Beware Of...

I have a new book coming out this week. It’s called Prey on Patmos, An Aegean Prophecy.  It is a mystery triggered by the murder of a revered monk in the middle of the town square of the Holy Island of Patmos (where John wrote the Book of Revelation) at the beginning of Easter Holy Week and touches upon an integral part of virtually every Greek’s way of life—the Greek Orthodox Church—in a manner intended to compliment and complement what the Church is all about.  On Christmas Eve a story by Robert Mackey appeared in The New York Times about an interview given by a Greek Orthodox bishop, Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, on Greece’s MEGA television network.

Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus

That bishop and his views are definitely NOT what the Greek Orthodox Church is about.  I’m pleased to say that the Greek Government and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America have condemned his unvarnished hatemongering.  So should the rest of a Church and people I greatly admire.

On this New Years Day, as we look forward prayerfully to a future filled with promise, I think it may be a good time to read this article and be reminded that there always will be some out there among us seeking to test our belief in God’s message of, “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”

From The New York Times, December 24, 2010: 

A Greek Orthodox bishop who was criticized by Jewish groups, the Greek government and some coreligionists for blaming Greece’s financial problems on a conspiracy of Jewish bankers and claiming that the Holocaust was orchestrated by Zionists issued a statement on Thursday in which he denied that he was anti-Semitic but also equated Zionism to “Satanism.”

The bishop, known as Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, said during an interview on Greek television on Monday that Jews “control the international banking system.” He added: “Adolf Hitler was an instrument of world Zionism and was financed from the renowned Rothschild family with the sole purpose of convincing the Jews to leave the shores of Europe and go to Israel to establish the new Empire.”

In response to the outrage caused by his remarks, the cleric posted a statement (in Greek) on his Web site in which he stood by his theories and described himself as a friend of the Jewish people but an enemy of Zionism, a Greek newspaper, To Vima, reported.

Here is an English translation of the bishop’s complete statement, first posted online by John Sanidopoulos, a Greek-American blogger, and verified by a Greek-speaking reporter for The New York Times:

December 23, 2010

On the occasion of the concerns raised by the European Jewish Congress with regard to my interview with the MEGA television channel on December 20, I have to say the following:

1. The things I said during my television appearance on the show “Society Hour Mega” are strictly my personal views and opinions, which I have repeatedly expressed… verbally and in writing.

2. I respect, revere and love the Jewish people like any other people of our world according to the teaching of the incarnated Son of God and the true Messiah the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior and Redeemer, who was heralded by all the Prophets and was incarnated through the Jewish nation.

3. My public vehement opposition against International Zionism refers to the organ that is the successor of the “Sanhedrin” which altered the faith of the Patriarchs, the Prophets and the Righteous of the Jewish nation through the Talmud, the Rabbinical writings and the Kabbalah into Satanism, and always strives vigorously toward an economic empire set up throughout the world with headquarters in the great land beyond the Atlantic for the prevalence of world government and pan-religion.

4. I consider like any sane person on the planet the Nazi regime and the paranoid dictator Adolf Hitler as horrible criminals against humanity and take a stand with all honor and respect against the Jewish Holocaust and any other heinous genocide such as that of the Pontic Greek and Armenian people. Besides, the Greek nation mourns thousands of martyrs from the criminal Nazi atrocities.

+ The Metropolitan of Piraeus, Seraphim

End of NY Times Article.

And the beginning of what I hope will be a healthy, prosperous, peaceful 2011 and far, far beyond for all.

Jeff — Saturday