Orthodox, Not, and VERY Not

Thanks to Dcn Matthew, and according to the GOA website …

Archbishop Iakovos, 93, spiritual leader of Greek Orthodox Christians in the Western Hemisphere from 1959 to 1996, died April 10, 2005 from a pulmonary ailment.

Deeply respected by all religious leaders in the United States when he retired at the age of 85 on July 29,1996, Archbishop Iakovos offered 37 years of service which were distinguished by his leadership in furthering religious unity, revitalizing Christian worship and championing human and civil rights. He had the courage to walk hand in hand with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, AL, a historic moment for America which was captured on the cover of LIFE Magazine on March 26, 1965. Friend to nine United States Presidents, Archbishop Iakovos was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom bestowed by President Jimmy Carter on June 9, 1980.

My piece of fiction, “Is the Pope Catholic“, may have caused some confusion — particularly after there seemed to be an Orthodox bishop participating in Friday’s papal funeral. But, like the article, all things are not as they seem. I received the following clarification regarding the TRISAGION PRAYERS OF MERCY which were conducted Friday at the Vatican near the close of the funeral of Pope John Paul II:

Those prayers (prayed in Greek and Arabic) were done by UNIATE clergy (also known as Greek Catholic, Byzantine Catholic, Eastern Rite Catholic, etc.) and not by Orthodox clergy. Even though Uniates may “look like us and sound like us,” they are not us. Their singing of “Khristos Anesti” and “Al-Maseeh Qaam,” during what for Orthodox is the middle week of the Great Fast, should have been a dead give away (being Uniates they celebrated Pascha with the rest of the Roman Catholic world). The Orthodox delegation to the funeral, headed by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, was seated together (opposite the world leaders) wearing no vestments and taking no part in any of the services. By the way, the man in full Byzantine episcopal vestments who presided over the Uniate’s Trisagion Prayers of Mercy was the Melkite (a term indicating an Arab Uniate of the Byzantine Rite) “Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem.”

Another site notes that the full title of the participant, the cleric who read the prayer O God of spirits and all flesh, His Holiness Gregory III Laham, the Melkite Greek-Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, is: Patriarch of the cities of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem, of Cilicia, Syria, Iberia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Pentapolis, Ethiopia, of all of Egypt and the entire East, Father of Fathers, Pastor of Pastors, Bishop of Bishops, the Thirteenth of the Holy Apostles and Judge of the World. (Now that’s a business card!)
Thanks to In principio erat Verbum.

In darker news, the ubiquitous & proudly practicing sodomite Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson (now there’s a title!) has been invited to Keynote the nation’s largest abortion chain’s, Planned Parentood’s, annual conference this month …

In an interview with Planned Parenthood, Robinson said, “We encourage our folks to take this very private issue seriously.

We urge them to talk to their priests about it and to think through all the questions they might have. And then we absolutely stand behind a woman’s right to choose.” He added a plug for Planned Parenthood’s “extraordinarily fine work.”

If you must, read more H E R E.
Thanks to OrthodoxyToday.