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UNIA: The Face and The Disguise: Former Dean of The Athens University School of Theology
UNIA: The Face and The Disguise: Former Dean of The Athens University School of Theology
However, it is God Who is the Lord of History! The God of our Fathers.
He is the God, not only of Love, nor even of loveless Love-mongers; He is
also the God of Truth - the God Who for the sake of our repentance and
salvation reveals the deliberations of our hearts (Luke 2:35) and sheds
light on the tragic state we drag around in our existence. The
developments in Eastern Europe that followed the Perestroika also
revealed the Vaticans role in our time. In other words, they not only
revealed its true face and its fixed views on matters of essence, but also
its intentions and its objectives. Furthermore, its intervention in the
Balkans in fact to the point of undermining and blatantly denying us
our national rights have not unjustifiably infuriated the Hellenic
people, who were inadvertently reminded of the past, anti-Hellenic
policies of the Papist State and have made them realize that the
Theological Dialogue with the Vatican not only did not alter its stance,
but as it turned out, is actually working in favour of the Vaticans
interests.
It is the essence of Unia (and chiefly the Vaticans activity), that we shall
attempt to elucidate further down. We will not focus as much on the
itemizing of events or the analysis thereof; instead, we shall venture a
diagnosis from within the events themselves not only in their
contemporaneousness, but also in their presence over Time. Of course
it is necessary to stress that during the period 1920-1940 Unia had
preoccupied both public opinion and Justice in Greece. The reader can
refer to the relevant bibliography, at the end of this book. However, the
present-day resurgence of Unia, front-stage, which happens to coincide
with the timing of our Theological Dialogue with the Roman Catholic
Church, opens up a very interesting prospect, whereby that very
Dialogue as well as its expedience can be duly re-evaluated.
____________
2. Unia
This expansionist move by the Papal throne known as UNIA owes its
name to the Latin word UNIO (=union), however it was only in 1596 in
Poland that it officially obtained the name of UNIA (UNIJA in Slavic). The
term was used at the time, not only to denote the move for unification
with the Pope, but also the specific corpus (community) of the Orthodox
who had synodically decided on their accession to the Papacy: not a full
accession, but only in their recognition of the Pope as their spiritual
head, otherwise preserving their worship rites and remaining customs
so that externally they would give the impression of continuing and
remaining in their national cadre.
However, from the 7th to the 11th century, the gradual subjugation of
Western Romania (the western section of the Empire of New Rome) to
the Frankish-Germanic tribes took place. The Empire of New Rome in
the West was subjugated to the Franks and Germans, while in the East it
was overcome by the Arabs (7th century) and the Ottomans
(14th century onwards). Conquest in the West was facilitated by the
gradual substitution of Roman bishops with Franks. Thus, while in the
East the Bishops had undertaken the role of Ethnarchs in the territories
being conquered, protecting the people and preserving their identity
and their unity, in the West, bishops became the instruments of the
conquerors and an integral part of the Frankish feudal system and hated
by the people, as proved during later centuries (1789) by the French
Revolution, which began not only as an anti-feudal revolution but also
as an anti-Papist one.
The first true Uniates were the unionists of Byzantium, who had signed
and accepted the pseudo-synod of Florence (1439), under the illusion
that they had retained their continuance and their orthodox tradition. It
should be noted here that Unia does not only serve the interests of the
Papacy (inasmuch as it facilitates its infiltration); it also provides an
alibi to our own, westernizing unionists, so that they can avoid being
branded as traitors of local traditions. Under the pretext of having
preserved external forms, they are actually masking the betrayal of their
traditions and nationality.
From the very first moment of implementation of the idea of Unia and
the formation of Uniate communities, the supervision and the steering
of this movement was assigned to the Order of Jesuits the most
reliably dedicated servants of Papal authority; if the expression may be
permitted, they were Papacys commandos. The Jesuit Order was
founded in Paris in 1540, where the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda
Fidei came to belong, and to which Unia was appended. The
Congregatio pro Ecclesia Orientale was then founded, as a branch
office of the above Congregatio; as of 1917, this became a self-inclusive
organization designed for the promotion of Papist propaganda in the
regions of the East. It was here that Unia was finally appended from that
time on, and has remained in that relationship to this day. Unias
dependence on the Jesuit Order rendered it Jesuitism's dragnet for the
promotion of Romes interests. A glorious victim of Jesuitism and Unia
was the martyred Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril I Loukaris ( 1638), who
had opposed the plans of both; he of course was not the only victim in
the Hellenic East.
In 1577 in Rome, Pope Gregory XIII founded the Greek College of Saint
Athanasius, a School of theology for the preparation of Uniate staff
members who were to undertake the necessary activities in the
Hellenic-speaking regions of the Ottoman Empire as well as the
Venetian-occupied territories. The graduates of this College would sign
a Bull of subservience to the Pope upon their graduation, and eventually
became the fanatic supporters and preachers of the subjugation of the
Orthodox to Rome. Their activity was catalytic for Orthodoxy. Being the
first to utilize the colloquial language in their printed material gave
them immense potential to access the commoners. It was for this reason
that the Ecumenical Patriarchate, faithful to its ethnarchic role,
immediately adopted the same measure, so that its flock might be duly
informed.
But Unias activity did not limit itself to spiritual means only. Wherever
local state government was pro-Papist, raw violence was also resorted
to, in order to subjugate the Orthodox. This happened in Poland,
towards the end of the 16th century. The king of Poland, Sigismund III
(1587-1632) became the instrument of the Jesuits Possevin and Skarga,
as well as of the Uniates. Being a Papist himself, the king chose the
Popes friendship for the promoting of his own political relations with
Europe. Sigismund imposed Unia on the Orthodox of Poland, as well as
Lithuania and Ukraine, in a violent manner, following the Uniate synod
of Brest-Litovsk (1596). Every opposition was confronted violently by
the Latins and the Uniate clergy, and a mass of crimes was committed.
In the above synod, almost all of the bishops signed the union and
millions of Orthodox were forcefully made Uniates. The remaining
Orthodox were subjected to unprecedented persecutions. Unia spread
in parallel into Trans-Carpathian Ruthenia (sub-Carpathian Russia) in
the 17th century (1646), into Slovakia (1649), into Transylvania
(1698/99) and generally, wherever there was an Orthodox corpus of
faithful (Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Greece). The military conflict between Poland and Russia in the
17th century took on the character of a purely religious confrontation,
given that the objective of Papism-Uniatism was to strike the
protector of the Orthodox the Tsar and to impede the expansion of
Protestantism.
During the last four centuries Unia has also been active in the anti-
Chalcedonian Churches of the East (Ethiopian, Armenian, Coptic,
Malabar, Syro-Jacobite). It has furthermore infiltrated the Assyrian
Nestorian Church, which resulted in the creation of the Chaldean-
Catholic Church of the Middle East, with faithful in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,
Turkey, Israel, Egypt, France and the U.S.A.. In Syria in 1724, the Uniate
Melchite-Catholic Patriarchate among the Melchites; that is, the old
Orthodox, who are faithful to the Byzantine emperor (Melchites, from
the word malk = king). Its jurisdiction, beyond the Middle East,
extends nowadays as far as Europe, America and Australia.
It is also a fact that with the synod of Lvov (March 1946) Stalin had
taken his revenge on the Uniates, by forcing them in Ukraine to unite
with the Orthodox Church of Russia. Within that turbulent atmosphere
and the surprise advent of the Perestroika, the Uniates of Ukraine
surfaced once again provocatively, under the guidance of the Vatican,
not only projecting their demands in an intense manner, creating
unbearable situations for the Orthodox, but with their obvious
vindictiveness and vengefulness, they resorted to violence and
vandalisms (with human victims). Thus, the Uniates hatred towards the
Orthodox (and the fact that their role is motivated by foreigners)
became evident one more time. This was obviously not an impulsive
explosion which had no presuppositions; it was the instructions of the
Vatican that had encouraged the Uniates and their provocativeness, thus
precipitating the ensuing political developments. By general admission,
the strings were pulled by the Pope and the Curia from Rome. The
Vatican continues in this manner to enforce its age-old policy against
insubordinate Orthodoxy, by again electing to turn the most audacious
and effective weapon against it: fanatic Unia. Also more than obvious
today is the Vaticans involvement in the Balkan crisis (Croatia,
Macedonia, Albania) and its implementation there of the same tactics.
The Papist element and Unia undertake the execution of the Popes
commands, who has ready Uniate solutions for these regions - and
indeed for the case of pseudo-Macedonia - by acting in an
underhanded and treacherous manner against Hellenism by
undermining its rights. It has in fact become known that the Pope is
working towards Uniatizing the hierarchy of Skopje, having even given
his promise to upgrade the Church of Skopje to the status of
Patriarchate. This scheduled upgrading of the Church of Skopje will be
an immediate challenge and an attack on the Churches of Greece,
Bulgaria and Serbia; Skopje will surely hasten to take advantage of this
upgrading in order to achieve its political goals to the detriment
mainly of our Homeland, which they seek to shrink in size. The
unionists of Byzantium and all the present-day concordant minds are
once again disproved. The Vatican does not desire to become a true
friend of Greece and Orthodoxy! That is what the facts show.
7. Unia in Greece
When speaking of Greece, we imply the Hellenic State (from
1830 onwards), because even as early as the ages of slavery
(Turkish occupation, Venetian occupation), the Uniates had
already developed a significant deal of activity within the
historical Hellenic region, moving within the boundaries of both
the Ottoman Empire as well as the Venetian-occupied territories.
As underlined above, the graduates of the College of Saint
Athanasius had developed an intense Uniate (unifying)
movement among the peoples with the same nationality and
language as them. The Jesuits, who were supporters of this
Uniate move, also appeared in Constantinople from 1583, and
with the means they had at their disposal (money, publications,
political backing), they became the evil demon of the Romaic
Ethnarchy, which bore the responsibility for the entire Romaic
populace the Romans (Orthodox) of the Balkans and Asia
Minor.
* http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Assumpionist-Fathers
In Greece proper (the Hellenic State) the Holy Synod under the
Metropolitan (Archbishop) of Athens, Theocletus I, issued an
Encyclical in 1903 pointing out the danger behind the
appearance of Unias agents in the Hellenic territory. Up until
1922, Uniate propaganda was unable to organize itself in Greece.
In August of 1922 however, after the disaster of Asia Minor,
George Halavatzis transferred his operations headquarters from
Constantinople to the Athens suburb of Heraclion, and the Order
of their nuns to Naxos Island. In Athens, they continued their
philanthropic activity, also developing tremendous mobility
within the social sphere for the purpose of projecting themselves
and especially among the refugees of Asia Minor to the point
that George Halavatzis was decorated by the Hellenic State! This
not only solidified the Uniates presence in Greece; it also
enhanced their self-awareness, making them underline that their
opus had been developing with the propitious consent of the
Authorities. Similar things had been written by Protestant
missionaries to their own Societies in the 19th century, likewise
motivated at the time under the protection of the Hellenic
Authorities It was chiefly ladies young and old of the
aristocracy (sic) who propagandized the Uniates educational
activities; in other words, their operations took place among the
Westernized civilians of Hellenic society.
The Church of Greece did not remain inert, nor did She leave the
Orthodox fold uninformed. The first official reaction was through
a document of the Holy Synod addressed to the Ministry of
Ecclesiastic and Public Education in 1924, at the time of the
Archbishop Chrysostom I (Papadopoulos). The Holy Synods
charges were accompanied by its objection to the States
indifference, and its request to close all other Uniate institutions
because they were facilitating Latin propaganda in our
Homeland. The anti-Hellenic stance of Rome and the Pope
during the disaster of Asia Minor, as well as during the previous
World War I was very familiar.
The potential peril that Unia also presents in our land, becomes
apparent in various directions:
From the above, I believe one can understand just where the
acceptance of Unia as a method of unification with the Papacy -
can lead. Every independence and freedom is lost for the
Orthodox and consequently, so is the possibility to help Western
Christianity through a Dialogue, in order for it to re-discover its
forgotten Orthodox prerequisites and its Orthodox past. This
alone can be the only purpose for a theological Dialogue from an
Orthodox point of view, and never a mutual recognition.
Besides, what kind of recognition does Orthodoxy need to
receive, from anti-Christian Papism? It would be like Christ
asking for recognition from Belial! (2 Cor. 6:15) On the contrary,
Unia contributes towards the preservation of Papist
estrangement and the promotion of the Papacy as the authentic
Church which we all supposedly need to be joined to, for our
salvation. Thus, it becomes doubly harmful: firstly to non-Latin
Christianity, because it leads it to a spiritual impasse; and
secondly to Latin Christianity itself, because it impedes it from
becoming aware of its downfall and thereafter from seeking like
the prodigal son to return to the Truth.
From as early as the time of the 2nd Vatican Synod (1962-65), many
reactions had been recorded on the matter of the continuing existence
of Unia and in fact, at a time of an inter-Christian Dialogue and a special
Dialogue with the Latin "Church", but also after the many concessions
that the Orthodox side had repeatedly made in favour of the Dialogue, as
a gesture of good will. Furthermore, the request to abolish Unia had
been a pan-Orthodox one, in view of the fact that it was detrimental to
the Dialogue and to relations between the two sides. It was in fact
stressed that the existence of Unia and the perpetuation of its pitiful role
generated reactions that could threaten that very European unity, for
which the Pope claims to be so supportive of.
Renowned Roman Catholic theologians had also joined their voices with
the Orthodox side; theologians who had preserved their sincerity and
honesty and who appeared to have also preserved their freedom of
opinion. The acclaimed French university theologian Yves Congar for
example had referred to Unia as a "caricature and a clear contradiction
to the union", while the excellent researcher of monastic tradition Louis
Boyer had referred to Unia as a "mischievousness", adding that: "We
cannot look into the function of Byzantium without taking into account
the entirety of Byzantine Christianity", probably implying Orthodoxy. An
analogous stance was taken by others as well (G.Wunderle, P.Wenger
etc.). More especially, and as a top priority, the Church of Greece had
pointed out the danger behind Unia and had repeatedly asked for its
abolition; and yet, the Vatican turned a deaf ear!
This is why it was a huge error on the part of the Orthodox to agree to
the presence of Uniates in the Theological Dialogue with the "Roman
Catholic Church", albeit this fact was suppressed by means of various
announcements. The Orthodox should have remained adamant in this
detail, having noticed the audacity of our fellow-speakers. The Vatican's
insistence on the presence of Uniates in the Dialogue only proved its
true intentions and its unchanging tactics. Unfortunately, the reactions
that were voiced were not hearkened to, and we were left with illusions.
However, what had not become evident at the time God now revealed,
with the un-Orthodox and anti-Hellenic actions of the Vatican: our
sovereign rights as a Nation had to be compromised, for us to begin to
become aware of the immense corruption that the Vatican had caused to
Orthodox nationalities!
But, albeit belatedly, the Orthodox side had hastened to correct its first
mistake when, at the time of the Perestroika the Vatican broke open its
medieval arsenal to the detriment of Orthodoxy. Thus, the Sub-
committee for the Dialogue between Orthodoxy-Roman Catholicism had
issued a decision in Vienna (January 1990), that rejected Unia as a
"unifying model" and also condemned its proselytism and its other
activities and re-submitting its petition to disband Unia. In June of
1990, all the Orthodox, in mutual agreement, postponed the theological
Dialogue with the Vatican until the issue of Unia be solved. In December
of 1991, the Metropolitan of Italy Spyridon spoke on behalf of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate during the Synod of European Bishops in
Rome, in the presence of the Pope, and had condemned the "rebirth"
and the activities of the Uniates in Eastern Europe. Even the new
Patriarch Bartholomew in his address to the Papist envoys during the
enthronement ceremony on the day of Commemoration of Saint Andrew
(30 Nov. 1991) had outspokenly expressed the danger involved, not
only in the postponement but also the aborting of the Theological
Dialogue, if the activities of Unia were to continue.
After all the above, one would expect the Pope and the Vatican to
respond with some sort of gesture of reassurance. But that did not
happen. And the question remains: WHY? Why does the Vatican insist
on supporting the existence and the activities of Unia in its campaigns
throughout Eastern Europe? Why did the Pope ask - through his
ambassador (Nuncio) - the Government of Russia to recognize the
equivalence of Unia to Orthodoxy, offering in exchange its
intermediation to the Governments of Europe, for financial aid to
destitute Russia? Why does the Pope persist in blatantly disregarding
the Orthodox, and with such arrogance at that?
This pursuit by the Vatican has been pointed out by -among others- the
Financial Times of 24 Dec. 1991: "The Pope hopes to benefit from the
fall of Communism", because his objective is to be recognized as "the
leading religious power in the New Europe". This can also explain the
Vatican's demand that Europe's common currency bear the image of the
Pope on it! I believe that the most eloquent presentation of the Pope's
objective is portrayed in the caricature below, by the top-ranking Greek
cartoonist, K. Mitropoulos:
Given that a picture can say far more than an entire article, the above
sketch by K. Mitropoulos is enough to express the Pope's hegemonic
inclinations, and at a pan-European level, no less. The Vatican has
returned to the Medieval era and the issue "regarding vestments". Or,
rather, it is proving that it has not moved away from the Medieval age at
all, thus preserving itself as the sorriest remnant of medieval feudalism.
The current rebirth of Unia is, for the Vatican, a kind of religious
colonialism. The Unia of Central Europe or the middle East, compact and
organized as it is - and for this reason an overwhelming power in the
presence of a native element - can secure that potential for expansionist
designs; these plans by the Pope, along with his secret agreements with
the USA for the "co-exploitation" of the peoples of the former "existent
socialism", are now known facts, thanks to the exposures by the Press.
The Vatican is once again hastening to fill the gaps, by exploiting all the
negative elements of the Orthodox peoples in every region. That is why
it has given even greater authority to the Uniate leaders. The Uniate
Primates of Ukraine and Rumania have already been made Cardinals,
and furthermore, the number of Papist or Uniate bishops throughout
Eastern Europe is ever increasing - bishops with either a minimal flock
or without any flock at all.
In the Balkans, the Vatican is afraid of the collaboration and the unity
between the Orthodox and in view of this, has aligned itself with other
powers that have invested their own interests in the region and have
designated spheres of influence there. Two axles of collaboration have
been developed by countries of the West (among them are the Vatican
and Turkey) for their economic domination in Eastern Europe and the
Balkans; that is why the argument of a Roman Catholic official of our
Country is at least a ridiculous one, i.e., that the Uniates love the Pope
and that he cannot turn them away! Ridiculous, because no-one is
asking for them to be turned away! They are free to love the Pope and to
belong to him, within the boundaries of Christian and democratic
freedom. However, they are not free to collaborate with the Pope
against their fellow-nationals - which is what they are doing, by
remaining Uniates. If they love the Pope, let them become Roman
Catholics. We Orthodox are willing to consent to any honest dialogue
whatsoever with the Roman Catholics, but never with Uniates. Just as
our Fathers during our enslavement could never enter any dialogue
with the "Latin-minded" or the "janissaries", because such a dialogue
would have been by definition impossible.
But one might (naively) ask: "Doesn't the Pope desire the Dialogue with
Orthodoxy?" Our reply: The Pope (and this is the Papist method) uses
the Dialogue with Orthodoxy as he did in the past, to his own benefit.
That is why "mutual recognition" is constantly being projected, and not
the union "in the Truth". That is why the Vatican constantly demands a
Dialogue "on unifying matters" and not "on dividing matters", whereas
the Church's fixed praxis is that Orthodoxy's "Dialogue" with heresies be
focused on the differences, the deviations from the salvific Faith; those
that negate salvation-theosis. This is the uniform practice of the
Ecumenical Councils. The Church, as Orthodoxy, never perceives the
Faith as a negotiable ideology (compare this against the contemporary
"historic compromise" within the sphere of political ideologies), but as a
medical-therapeutic method which alone is able to heal Man and save
him.
The Vatican up until 1989 had been using not only Unia but also the
Orthodox in the Eastern countries, in order to promote itself as well as
its anti-Communist politics in the East, even though the Orthodox of
countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia were put under pressure -as
they themselves had admitted- both by the Papist and the Uniate
element, to the point that they instinctively turned towards the Soviet
Union, in spite of their anti-communist trend. We were the only ones
who had naively and from an outsider's viewpoint regarded the
confrontation between Papism and Communism in Poland as a victory
of Christianity, oblivious to the fact that the conflict aspired to the
prevalence and the victory of Papism, and not of Christianity.
11. NO to disorientation!
It is imperative for one to understand that our problem is not Unia per
se. Unia is nothing more than a tragic puppet in the hands of a puppet-
master, the Vatican. It is the Vatican that is pulling its strings. The
problem has to be traced back to the nature of Papism. Is the Papacy a
"Church"? This was the question that was so astutely posed to the
Professors of Theology (with his familiar, blunt outspokenness) by His
Beatitude, our Archbishop Seraphim on the occasion of the feast of
Photios the Great ( 6th February 1992 ). What exactly is the Vatican,
which constitutes the "other aspect" of the "Roman Catholic Church"
that we are conversing with?
The "Vatican" - or "Holy See" - is a State (Stato della Citta del Vaticano).
It covers an area of 0,44 square kilometres and its population is 1000
inhabitants, mainly Italians and Swiss. It has a flag of its own, with a
special coat-of-arms.
Bishop of Rome
Vicar of Christ
Successor to the Prince of the Apostles
Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church
Primate of Italy
Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province
Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City
Servant of the Servants of God
Patriarch of the West (dropped 2006)
Vicar of the Apostolic See
Vicar of Peter
Patriarch of the West
Sovereign Teacher
Legislator
Judge
Commander in charge
12. Conclusion
Our actions are not just recorded in the annals of History; they will also
be judged at the end of History, by the Lord of History, Who is
concurrently its Saviour and its Judge.
APPENDIX 1
Encyclical of the
Constantinople Synod (1722)
addressed to the Antiochian
Orthodox (Excerpts)
[Prologue]
Even though the formidable and age-old evil serpent and common adversary of the
human race, Satan, has not ceased to war against the holy Church of Christ from
time to time and to willingly study the extermination of pious and Orthodox
Christians by utilizing (as instruments befitting this malice of his) certain malevolent
powers, albeit on the contrary, the Grace and the Providence of the most benevolent
God are not absent (given that He at times sends bold and willing opponents within
His holy Church who fight bravely against all satanic influences and designs of the
common enemy of our generation), the devil, by recognizing as the primary boast
and unspoiled treasure of the soul and a necessary weapon for salvation and an
amulet the healthy and proper and blameless faith of us pious Christians as well as
the unalterable and unadulterated element found in our sacred dogmas which has
been preserved unfalsified and unadulterated (especially in this part) as most
important and necessary, strives to conspire against our generation, hence the
sprouting anew of so many different heresies and blasphemies andfrom the
beginning within Christ's Church regarding our orthodox respectfulness, hastening
to cast the more simple people into the pit of spiritual downfall, after the
providential wisdom of the most merciful God through the Church's sacred Fathers
had overthrown them and had introduced piety.
However even during our present times, we hear in these places - that is, in the
provinces and the cities of Orthodox Christians that are under the jurisdiction of the
most sacred patriarchal and apostolic throne of Antioch - that there are nestled and
secretly sown in the souls and the minds of Christians the Latin cacodoxy and
dogmas of perfidy (or, rather, of innovations and beliefs that are erroneous and
rejected by the true faith), the leaders and teachers of which Latin dogmas - having
found in those same places some easily fooled Christians (on account of their
ignorance of the proper dogmas of the Church) and having deceived them by means
of various sophistries, machinations and bad workmanship, did convince them to
both apostatize from the Eastern Church of Christ and the proper dogmas and
patristic traditions, as well as to believe in and accept the innovations of the Latin
deceit as truths.
Thus, having received the ecclesiastic office from God and elected to this patriarchal
throne, the Most Holy Patriarch of Antioch, beloved in the Holy Spirit brother of
ours and co-officiator, His Beatitude Athanasius, feeling the pain and the suffering
for such a spiritual loss of those Christians subject to him, and coming here in person
to the regnant of all cities and joining us as a brother along with the Most Holy
Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Chrysanthus who is already preoccupied in the
regnant city, and having tragically narrated and stressed to us and to our brethren
hierarchs this misfortune and spiritual harm to the said Christians, also provoked in
us a more than slight sorrow and sympathy, in order to jointly and synodically with
His Beatitude deliberate and decide about the evil in question and about the cure
thereof, making provision to write and to reveal to all the local Christians not to be
fooled deceitfully, neither to open their ears to the vacant voices of the Latins, nor to
accept their innovations and everything that through false deceit and disastrous
dogmas through arguments of sophistry they are hastening to spread in your souls;
instead, by being equipped with the upright dogmas and meanings of piety, fend off
the falsehood and remain in your true and paternally-delivered tradition of the Faith.
As for the chief reason that forces the Latins to make such innovations and novelties,
it is none other than to introduce the monarchy of the Pope and to prove that only
the Pope - as they claim - is the universal head of the universal Church and the vicar
of Christ and the only lord and bishop of the entire world, and above all the other
Patriarchs and all the other High Priests, and that he can never sin and fall into any
heresy, and that he is above the Synods - both ecumenical and local - and all else that
the providence of a tyrannical authority assigns to it - which we shall elaborate on,
further down; they also hasten to show that the Pope is capable of everything, and
that everything he legislates and teaches is true and certain and not to be examined
by anyone, and that it is imperative that all the pious do obeisance to him and accept
these things without examination, and also base upon this weird and
conceited authority of the Pope's all of their innovations and novelties and deceive
the simple-minded folk, drawing them away from the pious dogmas of Christ's
Church and dragging them wretchedly into the pit of perdition.
[Epilogue]
But, as we have said, that the all-innovating Latins not only overthrew and corrupted
the dogmas of the pious faith, but also the traditions and the order of the Church,
opposing themselves even to the Gospel teaching and the Apostolic Canons and the
sacred Synods, and - said quite simply - to the Fathers of the Church and to the
traditions of the Church that have been guarded from the beginning by all of us
pious; also, that they have wittingly sinned maliciously against and opposed the
truth (as they have made it abundantly evident to this day), no-one who has a mind
can doubt it.
Nevertheless, if the evil had remained in their words only, we would not have cared
in the least to judge them and condemn them, inasmuch as it would not have been of
any benefit to them, who, out of stubbornness and illogical passion had excised
themselves from the whole Church and had concocted so many innovations and
novelties in the dogmas and the traditions of the pious faith.
But, because we can also see that they hasten to impart their evil and the poison of
their cacodoxy like pernicious serpents to even the simplest of the Christians of our
generation - that is, to the Eastern Church of Christ - and with deceitful means
corrupt them and drag them wretchedly to the precipice and the pit of perdition, it is
for this reason that we sorrow, and in caring for our own Christians, we have written
and revealed in brief in this present (text) those things that the Eastern Church of
Christ believes and glorifies - as well as Her healthy and upright dogmas - and have
likewise revealed the innovations and the deceits of the Latin cacodoxy, so that pious
people might be supported in their piety and not be fooled by the Latin prattlings.
Therefore do we paternally and spiritually advise all Christians who are under the
patriarchal throne of Antioch, both young and old, and of any and all ranks and
situations, to pay good attention and guard your paternally-delivered faith, and
remain steadfastly within the boundaries of the Eastern Church of Christ, which has
preserved and continues to preserve - unshakably and unadulterated - everything
that was delivered and taught to Her from on high and from the beginning by Jesus
Christ and the holy Apostles, holy Synods and holy Fathers, and all the traditions of
Christ's holy Church, both in writing and unwritten, and to stay far away from the
innovations and the novelties of the Latins who have left no Dogma and Mystery
and Tradition of the Church that they have not corrupted and adulterated; and,
having done thus, and persevering in your paternally-delivered piety, you shall have
multiple wages from God and eternal life and salvation of your soul, and from all the
Fathers of the Church and by us, spiritual wishes and blessings.
But, whosoever of you dares to violate the Dogmas of the Eastern Church of Christ
and stir any of them and accept any innovation and deceit and falsehood of the Latin
cacodoxy, let it be known with certainty by that person that he is sinning mortally,
both for departing from the boundaries of piety and also for becoming accused of
and responsible for eternal damnation, and shall be considered an irreverent and a
heretic by God, receiving the curses of Christ and the Apostles and the Synods and
all of the Saints of the Church, as a transgressor and a despiser of their teaching and
tradition.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Identical to what is equal to the Patriarchal signatures and those of the other
hierarchs:
Athanasius, by the mercy of God Patriarch of the great city of God, Antioch, do co-
opine and confess this to be the glory and the confession of the Holy Eastern Church
of Christ regarding the problems reported herein.
Chrysanthus, by the mercy of God Patriarch of the city of Jerusalem and all
Palestine, do opine that this is the glory and the confession of the Holy Eastern
Church of Christ regarding the problems reported herein.
Gerasimus of Nicaea, regarding those things that are included herein, am entirely
of the same belief as the most holy Patriarchs.
APPENDIX 2
The poemantic concern and catering for the Orthodox everywhere is dependent
necessarily on Christ's one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, inasmuch as
remaining untiringly vigilant and diligently leading Christ's logical sheep to pastures
of salvation, in a grassy place and by waters of respite, which is the unadulterated
and unfalsified, upright and healthy teaching of our pious faith from above, by the
Apostles, by the speakers present, and by the seven Ecumenical Councils, and also
the intact and unadulterated status of the divine dogmas, customs and teachings of
the Eastern Orthodox Church and the preservation and safeguarding thereof, for
whom the good shepherd is obliged to give even his life in due course - according to
the evangelical and God-spoken word[1] - and to be watchful in every direction, in
case grievous wolves come upon the fold from outside, corruptive and destructive,
in the guise of sheep, profusely devouring and spiritually destroying those for whose
sake Christ died, and whose blood the Lord will demand from his ( the shepherd's)
hands on that terrible and impartial day, should he be negligent in his spiritual
obligations and not struggle with all his might to both expel those soul-corrupting
wolves far away from Christ's logical fold, and to lead the fold along the straight
path, and with works - along with words - support the Orthodox peoples in general,
in their paternally-delivered and divinely-taught teaching of our sacred faith.
Being therefore also aware of these sacred obligations amongst ourselves, we,
strengthened by God's power, have not ceased to care, as much as we can, about the
salvific conducting of Christ's logical sheep towards the salvific pastures, and have
also issued a printed circular epistle, thus safeguarding well in advance the
Orthodox peoples - the genuine and true children of the Orthodox Church - from the
torrential, soul-destroying onslaught brought on by the Lutheran-Calvinists with
their rabid opposition to piety and their various scheming to uproot Orthodoxy, and
in every manner (we have been) struggling so that by divine power we may support
those who have an unfeigned piety and are sincerely and genuinely aligned with the
Saviour Christ; and those who have been deceived or bribed and howsoever brought
to their knees regarding the faith we shall lift up and invite back into Christs fold
and reinstate them. As for the manic and rabid wolves, we shall stave them off and
send them away to the abysses of Hades, while simultaneously restoring the in-
Christ peace to all the orthodox and Christ-named peoples.
But now, once again with an excessive sorrow of our soul upon hearing of the
intrigues in Syria, Egypt and Palestine, and the schemings against Orthodoxy by the
followers of the fallacy of Papism, and not tolerating to observe such a soul-
destroying onslaught being disseminated and extending among the Orthodox, but
desiring to halt the flow of this imposture and satanic fallacy so that it will not as it
progresses with time - infest all of the Orthodox pleroma, we have not remained
idle, so that with personal epistles of ours we might communicate to their beatitudes
and most reverend Patriarchs, both of the great city of Alexandria, Hierotheos, and
of the God-city of Antioch, Methodios (these our in-Christ beloved brethren and co-
officiators) this intention of ours. In this intention we have found them not only
having a fervent zeal and wholeheartedly accepting thereof, but have also received
their written opinion and consent, which is also in compliance with the resident
Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Athanasios, our in Christ the Lord beloved
brother and co-offiator, and have acknowledged the duty
[]
of raising the voice of the Church, and with this present patriarchal and conciliar
encyclical of ours like another trumpet call out to all the Orthodox in the world
and more so to those in Syria, Egypt and Palestine, and publicly decry what sort
these seemingly sheep-like wolves are: these insidious and deceiving wolves, who
have recently appeared from the mountain of Lebanon like other dark lucifers and
have also overshadowed like a black and onerous and suffocating cloud all the parts
of Syria, Egypt and Palestine, uttering blasphemous things against the evangelical
truth and sophistically teaching against our orthodox faith; and thus ( with the
Circular) protect the truly pious from this luciferian fallacy of theirs, and the genuine
children of the Eastern Church from the blasphemies of the Papacy.
For, the unquenchable rabidity of the Papacy - which contrives in every way to
deceive and proselytize has cunningly left loose and in every manner free, all those
who have embraced Papism, making allowance for them to unvaryingly perform all
of the customs and mysteries of their former Church, and has considered these two
things alone as enough: that is, the commemoration of the Popes name, and the
acceptance of the Popes infallibility and sinlessness.
[]
It is on this alone, that allowance has been made for the catolics, not to believe, but
only to recite the sacred Symbol, either properly, without the addition (of the
Filioque), or irreverently, with the addition thereof, so that they might
be accommodated for the proselytising of others and for the growth of Papism in
numbers.
[]
Behold, to which Churchs leader the deluded catolics in Syria, Palestine and Egypt
have religiously shown tolerance to - having abandoned the paternally-delivered and
ancient things - (it is) to such a leader, from whom have originated a while back - and
are also originating in succession, beyond many other things - the aforementioned
ungodly resolutions which have proscribed and abolished many of the sacred
dogmas, canons and formulations, and which (resolutions) have unduly and
innovatively validated legislations filled with ungodly fallacy and deception.
The one who, albeit already seated upon the erstwhile sacred and august seat and
worshipped by the Pope-venerating catolics as one (alas!) equal to God and sinless,
and who, cunningly content with only the commemoration of his name and the
acceptance of his supposed sinlessness, has attracted them to him by allowing the
recital of the sacred Symbol either with the addition (of the Filioque) or without it, as
mentioned; by abolishing the necessary fasts delivered by the holy Apostles and their
successors; as well as by absolving and forgiving every sin and crime whatsoever,
thus luring them wretchedly into the same abyss in which both he and those Popes
several years before him have sunken into.
[]
[]
Behold, we, in fulfilling our poemantic debts, are raising the voice of the Eastern
Orthodox Church our common mother and nurturer to you, Her spiritual
children, with the present Patriarchal and Conciliar Circular Epistle, and are
exhorting and counseling you all, to take care and not commune in the fruitless
labours of the darkness of this age, so that you may stand firmly upon the
unshakeable rock of the orthodox faith, per the vow that you gave at the time of your
rebirth with the bath of divine Baptism before almighty God and His attending,
immaterial officiators and divine angels, as well as before people which (vow) the
Lord will be demanding from you in His Second and fearsome Coming: that you will
preserve unadulterated the dogmas and the mysteries of the one, holy, catholic and
apostolic Church in which you were born and baptized and increased to the measure
of the fullness of the age of Christ for fear that, instead of the true Head of the
Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour and Redeemer, you have been confessing as
head of the Church an earth-born man the Pope appearing subtly as deniers of
Christ, so that, by thinking you have found an easy faith, you do not fall into the
abysses of irreverence; for, whosoever deviates from the faith in Christ sinks totally
in a shipwreck of infidelity and heresies.
[]
In addressing those who in whichever way had slipped and had recklessly fallen into
God-abhorred Catolicism, and were deceived by the rabble-rousing, insidious ones,
we advise them to return to their paternally-delivered piety and Orthodoxy, with
remorse for the spiritual danger that they incurred upon themselves by having
distanced themselves from God and the spotless and guileless faith of Jesus Christ,
and, after having mourned for their forsaking of Orthodoxy, once again align
themselves with the Eastern Church with an irreversible mind and an unreturning
heart, so that they might find mercy on the day of judgment by the awesome Judge,
our Lord.
Signed by:
Gregory of Constantinople, having also the opinions of the blessed Patriarchs, both of
Alexandria Hierotheos and of Antioch Methodios, in Christ the Lord God, opines.
Dionysios of Heracleia.
Hierotheos of Chalcedon.
Germanos of Derkoi.
Meletios of Thessaloniki.
Athanasiosof Serrai.
Ioannikios of Ioannina.
Niceforos of Angyra.
Daniel of Philadelphia.
Artemios of Kustendil.
Hieronymos of Limnos.
Gabriel of Skopje
Bibliography (selected)
Ninikas Solon: How the Roman Catholics perceive the union of the
"Churches", Athens 1966.