" "We stand in the fight for our common Tradition, for the richness of the healthy faith we received from the Fathers'' (Saint Basil the Great, Epistle 243)
Because the time will come when they will not tolerate sound teachings, but according to their desires, they will gather for themselves teachers as they please their ears, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and turn to fables . (2 Tim 4:3-4)Because false Christs and false prophets will appear and will show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect . (Mt 24:24)
Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind . (Romans 12:2)We are fighting for our common Tradition, for the richness of the healthy faith that we received from the Fathers." (Saint Basil the Great, Epistle 243)
Because the time will come when they will not tolerate sound teachings, but according to their desires, they will gather for themselves teachers as they please their ears, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and turn to fables . (2 Tim 4:3-4)Because false Christs and false prophets will appear and will show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect . (Mt 24:24)
Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by renewing your mind . (Romans 12:2)
In the stormy history of the Church of Christ, there were numerous attempts to adapt the word of the Gospel to fallen sinful man, to reinterpret the Gospel, but the Church managed to preserve its virginity unsullied by the spirit of this world, and has always been and always will be foreign to this world and time. That is why the Holy Tradition (tradition), which today has a rather negative connotation, is one of the most important attributes of the True Orthodox Church. The Lord has given us his truth once and for all, and our efforts should be reflected in the fact that we live this truth and know it actively, and not discover it scientifically theologically, because there is no abstract truth, but only the Lord who is the only way, truth and life . The Lord calls us to bring all people into the fullness of the True Orthodox Church, and not to adapt the faith to people. One of the most important tasks of the True Orthodox Church is not to bring the Kingdom of Heaven down to earth, but to elevate people to the Kingdom of Heaven, to help them become holy and to unite the whole transformed substance in Christ.
On the other hand, there are many types of non-Orthodox (heterodox) "Christians" - heretics who are outside the Church of Christ and form wicked or dishonorable communities(1 ) . Saint Athanasius the Great says: "How can those who rejected the apostolic faith and became inventors of new evil deeds, those who abandoned the divine words of the Scriptures and proclaimed human deception as the new wisdom, be in the holy conciliar Church."(2 ) Moreover, those who those who left the faith that God gave cannot be called Christians. (3 )
Unfortunately, in our difficult times, many have appeared who look at the Holy Church of Christ differently than the Holy Fathers, martyrs and confessors did. These modern apostates from the Church of Christ and protagonists of the new heresy of Ecumenism are actively working to create a "New Christianity" through which the enemy of the human race wants to establish his false church (anti-church) and with its help prepare the coming of the false Christ. Their goal is to bring the Church of Christ into step with the current times and they are ashamed in front of the "free-minded" and "advanced" Western world to publicly admit the truth about their Church and the true Orthodox faith. Together with various heretics in false humility, they blaspheme the holy Church, admitting that the gates of hell have already overcome Christ's church, that it is divided and that "we all need to repent and be reconciled". Only then, in the words of these new apostates, will we again "find" one, indivisible and true church of Christ.
However, we know for sure that these dark goals will never come true, because Christ's church is indestructible. She will meet her fiance Christ pure and blameless, untainted by the sin of apostasy. The only question is how many people will recognize the true Church of God in it and find salvation in it?
NOTES:
(1) St. Cyril of Jerusalem
(2) St. Athanasius the Great
(3) The same Holy Father proclaims all the truth about the true faith of Christ, saying: "We preserve the faith of the Congregational Church, which the Lord gave, the apostles preached, the Fathers preserved. Because the Church was founded on it, and whoever falls away from it is not a Christian, nor can he be called a Christian.''
HEREZA NAD HEREZAMA
The Orthodox Church, which for centuries, resisting various heresies, managed to preserve the untainted confession of the holy faith of Christ, which the Lord Christ handed down to us through the holy apostles and the holy Fathers, is today faced with the greatest danger so far. The new heresy, the all-heresy of Ecumenism, is destroying the unity of the entire Orthodox Church, its teachings and centuries-old canonical structure from all sides.
The phenomenon of ecumenism is not something new and unknown. It has been written about for decades and it can rightly be said that it is a very complex phenomenon. Unlike ancient heresies, which distorted certain points of Orthodox teaching and the God-man image of the Savior Christ, ecumenism manifests itself at different levels of church life. In essence, it is a whole series of heresies that affect the very root of the Orthodox faith, i.e. its Orthodox Church. That is why ecumenism is first and foremost a church heresy. "Today, the goal of the enemy of the human race is not only to separate believers from the path of salvation led by Christ's church, but to create their own 'church of Christ' and transform the body of Christ itself into an 'ecumenical' organization, in order to prepare the coming of his chosen one, that is, the Antichrist. "(1)
So, ecumenism self-evidently "corrects" the God-man teaching of the Lord Christ, reducing it to the level of a social, humanist and pacifist idea, and replaces Christ himself with a godless and secular European man. In short, ecumenism reinterprets Christianity in the spirit of the " New Age " and thus opens the doors of the Church to all other heresies and novelties.
In the ancient Church, the word "ecumenical" was used to bring all peoples into the fullness and purity of the truth of the Orthodox Church. Therefore, this honorable attribute was added to the name of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Today, this term is used in the completely opposite sense of the realization of the external unity of Christian (but, lately, even non-Christian) confessions, sacrificing the fullness of God-man truth to the "compromise of love", with the ultimate goal of achieving a perfect human society, a kind of paradise on earth, but without God.
The origin of this is not difficult to determine. It was born under the auspices of the rationalist and humanist West and was completely alien to the way of thinking of Orthodox Christians until the beginning of the twentieth century when it entered the Orthodox Church through the back door, supported by the newly created Western intelligentsia of thinking and the ruling class, through certain hierarchies of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, educated in the papist and the Protestant West.
NOTES:
(1) Hieromonk Serafin Rouz , "Orthodox word", no. 5(70) September - October 1976 - "The Royal Way/True Orthodoxy in the Age of Apostasy"
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE HERESY AND CUMENISM
Ecumenism was founded at the end of the last century, more precisely in 1897 at the Conference of 194 Anglican bishops in Lambeth. At that meeting, the basic principles of the ecumenical union of Christian "churches" were formulated. The Lambeth conference confirms dogmatic minimalism, which starts from the fact that unity should be sought at least by common similarities of theological teachings. The minimum common basis was to consist of: the Holy Scriptures (but outside the context of the holy tradition), the Nicene-Constantinople Creed (a symbol of faith) and only two sacraments - baptism and the Eucharist. In addition, the so-called the principle of tolerance towards the teachings of other "churches" and the willingness to compromise with love. The third principle of the Lambeth conference is the famous Branch Theory , which derives from the fact that Christ's church is like a branched tree, whose tree represents the only indivisible Church. Branches are various "churches" that are equal to each other and represent the manifestation of one Church. No single branch is a single Church or possesses the fullness of truth, and therefore individual theological traditions of local "churches" should be harmonized through dialogue in order to "reconstruct" the truth and visibly realize one Church.(1 )
At the beginning of the twentieth century, in 1910. In Edinburgh, the International Missionary Society organized Protestant "churches", where it was decided to organize the World Movement for Faith and Order . At the same time, the " Life and Work " movement was active , whose task was to achieve the unity of Christians through their cooperation in everyday life issues. In 1948, the two movements were united in the so-called " World Council of Churches " based in Geneva. In parallel with this aspiration to unify religion, work was also done on the creation of international social bodies that would enable the creation of conditions for the political unification of the world. In 1914, the "League of Nations" was founded in Switzerland, which represents the beginning of the "United Nations Organization". In the action of both these movements, a unique intention is noticeable to achieve worldly unity in all aspects of life, but not in the person of Christ the God-man and his truth. It is essentially the "chiliastic" idea of an earthly kingdom, which has inspired the West for centuries and which manifests itself in various forms through papism, humanism, Marxism, Freemasonry and other movements of a similar orientation.
However, the biggest obstacle to that idea on a religious level was Orthodoxy with its patristic (patristic) and traditionally irreconcilable attitude towards every modernist reinterpretation of Christianity and the attitude that the real standard and way of overcoming ambiguity is only the all-saving truth of the God-Man Lord Christ. The Lord teaches us that the unity of all people can be realized only in the true Orthodox Church, in His divine-human personality, in St. Communion and the unique confession of the apostolic faith. Therefore, it was necessary to draw the Orthodox Church into the ecumenical movement and replace its teaching about the Church with an ecumenical ecclesiological heresy. The first attack came from two patriarchates that have the greatest reputation and influence in the entire Orthodox world. Soon, apart from Protestants, the main actors of ecumenism, unfortunately, became Orthodox.
NOTES:
(1) Ecumenists often use the comparison with a broken mirror in the sun. Each of the broken pieces reflects the sun's rays even though the mirror is in pieces. Thus each "church" possesses the fullness of the truth, although there is no visible unity between them.
THE CONSTANT ENCYCLICAL FROM 1920
The first concession to ecumenism by the Patriarchate of Constantinople was in January 1920, when an encyclical was issued, addressed to "all the churches of Christ", which, among other things, proposed the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. The introduction of the new calendar, which, like the previous Julian calendar, is astronomically inaccurate, is not so much a problem in itself as this gesture is only a visible manifestation of Constantinople to move closer to the West, at the expense of the centuries-old liturgical unity of the Orthodox churches. ( 1) The very content of this encyclical which signed by the then locum tenensi of the Constantinople Patriarchate, Metropolitan Dorotheus of Prussia with eleven other metropolitans, shows a completely new tone compared to the previous official documents of the Patriarchate. Let's pay attention to some wording from this encyclical. In it, not only local Orthodox churches are called "churches", but the name is added for the first time to various heretical confessions. At the very beginning it is said: "The rapprochement of different Christian churches and their common communion cannot be rejected because of the dogmatic differences that exist between to them.'' The encyclical appeals to work on "preparing and enabling complete unity", but does not mention that this is only possible in the fullness of the Orthodox truth of the Church of Christ. He calls various heretical groups "churches that are not foreign and alien to us, but kindred and close in Christ" and that are "joint heirs and partakers of the promise of God in Christ" (Eph 3:5). As a first step in building mutual trust and love, it is considered necessary to introduce a new calendar "for the simultaneous celebration of major Christian holidays by all Churches".
In addition, it is proposed to "our brothers in the East and in the West, all respected Christian Churches" to establish the practice of closer cooperation, the mutual exchange of holiday letters, the exchange of theological school students, as well as the establishment of an all-Christian council that would decide on issues of common interest. The encyclical caused great enthusiasm in the ecumenical world. Praises and eulogies came from all sides, from Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans. During that time, the Orthodox world was gripped by great confusion and doubt before this action of Constantinople, which was truly unprecedented. (2 ) The modernists were delighted, and the traditionalists, especially the monks, the lower clergy and the people, were extremely disappointed. Soon, Patriarch Meletija Metaksakis, who was officially the first Patriarch of Constantinople to start ecumenical activities, in 1923. convenes the council in Constantinople (3), which made appropriate decisions in accordance with the proposals of the 1920 Encyclical and announced the introduction of a new calendar without the existing consensus of all local Orthodox churches on the matter.
At that time, the entire Greek church was engulfed in a great wave of modernization and Europeanization, which was wholeheartedly helped by the court of King Otto and the newly created Western-minded intelligentsia. "They", writes Makrijanis in his memoirs, "ruined our homeland and religion, which is now ruled by the wicked. During the Turkish slavery, not a single stone was moved from the old churches. But these lunatics connected themselves in their interests with the infected Phanariotes and the like who became infected in Europe, and they ruined our monasteries and churches, desecrating some and turning others into stables. Many such priests and laymen, soldiers and politicians did this to us. Although we have shed our blood, we are in danger of losing our homeland and religion.'' . Monasteries suffered the most, some were closed, some had their property confiscated, and others were sent "progressive" superiors. the idea of Hellenic-Christian civilization. Traditional Byzantine music was replaced in the city churches by theatrical polyphonic choral European singing. At that time, the degradation of traditional iconographic art also took place. Electricity, (even electric lamps) and pews are being installed in the churches. Theologians and future church pastors were mostly educated in the Papist and Protestant West, where they came into contact with the latest ecumenical tendencies. They saw the differences between the Orthodox Church and the Western "churches" only in the field of dogmatic formulas that could somehow be harmonized, and they did not understand that in the West the image of the Lord Christ was replaced by a humanist European man, that there is no true Christianity there, and that differences cannot be corrected by compromise agreements and dialogue, but only by true and deep repentance and a change of opinion of the heretics. The truth of the Orthodox faith is not just a set of certain dead dogmatic rules, but the very God-man icon of the Lord Christ, whose image is bounded by the teachings and rules of the evangelical and holy fathers as infallible landmarks of piety. To take away even the smallest commandment means to desecrate the entire image of God. (5) That is why there is no and must not be a compromise in these matters. Any compromise in essential matters of faith is tantamount to betrayal of Christ and idolatry, no matter what goals the compromise is intended to achieve.
NOTES:
(1) The local council in Constantinople from 1583, convened as a reaction to the call of Gregory XIII, Pope of Rome, for the Orthodox to accept the new Roman calendar, in which Patriarch Jeremiah of Constantinople, Sylvester Patriarch of Alexandria, Sophronius Patriarch of Jerusalem and numerous other council fathers participated, among others clearly says:
"Whoever does not follow the customs of the Church, which were established at the General Assemblies of the Church, and the holy Passover and the calendar that they determine for us to follow, but wants to follow the newly invented Paschalia and its calendar of the Pope's godless astronomers and opposing them (the customs of the Church) wants to reject and defile the dogmas and customs of the Church that we inherited from our Fathers, let such an one be ANATHEM and be decided by the Church and the community of the faithful.''
The introduction of the new calendar, in addition to breaking the liturgical unity of the Orthodox Church, introduces a whole series of anomalies into the liturgical cycle of the year. Thus, for example, St. Peter's Lent is reduced according to the new calendar, so that there are years when it lasts only 2 days. In addition, it happens that the Annunciation falls outside the Lenten period, etc.
(2) We can also see what Constantinople's earlier position was on these issues from the announcement of the Council in Constantinople from 1724, which was presided over by the Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremija III. The council was convened due to the increasingly intense proselytizing activities of the papists in the area of the Patriarchate of Antioch. In the statement of the Parliament, it is said: "Those who strayed from piety and left the fathers and orthodox dogmas of our faith and the common Tradition of the Church, falling and straying into innovations and other people's ideas as well as (other) non-Orthodox customs, and who falsified and defiled the truth piety, such are no longer nor can they be called true Christians, but as non-Orthodox and innovators they are cut off and separated from the Christian and church community and thrown out of the holy fold, like infected sheep and rotten limbs, and subject to the ultimate and greatest church punishments, and being completely alienated from divine grace, they are condemned to eternal hell with the devil.''
(3) At this Synod, in addition to the question of changing the calendar, there was also the question of determining the fixed day of the celebration of Easter (the change of the paschal is otherwise prohibited by the 1st General Council and the Council of Antioch under the threat of excommunication of the cleric who tries it), then the marriage of deacons and presbyters after ordinations, the second marriage of a priest, matters of lightening the fast, moving the major feasts of saints to Sundays.
(4) Against False Union, Aleksandar Kalomiros, 1967.
(5) Saint John Chrysostom writes: "If you even slightly damage the seal on a royal banknote, the entire banknote becomes a forgery." In the same way, if you change even the slightest aspect of a healthy faith, the whole thing becomes defiled and becomes worse instead of better. Where are those now who accuse us of being aggressive because of our attitude towards heretics? Where are those who say that there is nothing different between us, but that the differences are due to the love of power. Let them listen to Paul, who says that the Gospel was changed by those who introduce innovations even in the slightest."
SERGIANISM IN THE RUSSIAN CHURCH
In the meantime, we know what kind of situation befell Russia and its faithful people. After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which was organized by Zionist-Masonic organizations(1), the Communists actively worked to destroy the Russian Orthodox Church, which was the spiritual conscience of the entire Russian people and the guardian of its sacred historical tradition. It was decided that it is easiest to destroy the church from the inside. This is how the so-called the movement of the "living church" which, with the help of ungodly authorities, was supposed to overthrow Patriarch Tikhon and reform the church in a purely Protestant way and turn it into an efficient tool of the ungodly system. The real apostasy occurred in March 1927, when Metropolitan Sergije Stragorodski, after spending several months in a Bolshevik prison, was released, and soon on July 24 of that year he issued the infamous "Declaration" by which the Russian Church officially welcomed the ungodly communist regime. The "Declaration" openly welcomes the Soviet Union as its new homeland and declares that all the joys and successes of the Soviet Union are the joys and successes of the church, and that all its sorrows are also the sorrows of the Russian Church. In this way, Metropolitan Sergije made his church organization an extended propaganda organ of the communist state. At that time, the same government carried out a bloody persecution of the Russian Church, which was more terrible than the persecution of Christians during the old Roman Empire. A large number of priests, monks and believers were brutally killed, thousands of churches and monasteries were closed or destroyed. Succumbing to pressure, Metropolitan Sergius openly denied to the world that there are persecutions in Russia because of religious beliefs. He called all those clerics and other Christians who refused to participate in his apostasy "political criminals", and the Soviet government arrested them and sent them to Siberian death camps. Those who defended him said that in this way he was saving the church from being completely destroyed. "Sergianism" practically became a synonym for betraying one's loyalty to Christ, in order to preserve the external church organization, its worldly prosperity and false peace. The faithful were forced to show unquestioning obedience to the official church leaders who followed this policy, which was often enforced through the government authorities themselves. When this trend finally won, Metropolitan Sergius took the place of patriarch and all opposition was silenced, "Sergianism" became the official policy of the Russian Church, which shaped its spiritual and church life for decades to come. In the period 1969 -1970. "Sergianism" was exported to the West by the formation of the so-called "American Metropolis", which received recognition from Moscow as an autocephalous church under Moscow's sponsorship. Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad, a well-known ecumenist and Latinophile (who ended his life with a heart attack during an audience with the Pope) had a special merit in this.The clerics of the "Metropolis" not only supported the church course of Moscow, but were also often apologists for the Russian political regime. After a visit to Russia, one bishop of that church, instead of testifying to the terrible persecution of Orthodox Christians and the suffering of numerous new martyrs and confessors in Siberia, coldly stated that people in the Soviet Union were "happy and well trained, and if someone complains about the government, well , there is that in America as well, isn't it?'' Today, the American Orthodox Church (OCA ), which arose from the Metropolis, known for its extreme liberalism and very intense ecumenical activity.
After the Bolshevik revolution, the Russian emigration formed its own special church organization called the Russian Abroad Church(2), which was led by Metropolitan Antonije Hrapovicki. She had the great task of bearing witness freely, without ideological pressure, in various parts of the world, where there was a Russian diaspora, to the truth of Orthodoxy and the truth about the sufferings of the Russian Church, and to continue the rich spiritual and intellectual traditions from the time before the arrival of the communists. During that time, Sergianist reforms were rejected by many bishops and believers in the country, among them Metropolitans Josip Petrogradski and Kiril Kazanski. Over time, that movement grew into the so-called The "Catacomb Russian Church" (the creation of which in principle was also blessed by Patriarch Tikhon), which lives until today completely covered by a veil of secrecy. In recent years, more has been learned about that martyred church, which is not yet in canonical communion with the official Moscow Patriarchate. (3)
So, the Soviet government tried to destroy the church through its spiritual leaders, who were apologists of the Soviet regime abroad and preached the so-called "communist Christianity" which ideologically prepared the way for the triumph of communism, not only as a universal political regime, but as an ideological and pseudo-religious tyranny. To understand this, we need to understand what communism is. It is not just an insane political regime, but an ideological-religious system whose goal is to overthrow and eradicate all other systems, especially Christianity. Communism is actually a very strong heresy(4), whose basic premise is chiliasm or millenarianism - history will reach its culmination in an undefined state of earthly bliss, as a perfected humanity living in perfect peace and harmony. This gospel became the official scripture of many Moscow bishops who began to organize various ecumenical, anti-war, peace, ecological and interreligious gatherings in the grandiose halls of Stalin's socialist realist palaces, with the comprehensive patronage of the state. With this attitude, the Church provided the perfect alibi for the criminal and anti-Christian activities of the Bolsheviks. During that time, the true Russian Church, the faithful people of the Russian land with a few bishops and priests, with numerous confessors and martyrs from Solovki to far Siberia suffered unprecedented suffering and persecution. None of the Moscow bishops spoke about this. It was a taboo subject. The only "truth" that could go before the world was that there are no religious persecutions in Russia, and those who are in the camps are political prisoners. Thus, the schism that arose in Russia with the arrival of the Bolsheviks to power is not only a political schism between the red and white bishops, as is commonly claimed, but an open conflict between the "Kingdom of this world" and the "Heavenly Kingdom of Christ", a conflict between two understandings true task of the church on earth. On the one hand, we have the "Sergianist" method of preserving the external church organization, at the expense of betraying the spirit of Christ's church, and the path of martyrdom on which the church suffers from the outside, but strengthens and regenerates spiritually from the inside.
It is interesting that the Moscow Patriarchate initially showed certain signs of caution towards ecumenism. This is evidenced by the assembly of bishops of local churches held in Moscow from 8-18. July 1948, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the declaration of autocephaly of the Russian Orthodox Church. At that council, representatives of the Alexandrian, Antiochian, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Georgian, Bulgarian, Polish, Czechoslovak and Albanian churches rejected participation in the world ecumenical movement and the World Union of Churches (SSC)(5), which was formed at that time. However, soon after that due to the pressure of the communist authorities in certain countries on the one hand and the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the other, all these churches soon became members of the SSC. Moscow was particularly prominent in this, so that on December 29, 1969 published and intercommunio with Roman Catholics. Ecumenical meetings, joint prayer services with heretics began. In this direction, under the pressure of the Soviet authorities, the active cooperation of all religions on the territory of the USSR was developed, which had to work together for the benefit of "their great homeland". Today, in the post-communist era, when the official Russian church has all the conditions for free action, it is still noticeable that Moscow avoids decisively freeing itself from the "Sergian" past, openly condemning the heresy of ecumenism, recognizing and celebrating thousands of new martyrs, and correcting certain canonical errors. and ecclesiastical irregularities that occurred during the Soviet tyranny. These are also the basic reasons that currently prevent the unification of the entire Russian church in the country and abroad under one jurisdiction.
NOTES:
(1) Of the 22 members of the first communist government, 17 were Jews. In addition, it is important to note that of the 554 senior leaders of the Soviet Union in the post-revolutionary period, 447 were of Jewish origin. It is obvious that the revolution was organized mostly by non-Russian forces with the help of White World Freemasons. The biggest victims of this revolution were the Orthodox Russian people and their church.
(2) Founded in Sremski Karlovci in 1920. with the blessing of Patriarch Tikhon.
(3) The Catacomb Church in Russia has never gone so far as to declare that the sacred secrets of the official church are not correct. Admittedly, she completely separated herself from the official hierarchy, which followed the Sergianist course of collaboration with the communists, although she did not forbid her faithful to receive Holy Communion in the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate in which they trusted.
(4) A very important fact in understanding the phenomenon of communism is that it is not only an ideology but a religion, and that is why in communist countries we cannot talk about atheism but about antitheism, worship of God. Communism vulgarized certain church customs and rituals and replaced them with its surrogates. Lities have been replaced by May Day parades, holy icons by the ubiquitous portraits of great leaders, religious services by processions, operas, liturgies for the deceased, holy powers by the embalmed corpses of party leaders. Hence, it cannot be abolished by decree, but like any heresy can only be cured by repentance or change of mind.
(5) From the article published in the magazine ORTHODOX PRESS SERVICE (No. 47, 29.11.1994) under the title "Russian Orthodox Church Considers Withdrawal from Ecumenical Organizations", we learn that a consultative body has been formed at the Moscow Patriarchate, which should consider the conditions and possible consequences of the withdrawal of the RPC from the SSC and the termination of the dialogue with the heretics. One of the main reasons for this is uncontrolled Roman Catholic and Protestant proselytism on the territory of Russia. Despite the agreement in Valamand (1993), the Vatican continues to treat Russia as its terra missions .
WORLD UNION OF CHURCHES
In the meantime, the aforementioned organization of the ecumenical movement took place, which was finally united in 1948. with the formation of the World Union of Churches (SSC). Four years later, Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople issued the Encyclical in 1952. in which he invites all heads of local Orthodox churches to join the World Union of Churches. As the main reason for this, completely banal reasons are given, that is, the need to "bring people and nations closer together" in order to "face the big problems of the present". The Patriarch praises the SSC, because "it facilitates the joint activities of the churches and develops cooperation". All in all, it is a document of a completely secular orientation, which uses language common in international politics and diplomacy.
As early as 1952, individual local Orthodox churches began to join the SSC, and in 1955, the Patriarchate of Constantinople sent its permanent representatives to the headquarters of the SSC, in Geneva. In 1959, the SSC Central Committee meets in Rhodes with representatives of all Orthodox churches. At this gathering, ecumenism practically entered the walls of Orthodoxy. (1) Since 1961, Orthodox ecumenists have convened a series of conferences with the aim of realizing ecumenical goals. In 1964, the third conference was held in Rhodes. The Pope, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury and the General Secretary of the SSC sent their greetings. Orthodox ecumenists responded with gratitude. At this gathering, it was decided to conduct "dialogues" with heretics "on an equal basis". In addition, he affirmed the right for each local Orthodox church to independently nurture "fraternal relations" with heretical communities. That same year (1964), Patriarch Athenagoras met with the Roman Pope in Jerusalem, and the following year, Constantinople removed the anathemas against the papal heresy from 1054, although Rome remained unrepentant in all its innovations.
Given that we are now entering a period of very active ecumenical contacts, we consider it necessary to present some authentic statements of the High Priest of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, whose path his successors have persistently continued for decades.
NOTES:
(1) Just a few years ago, at the Fourth All-Orthodox Conference in Chambezius, Geneva, a decision was made that said: "The Inter-Orthodox Commission that met in Geneva expresses the common awareness of the Orthodox Church, that it represents an organic part of the World Union of Churches, as well as its firm the decision to use all the means at its disposal, theological and other, for the success and progress of the entire work of the World Union of Churches. The Orthodox Church is part of a heretical "super-church" organization.
THE ECUMENISM OF PATRIARCH ATHINAGORA - "THE TIME OF DOGMA IS PASSED" (1)
Patriarch Athenagoras is known for his pro-ecumenical views since the period when he was elected Metropolitan of Corfu (1922) and Archbishop of America (1947). Immediately after taking office in Constantinople (1949), he sends the American archbishop Jacob to convey an oral eulogy to Pope John Paul XXIII, calling him "the second Forerunner" (2)!?! With his arrival on the Constantinople throne, ecumenism entered the Orthodox Church wide open. In his ecumenical theology of the "unity of the churches", Patriarch Athenagoras starts from the fact that there is no essential difference between Christian denominations. (3) All of them form a single conciliar and apostolic church, although there has been some estrangement between them due to differences in teaching. The basic task that is set before the Christians of our time is to develop the awareness that all are brothers in Christ, the one and true church of Christ(4). Previous attempts to achieve unity through theological discussions did not lead to results because dogmatic differences stood in the way of achieving unity, therefore Patriarch Athenagoras, considering that a new time has now arrived, the time of the "Holy Spirit", believes that the only way to unity is "dialogue love'' through which the Holy Spirit himself will show the unity of the one and undivided Church of Christ. In order for the dialogue of love to be conducted, it is necessary, first of all, to simply "leave the past, the theological problems that divide us" and make an effort to "always be united in the love of Christ". inspired'' message, he says: "The time has come for love to bury dead letters, to bury centuries-old hatred, to release captured truth and imprisoned reality."(6) "Christianity", in the words of this modernist patriarch, "has today the need for a new theology of reconciliation.''(7) Obviously, a full revision of Orthodox teaching, especially its ecclesiology, needs to be carried out. The centuries-old teaching and deep conviction of thousands of holy martyrs and confessors of the Orthodox faith that the Orthodox Church is the only true church of Christ and that salvation is possible only in it appears as an anachronism of the past, for ecumenists so burdened with aggression and intolerance. Adhering to the spirit of the branch theory, it is necessary that all churches together "re-establish" one holy conciliar and apostolic church(8) , to find Christ again(9). But in what way? "We propose the Holy Chalice as a means of unification..." says Patriarch Athenagoras in a message. Precisely communio inter sacris is the basic goal of the "dialogue of love".(10) Therefore, union should be achieved on the basis of dogmatic minimalism, and all differences should simply be left as local theological traditions that are not obligatory for others.
In order to create a favorable climate for progress in this direction, it was necessary to abolish the anathemas from 1054, which was ceremoniously done on December 7, 1965. With a simple stroke of the pen, the anathema against papism was erased and the Roman "church" was declared to be sister church''. (11) After this, in the address of the Patriarch of Constantinople and his metropolitans to the Pope, no hesitation is noticed. The terms and titles common to relations between two sister Orthodox churches are used (12), moreover, the name of the pope is entered in the diptychs of the Constantinople church, which is one of the basic indicators of the recognition of Orthodoxy to those who profess heresies condemned by the Holy Fathers and the Holy Councils. (13)
The idea of uniting all Christian, even non-Christian confessions, in its essence is obviously only the first step towards the universal unification of all humanity, which is one of the most important tasks that Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI see before them(14 ) . The unification of the Christian world is only the first stage in the general plan. Patriarch Atinagora's view of non-Christian faiths is completely unacceptable for an Orthodox bishop. He fully expresses the heretical understanding of God and faith, (15) and puts the Orthodox faith on the same level with various heathen and heretical teachings. The image of Patriarch Athenagoras is completed by his undisguised zeal for the modernization and reformation of the Orthodox Church, its church customs and rules of life. In fact, following his statements on these issues, we notice a complete absence of understanding of the father's tradition and its importance for preserving the spiritual identity of the true Orthodox Church. In any case, as in all the previously mentioned examples, it is about non-canonical and heretical behavior. Many of these statements caused stormy reactions. (16)
These are just some of the most radical statements made by Patriarch Athenagoras that reflect the new spirit of thinking of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Much can be said about his ecumenical meetings with papists in Constantinople and Rome, the joint meeting and prayer with the Pope in Jerusalem, the famous "removal of the anathema" on December 7, 1965. year, prayer gatherings with Armenian Monophysites and Anglicans, visited Rome in October 1967. when he served with Pope Paul VI, together with him he blessed the gathered people with frenetic applause and camera flashes. We will see this "theatrical performance" again in 1979. during the visit of Patriarch Dimitrije of Constantinople to Rome. All these outrageous activities and sentimental-prophetic statements seasoned with exuberant Greek rhetoric caused irrepressible discontent and a storm among many Orthodox Christians. In 1969, Metropolitan Augustin of Florin submitted a petition to the synod because of the "non-canonical and non-Orthodox activities of the patriarch". Sveta Gora protested even earlier in 1964. when the monks of Athos condemned "these pro-Union activities and attitudes of the Patriarch of Constantinople and his like-minded people". They appealed to the patriarch to stop his ecumenical activities, and if he persisted in them, they threatened to end communion with him. Protests are coming from all sides. The head of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Filaret, in his letter to Patriarch Atinagora on the occasion of the "removal of the anathema" points out that no one has the right to do what is against the teachings and church canons in the name of the whole church. He refers to the 15th canon of the First Second Council in Constantinople from 861. who calls "honorable among Orthodox Christians" those bishops and clerics who break communion with their patriarch if he openly preaches heresy. From all sides, the attitude "that there is no compromise in matters of the Orthodox faith" is heard. What is Constantinople's response to all this?
Totally ignoring! To this day, the Patriarchate of Constantinople has not published any denial, or at least an explanation of its heretical views and activities, but has continued with them even further. Other local Orthodox churches not only silently passed by everything that was happening, keeping false peace in the church and thus tacitly amening the introduction of a new heresy within the framework of the church, but individual representatives of their hierarchy themselves began to actively participate in ecumenism, often exceeding and " Cardinals from Phanar''.
Ecumenical circles saw in Patriarch Atinagora a "prophet of the new time", the "spiritual father of the Orthodox Renaissance" (Archbishop Jacob the American) (17). The magazine Εκκλησια led the way in praising him by portraying him as a saint. (Εκκλησια 1.15.1972). Archbishop Jerome of Athens, who was remembered as a great friend of Roman Catholics and ecumenists without any reservations, on the occasion of the death of Patriarch Athenagoras in 1972. he declared that "the great do not die, and Athenagoras was truly great".
That he was great is best confirmed not only by his life but also by his death. Because never before in the history of the Orthodox Church has the death of a leader caused such pan-Christian grief and sympathy throughout the world. Even the holy municipality of Sveta Gora sent a telegram in which it expresses a prayerful desire "that the soul of the late patriarch be found in union with Chrysostom, Basil, Gregory and Photius the Great". It is difficult to understand to what extent half-tron courtesies can lead the Christian conscience. An honorable mention is the example of an Athenian deacon who refused to serve the memorial service for Patriarch Athenagoras because he was a heretic. Certainly, there are many Orthodox Christians in Greece who were horrified by the outrageous betrayal of Orthodoxy at Phanar, but unfortunately we rarely find such tones in the statements of church officials. However, the voices of protest came from great spiritual leaders such as Father Epiphanius Theodoropoulos (18) and Father Filotej Zervakos (19), the superior of the Longovarda monastery on Faros, who as a faithful spiritual child of St. Nectarius of Aegina sensed the dangers of ecumenical heresy in time. Metropolitan Filaret from New York also protested with his famous "letters of pain", followed by numerous theologians and conscientious Christians from all over the world.
All these events and activities of the high priest of the Constantinople church and his like-minded people throughout the Orthodox world plastically reflect the basic spirit of the philosophy of the 20th century, which, although divided into hundreds of different philosophical directions and ideologies, still has a common denominator. It was perhaps most clearly expressed by Ivan Karamazov who said: "God is dead, that's why man becomes God and everything is possible." This thought is the core of contemporary nihilism, anarchism and ecumenism. Ecumenists persistently mention the phrase "New Era". At the root of that idea lies the ancient heresy of Chiliasm, because what else could justify such radical changes and monstrous perversions of Orthodoxy other than the fact that we are entering new historical circumstances, a new kind of time in which the ideas of the past are no longer important. The basic manager of all these movements is actually the spirit of the times. The Roman Catholic "Church" has been fighting for centuries to transform Christianity into humanism. At the Second Vatican Council, the need to modernize the church in every aspect was highlighted - aggiornamento (modernization). Pope Paul VI prophetically declares: " VOX TEMPI – VOX DEI " (The voice of time is the voice of God). How contrary to the Holy Father's way of thinking of the great confessor of Orthodoxy St. Athanasius the Great who said: "Know that we have to serve not (this) time but God." So, it was necessary to carry out the reform in the East as well. Patriarch Athenagoras worked persistently to introduce a new spirit into the church, disregarding the fact that he was violating dozens of canons and the entire sacred tradition of the church. After all, his like-minded people never even tried to justify him as a theologian or a traditionalist. For them, he is a "prophet of the new time" whose ideas cannot be condemned because he already lives in the "new time" ahead of his time and his generation. The Patriarch himself often spoke about the "Third Age of the Holy Spirit". It is an old Chiliastic idea that was also preached by Berđaev, and it can be traced back directly to Joachim of Fiora, and indirectly to the Montanists. The idea of the New Age permeates almost the entire European thought in the period of the last two centuries. These ideas are particularly relevant in many contemporary movements united under the name New Age , or The Age of Aquarius. (Age of Aquarius) which marks the beginning of a new astrological cycle and the end of a period of civilization dominated by Christianity. In order to finally open the doors of a thousand-year kingdom of peace and prosperity on earth, the main inspirers of these ideas constantly pushed the term "progress", which is the key word of all European revolutions. There is constant talk about a new morality, a new understanding of religion, the brotherhood of all peoples and religions, tolerance and compromise, the spring of Christianity and the need to reinterpret the concept of church. And all these mentioned ideas, in addition to similar ones in the field of politics and economics, are an integral part of the New World Order, which aims to reform God's order, and to create a human kingdom on earth without God. Unfortunately, despite the probably sincere good intentions of some naive ecumenists, this movement serves exactly the opposite goal, the destruction of the church and the Orthodox faith and the realization of the earthly kingdom of the Antichrist.
NOTES:
(1) From the statement of Patriarch Atinagora on 29.6. in 1963
(2) " Your Holiness, my patriarch authorized me to tell you that the sixth verse of the first chapter of the Gospel by John was written for you and that he believes that you are the man who was sent by God and whose name is John, and that the seventh verse of the same chapter refers to your mission. Just as He "came for a testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all may believe through Him", in the same way and for the same task you were chosen. You yourself are not light, but you have been raised to the Roman throne to "bear witness to the light" (John 1:6-8) From the welcome sermon.
(3) " We do not see any obstacle in the way of the union of the Roman and Eastern Churches." We do not see any obstacle for the simplest reason, that such obstacles do not exist'' (Ορθοδοηος τυπος)
(4) '' We Orthodox and Catholics are brothers. Peter and Andrew were brothers, only one in Rome and the other in Greece. This is what we should be: Catholics and Orthodox, co-workers and brothers. The door is waiting for us open, we just need to enter.'' (Καθολικη, 24.1.1962)
(5) From the greeting to the Melchite Uniate Patriarch Maximus IV (Καθολικη, 22.1.1964): "We live in a new time. Let's leave the past, the theological problems that divide us, let's leave them to those who are responsible for it, and we will do our best to always be united in Christ's love from this moment on.''
(6) " Let us begin the third period of the church, the period of love, in reconciliation and mutual unity." So, the time has come for love to bury the dead letters, to bury centuries-old hatred, to release the captured truth and the imprisoned reality.'' (Καθολικη 3.5.1967).
(7) " On the way to unity, one church should not move towards another, but we should all together re-establish one holy conciliar and apostolic church, which will exist in the East and the West, as we lived until 1054 and in addition to those existing then of theological differences.'' (From the 1967 Christmas letter)
(8) During the meeting with the Pope in Jerusalem, the Patriarch stated: "This is not just a meeting between two men of responsibility. He has a great goal, that we find Christ again who is only among the united, not separated.'' (From the book Eirhnopoi, p. 135)
(9) " We conduct this dialogue with the basic intention of reaching the same goal, which is the common cup that we had for a thousand years until 1054. Even then we had differences, because even then we had theologians, and we had sacramental communion." (from a sermon in London on November 13, 1967)
(10) No local Orthodox church officially protested against this non-canonical and anti-Orthodox act. The protests, admittedly, were only directed by individuals and representatives of the Russian Church Abroad and Old Calendarists. Since it is a non-canonical and anti-tradition act, it can rightly be concluded that it does not fundamentally oblige any Orthodox to accept it.
(11) One of the many examples is the greeting of Patriarch Athenagoras to Pope Paul VI upon his arrival in Rome in 1967. "We feel special joy that we are coming to Rome to the good shepherd, the bearer of apostolic grace and the heir of the galaxy of holy and wise men, who in honor and order occupies the first throne in the community of Christian churches of the whole country." (Καθολικη, 7.12.1967)
(12) " Being next to your revered holiness always in spirit and heart, we especially remember you and your most holy Roman Catholic Church in prayer, at the holy liturgy in the most venerable patriarchal temple." (Καθολικη 4.11.1969)
(13) Let's hope that the dream of Christians of all times about the unification of churches will come true soon. This dialogue will lead to the unity of the Christian churches, which will be the first step towards unification on a global scale. My beloved brother Paul II - I call him the Second, not the sixth because he should have been born right after the Apostle Paul according to his work - showed so much foresight and courage that I include him among the greatest popes in history" (Καθολικη, 24.5 .1967.)
(14) " We are deceiving ourselves and making a mistake if we think that the Orthodox faith came down from heaven , that other confessions have no value. Three hundred million people chose Islam to reach their God, and other hundreds of millions are Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists. The goal of every religion is to enrich man." (Ορθοδοηος τυπος Dec. 1968.)
(15) As an example, we cite some parts of the interview of Patriarch Athenagoras to the newspaper Εθνος dated 20.3.1970. These scandalous statements had the consequence that four metropolitans of the Greek Church, led by Augustine of Florin, stopped mentioning the patriarch.
"Today the mantle means nothing anymore, the mantle does not make a priest, the priest has to show himself without the mantle. That's the thing. Surely, we should be realistic and above all not to be afraid of the truth. We often say that this or that is a tradition and should remain. A mistake, a big mistake. How many customs in the church are not authentic, not ancient, and therefore we struggle to get rid of them. I completely agree with the marriage of clerics even after ordination. Ordination is not an obstacle to marriage. They accuse us of not keeping a good course. I would very much like them to propose to us their solution for trying to unify the churches. We propose the Holy Chalice as a means of union. We had a common Chalice even when we were separated from the West until 1054. There was a schism and we stopped. There was anathema between the two churches, Western and Constantinople, what is the obstacle? We have many differences, they say. Which ones? Filioques? Well, it's been around since the seventh century, and the churches didn't split. Primacy and infallibility? What is it about us? Let each church keep its customs. If the Catholic Church wants it, let it be. But I ask you, where is that infallibility today, when the pope has a permanent fifteen-member council that decides. After all, we all think of ourselves as infallible. In my work, I think in everything. Does your wife ask you how much salt to put in the food? Of course not. It has its own infallibility. Let the pope have it too if he wants it. We don't ask for that. Theological dialogue will not bring results. We are not ready and it will take centuries. Only one dialogue is possible - the dialogue of love.''
(16) In order to get to know the face of ecumenism better, we cite somewhat shortened excerpts from the pro-ecumenical book "Peacemakers", which describes in detail the ecumenical odyssey of Patriarch Athenagoras. A similar direction is noticeable in all similar spectacles of his successors and like-minded people.
MEETING IN JERUSALEM
The meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem was the first meeting between the heads of Rome and Constantinople in the last 526 years, more precisely since the meeting in Ferrara between Patriarch Joseph II and Pope Eugenius IV. After they recited the prayer "Our Father" together, exchanged a kiss of peace and blessed the people together, at the end the patriarch presented the pope with an expensive pastoral panagia, with a representation of the Lord as Teacher, a symbol of the episcopal honor of Orthodox leaders. The Greeks present shouted: "Your Holiness, put it around his neck!" This was translated to the Pope and with tears in his eyes he took off the table, a kind of epitrachilus, while the patriarch put it on him with his hands, which were shaking with excitement panagia. Then everyone shouted: "Aksios (worthy) Aksios!" before the surprised looks of the members of the papal entourage who heard for the first time the loud liturgical cry of Orthodox ordination (ordination). This cry was the most eloquent recognition of the unity of the clergy of the World Church. Pope Paul the Sixth is recognized by the clerics of the First See and the faithful as a member of their episcopal body. The pope wore this panagia on his chest when he returned to Rome and during all subsequent meetings with the patriarch. After that, the patriarch presented the pope with a gold cross from the celebration of the thousandth anniversary of Mount Athos, a refined artistic work, and other gifts from the same celebration to the other members of the entourage. Having again exchanged words of mutual gratitude, they went out onto the small balcony of the patriarchal palace to bless the people who were gathered around and cheered them on. They blessed him and again together they gave each other a brotherly kiss in Christ in front of the people, and then withdrew.
REMOVING THE ANATHEM
Of the eight members of the Synod of Patriarch Athenagoras, the document on the "removal" of the anathema was signed by six. They did not agree and refused to sign Jacob of Derkia and Maximus of Sardis. The ceremony took place on December 7, 1965, simultaneously at Fanar and in Rome. The Orthodox delegation consisted of Metropolitan Meliton of Iliupola, Archbishop Jacob of America and Metropolitans Athenagoras of Thyatira and Chrysostom of Austria, accompanied by Archimandrite Maximus Agiorgusi and Deacon Bartholomew Archondoni (today's Patriarch of Constantinople). Let's see what the ecumenical book "Peacemakers" says about it:
"At 11:10 a.m., the papal delegation headed by Cardinal Laurenci Sehan arrives at the patriarchal temple. They are dressed in formal gowns and taken to the soleja. The patriarch descends from his throne and hugs and kisses the cardinal, the archbishop and other members of the entourage. The cardinal ascends the side throne, and the archbishop sits in the nearby stasidia. When the divine liturgy reached the moment of reading the Gospel, the secretary of the holy synod, Archimandrite Gabriel, read from the pulpit the joint statement of the pope and the patriarch. followed, because the memory of them to this day represents an obstacle to mutual rapprochement in love, and therefore they consign them to oblivion.... and finally express their regret for the sad events that preceded and followed (anathemas) and which, due to the action of various factors, including a mutual lack of understanding and trust, finally led to the complete interruption of church communion.'' After that, the patriarch solemnly left the throne read the solemn act of abolition of the anathema. On the same day at 19:00 in the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit in Constantinople, a pontifical mass was celebrated and the solemn doxology TE DEUM was sung .
What was happening in the Vatican that day? "The president of the patriarchal delegation, Metropolitan Meliton, will arrive in Rome at 4:00 p.m. on December 7. Vatican dignitaries welcome him at the airport. At 8:30 p.m., the patriarchal delegation was ushered into St. Peter's Basilica, full of dignitaries and people. At the entrance, Metropolitan Meliton puts on a mandia. Accompanied by Cardinal Johan Vilenbrans, who was dressed in full episcopal garb like other members of the delegation, they enter the temple and take seats to the right of the central altar of the "Confession", right next to the representatives of the royal houses. The service begins in a touching and magnificent atmosphere. The liturgy enters, consisting of 2,399 members of the Second Vatican Council, patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops in the liturgical department, including Pope Paul VI, who enters on foot (the popes were carried in a litter until then), also dressed in a white shepherd's robe with a gold-embroidered miter, wearing the shepherd's staff in his hand. He blesses the people and ascends to his throne.'' After reciting various litanies and announcing the four last decrees of the Council, the papal secretary, Archbishop Periklo Felici, announced Cardinal Villenbrans, secretary of the Commission for Christian Unity, who, after thunderous applause, read the joint statement of the patriarch and pope. Soon the pontifical mass began, in which 24 dignitaries participated. At one point, Metropolitan Meliton, accompanied by a cardinal, was brought before the papal throne where Cardinal Bea read the papal act on the abolition of anathemas in Latin ( AMBULATE IN DILECTIONE - walk in love), in which he expresses regret for the unpleasant events of the past and expresses the hope that the removal anathema enable the establishment of full unity. The Pope then ceremoniously handed over the act to Meliton, exchanging a kiss of peace with him, which was accompanied by violent applause. All this was broadcast directly by the Pope's radio station to all corners of the world. After the Mass, the Pope receives the Constantinople delegation in his palace. Metropolitan Meliton said on that occasion: "Today, between the two first thrones of the West and the East, the basic assumption of the gradual elimination of differences in brotherly love is being realized officially and ecclesiastically." You, as the first bishop of Christianity and your second brother, the bishop of Constantinople, after this today's holy event, can this year, for the first time after many centuries, with one mouth and one heart address the people, who in the church and outside it, in blessing and peace await pain.''
POPE PAUL VI IN CONSTANTINOPLE
"The Pope, carrying the panagia that the patriarch gave him in Jerusalem, arrives at the gates of the patriarchate. The bells ring loudly, and the gathered crowd greets them with applause and shouts. Metropolitans Meliton of Chalcedon and Jacob of Derki welcome him. The Pope is approached by a solemn litany consisting of deacons and archimandrites dressed in gold-woven robes and escorted to the entrance to the Patriarchal Temple of St. Gregory. There, the patriarch is waiting for him, wearing his ceremonial mandia. With tears in their eyes, they exchange a kiss in Christ and together enter the interior of the temple, while the thirty-five-member Byzantine choir sings: "What is good and beautiful than when brothers live together" (Ps. 132,1).
The two high priests climb onto a lower platform on which there are two identical thrones in front of the royal doors of the iconostasis. There they pray, "take their time" as if they are going to serve together. The Holy Synod and visiting dignitaries are lined up to the right of the Pope. To the left of the patriarch are cardinals and archbishops from the papal entourage. After the troparion to the Holy Spirit, to the apostles Peter and Paul and to the Mother of God, verses from the great doxology and litany read by the deacons follow. For the first time in the last five hundred years or more, a thunderous call is heard from one of the Orthodox mouths - WE ARE STILL PRAYING FOR THE MOST HOLY POPE OF ROME AND OUR ARCHBISHOP AND PATRIARCH. It was a truly moving historic joint prayer, the first in front of the altar and the people." The service ended with the patriarch's prayer and the joint reading of the "Our Father". Then followed the greetings of the two high priests in the form of a dialogue:
POPE: Brother, much loved in Christ! More than three years ago, God in his infinite goodness granted us the opportunity to meet you in the Holy Land where Christ founded his church and shed his blood for it. Today, that same love of Christ and His church leads us to exchange the kiss of brotherly love here where our fathers died in faith and confessed with one heart the Holy Trinity, undivided and identical.
PATRIARCH: Most holy and much loved brother in Christ! Praise be to God who works miracles, who today in his infinite love and the greatest honor has deigned us to receive your beloved and revered holiness, who comes to us from ancient Rome carrying her kiss to his younger sister. (Church of New Rome - Constantinople)
POPE: In the light of our love for Christ and mutual brotherly love, we discover again the deep equality of our faith, and the things on which we still disagree should not prevent us from feeling that deep unity.
PATRIARCH: The Lord gradually led us and brought us to the painful points of our common history. And he commanded us to lift the curtain that separates us. Showing obedience to His will, we strive for the unity of all and the full communion of love and faith in sharing the common Cup of Christ.
POPE: Love allows us to see our unity growing in mutual service and encourages us to mobilize all our forces to hasten the arrival of that day of the Lord, recognizing and respecting one another, taking care of the integrity and growth of the people of God and avoiding everything that could destroy it. share. Love is a vital point, irreplaceable for the growth of faith, and communion in the truth is a condition for the full manifestation of love, which is expressed in communion.
PATRIARCH: We will build the body of Christ, we will gather what is scattered through common church efforts, directing the theological dialogue to the principles of full equality in the fundamental foundations of truth and freedom.
POPE: With non-hypocritical love we kiss you with a holy kiss.
PATRIARCH: Blessed are you, brother, who come in the name of the Lord.
This conversation was followed by an exchange of gifts. The patriarch presents the pope with a gold-woven epitrachilus from the sixteenth century. There is a dedication written on it that says: "As a sign that since the Apostles we have shared the treasure of the priesthood." When the patriarch put the epitrachilus around the pope's neck, the people spontaneously started shouting - Aksios! Axios! In return, the Pope presented an icon, the work of the painter Trento Logareti, which the Patriarch bowed to and kissed. The service ended with a joint blessing. The Pope said the last verse of the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians in Latin, and the Patriarch ended with the dismissal of the holy liturgy. The choir then sang many years to the pope and the patriarch. "TO THE MOST HOLY AND BLESSED POPE PAUL VI, MANY SUMMERS!" This was followed by thunderous applause. Then they left the church and blessed the people together. In the conversation that followed in the patriarchal court, the pope asked the patriarch to convey fraternal expressions of love to the Orthodox patriarchs during his upcoming visit and to do everything that depends on him for the day of unification to come.
At 9:10 p.m., the Pope came to the Latin Church of St. Spirit. He was greeted with a loud ringing. He barely succeeds with his entourage to break through the mass of people who have gathered. The mixed choir, accompanied by the organ, sings the hymn "Christus vincit". After the verse with a prayer for the Pope, the choir sings: " ATHENAGORAS ARCHIEPISCOPO CONSTANTINOPOLITANO ET OECUMENICO PATRIARCHA VITA, PAX ET FELICITAS PERPETUA ." The Pope wears a panagia from Jerusalem and a gold-woven epitrachilus, and the patriarch wears the golden cross of Pope John XXIII. The service began with the hymn to the Holy Spirit " Veni creator spiritus" . Then the Pope read a prayer, followed by the reading of the Apostles (Eph 3:8-21) and the Gospel (Jn 14:23-30). The choir sang the hymn " Ubi caritas" again , and then the litanies for both high priests began. The service ended with a prayer of dismissal and the reading of the "Our Father" in both languages. After the pope and the patriarch exchanged a kiss of peace and jointly blessed the clergy and the people, they left the temple while the choir sang " Magnificat anima mea dominum " (Magnificat my soul of the Lord)
THE PATRIARCH OF ATHINAGORES IN THE VATICAN
On Friday, October 26, 1967, Mr. Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras met for the third time. With tears, they exchanged expressions of mystical love, a holy fraternal kiss, which really made a touching scene before the eyes of millions of viewers who watched it all through Eurovision. That was the strongest evidence of unity in Christ. After blessing the people, the two archpriests entered the crowded temple where the cardinals, over two hundred members of the episcopal synod, clergy and representatives of the religious communities of Rome, members of the diplomatic corps and other guests had already taken their seats. At the beginning, they bowed in front of the chapel of the Holy Secrets and the Virgin Mary, and then headed to the tomb of the Apostle Peter while the choir of the Sistine Chapel sang various hymns. There, both prayed silently and the patriarch presented a Byzantine candle, which he lit himself. After that, they ascend to the central altar above the tomb of the apostle Peter, which is covered by Bernini's magnificent ciborium. For the first time in the history of the papacy, next to the papal throne, another one was placed for the first princes of Old and New Rome. From there, the pope and the patriarch took part in the divine service, which was in fact a shortened divine liturgy without proscomidia, consecration of gifts and communion, something like the liturgy before the consecrated gifts, only without the eucharistic part that will be included when everything is ready for communion, i.e. when the Holy Spirit make it possible with your inspiration. The service began with the 118th psalm, the opening prayer, and the reading of the apostles (Phil 2:1-11) in Latin. Then followed the anthem " Ubi caritas " . The Gospel (John 13:1-15) was also read, which was read in Byzantine chant in Greek by the great archdeacon. After that, litanies of the faithful began in six languages, to which the people loudly responded Κυριε ελεησον. The prologue of the "ascension" was read with a long papal prayer for the unity of the church. After that, the choir sang the song: "Holy, holy, holy Lord of Sabaoth." Everyone read "Our Father", after which greetings followed. After this service, they went down to the crypt in front of the grave of Pope John XXIII, where Patriarch Athenagoras, visibly excited, lit a candle, incensed the grave and sang several songs from the service for the deceased. After that, he laid three classes on the grave with the words of the Gospel: "If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and does not die, it remains alone, and if it dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn 12:24). The Pope then said: "You represent tradition of the churches of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. The patriarch answered him: "And you are the bearer of apostolic grace and the heir of a constellation of holy men who are called to the throne first in honor and order in the entire church." Then they went around the main altar while the choir sang the hymn: "Sing to the Lord a new song" (Ps. 97).
(17) Archbishop Jacob had a large statue of Patriarch Athenagoras erected in the park of the theological school in Boston. The statue represents the patriarch with a chalice in his hand inviting all Christians to communion in one cup. It would not be surprising if ecumenists one day start the canonization process of Patriarch Atinagora. This would be the only "saint" of the church who supported ecumenical views.
(18) Archimandrite Theofanias Theodoropoulos wrote a harshly open letter to Patriarch Athenagoras in which he exposes his betrayal of the Orthodox faith. The letter was published in the magazine "Three Hierarchs" no. 1228, 1965
(19) Father Philotei Zervakos wrote an open letter to Patriarch Athenagoras in which he gave him a lesson about humility in a holy fatherly manner and said: "If you really love the pope, go and tell him the whole truth: - Dear Pope, since I love you I will tell you an undeniable the truth. Listen, if you have ears to hear. You are the first in arrogance, and I am right behind you. You, because you say you are infallible, and I because they call me the holiest. We are both liars, because you are not infallible and I am not the holiest. And if people, with the intention of flattering us, call us infallible and most holy, let us tell them the truth. We are not what you think. We are sinners. Tell them what the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ said to the rich young man: Why do you call me good. No one is good except God alone " (Mk 10:18). The patriarch angrily returned the letter to Father Filotej without keeping it with him so that it would not remain in the patriarchal archives. (Ορθοδοηος τυπος, Athens in 1979.)
PATRIARCH DIMITRIJE – ON THE SIDEWAYS OF HIS PREDECESSOR
Patriarch Atinagora was succeeded on the throne of the Church of Constantinople in 1972 by Patriarch Dimitrije. Many believed that Athenagoras's successor would abandon the previous course, since he was a man who, among other potential candidates (such as the infamous ecumenist Archbishop Jacob the American), did not stand out excessively in ecumenical attitudes. However, based on his enthronement sermon, it was clear that he was continuing the path of his predecessor. Here are his words:
"From this place, as the first among the equals of the holy Orthodox Church, we greet the most holy and blessed Pope of Rome Paul VI and the first among equals in the whole church of Christ, the venerable and elder brother, the bishop of Old Rome and the patriarch of the West, the most blessed head of the ancient apostolic churches, his grace the archbishop of Canterbury, the venerable head of the Old Catholic Church and all heads of Christian churches, denominations and with them the World Union of Churches, and we express our determination to follow the holy and great path of our great predecessor, the blessedly late Patriarch Athenagoras I, in building all-Orthodox harmony and inter-Christian unity. We will by no means miss our obligation to continue the dialogue first with Islam, and then with other major monotheistic religions.''
Let's pay attention to the first words of the patriarch. They clearly show a clear position that the Orthodox Church is not the only Church of Christ and that the Patriarch of Constantinople, as the first among equals in the Orthodox Church, is not the first among equals in the Church of Christ, because that position belongs to the Pope of Rome. So, again an identical attitude. Fanar behaves as if there is no schism, as if the Roman "church" did not fall away from the collegial and apostolic Church of God ten centuries ago.
On the day before the actual election of Patriarch Dimitri, on July 15, at the liturgy in the patriarchal temple of St. Gregory, priest Panayotis Hinaras, in the presence of several metropolitans of the throne of Constantinople, gave communion to a group of Roman Catholic tourists from Belgium. Soon after, the first reactions to this scandal followed. Ορθοδοηος τυπος concludes, among other things, that if his holiness passes over this event in silence, "it will mean that the new patriarch Dimitrije intends to continue the heretical path of his predecessor, which will be a real downfall for the great church of Christ."(1)
In his attitudes towards various Christian confessions as well as towards non-Christian religions, the patriarch uses the usual ecumenical vocabulary. For him, the heretical Monophysite Copts and the Orthodox "are not alien to each other but are simply separate". Papists are brothers in Christ who are allowed to enter the altar during the liturgy (as was the case with the papist priest Edmond Vutsin who, according to the testimony of the Roman Catholic Greek magazine Καθολικη, stood next to the venerable bishop at the moment of ordination table of the Patriarchal Church of St. Gregory.)
In his epistle to Muslims on the occasion of their Eid holiday, Patriarch Dimitrije tells them: "One great God, whose children we are all, all who believe and worship Him, wants us all to be saved and to be brothers." It is really difficult to understand. that those who do not accept his only begotten Son can be children of God and what kind of brotherhood and community is possible with lies and untruth.(2) God really wants us all to be saved, but there is only one name in which we are saved - the name of Jesus Christ. Certainly, ecumenists believe that it is our duty and obligation to enlighten the misled with the truth of Orthodoxy and that it is necessary to preach it to Muslims, Buddhists and others. But, are we enlightening them by congratulating them on Eid and with conciliatory words telling them that we are all brothers and that we should do good, keeping quiet the truth that their faith is from the "father of lies". Did the holy new martyrs congratulate the Turks on their godless holidays? Did St. do that? Cosmas of Aetolski or any saint of the Church of Christ? Did the Holy Fathers send greetings to the heretics for their holidays and come to their ordinations and call them "Aksios" - worthy? After all, were all the holy Fathers in error and without the love of God when they testified to the truth of God, confessing it as the only salvation under the heavenly cap. The idea that by participating in the ecumenical movement we help the non-Orthodox to learn the truth of Orthodoxy is just an empty excuse or, in the worst case, a sign of complete naivety and delusion. How much have we managed to "enlighten" the Anglicans, Lutherans and other Protestants who, in the presence of Orthodox bishops, brazenly ordain women as priests, openly justify homosexuality, develop extreme religious syncretism, or how much have we enlightened the Papists who openly they support the bandit activities of the Uniates in Ukraine, Romania and elsewhere and do not deviate in one iota from the blasphemous teachings about the "divine institution of papal primacy", incorrect triadological teaching, and other heresies. How did we get such impressive results by participating in the "dialogue of love"? Only by preaching false love, love not based on truth. We opted for hypocritical sentimentalism. Saint Maximus the Confessor says openly: "I advise that heretics as heretics should not be helped by providing support for their foolish belief, because I do not call it love, but hatred of man and falling away from divine love when someone helps heretical error to the even greater ruin of those who adhere to it. those delusions.'' Someone might say that ecumenists do not support heresy, but testify to the only truth of Orthodoxy. Undoubtedly, there are many Orthodox ecumenists who participate in this movement with sincere intentions, but we ask the question: "How many papists or Protestants are convinced that the Orthodox Church is the only and complete Church of Christ and that other "church communities" are heresies, when Orthodox bishops respectfully attend the services of heretics, together with their bishops they bless the people, participate in certain parts of the "worship", not to mention extreme examples of banning the baptism of heretics,open recognition of their "holy secrets" and communion with them. All these activities encourage heretics to believe that we are all one and the same and that a Roman Catholic does not need to convert to Orthodoxy, but to stay in his "local church tradition" and thus be saved. In this context, we can understand why the issue of the introduction of the Western calendar is so important for unionists. Namely, it is difficult to convince the common people who adhere to their religion and their holidays (holidays) that they are the same as the Latins, however, when we celebrate holidays at the same time as heretics, the arguments are much stronger. The West is essentially interested in Orthodoxy archeologically and aesthetically, finding in it a great spiritual richness of expression, but not the essence of God-man's truth. It is likely that some will state in defense of their views that there would not have been papist converts to Orthodoxy if our church had not participated in ecumenical activities. However, the fact is that those who converted from papism or Protestantism to Orthodoxy were not converted or enthusiastic about Orthodoxy by our ecumenists in the West, but above all by those who live and think of their Orthodox faith in a holy paternal way (and among such great spiritualists there is not a single supporter of ecumenism). Most of these converts have just decided to convert to Orthodoxy on Mount Athos, which is the biggest stronghold of Orthodox traditionalism and opposition to ecumenism. But let's note that many of them had great trouble finding bishops who would accept them into the Orthodox Church because they were careful not to disturb their good relations with Rome. To this day, monks from Mount Athos secretly baptize heretics, because it is officially forbidden from Constantinople, considering that their baptism is completely correct for Constantinople. That's itMost of these converts have just decided to convert to Orthodoxy on Mount Athos, which is the biggest stronghold of Orthodox traditionalism and opposition to ecumenism. But let's note that many of them had great trouble finding bishops who would accept them into the Orthodox Church because they were careful not to disturb their good relations with Rome. To this day, monks from Mount Athos secretly baptize heretics, because it is officially forbidden from Constantinople, considering that their baptism is completely correct for Constantinople. That's itMost of these converts have just decided to convert to Orthodoxy on Mount Athos, which is the biggest stronghold of Orthodox traditionalism and opposition to ecumenism. But let's note that many of them had great trouble finding bishops who would accept them into the Orthodox Church because they were careful not to disturb their good relations with Rome. To this day, monks from Mount Athos secretly baptize heretics, because it is officially forbidden from Constantinople, considering that their baptism is completely correct for Constantinople. That's it the true face of ecumenism!
Let's see, further, how Patriarch Dimitrije congratulates the anniversary of the enthronement of Pope Paul VI: "In a deep community of love, we celebrate with the Holy Roman Church the tenth anniversary of your election by God's grace and enthronement to the throne of the successor of the Apostle Peter. We celebrate this anniversary with a prayer for you, most holy and elder brother, for the Holy Roman Church, for Christian unity.''(3)
Many ecumenists argue that such and similar statements are common rhetoric in church correspondence. However, it is enough to look at similar documents from the earlier periods of the Church and be convinced that this is no justification. Such expressions are quite common in the mutual relations of the heads of the sister Orthodox churches, but by no means in the relation to the representatives of heresies on whom anathemas (condemnations) have been pronounced. Rather, it will be true that it is the deep conviction of the high priests of Constantinople that: the Papist "church" is not a heretical community but a sister "Church of God", that the Papists possess the correct holy secrets, that the schism is not the result of the introduction of heresy by Rome into teaching Church is already the result of unfortunate historical circumstances that can be corrected by good will, forgetting and dialogue of love, and that theological differences in teaching are the result of different expressions of the same theological tradition. Admittedly, these points have not yet been adopted at any official Orthodox assembly, although a large number of ecumenists profess them in their works.
Let's see, now, what is the specific position of Patriarch Dimitri regarding the primacy of the Pope and the value of the Papist "holy secrets":
"Brothers, this visit of yours, among other things, gives special emphasis to the biggest event of this year, the completion of ten years since the Lord brought here our elder brother, the first bishop of Christianity (prwtou Episkopou Cristianosunxz), and especially that we have common holy Mysteries, i.e. common baptism, the common Eucharist and the common uninterrupted apostolic succession of the priesthood. At this hour, in our thoughts, we embrace the beloved in Christ, the archpastor of ancient Rome, the brother of Pope Paul VI and his church.''(4)
This attitude is completely in line with the infamous "Thyatira Confession of Faith" of Metropolitan Athenagoras of Thyatira, a well-known ecumenist, where, among other things, it is said: "Christians believe that true ordination and priesthood have and are transmitted by: Orthodox bishops, Coptic-Armenian and Ethiopian bishops, Anglican bishops. That is why the sacred secrets of the Anglicans are really the secrets of one holy conciliar and apostolic church, just like the sacred secrets of the Roman Catholics" (Omologia Qeiateirwn London 1975(5)). This position was practically realized by the Moscow Patriarchate with its decision of December 29, 1969. when it was decided to establish an intercommunio with the Roman Catholics.
In today's time, when the union with the Monophysites is actively being worked on, it is very interesting to note that Constantinople still has its unique position on this matter. Addressing Coptic Patriarch Šenuda, Patriarch Dimitrije declares: "Most blessed brother of the most holy Coptic Church, unfortunately, so many centuries have passed in mutual estrangement." were dogmatic things were just a simple difference in expression. (6)
The same principle can be observed in relation to Anglicans. In his address to Archbishop Kogan, the patriarch boldly says: "Because we believe in the East that the resurrected Christ is present until the end of the world in the Church and where it is locally present through the unbroken apostolic succession of the canonical bishop and the holy secret of the Eucharist that he performs. In that faith, our Orthodox East receives your grace in this holy center of Orthodoxy." (7)
It is known that one of the basic tasks of world ecumenism was the harmonization of the calendar. This intention was realized to some extent by the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in some local Orthodox churches, unfortunately with the terrible and still unhealed wounds and schisms that such an ill-advised step caused. However, the issue of harmonizing the common celebration of the Resurrection of Christ was much more difficult to harmonise, since the change of the paschal day accepted at the First Church Council in Nicaea was canonically prohibited . Passover''. Patriarch Athenagoras enthusiastically accepted this initiative of the Second Vatican Council in his Easter epistle in 1966, in which he advocates that Easter should be an immovable holiday that would be celebrated on the same day throughout Christianity. The successor of Patriarch Atinagora also advocates the same idea in his 1974 Easter epistle. Today, the paschalia has not yet been changed, although the Finnish church decided on its own to celebrate Easter at the same time as the majority Lutherans (so according to the Roman Catholic paschalia). As in similar cases, there were no protests, even though it is a gross canonical violation. The ecclesiastical conscience of our time seems to be sleeping in a deep sleep.
The recognition of other Christian communities as true churches of God for ecumenists is not only a matter of polite rhetoric, but a deep conviction that salvation is possible in them. In his greeting letter to Patriarch Dimitrij, Cardinal Willembrands openly says: "Our churches, as organs of salvation, continue their enlightening mission, preaching the word of God given to us in the teaching of the apostles, making new disciples in Christ, performing the mystery of salvation, that is, the divine Eucharist, in a holy manner." '
The Patriarch responds with the following words: "Together we confess what your eminence, who is very dear to us, said in his address. Today we receive you as partners in witnessing faithfulness to Jesus and we want to have this joint witness with you before the entire Christian and non-Christian world.''(9)
A few years later, the patriarch will address the following words to the same cardinal: "We receive you and meet you in liturgical prayer in this holy temple where the spiritual presence of the one who sent you is still felt" (pope).(10)
During the arrival of Pope John Paul II in 1979. in Constantinople, an appropriate ecumenical joint service was held, similar to the already mentioned spectacles from the time of Patriarch Athenagoras. The patriarch, dressed in a ceremonial robe, met the pope at the gate of the patriarchal temple, from where they entered the church together with the singing of the choir. The prayers began, the Our Father was read together, the hymns were sung, and at the end there were speeches of welcome followed by frenetic applause. At the end, the dignitaries left the church in a solemn procession with the bells ringing and entered the patriarchate building. In the evening of the same day, the Pope celebrated Mass in the Latin Church of St. Spirit in Constantinople. Towards the beginning of the ceremony, the patriarch entered, dressed in a mandia, accompanied by the metropolitan, and exchanged a kiss of peace with the pope on the soleia to thunderous applause. The choir sang a special hymn in Latin in honor of the patriarch. The service was followed by a reception at the Nunciate. After a few days, on the feast of St. Apostle Andrew, Patriarch Dimitrije and a larger number of metropolitans served the solemn liturgy in the patriarchal temple. Pope John Paul II came before the start of the service and was greeted by the patriarch. With enthusiastic applause, the patriarch introduced the pope to the ceremonial throne from where he followed the entire service. At the time of the kiss of peace, the patriarch came out through the royal gates and approached the pope to exchange a kiss. The Our Father was read by the Pope himself in Latin. After the end of the liturgy, there was an exchange of gifts, greetings and the inevitable many years, after which the high priests exchanged the kiss of peace again and blessed the people together. After leaving the church, the patriarch and the pope again blessed the people from the terrace of the patriarchal palace. In his address to the pope, the patriarch enthusiastically stated, among other things: "We believe that here at this moment the Lord himself is among us, and the Spirit of Comforter is above us, that the brothers Peter and Andrew are rejoicing with us and that the spirits of the common Fathers and martyrs who remind us that before us, and our responsibility, lies the impatient expectation of divided Christians, the pain of man without God and without Christ.''(11)
We had the opportunity to see a similar scenography during the Patriarch's visit to Rome in 1986. when the scandalous scenes of Patriarch Athenagoras' previous visit to Rome were repeated. The direction was similar to the one in Constantinople. The patriarch, in a ceremonial robe, was introduced to the altar platform of the crowded church of St. Peter, where two thrones were placed. During the papal mass, the archdeacon of the patriarch took part in a kind of small walk, then he read the Gospel in Greek and after the reading he offered the Gospel to the Pope for a kiss and blessing. The Pope and the Patriarch read the Creed (Symbol of Faith) in Greek without adding the Filioque .(12) And here the inevitable "kiss of peace" that became the main attraction of every ecumenical performance was repeated. Deeply moved, the two high priests exchanged a kiss while the people expressed their uncontrollable satisfaction with thunderous applause. The patriarch and his entourage spent the rest of the service in the ceremonial box. At the moment of the "consecration of the gifts" when the Pope raised the host, all members of the Constantinople delegation bowed their heads in deep respect. There were also joint blessings, touching words and a solemn litany. This entire event was broadcast on television. In this way, in front of millions of viewers, the centuries-old tradition and canons of the Orthodox Church were brazenly trampled on and ridiculed as outmoded. The Patriarch with his entourage, in which the current Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople also took a prominent place, continued his "peace journey" with a visit to England, where a similar joint service with the Archbishop of Canterbury was repeated. Then a visit was made to Geneva, the World Alliance church, where after a joint prayer, gifts of love were exchanged. On that occasion, the patriarch called the SSC headquarters building "our home". We can only exclaim with the prophet David: Blessed is the man who does not go to the council of the ungodly, and does not stand on the path of sinners, and does not sit in the company of wicked people !(13)
