Greek Metropolitan at court 9-27-2016 re: sodomy remarks

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Barbara
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Re: Greek Metropolitan at court 9-27-2016 re: sodomy remarks

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Metropolitan Alexandros' supporter, Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, did not escape unscathed. Perhaps his persecutors are allied with the Greek secular authority :

"Metropolitan Seraphim or Piraeus has spoken out against Israel’s decision to ban him from entering Jerusalem on Holy Saturday on the basis of supposed anti-Semitic remarks, reports AgionOros.

At the February 7 meeting of the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, Met. Seraphim was appointed head of the delegation representing the Greek Church at the descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem on Holy Saturday. He received a diplomatic passport from the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically for the trip.

However, Israeli authorities reported in a phone conversation with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that Met. Seraphim is “persona non grata” in Israel for alleged “anti-Semitic statements.”

The Greek bishop has responded that he never made any ant-Semitic remarks, adding that he was intending to visit Jerusalem, a city of international status. He accused Israel of violating his religious rights and of “anti-canonical interference in the affairs of Greece and the Greek Church.”

Commenting further on the accusation of anti-Semitism, Met. Seraphim wrote, “Orthodox people are not racists and not atheists.... The Jewish people gave us the Old Testament righteous ones and patriarchs, the apostles, the first Christians, the Theotokos, and the Lord… But as Orthodox, we are anti-Zionists. That is, we are against international Zionism, which has transformed the religion of the Old Testament into Satan worship… The Orthodox Church is against imperial Zionism, aspiring to global domination.”


http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/103339.htm

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Barbara
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Re: Greek Metropolitan at court 9-27-2016 re: sodomy remarks

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To put the above posts in perspective, here are the general critiques of another Greek Metropolitan. Met. Ambrose has exposed the Greek secular state's sinister plot to destroy the Church's influence entirely. He lists as first of his examples an appalling example of enthusiastic approval bestowed upon the homosexual cabal by even the leader of the main so-called 'conservative' political party :

"Metropolitan Ambrose of Kalavryta has published an open letter on his blog in which he decries the Greek ruling authorities’ animosity towards and attempts to destroy Orthodoxy.

“While we are silent as fish,” he begins, echoing the Akathist to the Theotokos, “everything is vanishing and dying. We are persecuting Christ! The Greeks are being de-Christianized!” the bishop exclaims.

According to the metropolitan, “the people from the ruling SYRIZA party are aiming to overthrow all that is sacred, Christian, and national. They are seeking to uproot the Orthodox and national self-consciousness of the Greeks.” He also stressed that “Day by day, Greece is gradually changing its face and character.”

The participation of the so-called “conservative forces” in the destruction of Greek foundations bears witness to this pursuit. The leader of the largest opposition party “New Democracy” Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave a reception for representatives of the LGBT community in his office, and the party itself was officially represented at the most recent homosexual pride parade in Thessaloniki.

“The voice of the Church is not heard today; the walls are falling one by one without resistance,” the metropolitan lamented. Under such conditions, hierarchs should not “be silent as fish,” but raise their voices in defense of the Orthodox identity of Greece, Met. Ambrose stressed.

The hierarch has continually spoken out about fidelity to the Orthodox faith and the fate of Greece under its secular government. Referring to the ongoing issue of religious education, in October 2016 he wrote, “It’s obvious that the government is sneering at the Church! They have cynically deceived us! We must understand that for the government the question of religious education is closed: It’s turning into a non-confessional subject where our Savior Christ is equated with Buddha and Mohammed.”

Emphasizing an active resistance, he exclaimed, “I call you to battle for our faith! We will remember the Minister of Education’s words, promising to ‘put an end’ to religious education in the course of the year. Can we really allow this crime to be committed? Now above all—a battle!”

In January of this year, he wrote an open letter to Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras, in which he writes that he was disappointed to find that Tsipras had “set himself the goal of destroying the Greek Orthodox Church,” and accuses the government of deliberately leading Greece to catastrophe through destroying its economy, cultural heritage, history, traditions, and Orthodox faith.

The metropolitan has also been outspoken against the outcome of 2016’s Crete Council, and especially of the document “Relations of the Orthodox Church With the Rest of the Christian World,” which many have deemed to be ecumenistic.

http://orthochristian.com/105352.html

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Barbara
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Re: Greek Metropolitan at court 9-27-2016 re: sodomy remarks

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Metropolitan Ambrose mentioned above is submitting his [ 2nd ] petition to retire, ostensibly due to age. However, to me it seems likely that unseen pressure [ threats ? ] from Greek anti-religious quarters and other anti-Traditional Church figures played a role in wearing down the elderly teller of unpopular truth :

"His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrose of Kalavryta of the Greek Orthodox Church announced his resignation following the Divine Liturgy on Sunday
...due to his advancing age and failing strength. His Eminence is 81 years old.

Met. Ambrose was consecrated as a bishop on August 17, 1976; he was elected as Metropolitan of Kalavryta and Aigialeia on October 12, 1978 and enthroned in Aigio on November 19 and in Kalavryta on November 25,

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Met. Ambrose in 1978, the year of his enthronement as Met of Kalvryta ; he remained in this diocese for 41 years

...He previously announced his resignation in November of 2017. According to the protocols of the Greek Church, he was to remain in his position until the end of 2018, though he later decided to extend his episcopacy.

Met. Ambrose was never afraid to boldly speak the truth.

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He has often publicly spoken and written of the damage the atheistic authorities in Greece have brought to their Church and nation. He has written to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew about the ecumenistic problems with the 2016 Council of Crete, and has not been afraid to publicly chastise even the prime minister.

In October 2017, Met. Ambrose ordered that the bells of the churches

Image

in his diocese ring out every day for a week, mournfully protesting the law “On the Legal Recognition of Gender Identity” which simplifies the process for legally changing one’s gender, allowing anyone 15 and older to make the change by written notification to the relevant authorities.

His Eminence has suffered scorn and persecution at times for his strict Orthodox stances. He was taken to court and sentenced to 7 months in prison, with a 3-year suspension, for “hate speech and incitement to violence” against homosexuals, stemming from a 2015 blog post in which he condemned unnatural lifestyles as Greek parliament was voting 193-56 in favor of homosexual civil partnerships.

In his resignation letter, Met. Ambrose thanked God for the opportunity to be persecuted for His sake."

--http://orthochristian.com/123181.html

A more full statement regarding that last nightmarish subject came from the Kalavryta Diocesan publication which proclaimed :

“It is an outrageous inspiration for someone to change his gender in a few minutes, with a simple declaration, so contrary to what God has gifted people with ... whoever has ‘gender dysphoria’ is mentally ill,” reads a statement from the Kalavryta Diocese.

The statement also condemns all forms of sexual deviancy, and expresses the worry that the current bill will serve as a gateway to homosexual couples being granted the legal right to adopt children." -- http://orthochristian.com/107216.html

The Associated Press [AP] scoffed

"Last year, he declared that a deadly wildfire near Athens was God's punishment for the "atheist" left-wing Greek prime minister at the time, Alexis Tsipras."
http://www.ekathimerini.com/243684/arti ... ta-resigns

************

Regarding the latter statement, assuming it is accurate, why not ??
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Re: Greek Metropolitan at court 9-27-2016 re: sodomy remarks

Post by Orthodox in Michigan »

Great post Barbara! The process of demoralization has begun, and normalization ,only it will be much worse than just perverts adopting children.
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