The Orthodox Councils Condemning Ecumenism
1. THE ACT OF THE TRUE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF GREECE (1957)
In 1957, the Synod of Metropolitan Demetrius of Thessalonica, President of the Holy Synod of the True Orthodox Church of Greece, assembled in Athens and made the following declaration. [From Synoptic Observation of the Festal Calendar Issue Under the Light of Orthodoxy, "Herald of the True Orthodox," Athens 1989, p. 26 (in Greek)]:
Declaration Against the New Calendarists, Modernists and Ecumenists
The official state schismatic [church] by its transgressions and apostasies, remaining in schism, is becoming heretical. In the commentary of the First Canon of St. Basil the Great (footnote 1) is declared: “A schism persisting wrongly becomes a schismato-heresy, and a schismato-heresy becomes a complete heresy” (Divine Chrysostom).
We confess with all the strength of our hearts and with a tyrannical trumpet we declare our Faith and confession as follows:
a) We remain firmly unshaken in the Faith of our Fathers, in the injunctions of the New Testament, the Symbol of the Faith, the sacred Canons decreed by the holy seven Ecumenical and Local Councils, in the Teachings of the God-bearing Fathers, in the Decisions of the Pan-Orthodox Councils and Patriarchs, and in the Sacred Traditions.
b) We exclude and reject every deviation, every addition or subtraction of even one iota.
c) We are obedient only to decisions of Orthodox Councils.
d) We denounce the “official” [church] as innovationist, as schismatic, as cacodox, paving directly towards heresy.
e) We have no communion with the cacodox “official” [church], not recognizing the validity of its mysteries, not considering its acts and condemnations against us to have any authority.
f) We are indifferent to, and by no means fall by, the persecutions, the placing of the spears, the imprisonments, the defrockments, the slanders and insults, the banishments, with which the “official” [church] unmercifully treats us, thereby becoming “God-fighting” according to St. Athanasius the Great; [the “official” church] bears not a single power, nor has the capability to shake our faith and confession in regards to the Patristic [traditions] and separate us from the Holy Church, the Bride of Christ. X Metropolitan Demetrius of Thessalonica (President of the Holy Synod)
X Metropolitan Spyridon II of Trimythus
X Metropolitan Andrew of Patras
X Metropolitan Callistus of Corinth
X Metropolitan Bessarion of Tricca and Stagae
X Metropolitan John of Thebes and Lebadia
X Metropolitan Meletius of Attica and Megaris
X Metropolitan Matthew II of Bresthena
X Metropolitan Epiphanius of Citium
X Metropolitan Anthimus of Piraeus
X Metropolitan Theocletus of Salamis
X Metropolitan Agathangelus of Tinos
X Archpriest Eugene Tombros (Secretary of the Holy Synod)
2. THE ACT OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX GREEK CATHOLIC METROPOLIS OF AMERICA (1969)
The following letter was given on March 11, 1969 to the faithful from the Metropolitan's Residence (Metropolitan Ireney) on Syosset, Long Island, New York.
The present bishops of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA, formerly known as the Metropolia) and the instructors at St. Vladimir's Seminary, Yonkers, New York, should be held accountable to follow that which has been laid down by their Church in previous years. Read the recent statements and articles in Saint Vladimir's Quarterly by these men and you will see, first hand, how they have deviated from the Orthodox faith.
May the faithful laity awaken to their responsibilities and demand their bishops and teachers adhere to the Orthodox faith. Ask your bishop or priest in the OCA why he no longer follows the guidelines once given by the hierarchs? Let me ask again the question, "Who has changed their Orthodox faith, those who follow the Julian calendar or the New Calendarists."
The Declaration Against Ecumenism - By the Russian American Metropolia
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH OF AMERICA
The Most Reverend Metropolitan Ireney, Primate
59 East Second Street
New York, N.Y. 10003
Encyclical Letter
Of the Great Council of Bishops
Of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in America (The Metropolia)
To the American Flock
Dearly beloved in the Lord; Fathers, Brethren and Sisters:
The Great Council of Bishops of the Metropolia considers it its duty to answer certain doubts and questions which have arisen concerning the so-called Ecumenical Movement.
In the last decades an awareness emerged in the entire Christian world that the divisions among Christians, the dispersion of Christian forces before the unbelievers, the absence of unity among those who confess the One, Lord Jesus Christ and worship One God, contradicts the prayer which our Lord himself used before his passion, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou has sent me" (John 17:21).
The Holy Orthodox Church has always prayed, and continues to pray indefatigably for the union of all. She accepts with joy every sincere movement towards that unity. She firmly believes that the Supreme Pastor and Head of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, desires that all who believe in him become one body and bear testimony to him through visible unity in faith, love and life. The Ecumenical Movement, inasmuch as it is inspired by sincere sorrow for the existing divisions among Christians, and by an equally sincere search to overcome those divisions, is, therefore, a good and positive manifestation. For this reason all the local Orthodox Churches take part in the work and activities of the Ecumenical Movement.
As for the other aspects of that movement, joint Christian action to help the hungry, the persecuted and refugees; judgment on political event, and efforts towards a more just society, the Orthodox Church, while recognizing that such activities are both useful and necessary, considers that they are by nature quite different from those endeavors which are directed towards achieving unity in faith. She also believes that all such questions must be solved not according to the categories of this world and its calculations, but in the spirit of Christ's truth which has no regard for persons.
The basic goal of the Ecumenical Movement, however, is the unity of all Christians in one, single body of grace. And here the Orthodox Church firmly confesses that such a genuine unity is founded, above all, on the unity of faith, on the unanimous acceptance of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition by all, as they are wholly and integregally preserved by the Church. Real love for brothers separated from us consists, therefore, not in silencing all that divides us, but in a courageous witness to the Truth, which alone can unite us all, as well as in a common search for the ways to make that Truth evident to all. Only in this way has the Orthodox Church always understood her participation in the Ecumenical Movement. We call ourselves and all others to that Divine Truth, not because it is "ours", but because the Church is founded on it and has as her mission to proclaim it to all men in order that all may be saved.
However, within the Ecumenical Movement there has always existed another understanding of unity, which seems to become more popular today. It recognizes virtually no importance at all in agreement in faith and doctrine, and is based on relativism, i.e., on the affirmation that the doctrinal or canonical teachings of the Church, being "relative", are not obligatory for all. Unity is viewed as already existing, and nothing remains to be done except to express it and strengthen it through ecumenical manifestations or services of all kinds. Such an approach is totally incompatible with the Orthodox concept of ecumenism.
The difference between these two approaches is nowhere better manifested than in the attitudes toward concelebration and participation in the sacraments among divided Christians. In the prayers and the Sacraments of the Church, especially the Divine Eucharist, is expressed the full unity, in faith, in life and in the common service to God and man, as given by God. Therefore, in the Orthodox teaching, every form of concelebration, i.e,. joint participation in liturgical prayer and especially in the Sacraments, with those not belonging to the Orthodox Church is inadmissible, for it would imply and express a unity which in reality does not exist. Such a concelebration is a self-deception and the deception of others, for it leads both the Orthodox and the non-Orthodox to the erroneous belief, creating the impression, that the Orthodox Church acknowledges something which in fact she does not acknowledge.
In view of all this, common prayer with non-Orthodox at brotherly encounters must always be clearly distinguished and formally separated from the liturgical life of the Church. The liturgy expresses the unity of the Church and not a human consensus in particular areas of human concern. Orthodox priests attending meetings, prayers or conferences together with non-Orthodox must never wear liturgical vestments, just as ministers of other confessions must not be invited to fulfill liturgical functions at any Orthodox service: marriage, funeral, Requiem service, Te Deum, etc. They should not be invited to stand in the sanctuary during the services. In general, any source of possible misunderstanding and misinterpretations must be avoided.
These rules are in no way expressions of antipathy towards the non-Orthodox. On the contrary, genuine love is incompatible with hypocrisy, with self-deceit and the deception of others, with the replacement of reality by fiction. No superficial sharing in externals and ceremonials can bring us closer to real unity for it obscures and betrays the sacred essence of unity.
In the free and tolerant American society, all paths are open for us to confirm the truth. May freedom and tolerance be not a pretext for indifference and irresponsibility, but a blessed condition for the achievement of truth and genuine unity in this truth.
As your Archpastors, we consider it our duty to tell you that it is our task to combine Christ's love with the Truth of Christ's Church. We call all of you to the genuine service of the holy task of reuniting all men in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
"The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you, "II Corinthians 13:13).
The Members of the Great Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America (The Metropolia):
Signed by the following bishops:
X Archbishop Irenaeus of America and Canada (President)
X Archbishop John of Chicago and Minneapolis
X Archbishop John of San Francisco and Western America
X Archbishop Nicon of Brooklyn
X Archbishop Sylvester of Montreal and Canada
X Bishop Ambrose of Pittsburgh and West Virginia
X Bishop Cyprian of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania
X Bishop Theodosius of Sitka and Alaska
X Bishop Joasaph of Edmonton
3. THE ACT OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ABROAD (1983)
In 1983 the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (also known as the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile or the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia), presided over by Metropolitan Philaret of New York, assembled and hurled the following anathema against Ecumenism. [From The Struggle Against Ecumenism, The Holy Orthodox Church in North America, Boston, Massachusetts, 1998, p. 132-33]:
The Declaration Against Ecumenism - By the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad
To those who attack the Church of Christ by teaching that Christ's Church is divided into so-called branches which differ in doctrine and way of life, or that the Church does not exist visibly, but will be formed in the future when all branches or sects or denominations, and even religions will be united into one body; and who do not distinguish the priesthood and mysteries of the Church from those of the heretics, but say that the baptism and eucharist of heretics is effectual for salvation; therefore, to those who knowingly have communion with these aforementioned heretics or who advocated, disseminate, or defend their new heresy of Ecumenism under the pretext of brotherly love or the supposed unification of separated Christians: Anathema!
X Metropolitan Philaret of New York and Eastern America (President)
X Archbishop Seraphim of Chicago and Detroit
X Archbishop Athanasius of Buenos Aires and Argentina-Paraguay
X Archbishop Vitaly of Montreal and Canada
X Archbishop Anthony of Los Angeles and Texas
X Archbishop Anthony of Geneva and Western Europe
X Archbishop Anthony of San Francisco and Western America
X Archbishop Seraphim of Caracas and Venezuela
X Archbishop Paul of Sydney and Australia-New Zealand
X Archbishop Laurus of Syracuse and Holy Trinity Monastery
X Bishop Constantine of Richmond and Britain
X Bishop Gregory of Washington and Florida
X Bishop Mark of Berlin and Germany
X Bishop Alypius of Cleveland
4. THE ACT OF THE TRUE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF GREECE (1985)
In 1985, the Holy Synod of the True Orthodox Church of Greece, presided over by His Beatitude, Archbishop Andrew of Athens and all Greece, hurled the following set of anathemas against the New Calendarists, Modernists and Ecumenists. [From "The Herald of the True Orthodox," 1985, p. 58-59 (in Greek)]:
The Declaration Against Ecumenism - By the True Orthodox Church of Greece
To the heretical ecumenistic encyclical of 1920, this statutory charter of the schismato-heresy of new calendarism and ecumenism, together with those who wrote it, and those who accept it, and those who proceed according to its commands: Anathema!
To the Masonic and ecumenistic Congress of Constantinople of 1923, whereby the introduction of the accursed innovation of the new Papal Calendar into Orthodoxy was decided for the common concelebration of the feasts with the heretics, marking her commencement in the heresy of ecumenism or the so-called Pan-Christian unity: Anathema!
To the resolution of the fifth hierarchy, whereby Chrysostom Papadopoulos decided upon the introduction of new calendarism, as the first step of enforcing the obscure schemes of Freemasonry and ecumenism: Anathema!
To the resolution in March of 1924, of the outrageous fighter against Orthodoxy, Chrysostom Papadopoulos, whereby he forcefully imposed the innovation and schismato-heresy of new calendarism and ecumenism: Anathema!
To those who outrageously fought against Orthodoxy: Meletius Metaxakis, Chrysostom Papadopoulos, Basil II, Athenagoras, and all who are of like mind as them, who likewise intentionally served, and continue to serve, the God-hated work of ecumenism until this very day: Anathema!
X Archbishop Andrew of Athens and all Greece (President)
X Metropolitan Epiphanius of Citium and all Cyprus
X Metropolitan Eumenius of Heraclium and all Crete
X Metropolitan Gregory of Messenia
X Metropolitan Matthew of Attica and Megaris
X Metropolitan Nicholas of Piraeus and Islands
X Bishop Lazarus of Bresthena
X Bishop Theodosius of Phthiotis
X Bishop Pachomius of Argolis
X Bishop Titus of Serbiae and Cozane
X Archimandrite Chrysostom Metropoulos (Head Secretary)
X Hieromonk Cerycus Kontogiannis (on behalf of the priests)
X Monk Theodulus Demetropoulos (on behalf of the monks)
X Professor Eleutherius Goutzides (on behalf of the laymen)
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