# The Greek Orthodox Church

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The Greek Orthodox Church," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/greek-orthodox-church/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The church John Kiriakou was raised in and still belongs to — the institution behind his Greek fluency and his family's immigrant history, a recurring thread in his accounts of Athens, Damascus, Bethlehem and Washington, and, in two cases, an actor in his own story: the church the FBI followed him into, and the priest who tried to get him a pardon.*

- **Kiriakou's relationship:** Raised in it; still Orthodox, not a regular churchgoer
- **Family:** Grandson of immigrants from Greece
- **Recurring in:** Athens, Damascus, the West Bank and Gaza, Washington

The **Greek Orthodox Church** is the faith [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) was raised in and the institution that runs, quietly, through most of his biography. He describes himself as the grandson of immigrants from Greece and says the church was very important in his upbringing, part of a close-knit family in which ideas like human rights were formed.[1] Asked directly about spiritual practice, his answer is characteristically unsentimental: he was raised Greek Orthodox, he is still Greek Orthodox, and he regrets that he is not a regular churchgoer.[2] Elsewhere he describes himself simply as a practising Greek Orthodox.[3]

## A parish in Washington

His own parish appears twice in his account, both times awkwardly. John Podesta, whom Kiriakou calls a quintessential Washington bad guy with a reputation as a cutthroat, attends the same church, and Kiriakou says he sees him there every so often — arrogant, mean and unfriendly to anybody.[4] During the FBI investigation that preceded his prosecution, the surveillance followed him to church and sat in the pew directly behind him: *"what did they think I was going to do in church?"*[5]

The church later became a channel of appeal. Seeking a pardon at the end of the Biden administration, Kiriakou describes working through a Greek Orthodox priest who was very close to Joe Biden and who offered to help, assembling letters from senators and congressmen.[6]

## Orthodoxy abroad

In Kiriakou's foreign-policy commentary the Orthodox world is not an abstraction but a set of specific, endangered congregations. He points out that roughly seven per cent of Palestinians in the West Bank and about two per cent of Gazans are Christians, and that almost all of them are Greek Orthodox; Bethlehem and Nazareth he describes as Christian towns.[7] Arguing against the overthrow of the Syrian government, he cites Sunday liturgy at a Greek Orthodox cathedral in Damascus, the Catholic churches of the city and its ancient synagogue as the things that would be bulldozed.[8]

He also draws a sharp line between his own church and American evangelical Christianity, which he says Orthodox Christians *"don't even consider to be Christianity"* but rather right-wing political groups — a judgement he extends to Saudi-funded proselytising in Guatemala as readily as to [evangelical Zionism](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/evangelical-zionism).[3]

## Where the church disappoints him

Kiriakou does not exempt his own communion. He says the Orthodox Church has taken a strongly pro-Zelensky position that bothers him very much, and traces the primary reason to Hillary Clinton's approach to the patriarch as Secretary of State.[9]

The church also surfaces in the [17 November](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/revolutionary-organization-17-november) investigation as a suspicion that proved false and half-true at once. One theory circulating in Greece held that the Greek Orthodox Church itself was behind the organisation; it was not — but three of the assassins turned out to be the sons of a priest from the north of the country.[10]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [Revolutionary Organization 17 November](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/revolutionary-organization-17-november)
- [Evangelical Zionism](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/evangelical-zionism)

## Sources

1. Freedom Hub Working Group (2020-04-20), at 42:02. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8QQGwrN5Ag&t=2522s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2020-04-20-freedom-hub-working-group-freedom-hub-working-group/
2. More Than Rich: S3E33 - John Kiriakou Exposes The Cost o (2024-10-06), at 1:07:54. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NCqVjUN4zw&t=4074s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-10-06-joecat/
3. EXCLUSIVO: Parceria Lava Jato-EUA foi movida por ódio e dinh (2021-11-21), at 54:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6YVXC1HGsw&t=3240s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-11-21-dcm-tv-exclusivo-parceria-lava-jato-eua-foi-movida-p/
4. CIA Agent Says Don't Believe CIA On Trump/Russia — John Kiriakou (2017-10-31), at 21:25. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE2Xvm4fceg&t=1285s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2017-10-31-jimmy-dore-dont-believe-cia-on-trump-russia/
5. Interview with CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou (2020-05-15), at 03:09. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6GK5GOzv1Q&t=189s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2020-05-15-choo-radio-network/
6. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou On JFK Files, Nathan Tan (2025-02-19), at 1:14:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iJ_1LNBBZA&t=4461s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-02-19-katie-halper/
7. CIA Spy Breaks Down What's REALLY Happening in Israel (2023-12-11), at 1:49:25. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_RQc2tpvY&t=6565s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-12-11-danny-jones-whats-really-happening-in-israel/
8. Reveals All About US Involvement in Syria (2024-12-06), at 22:24. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBBVyHHIWwU&t=1344s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-12-06-reveals-all-about-us-involvement-in-syria/
9. Revolutionary Change (2025-02-21), at 01:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4OydjOsLiQ&t=97s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-02-21-revolutionary-change-revolutionary-change/
10. CIA Terrorist Hunter on Surviving Assassination & Nailing Al-Qaeda's #3 | John Kiriakou • 250 (2024-11-13), at 03:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HuyORiWoDM&t=221s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-11-13-julian-dorey-250/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/greek-orthodox-church/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt