By Subdeacon Nektarios, M.A.
The Assembly of Orthodox Traditionalists is made up of all true Orthodox Christians from around the world and from every universally-recognized canonical Orthodox jurisdiction and walled-off confessors who faithfully follow the Saints and Holy Fathers. This communiqué is published with the purpose of giving a review of some of the highlighted activities occurring around the world within some of the major Orthodox Christian jurisdictions.
First, coming all the way from Vouliagmeni, Greece, in July of 2022 via Archbishop Elpidophoros, the primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOARCH) we have the first ever "diversity, equity and inclusion baptism," which was the "baptism" of two adopted children by two active, unrepentant sodomites, from the United States. This act was to the surprise and anger of the majority of the country of Greece, and more specifically to the ruling hierarch of that diocese, Metropolitan Antonios of Glyfada, who has claimed that he was not aware that this was to occur and stated, "Archbishop Elpidophoros acted uncanonically within my Metropolis" [1]. However, Archbishop Elpidophoros, stated two months after his anti-canonical scandal, that "Anyone who asks me to baptize their child I will do it regardless of who it is. I baptize children and I don't care about the personal life of their parents. I don't judge people's lives" [2].
As we can see Elpidophoros, causing an international scandal in the Orthodox world sees no problem with his actions, which include violating the territory of another Greek Orthodox Hierarch or, much less, that he in essence legitimized the so-called gay "marriage" of the two unrepentant sodomites and baptized children that are obviously not going to be raised within the Orthodox Christian faith. This however, is not the end of the anti-Orthodox and anti-canonical antics of this secular Archbishop. In January of this year at the newly constructed center of pan-heretical ecumenism, the so-called "St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church & National Shrine" Elpidophoros welcomed like-minded ecumenists and other heretics by addressing them as his "dear family in Christ" to a joint prayer service where each of them prayed together, gave social-justice speeches and of course, in true ecumenistic fashion, violated the canons of the Holy Orthodox Church and prayed the Our Father together (See Video at 1:08:50). Some of the like-minded heretics in attendance were other Orthodox bishops, priests, and deacons, as well as the race-baiting and known black supremacist Fr Samuel Davis of the American Metropolia (OCA), Papist Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and an assortment of other heterodox to include an Armenian Monophysite clergyman and various Anglican, Episcopalian and other Protestants.
Continuing down the ecumenistic rabbit hole of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, we come across a video which is part of a series entitled "Wisdom on Wheels" ironically posted on the "Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA" Official YouTube Channel, which entails the host driving around town with Orthodox hierarchs in the car and interviewing them. Episode 5 of Wisdom on Wheels includes the host with Metropolitan Methodios of Boston, who very quickly into the interview begins to discuss interfaith marriages between Latin Papists and Orthodox Christians and expresses his desire to give the Holy Eucharist to those who are outside of the Holy Orthodox Church. In his own words, Methodios states, "as far as I'm concerned, if the [Roman] Catholic and Orthodox party confess that they believe in Jesus Christ, that He's the Son of God, that he came into the world to save us, who are sinners, I would commune them if my Church allowed me to do it. It does not allow me to do it today, but if I had my way, I would take that extra step. I'm sure that the [Roman] Catholic church would do the same thing as well" [3]. Is there any doubt that this is not the unwritten policy which he abides by within his own diocese, as it was also Elpidophoros who said in a 2020 speech that, "Personally, I would offer the other sacrament - the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist - to those couples who are married and who received the Sacrament of Marriage in the Orthodox Church" [4]. Not only has Elpidophoros been very open and carefree about his heretical ecumenism, he has also stated in a 2021 public speech to the International Religious Freedom Summit that: “When you elevate one religion [Holy Orthodoxy] above all others it is as if you decided that there is only one path leading to the top of the mountain; but the truth is you simply cannot see the myriads of paths that lead to the same destination because you are surrounded by boulders of prejudice that obscure your view" [5].
This however, is not the only jurisdiction that has been quite open and transparent about their march into heretical ecumenism. There is another and that is the American Metropolia, otherwise known today as the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). For example, in January of 2022, Father Christopher Calin, another known ecumenist and leftist statist hosted the "Spiritual Sounds of the East Village" a joint prayer gathering which consisted of heterodox of various religions in which Calin denies Christ and hides his cross during the group photo of the event; which according to other sources is not a first-time occurrence. The event logo also speaks volumes as it is a tree with various branches on it and on each of those branches are the symbols of the different world religions, symbolizing the heretical branch theory. But is the ecumenism of the Metropolia just an outlier?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is no. These ecumenist events are also attended and endorsed by the primate of the American Metropolia (OCA), Metropolitan Tikhon (Mollard). In 2021, for example, at the graduation commencement ceremony of the well-known liberal ecumenist college of Saint Vladimir Seminary in New York, which allows the open enrollment of both Nestorians and Monophysites, it opens with the singing of the Paschal Troparion of "Christ is Risen." The seminarians and clergy are joined by both Nestorians and Monophysite clergymen, who are addressed as "Reverend Hierarchs" and the Armenian Seminary of "Saint Nersess" is referenced as a "Sister Seminary" by the dean Saint Vladimir Seminary. Not only does the Metropolia, permit their priests to participate in the most obvious ecumenist activities which violate canon upon canon, not only do they allow Monophysites and Nestorians to enroll in their seminaries and to use the Orthodox chapel and altar to pollute the Orthodox holy of holies with their polluted "mysteries" they also promulgate their heretical pseudo-patriarchs and Monophysite dogmatics by publishing their books such as the recent publication of A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI (1902–1971) the life of the Monophysite Coptic Patriarch, who in fact is a denier of Eastern Orthodox theology and openly rejects the Ecumenical Councils and the doctrines of our Orthodox Church Fathers.
When it comes to properly discerning who we can trust as Orthodox Christians we have to think carefully and examine deeply. Are we called to just blindly obey every person in a black cassock solely based on their clerical status? Have we forgotten as Orthodox Christians that Nestorius was a Patriarch and Arius a priest or, even worse, that Judas Iscariot, the denier of Christ who sold our Lord for 30 pieces of silver, was an Apostle himself? It is time to escape the mental matrix and think for yourself. Think about your own bishop, priest, or spiritual father. Has your clergy celebrated the Islamic holiday of Ramadan? Has your clergy said all religions lead up to the top of the same mountain? Has your clergy validated sodomite marriage and baptized adopted children who are not going to be raised in the Orthodox Faith? Has your clergy shut down your Churches, kicked you out of your parishes, forced you to wear a mask in Church, and pushed the vaccination on you and has not repented in spite of the new evidence that these experiments were in fact harmful? Has your clergy gone to the Walk for Life and, at the same time like a demon with a split tongue endorsed, abortion stating "We affirm the gift of sanctity of life... at the same time we also affirm our respect for the autonomy of women" ?
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