In the last few days it was announced that President Obama has been invited by Notre Dame University to speak at the commencement. Now what is wrong with this you might be asking. Well the main reason is his stand on life issues. This president has not met an abortion bill he has not supported. Now you all know, or maybe you don’t know, but I supported our president when he was running and I pray for him each and every day. But I don’t like some of his policies and when they are at odds with what the church teaches then we cannot support them in fact we have an obligation to tell him he is wrong and protest.
Okay so this morning I an reading my blogs and I come across this post on the blog of the American Orthodox Institute with a video of Archbishop Demitrios of the Greek Archdiocese hailing President Obama and calling him Alexander the Great. Your Eminence I am ashamed of you for calling him this, in fact I think you need to apologize to each and every Orthodox person in the world for this remark. How dare you suck up to the President this way. You never miss an opportunity to have your picture taken, the other day you were sucking up to the Secretary of State another one who has not met an abortion bill she did not like. These people are anti life and for all accounts anti church and here you are calling him Alexander the Great. You should have called him Herod!
Why do we find it necessary to fall into the cult of these people. Like I said we need to pray for him and we need to support our government when we can but to make a statement like this is just absolutely beyond belief. Your Eminence you head the largest Orthodox Archdiocese in America and when you speak you speak for all of us as the head of SCOBA, don’t get me started on that limp organization. You need to speak with authority and call him to task for his positions that are so against what the church teaches. While we are on this point why were you not on the stage with the Metr. Jonah and Archbishop Nicolae for the March for Life in Washington, DC not enough cameras around? We need your leadership on these issues and we need you to speak on these issues when you have the chance and not call our leaders Alexander the Great!
Orthodox bloggers I hope you pay attention and call him to task for this embarrassment and hold his feet to the fire. I am sure this post will get me in some trouble and I am sure there will be pressure to take it down and if it disappears you will know why. Read the article on the AOI blog and see what the Archbishop feels are important issues. I wish he put as much energy into life issues and poverty issues in the US as he does on events in Greece and Macedonia and other places.
I apologize in advance to my Greek friends this is not aimed at you only at what has transpired over the last few days.
Good for you!!!! Its a difficult possition to stand up and say what you believe,especially when its not popular with the higher ups.the problem with alot of bishops and arch bishops is they were not raised in this country and understand from the old countries they came from that you play the game or bad things happen to you and your church.Now they need to understand this is not the old country this is the USA we have freedom of speach and a seperation of church and state.
I have to hand it to the pope when the speaker of the house went to Rome she was told in no uncertain terms that abortion was wrong and she is a Catholic and should not be supporting it,good for the Pope.
If the people at the top are afraid to speak the truth what is the point in having them.As far as Alexander the great goes he was great but he was also ruthless..linda
Hear! Hear!
Did the GOA really excommunicate the OCA? I hadn’t heard that. Is it recent? What does that mean for those of us who are in communion with both? Will we have to choose sides?
I hate politics!!!!
Father, for what it is worth, I am sending you the biggest cyber-hug available and appropriate from laity to priest.
You have my prayers Father.
Pray for me a sinner.
The President of Notre Dame University should be ashamed of himself for inviting President Obama — a strong abortion advocate — to speak at its commencement. I am surprised that students at Notre Dame — a Catholic University — have not protested this invitation. Notre Dame is placing politics above Catholic Christian Doctrine that emphatically forbids abortion, and this is an insult to all Roman Catholics.
As for Archbishop Demitrios calling President Obama “Alexander the Great,” again we are dealing with politics. The fact is that the Archbishop believes that if he puts President Obama on a pedestal, the President will be more likely to assist him, if he seeks assistance from the President in the future.
None of this surprises me. I know a Greek Orthodox priest who says that Greeks are by and large Democrats because they think that they are obligated to be so by the awareness that the root of the word “democracy” is Greek, and I know Greek Orthodox priests who think that the whole right-to-life thing is “political.” As for Notre Dame — hey, the Catholic Church has been a supporter of the Democratic Party for years and years now, and used to hide its head in the sand when it came to the Democrats’ support for abortion, but it’s gotten so bad now that they can’t afford to do that — but they still won’t come out in support of pro-life Republicans because, well, you know, “the Republican Party is the party of the rich man,” and it isn’t moral for Catholics to be rich. Yes, I do know whereof I speak, both as an ex-Catholic and as a current Orthodox. Phooey on it all.
“…the root of the word “democracy” is Greek…”
“Anarchy” is also from a Greek word. As is “pedophilia.” I wonder if this Greek priest thinks Greek Christians are obligated to participate in these as well?