Constantinople hierarch: UOJ engages in propaganda journalism in defense of UOC

Archbishop Elpidophoros. Photo: Orthodox Observer

The American editorial office of the Union of Orthodox Journalists has obtained a letter from the head of the Archdiocese of the Constantinople Patriarchate in the USA, Archbishop Elpidophoros, addressed to Patriarch Bartholomew, dated November 21, 2025. 

The letter was prompted by the activity of Orthodox hierarchs, clergy and laypeople from several American jurisdictions, who united in the fall of 2025 to establish the Society of Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco. The Society began to organize meetings with congressmen and White House officials with a view to securing protection for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In the letter, Archbishop Elpidophoros reports to Patriarch Bartholomew that the UOJ is known for its role in "spreading Russian propaganda" without providing a single fact to support his words.

In the "Comments and Observations" section, Archbishop Elpidophoros points to the role of the UOJ as a publication that, according to him, served as an official organ of influence on politicians in Washington.

"The website known for some time for its role in spreading Russian propaganda in the English-language press under the name 'Union of Orthodox Journalists' in this case took on the role of the official organ expressing the views of the protagonists of the movement to influence politicians in Washington against the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine (apparently referring to the OCU. – Ed.), hosting exclusive statements to it as well as news, exerting communicative pressure on those disagreeing with it, which exceeds the limits of objective journalistic deontology and becomes propaganda and militant journalism targeting and criminalizing the representatives of the other side."

The document separately acknowledges the failure of the scandalous communiqué from the Order of Archons, which sweepingly declared all delegation participants "Russian agents." The backlash nearly destroyed the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops of America, and Archbishop Elpidophoros was compelled to publicly disassociate himself from this statement.

Previously, the UOJ wrote that the Phanar Archdiocese in the USA attempted to derail meetings for the defense of the UOC.

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