New York, NY, December 22, 2010 …The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today urged the Greek Orthodox Church to publicly denounce blatantly anti-Semitic comments made by one of its bishops.

During an interview with a popular television show in Greece, Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus blamed Jews for orchestrating the Holocaust and accused "world Zionism" of a conspiracy to enslave Greece and the Orthodox Church.  The bishop also charged Jewish bankers with controlling international finance.

"Metropolitan Seraphim's blatantly anti-Semitic comments are shocking and deeply disturbing, and we urge the Greek Orthodox Church to unequivocally condemn his words," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.  "It is especially troubling to hear such words from a religious leader.  The Orthodox Church must make clear that anti-Semitism in all its forms is unacceptable."

The League expressed its concern in letters to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and to Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Hieronymos II.

In an interview with Greece's Mega TV, Metropolitan Seraphim reportedly said, "Adolf Hitler was an instrument of world Zionism and was financed from the renowned Rothschild family with the sole purpose of convincing the Jews to leave the shores of Europe and go to Israel to establish the new Empire."

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.