CHURCH OF THE TRUE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS OF GREECE

Holy Metropolis of Oropos and Phyle

Third Clergy Synaxis

Phyle, Athens, Tuesday, November 5/18, 2014

Resolution:

Genuine Orthodoxy in View of the Challenge of 2016

1.We, the clergy of the Holy Metropolis of Oropos and Phyle, belonging to the

Church of the True Orthodox Christians of Greece, by the Grace of our Lord and

under the protection of theAll-Holy Theotokos, have assembled on this day, Tuesday,

November 5/18, 2014, at the headquarters of the Holy Metropolis of Oropos and

Phyle, the Holy Monastery of Sts. Cyprian and Justina, for our third regular monthly

Clergy Synaxis, at the invitation of, and in the presence of, our ruling Hierarch, His

Eminence, Metropolitan Cyprian.

2.We have been informed about various ecclesiastical and pastoral matters, had

discussions, made decisions, and been mutually edified. Our especial concern, however,

has been the so-called Pan-Orthodox Synod of 2016, which is being prepared

by the Orthodox ecumenists.

3.Our sensitivities as Orthodox pastors arouse distress and disquiet in us, since the

so-called Synod of 2016 is certain, if and insofar as it is finally convened, to cause,

on the one hand, grave turmoil for the People of God and, on the other hand, to render

the chasm between the Genuine Orthodox and the syncretistic ecumenists henceforth

unbridgeable.

4. The Synod of 2016 can be characterized in advance and without any doubt as

a false synod, for the following basic reasons:

a. It has been in preparation for many decades, now, in a spirit that is not charismatic,

but patently bureaucratic and scholastic; within the framework of the ecumenical

movement; on the basis of the Patriarchal Encyclical of 1920, which was

clearly and fundamentally ecumenist; and with an ecumenical outlook.

b. The documents already prepared regarding relations with the heterodox and

those of other religions attest to the intention of the ecumenists to recognize the ecclesiality

of heretics, which they have, for all that, at present already recognized de

facto and in a variety of ways, and also to the steady prospect of their becoming yet

further embroiled in so-called interfaith collaboration and close coöperation “with

all peace-loving adherents of other world religions.”

c. There is no provision in the agendum for recognizing two major Synods, the

Eighth and the Ninth, as OEcumenical; in fact, a proposal to include this issue on the

agendum was rejected or circumvented.

d. During the whole process of so-called “Pre-Synodal Pan-Orthodox Consultations,”

which have drawn up “the theological and ecclesiastical topics that the Synod

due to be convened in 2016 will deal with,” never, as an eminent university professor

emphasizes, have these topics “been put before the entire body of the Hierarchy” of

the local official Churches, “so that the Hierarchs might take a synodal position on

such topics”; that is, “no guarantees” are provided “for the Church to express Herself

in accordance with the Holy Spirit”; “complete transparency” is nonexistent; “the

functioning of the synodal institution of the Church, which is governed by the Holy

Spirit,” has been abolished; “there is a ‘dearth’ of conciliarity”; “some form of Papism

in the domain of the Orthodox Church is on the horizon”; and, as the aforementioned

professor correctly observes, there is an accelerated movement “along the

lines of Papism,” since “someone is aspiring to be placed over all of the Bishops, and

ultimately over the entire Church.”

e. The so-called official Churches, namely the ecumenists, are approaching the

Synod of 2016 deeply divided and at odds with each other for many different reasons.

However, the principal topic for a truly Great Pan-Orthodox Synod ought to be the

unity, the union, the reunion, and the concurrence of all the Orthodox in theApostolic

teaching and the Apostolic ethos of genuine Orthodoxy, “that the world might believe.”

5.We humbly appeal to the spiritual leadership of our Church, beseeching in a filial

spirit that it make the dissemination of information regarding the false synod of

2016 a matter of immediate priority.

6.A reliable and properly documented critique of this ecumenist initiative has two

aspects: pastoral and missionary.

• Pastoral, because the pious members of our martyric Church should be educated

more deeply, so as to confront the pan-heresy of ecumenism with ever greater awareness,

with a unified outlook, and with Godly zeal.

• Missionary, because well-intentioned and God-fearing faithful in the New Calendar

Church and, in general, in the so-called official local Churches need to be informed

in a responsible manner about the deadly peril of the false synod of 2016, in

order ultimately to wall themselves off from the “false shepherds” and “false teachers”

of ecumenist error and to be incorporated into the True Orthodox Church.

7. It is our conviction that such an informatory endeavor on the part of our venerable

and beloved Shepherds in Christ will contribute to enhancing the theological

consciousness of our pious flock in general, and will also testify to a lofty level of conciliar

sensibility and functioning, in contrast to the ecumenists,who—aside from anything

else—are constantly sliding toward the establishment of a Pope of the East.

Phyle, Athens

Tuesday, November 5/18, 2014

Sts. Galaction and Episteme

All of the Members of the Synaxis

† Metropolitan Cyprian, † Archimandrite Theodosios (Abbot), † Archimandrite

Athanasios, † Archimandrite Gregory, † Archimandrite Mark, † Protopresbyter Father

Apostolos K., † Reverend Father Angelos M., † Reverend Father Dorotheos X.,

† Reverend Father Athanasios K., † Reverend Father Demetrios P., † Reverend Father

Constantine S., † Reverend Father Nicolas M., Hierodeacon Father Gabriel.

• [Seven clergy were absent for legitimate reasons].