[Intervention addressed to the Hierarchs of the Church, May 2016]

The Great and Holy Council, which is due to gather in June of 2016 in Crete, was “the expectation” of many whose vision it was, and who tired in order to prepare for it, and now the Council finally moves towards its convocation. The question here put forth is whether the Holy and Great...

His Beatitude, Our FatherJohn X (Yazigi)

and Their Emminences, the Members of the Holy Synod of Antioch

the Patriarchal Center, Balamand

Our Father, Your Beatitude the Patriarch,

After asking for your blessing and prayers, I present you, as a child of the Orthodox Church in the Holy See of ...

A bomb threatens us, and most of us are unaware of it. I feel it is my duty to inform you of the impending great danger we are heading into, and take appropriate measures. No, it’s not about a nuclear threat or a major terrorist attack, but something much worse—because such things can put an end to our temporary life, whereas the danger about which I want to warn you threatens our eternal...

(The Resolution of the Theological Conference which took place in Piraeus, Greece on March, 23, 2016 - at which spoke their Eminences, Seraphim of Piraeus, Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Saint Blase, Paul of Glyfada, Seraphim of Kythiron and Jeremiah of Gortyna and...

Professor Demitrius Tselegidis

Instructor of Dogmatic Theology

The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

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Standing here I feel an obligation to publicly thank, from the bottom of my heart, our gracious host, the intense warrior and good shepherd, who has been honored time and time again with the reproach that Christ spoke of in the Beatitudes, Metropolitan Seraphim of...

Recunoașterea botezului eterodocșilor ca bază pentru o nouă eclesiologie (în consonanță cu Conciliul Vatican II) <

de Protopopul Peter Heers, Rector al Biserici Sfântului Proroc Ilie, Petrokerasa, Grecia

Prin presiunea acceptării la nivel panortodox a textului pre-sinodal, "Relațiile Bisericii Ortodoxe cu restul lumii creștine", se încununează cu succes un proces de un veac de...

On the "red line" which must not be crossed and the state of apostasy...and the Pan Orthodox Council....

Some insist that, no matter how bad things are, contemporary ecumenists - and they have in mind mainly the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (but not only) - "are not ready to compromise the Orthodox Faith enough to achieve union with Rome."

But, is that the "red line" which...

In 1923, Patriarch Meletios IV of Constantinople convoked the “Pan-Orthodox Congress,” at which the following “reforms” were proposed for the abolition of existing canonical rules and regulations of the Orthodox Church:

1. A married episcopate;
2. Second marriages for clergy;
3. The New Calendar;
4. The abbreviation of Divine services;
5. The abolition of fasts and monasticism;
6. The simplification of clergy dress, that is, permission for the clergy to wear secular clothes and lead secular ways of life.

Then these “reforms” caused a great deal of protest and objection, including from other Eastern Patriarchs, who declared that for any such “reforms” an Ecumenical Council was needed, which alone is the only authoritative supreme authority in the Church.

Over the course of time, such sentiments and tendencies have not only disappeared, but have been further strengthened in various Local Orthodox Churches, and now their supporters strongly advocate for the convening of an “Eighth Ecumenical Council.”

Knowing the contemporary disposition of many church “ringleaders” and their perseverance in carrying out their destructive plans, we can very clearly imagine what kind of “Ecumenical Council” this will be! Even without waiting for any official decisions, many have already introduced certain of these “reforms” into life, ignoring in their activity completely categorical ecclesial canons. But, of course, some of them still have a conscience, and they would therefore like to “legitimize” that which they have already committed in an individual manner of iniquity.

That is the reason why these cunning people, although they bear the image of piety, which they in fact despise, so aspire to the convening of this “Eighth Ecumenical Council.” They are certain that people such as they are will be in the “majority” at the “council,” and therefore the “majority vote” will permit that which they want – that is, completely officially, with all the appearance of legitimacy, formally to legitimize iniquity.

But would such an “Ecumenical Council” indeed be authoritative for all and an incontestable expression of the voice of the Holy Spirit (“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us”), as was the case earlier with the Seven Ecumenical Councils recognized by the whole Church?

Of course not! All previously Ecumenical Councils began their decisions with the affirmation of all that was agreed upon at the previous Councils; but this one, as can already be seen, would place as its main task the subverting of the whole previous ecclesial structure, of everything that had previously been decided. And therefore this would not be the “Eighth Ecumenical Council,” but the “Second Robber Council,” in the image of the council held in 449 in Ephesus, which went down in Church history with the name “robber.”

Who needs this kind of “council”? Of course, only the enemies of the Church, both open and hidden. All true children of the Church of Christ will not recognize it as lawful, nor will they accept its decisions, and there will only be new schisms and divisions – which the enemies of the Church need, in preparation for the triumph of the Antichrist.