Archbishop Elpidophoros of America at Black Lives Matter Demonstration

[gzt]

Axios!

(Video) Archbishop Elpidophoros of America at Black Lives Matter Demonstration - The Pappas Post

Here is his statement:

“I came here to Brooklyn today in order to stand in solidarity with my fellow sisters and brothers whose rights have been sorely abused. This was a peaceful protest, one without violence of any kind, and I thank all of those involved, because violence begets only more violence. We must speak and speak loudly against the injustice in our country. It is our moral duty and obligation to uphold the sanctity of every human being. We have faced a pandemic of grave physical illness, but the spiritual illness in our land runs even deeper and must be healed by actions as well as words. And so, I will continue to stand in the breach together with all those who are committed to preserving peace, justice, and equality for every citizen of goodwill, regardless of their race, religion, gender or ethnic origin.“

 

[George95]

Many people said it resembled Archbishop Iakovos walking with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. all those years ago.

 

[AMM]

Many years to the Archbishop, and may Abp Iakovos' memory be eternal.

I was glad to see this, as an active and living demonstration of the Assembly of Bishops' recent statement on this issue.

 

[prodromos]

Axios!

(Video) Archbishop Elpidophoros of America at Black Lives Matter Demonstration - The Pappas Post

Here is his statement:

Lord have mercy.
May God grant him many years for repentance.

 

[rakovsky]

I am glad that he is walking with others in support of preventing cases of police abuse of blacks. He is walking in a big group of people, shoulder to shoulder. He must believe that it's safe and fine for people to walk and stand next to each other in big groups for important events. Going to church is an important event for churchgoers. He should open his GOARCH churches back up and allow people to stand together in worship again.

FROM THE GOARCH CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES PAGE:

SOURCE: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

 

[AMM]

I will say, some GOARCH parishes are open. The one near me is open and had their first service since the quarantine last Sunday.

 

[George95]

Our church had its first service open to the parish in limited attendance this past Sunday as well.

 

[ArmyMatt]

thank God they are opening, and stuff seems to be getting back to normal.

personally, to stay on topic, I have mixed feelings on His Eminence's march.

 

[rusmeister]

Everybody agrees that everybody’s life matters, regardless of race or color. But the organization BLM is opposed and seeks to undermine the Church’s teachings on sexuality and the human family.

It is true. It is unpleasant precisely because the motto “black lives matter” is obviously true as a proposition. The organization mixes that truth with its intent to destroy the idea of faithful monogamous marriage between one man and one woman (and the inevitable corollary that they indirectly support abortion as a result). Some may not like to hear it, but the organization is more interested in social revolution than in saving black lives (which we all support).

 

[truefiction1]

ELM
(Eternal Life Matters, and everything else matters diddly squat)

 

[rusmeister]

In case there is any doubt as to whether there are wolves in the Church who covertly seek to promote abortion, and avoid admitting it, while supporting BLM:

The man (white shirt) next to Archbishop Elpidophoros is Sen. Andrew Gounardes-NY, a self-identified Orthodox Christian. He CO-SPONSORED the diabolical Reproductive Freedom Act which passed last year, lifting restrictions to allow for late-term abortion.

Saint Basil the Great:

"The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. The hair-splitting difference between formed and unformed makes no difference to us."

The Holy Canons of the Church forbidding abortion: Canon XCI, Canon II, Canon XXI

 

[AMM]

personally, to stay on topic, I have mixed feelings on His Eminence's march.

I’m curious, Father Matt, and not trying to start a fight or a debate here, but how do you feel about the march of Abp Iakovos?

 

[prodromos]

The man (white shirt) next to Archbishop Elpidophoros is Sen. Andrew Gounardes-NY, a self-identified Orthodox Christian. He CO-SPONSORED the diabolical Reproductive Freedom Act which passed last year, lifting restrictions to allow for late-term abortion.

Minor correction, he is the guy in the blue shirt.

 

[prodromos]

I’m curious, Father Matt, and not trying to start a fight or a debate here, but how do you feel about the march of Abp Iakovos?

Archbishop Iakovos was marching for a movement which was entirely different to the "Black Lives Matter" movement. Martin Luther King did not support abortion or the breaking up of the family structure or any of this so called 'gender' nonsense.

 

[ArmyMatt]

I’m curious, Father Matt, and not trying to start a fight or a debate here, but how do you feel about the march of Abp Iakovos?

I think it's great. the difference, for me (and maybe His Eminence didn't know in the moment), is holding a BLM sign, which is an organization that is about as anti-Christian as you can get.

 

[rusmeister]

From the effective stance on abortion and the family that they and their allies hold, and the devastating effect that both broken families, absentee fathers, etc as well as black babies murdered by abortion have on blacks as a whole in the nation, it's not hard to see that the interest of BLM is not actually in black lives, but only those black lives that are convenient for propaganda in the struggle to achieve political power. Anyone else care to post the number and faces of of black police officers killed or critically wounded in these riots started by BLM and its allies in Antifa? There are too many coming in for me to keep track of them now.

 

[rusmeister]

I think it's great. the difference, for me (and maybe His Eminence didn't know in the moment), is holding a BLM sign, which is an organization that is about as anti-Christian as you can get.

Yes. MLK had it right. He fought against the special treatment of anybody on the basis of race, unlike today's self-styled champions. They are tearing apart his legacy.

 

[rusmeister]

Many good people support this, not understanding the real motives of the people leading these movements. I think Chesterton put it best in his book “Eugenics and other evils”: “...evil always wins through the strength of its splendid dupes; and there has in all ages been a disastrous alliance between abnormal innocence and abnormal sin.”

“Splendid dupes”. Wonderful, well-intentioned, hard-working people who only desire good, unintentionally help make these evils possible, through either an inability or an unwillingness to understand what would otherwise be obvious. They have been duped, and many don’t want to know or admit it.

 

[archer75]

Everybody agrees that everybody’s life matters, regardless of race or color. But the

Just to clarify: there are many people who don't agree that everyone's life matters. But I assume you meant in an Orthodox Christian context.

 

[ArmyMatt]

From the effective stance on abortion and the family that they and their allies hold, and the devastating effect that both broken families, absentee fathers, etc as well as black babies murdered by abortion have on blacks as a whole in the nation, it's not hard to see that the interest of BLM is not actually in black lives, but only those black lives that are convenient for propaganda in the struggle to achieve political power. Anyone else care to post the number and faces of of black police officers killed or critically wounded in these riots started by BLM and its allies in Antifa? There are too many coming in for me to keep track of them now.

that was my main issue with the movement. if they are really for saving black lives, why don't you ever see protests against abortion clinics (even with videos of Planned Parenthood taking money to abort minority babies to counter affirmative action), or protesting gang violence, or protesting when white thugs kill black cops?