Since we have resolved all the big and serious problems of the Archdiocese and the Greek-American Community in the United States, now Archbishop Elpidophoros wants the Archdiocese to buy the magnificent St. Bartholomew church in Manhattan and make it into a new Archdiocesan Cathedral because the one that we have now, Holy Trinity, is not good enough.

Elpidophoros doesn’t seem to care that Holy Trinity Cathedral is a historic church built with faith, love, and the noble labor and humble resources of the pioneer Greek immigrants. He wants a big cathedral, to be visible from every corner of Manhattan.

We just finished the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine after twenty years of effort, tribulations, delays – and a $95 million price tag. If it wasn’t for the leadership of the special, ad hoc organization, The Friends of St.
Nicholas, I am afraid St. Nicholas wouldn’t be what it is today.

The Archbishop and the Archdiocese are going to once again start begging “give again,” “give more” to purchase the magnificent St. Bartholomew church – at a time when we can’t fill the existing Holy Trinity Cathedral on the average Sunday, where its congregation is small in numbers – that is the reality. So, are we going to purchase St. Bartholomew so we can have another magnificent – but empty church?

One of his many advisors – some of them well paid – should tell Elpidophoros that the majority of the parishes if not all of them are struggling to make ends meet financially. and if it wasn’t for the epic Grecian Festivals many communities would simply close their doors. The School of Theology needs as much support as we can give, and if it wasn’t for Leadership 100 the so called ministries of the Archdiocese would be long dead.

The vast majority of the churches are almost empty on Sundays but in America Elpidophoros has found bread, butter, dollars, photo ops, Facebook posts – and other goodies as he pretends to be a visionary.

He has approached some wealthy Greek-Americans trying to ‘sell’ his vision for St. Bartholomew, but they didn’t show any interest. One doesn’t have to be a genius to realize that the church bears the name of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Elpidophoros is making every effort to save himself…because he knows that the boat is about to a take a plunge.