Amsterdam comments on secret letter by Phanar hierarch
The lawyer described Archbishop Elpidophoros’s actions as “political games in support of religious intolerance.”
On March 13, 2026, international human rights lawyer Robert Amsterdam used his page on X to criticize the activities of Archbishop Elpidophoros, head of the Archdiocese of the Constantinople Patriarchate in the United States.
The trigger for the lawyer’s statement was the publication of a secret letter from the Phanar hierarch to Patriarch Bartholomew, in which he gave a detailed account of his attempts to block the spread of the truth about the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Washington.
“Men of Gd playing politics in support of religious intolerance!!!” – this is how Amsterdam characterized the efforts of the hierarch and clergy of the Constantinople Patriarchate to undermine the Orthodox delegation in the United States. The lawyer stressed that instead of fulfilling their spiritual mission, representatives of the Phanar chose to engage in political intrigue aimed at supporting the persecution of believers.
In the document itself, which came into the hands of the editors, Archbishop Elpidophoros admitted that he had made major efforts to sabotage meetings between defenders of the UOC and American politicians and White House representatives. The Phanar hierarch reported to Istanbul on his attempts to discredit Orthodox activists by branding them “pro-Russian agents.”
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that in his letter to Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop Elpidophoros acknowledged the failure of the Ukrainian authorities to justify the persecution of the UOC.
