The Holy Mountain
Read this text in PDF Format
Read the Original Greek Version of this Text in PDF Format

A Letter Addressed to the Twenty Ruling Monasteries on Mount Athos from the Monks of the Kellia and Sketes Regarding the Recent Visit of the Pope to the Phanar in Constantinople

December 2006

Holy Abbots and Holy Fathers,

Bless!

We desire with this present letter to express our deepest concern and sadness for all that is happening to our Holy Orthodoxy for years now: things destructive to the teaching of the Holy Apostles and of the Holy Fathers and contrary to all the Sacred Canons enacted by the Oecumenical and local synods. 

We wonder if some Oecumenical synod has been assembled and has abolished the Canons which forbid joint prayer with heretics, or if the Pope has repented and renounced the heresies of the Filioque, of primacy, of infallibility, of unleavened bread, of the purifying fire [purgatory—trans.], of created grace, of the immaculate conception of the Most Holy Theotokos, and many others, most of which have been condemned and anathematized repeatedly by Orthodox synods and by the entirety of the Holy Fathers. 

Heaven was angered and the Holy Fathers exceedingly saddened by seeing and hearing all that took place at the Phanar at the feast of the Holy Apostle Andrew on the 30th of November of the current year—unprecedented and unheard of things in the two thousand year history of the Church: “The dogmas of the Fathers are held in contempt, the Apostolic traditions are disdained, the churches are subject to the novelties of innovators,” as St. Basil the Great says, regarding the events of his own times. 

Everything happened literally upside-down. Instead of the heretical Pope being placed below, as we see the heretics depicted in the icons of the Holy Synods, and being dismissed from the Divine Liturgy, on the basis of the liturgical command, “the doors, the doors, in wisdom let us attend,” we elevated him to a high throne, where he sat wearing an omophorion; the Orthodox deacons censed him; the Patriarch exchanged the kiss [of peace] with him at “let us love one another;” as the proestos [the one presiding—trans.] he proclaimed the “Our Father;” the choir of sacred cantors chanted “Many Years” to him, as well as a specially composed troparion from an Athonite hymnographer – Lord, have mercy! – if, of course, the news reports are true; he was [also] permitted to give the congregation his blessing [ευλογία], or, rather, his folly [αλογία] according to the Sacred Canons. 

We allowed the Church militant on earth to be divided from the Church triumphant of the Saints in heaven, and to be united with churches and assemblies of the cunning heretics.  We insulted all of the holy Martyrs and Confessors who struggled to the point of blood against the heresies, because we presented their struggles, their martyrdoms and their confessions as to no avail and unnecessary. Will not the blessed Hagiorite Fathers martyred under [Oecumenical Patriarch John] Vekkou, who refused to accept and to commemorate the Pope, lament, seeing that not only do we reject their example by our silence, but to actually do the opposite?  Why then did these and all of the previous Martyrs undergo martyrdom, and why did the Confessors stand fast in their profession of the Faith?

You know, Reverend Fathers, better than we do, the anti-Orthodox and blasphemous actions, declarations, and decisions of the Oecumenical Patriarch, and of the other Primates and Bishops who vociferously and visibly advocate – bare headed – the acceptance and teaching of the chief heresy of Ecumenism, the greatest ecclesiological heresy of all the ages. This heretical teaching disavows the uniqueness of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and equates it with the heresies, by accepting their sacraments as having and imparting sanctifying and saving grace. Besides recognition of the baptism of the followers of the Pope and of the Lutherans, we also have participation in the chalice with Monophysites, and in many cases with Papists in the Cyclades and in the Diaspora.

We take stock with much greater sadness that over the last few years the spiritual leadership of the Holy Mountain has not confronted these manifestations of apostasy with fortitude and the courage of confession, as did earlier Athonite Fathers. The Patriarch has gauged our responses, and because they are half-hearted, and many times non-existent, he proceeds without hindrance toward union with an unrepentant Pope, who remains enmeshed in heresies. He evaluated us and rejoiced greatly during his last visit to the Holy Mountain, as well, such that one would say that he came in order to take the consent and blessing of the Athonites for all that he had planned to do with the Pope a few days later.


+Holy Elder Dionysios of Colciu
the Blind, a Non-Commemorator (+2005)

We, lowly hieromonks and monks, confess to you that we have been scandalized by the silence and inaction of our spiritual leaders on Mount Athos, and together with us, the entire assembly of monastic-loving Orthodox Christians, both in Greece and throughout the world. They are all waiting to hear the voice of Mount Athos.

From you, the wiser and more erudite, we learned that when the Faith is endangered we are all held accountable if we are silent and shrink back, as St. Theodore the Studite says.  A monk, in particular, must not allow the slightest innovation in matters of the Faith, according to the [aforementioned] Holy Father and great monastic leader, organizer of monastic life, and the Elder of us all.  He did not fear the threats and the persecutions of the iconoclast emperors and patriarchs, but within Constantinople, within the enclosure of the Great Sacred Monastery of Stoudion, he organized a procession with a thousand torch-bearing monks, who held the forbidden Holy Icons in their hands. 

Saints Sabbas the Sanctified and Theodosios the Cenobite, likewise great monastic leaders, assembled ten thousand monks of Palestine long before in Jerusalem, and saved Orthodoxy from the heresy of Monothelitism.

Who will now save the Church from the most terrible heresy of Ecumenism and the deceit of Papism? The letters of protest, which the Holy Community [of Mount Athos] has sent at various times to the Oecumenical Patriarch, have not had any effect. It is no longer time for words, but for actions. We do not want to teach you, we the unlearned and wretched sinners, neither do we want to have ourselves appear as Confessors. Rather, we want to set at ease our monastic and Orthodox conscience; we want to honor and follow the conduct of the Holy Martyrs and Confessors, particularly those martyred under Vekkou. We do not want to shrink back, nor to place the monasteries and our brotherhoods above the purity of the Faith, above God and the Truth.

We believe that after so many written and oral protests and objections, back-peddling [i.e., going back on one’s word—trans.], retreats and compromises, the only thing that will gladden the Orthodox and shame the kakodox is to cease commemoration of the patriarch and of all the bishops agreeing with him or remaining in silence.

The Three Pillars of Orthodoxy

Gather together, Holy Fathers, the monks of the coenobium, the sketes and the kellia into an all-monastic, fighting assembly—either within or outside of the Holy Mountain—and topple the towers of heresy, of Papism and of Ecumenism. Take up the good fight of the Faith. If you fail to act, we will prefer to do that which is God-pleasing, not man-appeasing.

Posted on 02/05/07. Filed under: Ecclesia • Ecclesiology: The Church and Ecumenism • • Email This Entry

Read this text in PDF Format.
Read the Original Greek Version in PDF Format.

REGARDING THE RECENT VISIT OF THE POPE TO THE PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Karyes, Mount Athos
The Sacred Community
Of the Holy Mountain Athos

Protocol No. F. 2/7/2310

Karyes, 30 December 2006

The recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the occasion of the feast-day of Saint Andrew (30th of November 2006) and thereafter the visit by His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens Christodoulos to the Vatican (14th of December 2006) gave rise to a multitude of impressions, evaluations and reactions.  We shall bypass those things that the secular Press had evaluated as positive or negative, to focus on those things that pertain to our salvation, for the sake of which we abandoned the world to live in the barrenness of the Holy Mountain.

As Monks of the Holy Mountain, we respect the Ecumenical Patriarchate, under whose jurisdiction we fall.  We honor and respect the Most Holy Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and we rejoice in all that he has achieved and so diligently labored for, in his love of God, for the Church. We particularly commemorate the stolid and untiring defence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, amid the many unfavorable conditions that exist, as well as the impoverished local Orthodox Churches and the care that is taken to project the message of the Orthodox Church throughout the world.  Furthermore, we the Monks of the Holy Mountain honor the Most Holy Church of Greece, from which most of us originate, and we respect His Beatitude the Primate.

However, the events that took place during the recent visits of the Pope to the Phanar and of His Beatitude the Archbishop to the Vatican brought immense sorrow to our hearts.

We desire and struggle our entire life to safeguard the trust of the Holy Fathers, which was bequeathed to us by the holy Founders of our sacred Monasteries and the blessed reposed fathers before us.  We strive to the best of our ability to live the sacrament of the Church and the unblemished Orthodox Faith, according to what we are daily taught by the divine Services, the sacred readings, and the teachings in general of the Holy Fathers which are set out in their writings and in the decisions of the Ecumenical Synods.  We guard our dogmatic awareness “like the pupil of our eye”, and we reinforce it, by applying ourselves to God-pleasing labours and the meticulous study of the achievements of the holy Confessor Fathers when they confronted the miscellaneous heresies, and especially of our father among the saints, Gregory of Palamas, the Holy Martyrs of the Holy Mountain and the Holy Martyr Kosmas the First, whose sacred relics we venerate with every honor and whose sacred memory we incessantly celebrate. 

We fear keeping silent, whenever issues arise that pertain to the trust that our Fathers left us. Our responsibility, towards the most venerable fathers and brothers of the overall brotherhood of the Holy Mountain and towards the pious faithful of the Church who regard Athonite Monasticism as their non-negotiable guardian of sacred Tradition, weighs heavily upon our conscience.

The visits of the Pope to the Phanar and the Archbishop to the Vatican may have secured certain benefits of a secular nature, however, during those visits, various other events took place which were not according to the customs of Orthodox Ecclesiology, or commitments were made that would neither benefit the Orthodox Church, nor any other heterodox Christians.

Patriarch Serves Divine Liturgy with the Pope Enthroned as one Presiding First of all, the Pope was received as though he were a canonical bishop of Rome.  During the service, the Pope wore an omophoron; he was addressed by the Ecumenical Patriarch with the greeting “blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” as though it were Christ the Lord; he blessed the congregation and he was commemorated as “most holy” and “His Beatitude the Bishop of Rome”.

Furthermore, all of the Pope’s officiating clergy wore an omophoron during the Orthodox Divine Liturgy; also, the reciting of the Lord’s Prayer, his liturgical embrace with the Patriarch, were displays of something more than common prayer. And all of this, when the papist institution has not budged at all from its heretical teachings and its policy; on the contrary, the Pope is in fact visibly promoting and trying to reinforce Unia along with the Papist dogmas on primacy and infallibility, and is going even further, with inter-faith common prayers and the pan-religious hegemony of the Pope of Rome that is discerned therein.

As for the reception of the Pope in Fanarion, we are especially grieved by the fact that all of the Media kept repeating the same, incorrect information, that the troparion that was (unduly) sung at the time had been composed by Monks of the Holy Mountain.  We take this opportunity to responsibly inform all pious Christians that their composer was not, and could never be, a monk of the Holy Mountain.

Representing Himself in Rome Then there is the matter of the attempt by His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens to commence relations with the Vatican on social, cultural and bio-ethical issues, as well as the objective to mutually defend the Christian roots of Europe (positions which are also found in the Common Declaration of the Pope and the Patriarch at the Phanar), both of which may seem innocuous or even positive, given that their aim is to cultivate peaceful human relations.  Nevertheless, it is important that all these do not give the impression that the West and Orthodoxy continue to have the same bases, or lead one into forgetting the distance that separates the Orthodox Tradition from that which is usually presented as the “European spirit”.  (Western) Europe is burdened with a series of anti-Christian institutions and acts, such as the Crusades, the “Holy” Inquisition, slave trading and colonization. It is burdened with the tragic division which took on the form of the schism of Protestantism; the devastating world wars, also the man-centered humanism and its atheist view.  All of these are the consequence of Rome’s theological deviations from Orthodoxy.  One after the other, the Papist and the Protestant heresies gradually removed the humble Christ of Orthodoxy and in His place, they enthroned haughty Man.  The holy bishop Nicholas of Ochrid and Zitsa wrote the following from Dahau: «What, then, is Europe? The Pope and Luther.... This is what Europe is, at its core, ontologically and historically». The blessed Elder Justin Popovitch supplements the above: «The 2nd Vatican Synod comprises the rebirth of every kind of European humanism.... because the Synod persistently adhered to the dogma on the Pope’s infallibility» and he surmises:

Saint Justin Popovich«Undoubtedly, the authorities and the powers of (western) European culture and civilization are Christ-expellers». This is why it is imperative to project the humble ethos of Orthodoxy and to support the truly Christian roots of the united Europe; the roots that Europe had during the first Christian centuries, during the time of the catacombs and of the seven holy Ecumenical Synods.  It is advisable for Orthodoxy to not tax itself with foreign sins, and furthermore, the impression should not be given to those who became de-Christianized in reaction to the sidetracking of Western-style Christianity, that Orthodoxy is related to it, thus ceasing to testify that it is the only authentic Faith in Christ, and the only hope of the peoples of Europe.

The Roman Catholics’ inability to disentangle themselves from the decisions of their pursuant (and according to them, Ecumenical) Synods, which had legitimized the Filioque, the Primacy, the Infallibility, the secular authority of the Roman Pontiff, ‘created Grace’, the immaculate conception of the Holy Mother, Unia.  Despite all these, we Orthodox continue the so-called traditional exchanges of visits, bestowing honors befitting an Orthodox Bishop on the Pope and totally disregarding a series of Sacred Canons which forbid common prayers, while the theological dialogue repeatedly flounders, and, after being dredged from the depths, it again sinks down.

All indications lead to the conclusion that the Vatican is not orienting itself to discard its heretical teachings, but only to “re-interpret” them – in other words, to veil them.

Roman Catholic ecclesiology varies, from one encyclical to the other; from the so-called “open” ecclesiology of the Encyclical «Ut Unum Sint», to the ecclesiological exclusivity of the Encyclical «Dominus Jesus».  It should be noted that both of the aforementioned views are contrary to Orthodox Ecclesiology.  The self-awareness of the holy Orthodox Church as the only One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church does not allow for the recognition of other, heterodox churches and confessions as “sister churches”.  “Sister Churches” are only the local Orthodox Churches of the same faith.  No other homonymous reference to “sister churches” other than the Orthodox one is theologically permissible.

The “Filioque” is promoted by the Roman Catholic side as yet another legal expression [theologoumenon] of the teaching regarding the procession of the Holy Spirit, and theologically equivalent to the Orthodox teaching that procession is “only from the Father” – a view that is unfortunately supported by some of our own theologians.

Moreover, the Pontiff is maintaining the Primacy as an inalienable privilege, as one can tell from the recent erasure of the title “Patriarch of the West” by the current Pope Benedict XVI; also from his reference to the worldwide mission of the Apostle Peter and his successors during his homily in the Patriarchal Temple, as well as from his also recent speech, which included the following: «...within the society, with the Successors of the Apostles, whose visible unity is guaranteed by the Successor of the Apostle Peter, the Ukrainian Catholic Community managed to preserve the Sacred Tradition alive, in its integrity» (Catholic Newspaper, No.3046/18-4-2006).

Uniatism is being reinforced and reassured in many and various ways, despite the proclamations by the Pope to the contrary.

This dishonest stance is witnessed, apart from other instances, by the provocative intervention of the previous Pope, John-Paul II, which led the Orthodox-Roman Catholic dialogue in Baltimore into a dead-end, as well as by the letter sent by the current Pope to the Cardinal Ljubomir Husar, the Uniate Archbishop of Ukraine.  In this letter dated 22/2/2006, the following is emphatically stressed: «It is imperative to secure the presence of the two great carriers of the only Tradition (the Latin and the Eastern).... The mission that the Greek Catholic Church has undertaken, being in full communion with the Successor of the Apostle Peter, is two-fold: on one side, it must visibly preserve the eastern Tradition inside the Catholic Church; on the other, it must favour the merging of the two traditions, testifying that they not only can coordinate between themselves, but that they also constitute a profound union amid their variety».

Seen in this light, polite exchanges such as the visits of the Pope to the Phanar and the Archbishop of Athens to the Vatican, without the prerequisite of a unity in the Faith, may on the one hand create false impressions of unity and thus turn away the heterodox who could have looked towards Orthodoxy as being the true Church, and on the other hand, blunt the dogmatic sensor of many Orthodox.  Even more, they may push some of the faithful and pious Orthodox, who are deeply concerned over what is taking place inopportunely and against the Sacred Canons, to detach themselves from the corpus of the Church and create new schisms.

Posted on 02/05/07. Filed under: Ecclesia • Ecclesiology: The Church and Ecumenism • • Email This Entry

The Vatican’s Representative Speaks Frankly and Openly of What Ecumenism Means to Rome, the Importance of “Common Baptism” and How They Understand the Latest Liturgical “Offerings” of the Orthodox

Here is a very good opportunity for all Orthodox to see clearly the face of Ecumenism and, in particular, Roman Catholic Ecumenism. What follows is an analysis of key aspects of a speech delivered by Bishop Brian Farrell, the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, in Dublin at the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (2007).

What do the heterodox understand from Orthodox “overtures” and “love”? Here is one of the Vatican’s point men talking about how he understands the Patriarch of Constantinople’s stance during the recent visit of the Pope.

Our commentary is within the frames.

The full text can be found here.

Take especial note of the history of “the prayer for Christian unity” and what was (and is) meant by this unity.

Bishop Brian Farrell speaking during the recent Papal visit to Constantinople.

January 24, 2007

On reaching Christian unity (Part 1)

DUBLIN, Ireland (Zenit.org)—Here is the first part of a homily delivered on Thursday in Dublin…

…Every time the baptized come together to pray, it is the Spirit who guides them and teaches them how to pray.

* Again and again the followers of the pope stress the idea of a “common baptism” of all Christians, in which the Holy Spirit is present and works. It is this idea of a “common baptism” which is nothing less than another version of the branch theory, which itself states simply that there are various branches of the Church, divided but nonetheless THE CHURCH. In the “common baptism” theory this same idea is expressed, for the WHOLE Christ is present in Baptism, nothing less, and therefore the WHOLE Church is present, too, for the Body cannot be separated from the Head.*

Pope John Paul II sprinkling, not baptizing.

It is the same Spirit who builds the Church’s unity. Naturally, people have been praying for the unity of Christ’s followers since the beginning. Christians who take to heart the 17th chapter of John’s Gospel know that things are not as they should be and that the scandal of division weakens the proclamation of the Gospel; they know that the ecumenical movement is not a luxury in the life of the Church. We cannot separate our following of Christ from our passion for the unity of the Body of Christ that is the Church.

This year, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is 99 years old.

Ninety-nine years ago, Father Paul Watson, an Anglican priest and co-founder of the Society of the Atonement, introduced a Prayer Octave for Christian Unity that was celebrated for the first time Jan. 18-25, 1908.

Unity for Father Watson meant a “return” to the Roman Catholic Church, hence the symbolic dates of the feast of the Chair of Peter, which at that time was celebrated Jan. 18, and the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25. This is usually regarded as the beginning of the week as we know it today.

In 1936, a pioneer of ecumenism in French Catholicism, the Abbé Paul Couturier, brought in a new interpretation of the Unity Octave, when he saw that the idea of “return” made it difficult for many Christians to join with Catholics in prayer. He began what he called the “Universal Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” keeping the same dates of Jan. 18-25, but urging people to pray for the unity of the Church “as Christ wills it.” That is what we are here for this evening: to pray together for the unity, the full communion, of all the baptized, in the way and at the time that the Lord, through the work of the Holy Spirit, will arrange.

* We should remember this deceitful and cunning method when we hear the flattering words of the Pope and his bishops. They are always talking out two sides of their mouth. About such men the Apostle writes: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."*

* Then, in part two, Bishop Brian continues…*


Official international delegations to visit Benedict XVI: from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches; from the Lutheran Church of Finland, of Norway, of Sweden; from the World Methodist Council; the Lutheran World Federation; the visit of the archbishop of Canterbury; the archbishop of Athens and All Greece. As every year there was an exchange of delegations between the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch, at the end of June for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the patron saints of Rome, and at the end of November for the feast of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Constantinople. Except that this year the Catholic delegation to Constantinople was led by Pope Benedict himself.

People want to see results from all this activity. But the communion we seek is neither a question of Church diplomacy nor of strategic agreements made in ecclesiastical back-rooms. In its original sense it has to do with “participation,” having a part in, sharing in God’s gift of redemption and grace. We are brought into communion—with God and with one another—when we all share in the same grace: one Lord, one baptism, one Spirit, one Father of all.

* Actually, the passage of Scripture from which this phrase is taken says: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4: 4-6).

We see that he left OUT two or more important phrases . Why? Well, because if, as the ecumenists say, all Christians share “one baptism”, or a “common baptism,” why is it that the Apostle (Eph. 4:5) does not in the least separate the one baptism from the one body, one faith and one Lord, one Spirit, and one Father? The Apostle does not separate them, but the inventors of the “common baptism” theory do! The separate it because it serves their interests, or the interests of the enemy of our salvation, who wants to mix truth with falsehood, light with darkness, Christ with the idols - just the opposite of what the Apostle Paul has written elsewhere:

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? (2 Cor. 6:15).

Examine all their rhetoric about our “common baptism” and you will see that they want us to believe that in this “common baptism” we already share in the same grace and therefore have communion. For in their legalistic and rationalistic theology they separate the Mysteries from the power of jurisdiction, which rests in the Pope’s hands alone. That is why they can say that the Orthodox have the Mysteries but are separate from the one who holds the keys of the Kingdom, who has jurisdiction. Therefore, it is a great TRAP for the Orthodox to accept their innovation regarding a common baptism, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Patristic tradition regarding the acceptance of heretics by oikonomia. In the Patristic tradition a kat’oikonomia exception cannot be and is not a basis for our ecclesiological self-understanding. The first is pastoral, the second is dogmatic.*

…Our ecumenical journey is not towards a mere appearance of unity—towards some sort of ecclesiastical good neighborliness. The communion we seek has its source, its model and its fulfillment in the very life of the Trinity. Superficial gestures will not bring about the unity for which the Lord prayed.

Very often it is the significant though almost imperceptible gesture that marks the progress being made. Let me give a few examples.

First, that the Patriarch and the Pope exchanged the sign of peace during the Divine Liturgy itself. Up to now, at the Phanar, this gesture had always taken place after the celebration itself, given that for our Orthodox brothers the sign of peace within the liturgy expresses a very weighty commitment, introduced by the deacon with this exhortation: “Let us love one another that with one mind we may together make our profession of faith.” And then follows the Creed. This may seem like a small thing; but it has much spiritual meaning.

“...that we may confess” the episcopacy of the pope.

* The ecumenists and secularized Orthodox may now take lightly the meaning of our liturgical practices, but the Papists do not. Let all of those Orthodox who downplay the significance of the Patriarchate’s actions read and re-read the above. Is it not clear that step by step a unity, a very real unity, is being forged between the ecumenist-minded of the Patiarchate and other Local Churches and the heterodox - WITHOUT, however, there being ANY real and concrete repentance and change on their part? It is quite clear for him who has eyes to see.*

Posted on 02/05/07. Filed under: The Contemporary World • The "New Christianity" • Neo-Roman Catholicism • • Email This Entry