Blasphemy in Brooklyn: The 'Heresy in Holy Week' Returns to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese

By Subdeacon Nektarios, M.A.

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The annual Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOARCH) "Heresy in Holy Week" began today with Arch-heresiarch Elpidophoros participating in his usual anti-Orthodox and anti-canonical joint prayer with Latin Papists. According to a report published by the Orthodox Observer—the official propaganda outlet of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese—“His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America participated in an ecumenical ‘Way of the Cross over the Brooklyn Bridge’ alongside His Eminence Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and the Most Rev. Robert J. Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn.” [1]

Arch-Heresiarch Elpidophoros, Papist Cardinal Dolan, and Robert J. Brennan, Latin Bishop of Brooklyn.

The Orthodox Observer further states that Elpidophoros, along with his Latin colleagues, began the day at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint James—“the first Catholic Church on Long Island”—where clergy and faithful gathered for a prayer service before processing across the Brooklyn Bridge to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine for another joint prayer gathering in violation of the apostolic canons [2].

In a video live-streamed from the Papist basilica, the pseudo-bishop Elpidophoros is seen seated on a throne beside Cardinal Dolan, prominently positioned near the Latin altar. Throughout the 30-minute stream, Elpidophoros and Dolan join together in hymns and prayers—including a solo performance by Cardinal Dolan, delivered in classic Boomeresque fashion, of what he described as “African American spirituals.”

Also featured in the stream is an ecumenist homily delivered by Elpidophoros, in which he refers to the heterodox as “brothers in Christ” and even goes so far as to call Pope Francis the “Holy Father” [3]

Once again, we witness the annual ecumenical theater of the pseudo-bishops of the so-called Ecumenical Patriarchate, brazenly engaging in joint prayer with Latin heretics in violation of the apostolic canons, and even kissing the hand (2:43) of a heretical cardinal as was done by the "Reverend Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne, Andreas Vithoulkas" [4]. Yet the yearly question for us at Orthodox Traditionalist Publications remains: how long will the faithful of World Orthodoxy—and especially those suffering under the rancid omophorion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate—continue to endure these unrepentant, public preachers of heresy?

The path of tolerance toward these pseudo-bishops and their persistent ecumenical betrayals even continues at places supposedly known for their “traditional Orthodoxy,” such as the New Calendarist Monastery of Saint Anthony’s in Florence, Arizona. Despite blatant canonical violations, public acts of syncretism, and open preaching of bare-headed heresy, they continue to commemorate and remain in communion with these false shepherds.

So we must ask once again: is this what the Fathers taught concerning Roman Catholicism? That we may engage in joint services and innovative prayer gatherings despite fundamental and unresolved doctrinal schisms? Absolutely not. As I documented in my book The Orthodox Patristic Witness Concerning Catholicism—a thousand-page tome detailing authentic Orthodox teaching on Latin Papism—there is no room in the Orthodox tradition for joint worship with the heterodox, regardless of modern rationalizations from YouTube apologists claiming that the "Our Father" constitutes a universal prayer suitable for shared use with the heterodox.

Year after year, these heresiarchs continue to push the envelope, testing the limits of the faithful’s patience to see what else they can get away with—and so far, it seems they can get away with almost everything.

We must ask ourselves: what would Saint Mark of Ephesus say about today’s World Orthodox bishops and their spiritual flirtations with the Latin Papists? We have our answer in his confession of faith, in which he declares:

I will never receive into communion those who dare to add a novelty to the Symbol concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit, as long as they persist in such innovation. For whoever is in communion with those excommunicated from communion, let him also be excommunicated. [5]

And the Oros of the Eighth Ecumenical Council (879) proclaims:

It convicts the apostolic tradition and the doctrine of the Fathers. Should therefore someone arrive at such an end of mindlessness as to dare, as has been said above, to set up another Symbol and call it a Definition, or to make either an addition or a subtraction in the one handed down to us from the holy and ecumenical first great Council in Nicaea, let him be anathema. [6]

The Roman Catholic Church continues to hold not only to the heretical filioque—condemned by Saint Mark and the Eighth Ecumenical Council—but to numerous other errors as well. So, what heterodox clergyman will your hierarch be praying with this Pascha? Sadly, you probably already know. That said, the decision rests with you. But it is imperative that you follow the faith of the Apostles and heed their command: "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us." (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

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References

[1]. “Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholics Join in Way of the Cross Over the Brooklyn Bridge,” The Orthodox Observer, accessed April 18th, 2025, https://web.archive.org/web/20250419032240/https://www.goarch.org/-/way-cross-25

[2]. Ibid.

[3]. "3.18.2025 - Good Friday - The Way of the Cross- @ St. James Cathedral Basilica," St. James Cathedral Basilica YouTube Channel, accessed April 18th, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/edzlezMnPHU?si=bjImzK_ilfFFBhyi&t=841

[4]. "Unnailing and Holy Saturday Vespers Service April 18 @ 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM," Saint Nicholas National Shrine YouTube Channel, accessed April 18th, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/HJXUatThTZM?si=SKb0VpmS3yvgb3M3&t=163

[5]. Ivan N. Ostroumov, The History of the Council of Florence, ed. Subdeacon Nektarios Harrison (Washington, D.C.: Orthodox Traditionalist Publications, 2025), 18.

[6]. Subdeacon Nektarios Harrison, The Orthodox Patristic Witness Concerning Catholicism (Florence: Uncut Mountain Press, 2024), 234.