By T. Economopoulos

Using colloquial language to establish greater familiarity with his audience, Archbishop Christodoulos once again exploited his Sunday service to declare that “those expecting (him) to resign are seriously deluding themselves.” And this declaration was made to a public anticipating a bold catharsis in the Church...

The paradox of Christodoulos’s feisty response to the pressure being exerted upon him to resign is that he is attributing the Church crisis to alleged conspiracies by dubious circles, but, at the same time, feels the need to make an emotional appeal for forgiveness from his flock. These two reactions cannot both be valid. Either the allegations being brought against senior churchmen are the product of conspiracies and shady figures or they do indeed have a valid basis and therefore Christodoulos is justified in asking for forgiveness.

But even if it were true that dubious individuals had used certain crimes and scandalous behavior by churchmen as a springboard to launch their attack against Christodoulos and the Church, the fact remains that certain sins were committed, providing ammunition to those seeking to undermine the influence of the Church...

The resignation of senior clerics embroiled in such scandals, including the archbishop, would have contributed toward a rebirth of the Church’s authority, but instead Christodoulos persists in holding on to his post...