periXscope

(Jet) Blues
with the Archbishop

I rarely bother to comment on things people write in the papers.
I believe readers are the ones who should play the critic, but on a second thought, I’m reader myself, so I have every right to take advantage.

This case which I’m about to refer to and place my thoughts at your disposal, has two, actually four, peculiarities:

  • a) it was written by somebody that I consider a friend
  • b) it was completely unjustified
  • c) I was pissed off because of a and b, and
  • d) I happen to be present at the events mentioned.

To make a long story short, the commentary that I refer to in this case accused Archbishop Demetrios of America of pampering and catering excessively to the “spiritual” needs of wealthy people by devoting four entire days at the Leadership 100 Conference that took place from February 4 to 7 in San Diego, California, and not devoting the same amount of time to preach to the less affluent or even the poor (we have those too, in our community) who have similar needs and rights. On the surface, this simplistic line of thinking resonates easily with ignorant people, ready to accuse every form of authority of being elitist and removed from the simple folks’ needs. Populism of every kind works that way, because it’s meant to please audiences by preying on things they want to hear. An ancient and proven tactic, you can find it even in the Bible!

I, too, went to this year’s Leadership 100 Conference, the entire four days, and yes, it was an impressive gathering of extremely influential people – some of them feature prominently on a national level – who despite the overwhelming agendas they normally have, found it in their hearts to devote the time to renew friendships, make new ones and talk about Orthodoxy and Hellenism. They did not have to go through this, they could just have paid their dues and forgot about it; everybody knows they are busy. But they showed up nevertheless. During the breaks from one session to another, you could see them on their cell phones constantly, taking care of things. For some those four days away from their business wasn’t a simple matter. Besides, if they wanted a vacation, they could have gone somewhere else, away from meetings, talks and schedules. For that reason only, the crowd of about 350 individuals who gathered at the Coronado Island deserved the Archbishop’s presence, four days out of the 365 that this year will count. Moreover, Leadership 100 was established by another Archbishop, the late Iakovos, in order to support financially the American Greek Orthodox Catholic Church, its ministries and by extension Hellenism. For Archbishop Demetrios to be absent from such a meeting, would have been tantamount to contempt and then he would have been harshly criticized, only deservedly!

For the record, Metropolitan Bishop Gerasimos of San Francisco was there as host, Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago also came and Bishop Niketas from the Patriarch Athenagoras Institute (he was Metropolitan of Hong Kong until two years ago, when he  was transferred to San Francisco only to realize that it’s full of Chinese as well!) attended too. But, I guess, being of “lower” rank (?), they escaped criticism in the newspaper commentary I mentioned in the beginning.

Jet Blue is a very “communist” airline. Its planes have no first or business class, only coach. Seats are plain, with a neutral, undistinguished-in-any-way leather color, and sometimes certain stewardesses act like Stalinist commissars, barking orders instead of helping passengers (actually, they called us “customers” repeatedly) with a smile (even with missing teeth!). Besides, leaving San Diego in 60 to 65 Fahrenheit weather and getting to a freezing New York at 4:30 in the morning, by the red eye, had a kind of Siberia flavor in it and a James Bond-like quality--only the 007 number corresponded to the actual temperature, rather than to a spy’s code! (On a more positive note, every seat on a Jet Blue plane has a TV with satellite connection which allows you to spend the flight away by watching anywhere, from European soccer matches to ways of improving your home, if you can’t sleep.)

While at the conference, I was told that the L100 stuff would go back on the same flight, so I wasn’t surprised to see them at the airport when I got there, about an hour before the departure. What I didn’t expect to see was …the Archbishop! In the morning of that same day, His Eminence officiated at the San Diego’s St. Spyridon Greek church, clad with his imperial vestments – in the Orthodox Catholic tradition the Bishop’s liturgical cloth is the Greco-Roman (Byzantine, according to German historians) Imperial vestments, directly reminiscent of the times when Hellenism was an ecumenical cultural force that everybody looked upon with awe and eagerness to imitate. You would rightly expect the Archbishop to at least fly business. Or if he’s that much connected to the rich and famous as he was accused of being, to have somebody’s private plane to carry him back to New York. Prominent figures in American politics use planes owned by people who where at the L100 Conference, after all. You would also expect the Exarch of Two Oceans, another historical Byzantine title that he holds, to be followed by a kind of a “royal” retinue, even a modest group of people attending to his needs. But nothing of all that: the only person accompanying this Archbishop was Archdeacon Pantelaiemon. There was no VIP lounge, no priority in getting into the plane, no special attention from the crew (although that wasn’t necessarily bad!). He boarded last, following a high school or college basketball team that took their time before they got in. On the plane, you would expect him to be in the three rows that Jet Blue offers with a little more leg room (actually, I tried to sneak there and failed), but that wasn’t the case either. When we got at Kennedy, 4:30 in the morning, he was waiting at the carousel to pick up luggage like everybody else.

So much for his rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous and spending with them too much time away from his “regular” flock!

At this point let me explain that neither the Archbishop needs me to “defend” him nor I have any particular reason to do so. He is who he is and he has managed to win hearts and minds with the simplicity and grandfatherly qualities of his character and manners (he even got to “tame” President Bush, for God’s sake!), not necessarily with the weight of his office or his Harvard credentials. On the other hand, we at NEO have no business dealings of any kind with the Archdiocese, we never attempted any, and we don’t expect to have in the future. And that includes advertisement. I’ve never been to his Eminence’s office for private meetings or to win favors and I can’t claim to have or sought any sort of special relationship. As I stated in the beginning, I found this attack against him completely unjustified and having witnessed what I described, I felt the need to set the record straight. To accuse a man who has lived most of his 82 years draped in a pitch- black cloth of hanging out with the rich and famous is simply nonsense. I’m not saying that the Archbishop shouldn’t be subjected to criticism, in our tradition nobody can claim infallibility (unless you are the head of a political party in Greece!). But let’s focus on real issues, and be intelligent and sincere, and let’s not resort to what in modern Greek we call “katinario”. Trying to settle any kind of scores that way goes beyond the pale and makes even the yellow press pale in comparison!


TAKIS NIKOLOPOULOS IN MEMORIAM

Takis Nikolopoulos, a very active Greek American, famous throughout the community for taking part in New York’s Greek Parade riding a white horse and dressed as Theodoros Kolokotronis (the leading hero in the Greek revolution of 1821) passed away a few days ago from heart failure while in Greece, at the age of 50. The news came as a year concluded since the departure of another friend and community activist, Yannis Seretis, also a victim of heart failure. Their memory will hold for quite some time because they both were loving and beloved people, well meaning and well spirited with different but equally genuine sense of humor.

My contribution in remembering Takis or Kolokotronis as he came to be widely known, is the following story: a few years ago, when he wasn’t comfortable yet riding his huge horse, he had employed a …Mexican, in full vaquero wear, with his sombrero and everything, to hold the horse and walk along Fifth Avenue. It was one of those moments of surrealism that only in the Greek parade you can witness: Kolokotronis and …Zapata marching side by side, followed closely by a horse riding …priest who looked like Zorro but sought to represent …Papaflessas!

DEMETRIOS RHOMPOTIS
dondemetrio@neomagazine.com
©2010 NEOCORP MEDIA

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