Demission of Gabriel (de Vylder) of "Comana" Paris

[Archimandrit Nilos]

A gold mine of informations ?

[Barbara]

To clarify, Archimandrite, you and he are both gold mines of information ! Both have contributed so much here to our understanding of various complex situations.

[Jean-Serge]

I am coming a bit late with the last developments on one affair within the global affair of the Daru street. Just a short remembrance of the past events.

Father Christophe d'Aloisio in Belgium. This priest is a priest of the Russian exarchate in Belgium and a civil servant in Belgium because he was appointed in Belgium as a sort of supervisor for orthodox teaching in public schools. Some religions are recognised in Belgium, granting them some advantages like catechism in school. For a reason that is not really clear, father Christophe entered in conflict with the Greek metropolitan in Belgium, who is also the official voice of orthodoxy in the country. It seems the Metropolitan wanted him to resign from his office of supervisor; since he refused, the Metropolitan sued him in front of the civil courts (because it is a civil case) and at the same time sued him in front of the ecclesiastical court of the Russian exarchate, because the priest was daring to oppose a metropolitan in front of a civil court...

The Daru church court has to examine the case and it was done in the strangest way according to Father Christopher and to Father Ambroise, member of the tribunal who consequently resigned from it.

• The 1st audience was supposed to take place on May 15th, 2009; but Father Christopher was informed it was postponed due to his health problem

• Surprisingly, he received, a decision from the court dated of May 29, 2015 telling the audience took place and that he did not come on May 15th, that later the court took a decision on May 29th and that on June 9th, archbishop accepted this decision; the decision is basically as far as I know to let Constantinople decide.

• The surprise became bigger because a member of the court, Father Ambrose, wrote a letter denoucing how things happened; the court never met but was forced by the Archbishop to sign the verdict that was proposed to them.

On July 26th, the news came as the bomb that Father Christophe was suspended from all his functions as priest. He received the information when he was the chaplain at the ACER camp, a sort of orthodox scout camp. The decree is not public and the recipient did not make it public.

As a consequence, his parish in Brussels is currently priestless. People are trying to write the patriarch by email, fax, letters and so on, but up to now, nothing happens.

[Barbara]

This all is such a strange sequence of events !

What do you make of this development ?

[Jean-Serge]

There might be a convergence of many factors :

• the Greek orthodox metropolitan in Belgium has been willing for Father Christopher's head for many years, wanting him to be deprived from his office of inspectors for the classes of orthodox religion in public schools. Father Christopher was defended by the previous archbishop Gabriel of Comana

• Archbishop Job might not like Father Christopher for a series of reason : being too close of the group he is trying to crush and that had been for a long time a real force in the exarchate. Being charismatic at least among his parish... But Archbishop Job might also help his Greek-Belgian colleague hoping that later on, when he need help or support for something he might receive help from this Greek_Belgian colleague, who, who knows, might make a nice career in the Phanar or elsewhere.

Anyway, sometimes I do not know if people from this Russian exarchate were naive, uninformed or simply stupid but they seem to realize only now that the Phanar, that they were praising because it protected them from Moscow, is a place full of intrigues, dark politics and so on. I would say too late, as the German poem says, "When you eat with the Devil, use a long spoon". The spoon was not long enough and the food was poisoned.

[Maria]

There might be a convergence of many factors :

• the Greek orthodox metropolitan in Belgium has been willing for Father Christopher's head for many years, wanting him to be deprived from his office of inspectors for the classes of orthodox religion in public schools. Father Christopher was defended by the previous archbishop Gabriel of Comana

• Archbishop Job might not like Father Christopher for a series of reason : being too close of the group he is trying to crush and that had been for a long time a real force in the exarchate. Being charismatic at least among his parish... But Archbishop Job might also help his Greek-Belgian colleague hoping that later on, when he need help or support for something he might receive help from this Greek_Belgian colleague, who, who knows, might make a nice career in the Phanar or elsewhere.

Anyway, sometimes I do not know if people from this Russian exarchate were naive, uninformed or simply stupid but they seem to realize only now that the Phanar, that they were praising because it protected them from Moscow, is a place full of intrigues, dark politics and so on. I would say too late, as the German poem says, "When you eat with the Devil, use a long spoon". The spoon was not long enough and the food was poisoned.

Perhaps they now realize too lately that the masonic Greeks are indeed double-tongued.

[Barbara]

How picturesque about the long spoon, Jean-Serge ! I had never heard that proverb. It certainly creates a powerful image.

Thanks a lot for your perceptive comments. They are helping me to navigate these muddy waters of the machinations of the Exarchate !

Maria made a shrewd observation, too. Well said ! I hope Archbishop Job and company are showing signs of waking up.