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| Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus |
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
Posts
Dear Jeff,
ReplyDeleteA sober reminder of the people who lay the foundations for war and genocide - always with well-chosen and apparently reasonable words.
Best of luck with the new book! I'm looking forward to it!
Michael.
Another Greek island mystery. I love these. Congratulations on the new book.
ReplyDeleteMichael's comment that war and genocide are the results of demagogues using words to manipulate the masses is an even more frightening concept today because the internet allows for the perversions of truth to be spread instantly.
ReplyDeleteThat this man calls himself Seraphim is a perverse irony. The Catholic church teaches that there are nine orders of angels (I had to memorize them once upon a time). Angels and archangels (the ones most people have heard about in popular culture if not in church) are the two lowest orders. The highest order, the angels who sit closest to God, are the Seraphim. His name alone delivers a message to those who follow such things. He has the ear of God and he alone knows what God wants.
The canard that Jews control the banking system pre-dates the Reformation. The church ruled that Christians could not engage in usury, charging interest on money loaned. By default, the Jews became the bankers. The pope handed them that job when, in the early Middle Ages, Jews were not allowed to join the trade guilds.
"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...." This should be followed by the word, "but" because he then segues into
3. "My public vehement opposition against International Zionism...[which] 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." I assume he means the United States, agreeing with the group of Muslims who refer to the US as "the great Satan."
Seraphim is not an anti-semite. He just believes that Jews control banking, bankers control the United States, and the US is the great Satan working to control the world and destroy the teachings of Christ. Clearly, anyone can see, ipso facto, that Seraphim is the defender of true Christian principles and that Zionists, Jews,are the anti-Christ.
His followers likely believe that he is the only one whose teachings represent the principles as taught by Christ. The phrase that comes to mind is "Jesus wept."
The teachings of Christ as found in the New Testament are straightforward and simple. But Gilbert Chesterton explained the problem succinctly. "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."
PREY ON PATMOS is a fantastic book. It is great fiction built into the factual problems facing the Greeks and the members of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Hitler was funded by Rothschild? Uh-oh. This can only mean that Seraphim is funded by Barbra Streisand. Probably because he's her love-child with a Saudi prince. Or was it Fidel Castrowitz?
ReplyDeleteHey this is fun. In my next life I want to be a senior cleric. With a Zionist trust fund.
--Lenny
It's good each of you said what you did. In the face of such words--and the thoughts behind them--it is necessary that none remains silent or deeds will surely follow.
ReplyDelete