Some observers speculate that Elpidophoros’ intervention in Ukrainian church affairs is motivated by a desire to undermine Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon (his main competitor in the struggle for the patriarchate), and thus boost his own chances of becoming the next Ecumenical Patriarch. This guess fits well with his broader pattern of using international issues to advance his ecclesiastical influence — unless, of course, the issue is his Turkish birthland’s attack on Byzantine Orthodox Christian heritage. On those topics, His Eminence is usually strangely silent.

That’s why Archbishop Elpidophoros is reported to have been very interested in the proposal that Metropolitan Onufry might start a dialogue with the OCU. With the stipulation, of course, that the OCU ceases seizing temples from the UOC’s parishes. Victor seems to have asked GOArch’s Primate for a meeting between Bartholomew and a group of bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, whom he promised to attract, to discuss a possible transfer to the temporary jurisdiction of the Phanar. https://orthodoxreflections.com/archbishop-elpidophoros-misplaced-priorities/