an agent of the Office of Strategic Services. “I have three bishops, three hundred priests, and a large and widespread following,” Athenagoras wrote. “Everyone under my authority is under yours. You can also assign them for any service you need. There will be no questions asked and your instructions will be carried out faithfully.”

In 1947, the OSS was renamed the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA. One year later, Athenagoras was elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodoxy.

One can also note that, when Athenagoras reached out to the OSS, his native Greece was under Nazi occupation. It is understandable that a Greek bishop in the U.S. would support the American war effort. But it was more than that. Athenagoras was a genuine supporter of American exceptionalism and encouraged Washington’s militarist foreign policy. The U.S. Consul in Istanbul recounted a conversation with Athenagoras in 1951: “As usual, he spoke at length about his belief that the United States must remain in the Near East for several centuries to fulfill the mission given to it by God to bring freedom, prosperity, and happiness to all peoples.”

(These quotes, by the way, are pulled from a talk given by an Orthodox historian named Matthew Namee at Holy Cross Hellenic School, the Greek seminary in Boston. These are not malicious forgeries spread by Russian propagandists—the Greek Orthodox are quite proud of their association with the American deep state.)

Athenagoras was not merely an Americanist. He was also known as a renovationist, as liberal Orthodox are called. In 1964, he met with Pope Paul VI in Jerusalem; together, they formally lifted the mutual excommunications imposed by their predecessors in 1054. This gesture provoked outrage across the Orthodox world. Athenagoras was accused of compromising the Orthodox Faith for the sake of a paper union with Rome.

The present Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew, is in the reduction of from the the same fabric as Athenagoras. He is terribly shut to Pope Francis; the 2 fragment a passion for mass immigration and environmental activism. Additionally like Athenagoras, Bartholomew shares a shut relationship with the U.S. government—a partnership that has proven mutually helpful.

The Ecumenical Patriarch is the spiritual leader of Orthodoxy. On the other hand, he only has direct jurisdiction over a few thousand Orthodox Christians in Turkey. The rest of the Greek Orthodox world are autocephalous, or self-governing. This includes the Church of Greece, the Church of Cyprus, and the American metropolises (or dioceses). Many look to Bartholomew for leadership, but they are not directly under his authority. It is also worth noting that an overwhelming majority of Orthodox Christians worldwide belong to the Russian Orthodox tradition. These churches do not look to Bartholomew for leadership in any meaningful way. Some, like the Patriarchate of Moscow, are in schism with Constantinople.

Bartholomew is not the “pope” of Orthodoxy—even though he would like to be. Over the past few decades, the ecumenical patriarch has also worked to consolidate authority over the various Greek Orthodox churches. This effort has been most successful in the United States.

In 2014, Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, the current Archbishop of America and Bartholomew’s apparent successor, published a short essay titled “First Without Equals.” Its title was a play on the phrase first among equals, or first among equals. This title originally referred to the Pope of Rome, but was transferred to the Patriarch of Constantinople by the Orthodox following the Great Schism of 1054. Indeed, the Schism itself was triggered in no small part by a belief that the Roman Pontiffs did not respect the rights and privileges of their fellow bishops, especially in the Christian East. Clearly, the Archbishop was signaling his intent to promote a more authoritarian, centralist ecclesiology within the Orthodox Church, a philosophy that has been dubbed Greek papism.

In 2022, during an interview with the Greek newspaper Ta Nea, Elpidophoros was asked if he expected to become the next Ecumenical Patriarch. Elpidophoros demurred, saying that “the succession will be determined by God.” This, too, is a significant departure from Orthodox tradition. In fact, it goes beyond Greek papism. Even the Roman Catholic Church explicitly denies that the Pope is chosen by God.

On the other hand, the United States government officially supports the doctrine of Greek papism, as will seemingly be proven. Strengthening the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s role within world Orthodoxy serves two functions. First, it necessarily subtracts from the influence of Constantinople’s rival, the Moscow Patriarchate. Washington regards Russian Orthodoxy as a tool for Kremlin propaganda and, as a result, a legitimate target for counterintelligence operations. Secondly, the renovationist Ecumenical Patriarchs are eager partners in Washington’s campaign to promote liberal, democratic values throughout the globe.

Consider, for example, the schism in the Ukrainian Church. In 1990, the Patriarchate of Moscow granted self-governing status to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). It was not, however, given full autocephaly. On the other hand, a group of Ukrainian nationalists led by then-President Petro Poroshenko organized an “independent” Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). With the help of Western media, these nationalists successfully branded the canonical UOC as the “Russian Church.”

In 2018, when asked about the Orthodox Church of Ukraine’s bid for autocephaly, Kurt Volker—then Special Representative of the United States Department of State for Ukraine—appeared to wave the question off. He insisted that the U.S. government does not take a position on such matters and would respect the decision of Bartholomew and his synod.

No mistake: By declaring that the resolution belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the U.S. government is taking a stand. Initially, autocephaly cannot be granted unilaterally by any patriarch or bishop. Second, if the resolution belonged to any individual, it often is the Patriarch of Moscow, the spiritual leader of Slavic Orthodoxy. Even the prominent Kallistos Ware denounced the Ecumenical Patriarchate for meddling in the Ukrainian Church:

Though I am a metropolitan of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, I am under no circumstances satisfied about the stand taken by Patriarch Bartholomew. With all due respect to my Patriarch, I am compelled to say that I agree with the view expressed by the Patriarchate of Moscow that Ukraine belongs to the Russian Church. After all, the Metropolia of Kiev by an agreement of 1676 was transferred from the omophorion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to that of the Patriarchate of Moscow. So, for 330 years Ukraine has been part of the Russian Church.

Third, just days before Volker gave his interview, Joe Biden—then merely the former vice president—flew to Ukraine to express his support for the OCU. As soon as Bartholomew ruled in favor of the OCU church, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed the Trump administration’s firm support for his decision. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, our government has implicitly supported Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky’s policy of seizing property (including church buildings) from the UOC and transferring them to the OCU. In one particularly egregious episode, a nationalist mob attacked a UOC church during a funeral, dispersed the worshippers and beat the celebrant-priest so badly he had to be hospitalized. The kicker? It was a funeral for a Ukrainian soldier who died fighting against Russia.

This one detail cannot be emphasized enough: Contrary to the media claims, the canonical UOC is not an arm of Russian influence. Its members are not “pro-Russia”; far less are they Russian collaborators. They, too, are giving their lives to protect their homeland against Russian aggression. Yet that does not matter to Washington or Constantinople. By supporting the separatists, Bartholomew is undermining Moscow’s influence within world Orthodoxy. And that is welcome to the Russophobes in our foreign-policy establishment.

In 2019, the State Department gave $100,000 to the Orthodox Times, a news outlet strongly aligned with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The motive? “To counter entities spreading fake news and misleading believers in Orthodox communities”—in other words, Russian disinformation.

It’s ironic that Trump’s State Department pursued this pro-Constantinople agenda given that the Ecumenical Patriarchate is openly and proudly aligned with the Democratic Party. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America boasts:

President Truman frequently emphasized the pro-American convictions of Patriarch Athenagoras and the significance and influence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, along with the Greek Orthodox community in the U.S., as vital to American foreign policy goals. Indeed, Truman saw the Patriarchate and Athenagoras as critical to bolstering the pro-Western orientation of both Greece and Turkey, as well as to promoting stability in the Middle East.

In 2020, Patriarch Bartholomew wrote to congratulate his friend Biden for defeating Donald Trump in the presidential election. “I am delighted and pleased by your successful election as the forty-sixth president of your great nation, the United States of America.” Archbishop Elpidophoros, in that same interview with Ta Nea, also offered a thinly-veiled endorsement of Joe Biden:

In the United States, the issue of abortion has been fully politicized…. It is as if the sole qualification for being a devout Christian or a devout politician is based on one’s stance on abortion. All other principles and doctrines of Christianity are irrelevant; you could be a criminal, a liar, a swindler, a warmonger, violent, or a misogynist, but if you oppose abortion, then you are considered a politician fit enough for “pious people” to support.

As Rod Dreher identified, this little-noticed interview contains a host of candid revelations. For example, Elpidophoros is not merely concerned that abortion has been “politicized”: he is openly pro-choice. “Women bear the full burden of giving birth and raising their children, whereas men, otherwise directly involved in the pregnancy, do not bear the same burden,” he told Ta Nea. “Therefore, we must support women’s right to make reproductive choices of their own free will.” Elpidophoros also discusses how proud he was to support the protests that erupted after the death of George Floyd, as well as the controversial “homosexual baptism.”

For of us who aren’t up on their Orthodox church politics: In 2022, Elpidophoros baptized the sons of two neatly off Greek-Individuals, Evangelo Bousis and Peter Dundas. (The young other folks had been conceived through surrogacy.) The baptism used to be performed in Vouliagmeni, a suburb of Athens. This obtain 22 situation off a firestorm in world Orthodoxy for 2 causes. On the origin, it is low to baptize a baby if there may per chance be miniature to no likelihood of their being raised in step with the Church’s teachings. The fogeys are making a dedication to their baby to the Christian faith with out giving them the tools to meet that dedication. Second, visiting clergy (including bishops) have to receive permission from the local metropolitan earlier to publicly celebrating the sacraments within their jurisdiction. In this case, the local metropolitan used to be Antonios of Glyfada. Elpidophoros requested and used to be granted permission to baptize the young other folks of an American couple, however did no longer notify Antonios that the fogeys had been a same-sex couple.

Elpidophoros was condemned by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece as well as the monks of Mount Athos, but he didn’t care. The Archbishop was simply giving the Orthodox world a taste of how he will act once he becomes Ecumenical Patriarch.

There’s more. In 2019, Elpidophoros appointed Father Alexander Karloutsos as vicar-general for the Archdiocese of the United States. Father Alexander is, for all practical purposes, the Biden family’s pastor. He sits on the board of the Beau Biden Foundation and serves as a spiritual advisor to the President. In 2015, Father Alexander attended a (now controversial) dinner hosted by Hunter Biden at Café Milano in Georgetown. The dinner was a private reception for several Eastern European oligarchs, including Yuri Luzhkov, the former mayor of Moscow. This was the night Hunter introduced his father to Vadym Pozharskyi, an executive at Burisma, allegedly facilitating the deal for which Baturina had paid Hunter $3.5 million the year before.

Extra troublingly, Father Alexander is furthermore shut to John Poulos, the Greek-Canadian founding father of Dominion Voting Systems. Father Alexander has been credibly accused of serving as a run-between for Poulos and the Bidens sooner or later of the 2020 election scandal. It is miles alleged that the priest relayed recordsdata between the 2 parties, however can not be subpoenaed in consequence of Novel York’s clergy privilege guidelines. Though all parties admit that Father Alexander used to be in frequent communication with both parties sooner or later of that time, they furthermore command that he used to be simply offering them non secular counsel. Surely both Poulos and Biden spent these sophisticated months in prayer and fasting.

Because it occurred, in 2018, Father Alexander furthermore found himself at the center of an $80 million financial scandal that was investigated by the U.S. government. The federal government’s investigation into the matter was dropped shortly after it began, despite the fact that no explanation was ever uncovered. When President Biden awarded Father Alexander the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year, he jokingly warned, “I’m going to damage your reputation by speaking about it.”

Sadly, such allegations of corruption are somewhat widespread in the Archdiocese of The US. The Greek Orthodox Church is by a ways the wealthiest denomination in this country relative to its dimension. (A Roman Catholic priest can put a question to to construct no bigger than $Forty five,000 per twelve months; a Greek Orthodox priest can derive upwards of $130,000.) There are reasonably plenty of neatly-established 2nd-abilities families who smooth feel a deep loyalty to the Church even though they possess an inclination no longer to word very faithfully.

In other words, the Archdiocese of the United States is in roughly the same position that the Catholic Church was during the Kennedy era. It is well off in capital and resources but largely dependent on secular, liberal donors. That is why the Hellenic College Holy Cross, the Greek Orthodox seminary, refers to former congressman Michael Huffington as a “devoted Orthodox Christian” despite the fact that he is a practicing homosexual who publicly disagrees with the Church’s teaching on sexuality.

Fortunately, most Greek Orthodox jurisdictions are no longer renovationist; neither are they in the pocket of the American government or beholden to liberal, secular donors. Basically, when the Greek parliament voted to ratify same-sex marriage, the Church of Greece called the resolution “demonic” and excommunicated several of the “frightful lawmakers” who voted for the bill.

Nonetheless whatever our government also can claim, it would promote Bartholomew and his successor, Elpidophoros, as “Greek Popes” in order to liberalize Greek Orthodoxy and counter Russian Orthodoxy. That is the policy of the U.S. government. There are State Department personnel (and taxpayer dollars) dedicated to reaching this true purpose. It is mentioned—overtly; gleefully—in the key institutions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Archdiocese of the United States. And yet any individual who suggests that it is a grave betrayal of both the American people and the Orthodox faithful is immediately accused of being a “Russian asset.” Pope figure.