Just me and my pal Al!
The total
number of tables at Artopolis, in the Greek hub of Astoria north of the RFK
Bridge, doesn’t exceed six, but for some reason that’s enough to attract some intellectuals and thinkers, perhaps
because most of the time it provides seclusion and sometimes enough relevant
substance to ogle behind the counter. We philosophize over a cup of bitter
‘sketto’ Greek coffee in the quest of solving the world’s ailments, but as you
surmise, our verbiage doesn’t make it even in the National Herald.
“It must be
something in the air,” spurts Al (short for Alexander, as in’ Great’),
referring to the way things work in the world today. “It definitely has to be!
I mean, look at the line-up of candidates the Republicans are dishing out.
You’d think they’re applying for a job at Barnum & Bailey.”
“I have to
agree with you Al,” I retorted, since I couldn’t agree more with him. “These
folks are at the very least comical as to be drawing the ire of a real comedian
called Stephen Colbert who delights in mimicking them.”
“It’s as if
all viable GOP candidates for President have suddenly vanished. So we’re given
the choice between a womanizer who added
3 to the devil’s 6-6-6 , a vulture capitalist who has earned three Pinocchio
awards from the Washington Post and an avenger with a baggage who earned four. Which
reminds me……..”
What does it
remind you Al, I pressed on!
“Yeah, that’s it, that’s what it reminds me
of. It reminds me of our predicament with the Orthodox Church and its gluttony
for wealth, without ever building a single new institution, but instead closing
schools one after another.
Now, now Al, I
interrupted.
“No,
seriously,” Al shot back. I mean it isn’t only this comedy unwinding by
candidates for the toughest job in the United States. Hear me out,” he pleaded.
OK, I
retorted. I’m listening.
“I mean, I
don’t know where to start when it comes to Byzantine intrigue perpetrated by
the once capital of the grand namesake empire. We all know that the monastery
known as Vatopedi, is the property of the patriarchate in Istanbul, and we all
know more or less all the unusual events that happened in the vicinity, from
the helicopter ‘accident ‘that killed one of the patriarch’s peers, Petros at
the height of his reign as the patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa, to the
illegal property swapping which resulted in millions of Euros in profit-but for
whom?.”
Yeah, I
chorused. Who profited, I asked.
“Who profited?”
Al answered with a smirk in his face. “Who else but Vatopedi’s un-holy people,
and those who command them.”
You mean the
patriarch? I asked innocently.
“Now, now
let’s not play dumb,” Al injected getting impatient with my simplicity “Not all
the patriarch’s cronies are headquartered in Istanbul,” he said. Then as an
afterthought he continued: “Well, supposing there is a someone-a higher authority
than the patriarch in this mix. And I don’t mean a divine one. Would you
consider this plausible?“
The way the
world’s going, I’d consider anything. I lamented.
“Good for
you,” he praised my support. Regardless, the issue here is that lots of
mysterious things happened behind closed doors and by that coast since the
untimely death of saintly patriarch Dimitrios . So Ephraim-they call him Abbott
I believe, had to know about lots of little-and big-sins we’re not aware of, yes?”
I’d say, I
laconized.
“So then why
is there such a campaign to free him and why the patriarch rushes to visit him
in his cell at Korydallos? There’s gotta be a good reason. Also, if the
Russians are the accusers on the scene, why is the patriarch, who not long ago
fought them and called them ‘trouble-makers to a woman visitor just so he can add
a bunch of Lithuanian Orthodox to his fold, is sticking his nose instead of
gorging on the best-and most expensive- food Istanbul offers. There must be a
reason behind it, you agree?”
I guess, I
answered meekly.
“And listen.
The patriarch-and this higher authority of his whose name isn’t to be mentioned
here, (which is neither the Pope nor God but could be compared to the devil ) are getting mixed up in it? Which
of all the conspiracies are trying to cover? Then again, think about the
following.
What? I asked.
“The Public
Relations-a one man operation in the service of the patriarch-call him the
higher authority- spares no effort to make sure we digest that the Bishop of
Constantinople as the patriarch is known in Turkey, has 300 million Orthodox
followers around the world. The sad fact though is that 200 million out of
these 300 million belong to Russia, Romania, Serbia and every other sect of
non-Hellene Orthodox, over which this patriarch cannot exert any authority-even
if he tried. But when it comes to cash, 300 million is only part of the stash,
whether in Lire, Euros or Dollars….
Me
