'Roots of Orthodoxy': A Warning
The YouTube channel Roots of Orthodoxy is run by a Roman Catholic named Jonathan Cabada, who falsely presents himself as Orthodox while promoting ecumenism, giving publicity to heterodox clergy, and attacking the Orthodox Church.
On Monday, the popular YouTube channel Roots of Orthodoxy posted a collaboration with The Orthodox Spirit. The irony is that neither channel is run by Orthodox Christians—at least, not in the usual sense of the term.
In the West, when anyone talks about “Orthodoxy,” we assume they mean Eastern Orthodoxy. And yet Mike Mak, who hosts The Orthodox Spirit, is a Copt. He belongs to the Oriental Orthodox Church, which is Miaphysite in its theology. Why doesn’t Mak use the word “Oriental” in his channel name? Is he trying to capitalize on the ongoing surge of interest in Eastern Orthodoxy—to trick our inquirers into “exploring” the Oriental Orthodox Church? Unfortunately, that’s a common tactic among O.O. “content creators.” But we’ll assume that Mak’s motives are innocent.
The same can’t be said for Jonathan Cabada, who hosts Roots of Orthodoxy. Earlier this year, Cabada posted a video admitting that he is neither Eastern nor Oriental Orthodox. He’s a Roman Catholic who occasionally attends an Eastern Catholic (or Uniate) parish.
Now, that may not seem so bad. After all, Roots of Orthodoxy is mostly just interviews with priests! What’s wrong with that?
Here’s the thing. Cabada still projects the image that he is Orthodox. For instance, his Instagram bio says: “The Church Founded By Christ in A.D. 33”. Obviously, he doesn’t believe it’s the Church founded by Christ. Otherwise, he would be Orthodox! This bio, of course, gives the impression that his channel is Orthodox. This kind of deception is regrettable in itself.
Why does this matter? Because Cabada has a second channel called Roots of Faith where he promotes Roman Catholic and Oriental Orthodox clergy. Again, how many Orthodox inquirers are being redirected to this heterodox content?
Also, while Cabada interviews many excellent Orthodox priests, he also promotes some questionable views. For instance, he has a disproportionate number of videos with Western-Rite priests. His interview with Fr. Peter Kavanaugh, a Western-Rite priest who promotes (among other things) the Sacred Heart devotion. Now, believe what you like about the Western Rite. But during an interview with an Eastern Catholic priest for Roots of Faith, Cabada admits that he promotes Western Rite priests because they “prove” that Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians have more in common than we might think, etc.
At another point during this interview, he declares: “I know I’m going to get a lot of heat for saying this, but I think the East has a lot to learn from the West. I see a lot of denigration of the intellect [among the Orthodox]. They’re not able to express certain theological concepts.” A bit later, he continues: “I don’t think a lot of [the Orthodox] would say that that’s their intention, to be anti-intellectual. But I do think it is a byproduct of putting the intellect in a certain category.”
He has an agenda—one that most Orthodox Christians would reject. And he knows it. He is also repeating vapid anti-Orthodox talking points about Orthodox “anti-intellectualism.” Again, how could he claim to be a neutral party, much less a promoter of Orthodoxy?
Now, let’s be clear. I don’t think Cabada is malicious. But he is an ecumenist. Like many Roman Catholics, he believes that Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy are “two sides of the same coin.” In fact, they increasingly count Miaphysites—and even Nestorians!—as “branches” of the true Church, lumping these three communions under the (completely made up) umbrella of “Apostolic Christianity.”
I’ll give an example. In one video on Roots of Faith, a commenter accuses him of being a grifter. Cabada replies: “I’ve never once presented myself as Orthodox.” Yet in the video itself he is wearing a shirt that says "COPTIC ORTHODOX". Frankly, this is such clueless behavior that I can’t believe he’s a bad actor.
Reading the comments on his collab with Mike Mak, I was struck by how many Oriental Orthodox felt that Cabada had misled them as well. Evidently, he had given many of them the impression that he was a member of their church, too!
What Cabada may not understand is that Eastern and Oriental Orthodox both take very seriously the idea that our respective church is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We may not see eye-to-eye on everything, but we are not ecumenists.
An Orthodox Christian would never wear a t-shirt identifying himself as a member of the Coptic Church, even if he only intended to show admiration for the great courage and kindness of the Coptic people. Likewise, can you imagine a Copt creating a YouTube channel to promote Roman Catholicism? Of course not. When they see a YouTuber promoting Miaphysitism, they naturally assume he is a Miaphysite.
We might be tempted to call this an innocent mistake. Yet this shows how little Cabada understands the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox traditions. And it shows how grossly he misleads his viewers, even if the doesn’t mean to.
We must also add that Cabada also produces videos for Alex Jurado, a.k.a. Voice of Reason. As most readers will know, Jurado is one of the most caustic critics of Orthodoxy today. So, Cabada is a Roman Catholic helping a Roman Catholic apologist produce anti-Orthodox polemics… and yet he runs a YouTube channel called “Roots of Orthodoxy.”
At the very least, we must say that Cabada suffers from a grave lack of discernment. Some might argue that he is deceiving his audience (and perhaps even himself!) by advancing ecumenism while claiming to promote Orthodox Christianity. His understanding of Orthodoxy is also astonishingly shallow, and he repeats several offensive and inaccurate stereotypes about Orthodoxy—stereotypes which he no doubt picked up from his immersion in the world of pro-Catholic/anti-Orthodox apologetics.
Our recommendation is that Orthodox Christians steer clear of Roots of Faith and especially Roots of Orthodoxy. We would also urge Orthodox priests not to appear on his platforms. If Cabada wants to promote this novel idea of “Apostolic Christianity,” that’s his right as an American. But to appropriate the name of Orthodoxy" to advance his personal agenda—and his personal brand—is unacceptable.
If Cabada does care about the Orthodox Church, he should start a new account. Roots of Ecumenism has a nice ring to it.
