Subdeacon Nektarios, M.A.
Many Orthodox Christians across the globe have taken serious notice of the major heretical and blasphemous incidents which have been occurring across Global Orthodoxy (to use the term of Father Seraphim Rose) and yet many within the heretical “resist within” movement are yelling their war cry that it is not time to break communion with these public preachers of heresy. Some of these “resist within” adherents are also stating that it is not discerning to remain with a bishop or priest that is preaching and teaching heresy and that you can go to another local church where the priest or bishop is not preaching heresy, claiming that not all of the so-called official churches are preaching heresy as an entire body.
The question we have to ask now is have these local churches adopted heresy synodally and are there other jurisdictions within Orthodoxy in North America where these laity can flee to? Unfortunately, we can see that Global Orthodoxy is in complete heretical chaos and none of these so-called ‘canonical’ jurisdictions have been exempt from the blasphemous actions of their Ecumenist bishops. In order to show that all these jurisdictions within Global Orthodoxy are on the precipice of a complete apostasy from Holy Orthodoxy we can look at each of the major jurisdictions and the current events that are surrounding them.
To start, we will look at those jurisdictions of Global Orthodoxy who are members of the World Council of Churches. My recent article The Ecclesiology of the WCC: Your Jurisdiction’s Membership in Demonic Heresy, demonstrates that these jurisdictions who are dues paying members of this ecumenist organization have, in fact, as a synodal body and as entire patriarchates, adopted a foreign and heretical ecclesiology. The Global Orthodox members of this heretical organization can be seen in the listing below.
To further show that these very recent and heretical incidents are not isolated but are becoming exceptionally more frequent as 2025 approaches, we will go through each of the various autocephalous local churches and patriarchates and show that heretical ecumenism is the new normal that the laity of Global Orthodoxy can continue to expect out of their heretical hierarchs who are preaching another gospel.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople
On September 30th, 2023, the Heresiarch Patriarch, Bartholomew, participated in a mass joint vigil service. According to the World Council of Churches’ press release what took place was the following,
In St Peter’s Square, brothers and sisters in Christ gathered together from all walks of life and from around the world. Those gathered included youth participating in the “Together” gathering that preceded the synod, bringing together young people from the age of 18-35 who have come together for a weekend of sharing. The event was organized by some fifty church groups from a wide variety of denominations, at the initiative of the Taizé community and in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Synod; the Dicasteries for Christian Unity and for the Laity, Family, and Life; and the Vicariate of Rome.
Representing WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba offered a prayer as part of the vigil. “Christ Jesus, look upon your family,” she prayed. “We entrust to you all those you welcome into the Kingdom because they are mistreated and persecuted.”
In addition, those leading prayers were Pope Francis; Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew; Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby; Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation; Rev. Dr Thomas Schirrmacher, secretary-general of the World Evangelical Alliance; Mar Paulus Benjamin (Oriental Assyrian Church); Rev. Dr Elijah Brown, general secretary of the World Baptist Alliance; Archbishop Bernd Wallet, Utrecht of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands (Union of Utrecht), Rev. Gebrestadik Debeb (Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Italy); Rev. Dr Billy Wilson, chair of the World Pentecostal Fellowship; and many others.
Three young people from different ecclesial contexts and continents spoke about their experience from Lebanon, Indonesia and Slovenia.
Pope Francis meditated on the topic of silence, stressing that it is “essential for the journey of Christian unity.”
This, he said, is because silence “is fundamental to prayer, and ecumenism begins with prayer and is sterile without it.”
Thus, “the more we turn together to the Lord in prayer, the more we feel that it is he who purifies us and unites us beyond our differences.” [1]
On the about page of this syncretistic event titled “Together” the question is asked, “Through baptism and the Scriptures, are we not sisters and brothers in Christ, united in a communion that is still imperfect but nevertheless real?” [2] This unambiguous statement, which is a clear promulgation of the Branch Theory ecumenical heresy, describes the event that Patriarch Bartholomew participated in fully. During the event, the Ecumenical Patriarch, praying with the Pope and all other heterodox religions, in the liturgical rubrics of this event which entirely rejects Orthodox ecclesiology as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and in unison with the Pope, prays the following,
Pope Francis: + In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople: We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in Your name. With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our hearts; Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it. We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder. Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions. Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right. All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever. Amen [3].
As can be seen in the photo and video above, the Ecumenical Patriarch is blatantly violating the Canons of the Orthodox Church which state respectively,
Canon XLV: Let a bishop, presbyter, or deacon, who has only prayed with heretics, be excommunicated: but if he has permitted them to perform any clerical office, let him be deposed [4].
Canon LXIV: If any clergyman or layman shall enter into a synagogue of Jews or heretics to pray, let the former be deposed and let the latter be excommunicated [5].
Canon XXXIII: No one shall join in prayers with heretics or schismatics [6].
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOARCH)
As many already know, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, under the episcopal leadership of the Heresiarch Elpidophoros, is one of the most blatant offenders of all when it comes to engaging in syncretistic ecumenism. A few example of this are Elpidophoros sending one of his bishops, Athenagoras, to visit a Hindu temple and pray with the Hindus there, describing their demonic pagan temple as a sacred space [7]; during Holy Week (2024) Heresiarch Elpidophoros invited a Papist cardinal to his church to participate in the Orthodox service and allowed the heretical Papist cardinal to bless his congregation [8]; and also, during Holy Week, we have Metropolitan Methodios of Boston (GOARCH) inviting another heretical Papist cardinal to the ambo of his Church and saying,
Both of us are blessed by God to celebrate easter twice, once in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Papist), and once in this Cathedral Church. The time has come for Christianity to celebrate easter on the same day, and as you said at the Chrism mass, during the coming year both the Patriarch (Bartholomew) and the Pope, hopefully will sit down on the 1700th anniversary of the first ecumenical synod. They will sit down and come to an agreement, as to when, what day exactly, easter should be celebrated. I know that you advocate that solution, and you know that I do.
I welcome you here, because this is…I don’t need to welcome you here because this is your cathedral as well. The people that are in the congregation love and respect you because they recognize in you a man of God, a leader of our Church, a leader of the Boston community, and a leader of the religious community in America. Thank you again for coming and I pray that God continues to give you years filled with health so that you may continue shining the radiant light of our Lord’s Resurrection in the community in which we live [9].
Continuing on in Holy Week we have Evagoras Constantinides, the Director of Special Events for the Office of the Archbishop (Elpidophoros), advertising on his Twitter/X account that one of his services was “made all the more special as we were joined in prayer by Fr. William of the local Episcopal Church” in direct violation of the canons stated above [10].
Lastly, the clergy of the GOARCH at Saint Paul’s in Irvine, California, who are known for their ecumenical apostasy and ordination of female readers, conducted another syncretistic heretical prayer. In the Orthodox Observer, a GOARCH publication, they published a press release entitled St. Paul Greek Orthodox Church Held 17th Annual Roman and Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Christian Ecumenical Service of Prayer for Christian Unity. At this event, GOARCH clergy in violation of the canons of the Orthodox Church prayed with members of the uniates, Latin papists, monophysites, and nestorians [11]. Of course, we also have the well-known baptism of the children of a gay couple conducted by Elpidophoros in Greece, which of course needs no further explanation.
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria
In the Alexandrian Patriarchate, which is becoming more problematic, controversial, modernistic, and betraying its Orthodoxy, we can witness a number of events within recent memory that are showing its absolute decline into post-patristic apostasy. One of these being the recent action of Patriarch Theodore II who blessed, kissed, and commemorated a statue of the apostate bishop of Orthodoxy, Meletios Metaxakis, the known freemason, innovator of the non-canonical calendar Church, and the one bishop who began to drag the ancient patriarchates into heretical ecumenism [12]. In addition to this celebration of the betrayer of Christ, Meletios Metaxakis, we have the well-known case of the Alexandrian Patriarchate installing a female deaconess into the ranks of the clergy with the same functions and abilities as a male deacon, contrary to apostolic teaching, and with synodal approval [13].
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch
From the Patriarchate of Antioch, we have the Patriarch John X, the head of the Middle Eastern Council of Churches, in photo and on video participating in another heretical syncretistic ecumenical prayer service with protestants, papists, and monophysites in violation of the canons of the Orthodox Church [14].
Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of America
In the Antiochian Orthodox Church in the United States, in photographs and a press release by the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese, we have the new Metropolitan for the Archdiocese, Saba, photographed in a joint prayer service with heretical monophysites who continue to reject Orthodox Christology, our Ecumenical Councils, and to venerate ecumenically condemned heretics as saints. In the photos below you see Metropolitan Saba praying with these heterodox in violation of the Orthodox Church’s canons [15].
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
In the Jerusalem Patriarchate in Gaza, the Bishop of Gaza recently allowed into the altar of Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church heretical Papists, including a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church [16].
Orthodox Church of Finland
On October 3rd, 2022, the Finnish Orthodox Church fell into complete apostasy, abandoning Orthodox ecclesiology and embracing a form of the heretical branch theory by signing a joint declaration with the Finnish Lutheran Confession recognizing the Lutheran baptism as “valid” to use western theological terminology [17]. In this agreement, the Finnish hierarchs established that they recognize that there is mysteriological grace in the so-called baptism of these protestant heretics, and that when a person is baptized by a Lutheran that this “Baptism joins an individual to the church, a community the New Testament describes as the body of Christ. As a confessing member of this community, the one baptised receives the grace to live a new life in Christ” thereby recognizing that the Church exists outside of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church [18].
Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate
In April of 2024, the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade defiled one of their Churches with the blessing of their Patriarch and Synod by allowing ecumenically condemned monophysite heretics to celebrate one of their polluted liturgies in a Church of the Serbian Patriarchate. A Coptic monophysite liturgy was served in the nave of the Serbian Church with clerical representatives from the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate who took part in their heretical liturgy and prayed with these ecumenically condemned heretics in violation of the canons of the Orthodox Church [19].
Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate
In May of 2024, Moscow’s Patriarch Kirill celebrated the 80th anniversary of the death of the betrayer of Christ, the so-called Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky). Sergius had denied publicly to non-Soviet news media that the godless Soviet authorities were, in fact, persecuting the faithful Russian Orthodox Catacomb Church who refused to recognize him and his 1927 submission and declaration of loyalty to the Soviet regime that was murdering priests and bishops regularly during this period. Kirill in his homily concerning this Christ betrayer classified Sergius as a confessor of the faith despite his having publicly denied that any persecution of the Russian Catacomb Church was taking place [20]. In addition to the Moscow Patriarchate’s praise of the betrayer of Christ, Sergius, and their journey to canonize him, they have also been heavily involved in the heretical ecumenist movement with many of the monophysite jurisdictions including the Copts, Malankara Indians, and Ethiopians.
Recently in 2023, the new Metropolitan in charge of the Department of External Church Relations, Anthony, recently made a visit to the Malankara Indian Monophysite palace and held a short joint prayer service with the Malankara Monophysites at the Tomb of Baselios Marthoma Mathews III [21]. The Moscow Patriarchate, a member of the World Council of Churches since 1961, does not hide its syncretistic ecumenical activity and published news updates concerning its participation in ecumenism here.
Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus
Over the last few years, the Church of Cyprus has also succumbed to many of the issues that are plaguing world Orthodoxy. One of these main issues involves their primate’s recognition of the heretical Ukrainian organization established by the Ecumenical Patriarchate (EP), the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which was formed by bringing together formerly defrocked clergy from the Russian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), and other deviants [22]. In 2020 the Church of Cyprus, with synodal approval, voted to recognize the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s OCU. This event has caused mass chaos in the world Orthodox jurisdictions because these OCU heretics and schismatics, who are in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, have themselves come into de facto communion with Uniates and Latin Papist by their shared communion. This is problematic because those jurisdictions who are still in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and OCU now have to answer what that exactly means for themselves [23].
In addition to this jurisdictional chaos because of the Ukrainian situation, we have also been made aware that one of the Cypriot bishops, Metropolitan Neophytos of Morfu, who has been held up as the most conservative and traditionalist in the country has just been discovered via YouTube videos to have been practicing heretical Ecumenism and praying with a Maronite Uniate bishop for the past number of years, all the while condemning ecumenism in multiple videos, homilies, lectures on YouTube, and allowing his flock of Cypriot Orthodox faithful to kiss the hand of the uniate Papist during one procession [24].
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia – MP
The ROCOR-MP is mostly known for their perceived traditionalism because of their long history of confession of Orthodoxy from 1920-2007. Many believe this staunch confession is still carried on to this day even after the union with the Sergianist Moscow Patriarchate.
However, the opposite is unfortunately the reality. For example, despite the ongoing schism between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarchate with their involvement in heretical ecumenism and Bartholomew’s creation of the heretical Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), during Pascha of 2024, the ROCOR-MP church of Saint John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, DC, concelebrated with a priest of GOARCH, Father Patrick Viscuso, who was elevated in 2021 to the rank of Protopresbyter by none other than the Arch Heresiarch Elpidophoros [25]. This GOARCH priest’s recent presence at the cathedral, which extends before and after Pascha as well, was blessed by Metropolitan Nicholas the ROCOR-MP, First-Hierarch, despite this priest being an active clergyman in the GOARCH and in full communion with the heretics of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).
Orthodox Church of America (OCA)
The Orthodox Church in America (OCA), as many know, for a number of years has been allowing monophysite students from the Indian Malankara jurisdiction to attend their seminary, particularly at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) under the presidency of Father Chad Hatfield. This seminary, presumably with the blessing of the Synod of the OCA, continues to teach that these ecumenically condemned heretics are Orthodox Christians. They often hold joint prayers together in violations of the canons and continue promulgating ecumenism between the two. For example, just recently the students were given a lecture on the so-called dialogue between the monophysites and the Orthodox by Christine Chaillot, who recognizes the monophysites as a church in the talk she gave entitled The Dialogue Between the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox in March of 2024 [26]. The ecumenist efforts of the seminary and the monophysites have even gone so far as to de facto recognize heretical monophysites as saints, with the blessing of their icons by the president of SVOTS, Father Chad Hatfield, in 2022 in the Malankara Chapel on campus. According to a news release from the seminary itself, "On Monday, January 24, Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield joined the Malankara seminarians for Vespers and led the blessing of the icons with Seminarian Fr. Geevarghese Mathew" [27]. This blessing of icons by Father Chad Hatfield included Gregorios of Parumala (seen over left shoulder in photo two) who has a "particularly strong [devotion] among Orthodox Christians in Malankara" [28].
Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarchate
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, one of the major conservative New Calendarist Patriarchates, for many years resisted choosing a side concerning the Ukrainian issue and the Ecumenical Patriarchates creation of the graceless Orthodox Church in Ukraine (OCU). On May 20th, 2024, for the first time some of the Bulgarian Patriarchate hierarchs came into communion with the heretical OCU and concelebrated with their layman (dressed as hierarchs) at the Phanar in Istanbul with Patriarch Bartholomew. Five bishops of the Bulgarian Patriarchate concelebrated divine liturgy with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the laymen in hierarchal vestments. However, there still has yet to be a formal synodal affirmation concerning this issue, much like what the Patriarchate of Alexandria is doing [29].
Conclusion
As we can see, Global Orthodoxy is in complete chaos and spinning even further into post-scriptural and post-patristic apostasy from being full-fledged and dues paying members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to joint prayer with heretical denominations such as uniates, Latin papists, monophysites and nestorians, praying with Hindu pagans, maintaining eucharistic concelebration between the Greek Archdiocese and ROCOR-MP, despite the EP and GOARCH being in full-communion with the OCU and the OCU being in communion with heretical uniates and Latin papists.
The question is how much longer can one remain in communion with these jurisdictions who have time and again, bishop after bishop, patriarchate after patriarchate, synod after synod, and event after event, completely fallen away from Orthodoxy through their adoption of another gospel? Some think that these events are in and of themselves isolated incidents that only affect the Ecumenical Patriarchate and GOARCH, but as we can see from these small but numerous recent examples, the issue is systemic across all of Global Orthodoxy going back one-hundred years. Father Seraphim (Rose) said in 1970 "those who wish to remain Orthodox have no choice but to leave 'global Orthodoxy'" [30]. It is again time to heed the words of the holy apostle Saint Paul when he says, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us” (2 Thessalonians 3:6, KJV) and who says without equivocation, “though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1: 8-9, KJV).
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