![\"Met.](\"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/theoliptos.png\" "\\"Met.")
<\/a>Met. Theoliptos - Ranking hierarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate<\/p><\/div> <\/p>\n Metropolitan Theoliptos, one of the most prominent hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate also said in his letter that \u201cIf he (Archbishop Demetrios) is not in apposition to help two orphan boys ten years old, then it is bad that he remains in his position.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The National Herald reported on January 15, 2010 on the plight of two Congolese boys who were not allowed to join St. Basil’s Academy by Abp. Demetrios of the GOA (See: Archbishop Demetrios\u2019 Handling of Request to Help Two Orphans Creates Crisis<\/a>). The boys, born of a Greek father and Congolese mother, recently lost their father and their mother is dying of cancer. Having no relatives in the Congo, relatives in America approached the Archdiocese to see if the children could live at St. Basil’s. The answer according to the National Herald was no.<\/p>\n It was a no<\/em> heard round the world, at least in Greek circles, and soon newspapers were buzzing with the alleged cold-heartedness of Abp. Demetrios. New York lost no time at damage control (See: Archdiocese Statement on Case of Orphaned Children<\/a>):<\/p>\n The two boys who need a home<\/p><\/div>\n Saint Basil Academy never refused to accept the children and has been in communication with the family over the past seven months. There was never any question of financial resources in accepting the children. The Academy has been informed by the family that they are currently working toward securing guardianship of the children in order for them to be placed at Saint Basil. Both the Archdiocese and the Academy look forward to receiving Kostakis and Demetris as soon as possible.<\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n To portray the Archdiocese of America, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, or Saint Basil Academy as being anything but willing and eager to assist this family is irresponsible and reprehensible. It is a shame and shameful that anyone would exploit the tragedy of any child, especially ones orphaned of a parent, through exaggeration, misstatement and accusation.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You would think the problem would be resolved there. Someone made a wrong decision, something fell through cracks, fix it and move on. But there is more here than meets the eye.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Constantinople reacted with (ostensible) outrage. Metropolitan Theoliptos, ranking hierarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch responded with a personal attack on Abp. Demetrios that directly challenges of Abp. Demetrios’ qualifications to serve. The National Herald reports:<\/p>\n The parent publication of The National Herald – Ethnikos Kirix – broke the story on Friday January 8. Metropolitan Theoliptos of Ikonion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, read the story about the orphans on the line edition of the paper, and the refusal of Archbishop Demetrios to help them. He responded by sending a strong letter to The National Herald expressing his deep disappointment about the Archbishop\u2019s refusal.<\/p>\n Metropolitan Theoliptos wrote that \u201cI confess that in reading the article written by Mr. Theodore Kalmoukos, I was shuddering, I became sorrowful and I am ashamed that I am a hierarch of the Orthodox Church.\u201d<\/p>\n Metropolitan Theoliptos also wrote \u201cTruly where are we going? Where has our wretched Orthodox Church been led? Where has the Church been led by the conscienceless shepherds? How can we want the faithful to believe us and to follow us when we do not practice what we preach?\u201d<\/p>\n Metropolitan Theoliptos, one of the most prominent hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate also said in his letter that \u201cIf he (Archbishop Demetrios) is not in apposition to help two orphan boys ten years old, then it is bad that he remains in his position.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It appears Constantinople is building the framework for removal: escalating a bureaucratic mistake into a question of moral fitness; shaping that question into a hot-button issue that tugs at the heart-strings so that plausibility is fostered; launching a preemptive attack by a figure close to the Ecumenical Patriarch yet shielding the EP at the same time if the attack backfires (plausible deniability); implying as clearly as possible that Abp. Demetrios is not fit to lead. <\/p>\n More ham-fisted decision-making from Constantinople where they chew up their own it appears. Constantinople’s politicians are masters at inter-personal maneuverings*, but congenitally blind to the broader ramifications their decisions might have. Strategic thinking is definitely not one of their strengths.<\/p>\n (*Want to know why the hierarchs get tripped up by flattery (Abp. Demetrios<\/a>, Pat. Bartholomew<\/a>)? Because in their world flattery really matters<\/em>. If you live in a world of interpersonal maneuvering, flattery has meaning<\/em>. They have no clue how people outside their orbit perceive it.)<\/p>\n Watch closely. This story is not really about two boys needing a home (that problem could have been solved with a couple of phone calls), but about moving Abp. Demetrios into retirement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Metropolitan Theoliptos also wrote \u201cTruly where are we going? Where has our wretched Orthodox Church been led? Where has the Church been led by the conscienceless shepherds? How can we want the faithful to believe us and to follow us when we do not practice what we preach?\u201d Metropolitan Theoliptos, one of the most prominent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1784],"tags":[1215,1196,1217,585,296,1216],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5497"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5528,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5497\/revisions\/5528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMetropolitan Theoliptos also wrote \u201cTruly where are we going? Where has our wretched Orthodox Church been led? Where has the Church been led by the conscienceless shepherds? How can we want the faithful to believe us and to follow us when we do not practice what we preach?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>