ORTHODOXY: THE PATRIARCHATE, ECUMENE AND SECULARISM
What is not permissible in peace time, may become a necessity in times of crisis or war. This has been an ontological reality since the beginning of recorded history. It is therefore no surprise that today's ruling class is using this technique to move the Overton Window whenever its serves their purpose. On the other side of this coin, there are institutions and organizations that were necessary in war time, but somehow manage to survive beyond armistice and continue well into peace time. Think of Operation Gladio (link). Another obvious instance of an organization living well beyond its expiration date, is NATO. Another case in point, the CIA, that began its life as the OSS (link).
Feb. 1, 2026 TAOCL: GEOPOLITICS & THE PHANAR: From Meletios, Athenagoras, to Elpidophoros (Part 1).
The problem with these remnants of war, is the mindset and morals within these institutions. Nothing is so hard to change as a culture, once it takes hold in a body.
Another problem is, that they are creating the conditions that justify their existence. NATO, instead of defending the realm, is now a vehicle for the promotion of war.
The case in point here is the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate based in Constantinople, known by President Trump as, "the Greek Church".
How that came about is explained by Dorothea in part 1 of her video series on 'Geopolitics and the Phanar'. The Phanar is a historic neighborhood on the Golden Horn in Istanbul (link). The name derives from the Greek word φανάριον (phanarion), meaning lantern or lighthouse.
This Patriarchate became the diocese for the entire diaspora, meaning for those Orthodox living outside the realm of autocephalic Orthodox Churches, or the οικουμένη (ecumene): originally the entirety of the Christian world, hence the title of Ecumenical Patriarch), such as the United States.
Because of its historical location in the capital of the former Eastern Roman Empire and its role as the mother church of most modern Eastern Orthodox Churches, Constantinople serves as the honorary seat for the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Archbishop Bartholomew is not the Orthodox 'Pope', no matter his ambitions. There is no central authority in Orthodoxy. This has protected the Church for some of the worst excesses that have befallen Rome over the centuries. Heresies and attempts at renovation simply die off for lack of oxygen.
I don't need to repeat what Dorothea is amply stating in her expose in the podcasts. The rest is history.
Genuine patriotism may have led Archbishop Athenogoras in 1942 into the arms of the OSS. But when the CIA and other outward facing institutions in the American deep state turned on their heels in 2016 and directed their powers domestically against President Trump, Archbishop Bartholomew became a political tool as well as an agent for Western Ecumenism.
Ecumenism is a modernist ideology and should not be confused with his role as Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch. He became
"the CIA's Man in Constantinople" (link).
Feb. 4, 2025 Orthodox Clips: The History and Origins of Ecumenism | Jay Dyer & David Patrick Harry.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate became one of the major schismatic agents when Patriarch Bartholomew turned the war in Ukraine into a political wedge, dividing the Orthodox Church against itself. Here in the words of an American warrior who doesn't mince words.
Nov. 25, 2025 Tribulation Saints: EXPOSED: The National Herald’s “Orthodox Civil War” Propaganda Line by Line.
This podcast was part of the recent upheaval on this subject that even turned Republican members of the US House of Representatives against each other (link). The issue is as yet not showing any signs of dying down, pitting Congressman Joe Wilson against Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna.
It may not have been entirely out of ignorance that prompted Donald Trump to refer to Archbishop Bartholomew as "the Greek Church". A central authority would render the Orthodox Church a easier target for American state craft, as well as a easy vehicle for American influence across the globe.
Which is again, a good thing in a time of war. Not so much in a time of peace. But give it time, and we will be again in a state of war.
Feb. 3, 2026 FAOCL: EP'S SCHISM: ELPIDOPHOROS, THE UOC, & EPISCOPAL HYPOCRISY (Pt 2).
In part 2 Dorothea reads from an interview of Archbishop Elpidophoros with a Ukrainian representative of the Union of Orthodox Journalists. Its page sports a huge Ukrainian flag on its heading.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America (born Ioannis Lambriniadis in 1967 in Bakırköy, Istanbul) is the current primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, elected by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2019.
In the interview citing the concept of 'symphonia' (link), the Archbishop explains that historically the Russian Church has been "an instrument of the Russian state". Which, if true is an arrangement every Orthodox person would wish for, albeit the other way around.
We need to remember that the separation of Church and State is a modern Western concept that developed out of the religious wars between Roman Catholic and Protestant states. It is not a holy cow that has any place in Orthodoxy. So what is this concept doing in the Archbishop's consciousness?
Dorothea concludes correctly, that the Archbishop's argument of the Church as an instrument of the State does not wash, as it equally applies to the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Moreover, the Western concept of the separation of Church and State is meant to protect the Church from meddling by the State, not the other way around, although many today think erroneously that the concept is reciprocal.
This reveals the political nature of the argument, coming straight from the offices of the CIA and the State Department. Ironically this is precisely the sort of influence that the separation of Church and State aims to prevent!
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