BOSTON – Evangelos, former Metropolitan of New Jersey, and his successor, the recently elected Metropolitan Apostolos, will both participate in the Synod of the Phanar, whose composition was determined by Patriarch Bartholomew for a period of six months from September 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024.

The Holy Synod consists of twelve members following the model of Christ’s disciples and convenes once a month at the Phanar under the presidency of Patriarch Bartholomew. He sets the agenda for its meetings, which is provided at the beginning of the Synod session.

According to the theological and ecclesiological institutions of the Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod is considered the ‘mouth’ of the Church, and each hierarchic member brings to the Holy Body the life and consensus of his local Church.

The new composition of the Synod is as follows: Metropolitan Panteleimon of Bryoulon, Metropolitan Evangelos of Sardis, Metropolitan Cyril of Rhodes, Metropolitan Hilarion of Winnipeg, Archbishop Eugene of Crete

Metropolitan Ambrose of Korea, Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria, Metropolitan Job of Pisidia

Metropolitan Apostolos New Jersey, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Symi, Metropolitan Prodomos of Rethymno and Avlopotamos, and Metropolitan Dimitrios of France.

The tenure of Archbishop Elpidophoros as a member of the Synod ended on August 31 and as noted above, “by coincidence” as some might say, both Metropolitan Evangelos of Sardis and his successor in the New Jersey Metropolis, Apostolos, both from America, are participating. This has sparked various comments from hierarchs of the Phanar, as well as from the Archdiocese of America among clergy and laity. The next session of the Synod will take place in October.

Metropolitan Evangelos, as is known, served as Metropolitan of New Jersey for seventeen years, specifically from his election and enthronement on May 11, 2003, until October 8, 2020. Through his efforts, the Metropolitan Center was acquired in the city of Westfield, New Jersey.

As revealed by The National Herald, Archbishop Elpidophoros managed to influence Patriarch Bartholomew, resulting in the Patriarch proceeding through the Synod of that time to dethrone Metropolitan Evangelos of New Jersey without him even being called to respond to the accusations of Elpidophoros. Evangelos was given the title of Metropolitan of Sardis, a Metropolis of Asia Minor that now only exists in ruins. At the same time, Elpidophoros also demanded the suspension of the Archdiocese’s Charter, but he did not have the approval or concurring opinion of the Eparchial Synod and the Archdiocesan Council in advance, as required by Article 25 of the Charter, nor did he even nor did he even inform them – everyone learned about it from The National Herald.

It should be noted that there was a reversal regarding the Charter, and the Phanar asked the Eparchial Synod of America to request ‘the suspension of the suspension’, which was done and the Charter is again in full force.

As also revealed by The National Herald, Elpidophoros had set a goal for himself even before his enthronement to take over the New Jersey Metropolis and attach it to the Direct Archdiocesan District. His plan was disclosed by a cleric who was a close collaborator of Elpidophoros to a friend of Evangelos in Thessaloniki, and this information later came to the knowledge of the Patriarchate and Bartholomew.

Since then, Evangelos has been marginalized, while Elpidophoros seizes every opportunity to disparage him, as he did at the Leadership 100 conference in Arizona, an incident that was also recorded. At the same conference, he also criticized Archbishop Spyridon, the former Archbishop of America, whom he had even honored at the Clergy-Laity Congress in July of 2022.

Patriarch Bartholomew apologized to the hierarchs of the Eparchial Synod during their meeting on April 5, 2022, as revealed in the Phanar’s Confidential Report, for what transpired in the Archdiocese of America regarding the suspension and reinstatement of the Charter, the removal of Evangelos, and the three-months-suspension of Metropolitan Methodios of Boston.

Archbishop Elpidophoros, for over three years now, has not been actively pursuing the filling of the vacant New Jersey Metropolis, spreading rumors that it was going to be abolished and attached to the Direct Archdiocesan District of New York under his jurisdiction. However, this was categorically refuted, and now Bishop Apostolos of Medeia was elected Metropolitan of New Jersey. His enthronement was held on Saturday, September 16 at the Cathedral of Saint John the Theologian in Tenafly, New Jersey, with Archbishop Elpidophoros presiding.

Meanwhile, Evangelos continues to remain in a precarious position as the Metropolitan of the ‘virtually non-existent’ Metropolis of Sardis. It should be noted that the events unfolding in the Archdiocese of America are peculiar and unprecedented, leading to growing dissatisfaction among a significant portion of clergy and laity, while the depletion of parishes and the emptying of churches continues to escalate.