προσκυνητής wrote:As usual, Fr. Panagiotis Carras had his "facts" wrong in his email. He totally mischaracterized the split between Kiousis and the "Lamians." He said that "many of the newly ordained hierarchs" left the Lamians which is incorrect. I would like to see the names of those "many". And the most blatant misstatement was that Abp. Makarios only had three bishops left when they elected the recent episcopal candidates; in fact, Abp. Makarios still had five bishops with him: Met. Kallinikos of Fthiotis and Thavmakou, Met. Efthymios of Thessaloniki, Met. Philaretos of France, Met. Pankratios of Korinth and Nemea, and Bp. Nektarios of Olympus.
Over the years, I've written to Fr. Panagiotis to correct his fact errors and he never does. Take what he writes with a grain of salt.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURATE DOCUMENTATION
Yes, we call all agree with the poster "προσκυνητής" (worshiper, pilgrim) that, as Christians, it is important to represent historical facts accurately. The purpose of this post is to document some of these facts, with reference to actual, public documents.
To add to what προσκυνητής wrote, it should be pointed out that, at the time of these eight new consecrations of bishops, the six Makarian bishops had already been in communion with the four HOCNA bishops for some time already. HOCNA had seven bishops as of 2018. The current picture (April 17, 2019) of the Makarian synod of bishops on its website (https://ec-goc.gr/iera-synodos/iera-synodos) actually includes two HOCNA bishops in the picture --- although the Makarian church calendars make it clear that the Makarios synod and the HOCNA synod are distinct synods. The original announcement of the unity between the two synods in 2013 (announced officially in a signed document by Archbishop Makarios of Athens and Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston) referred to the two churches as "sister churches" who received the same true apostolic succession from their father in the faith Archbishop Auxentios.
Father Carras also makes this provably-false statement: "Many of Archbishop Makarios' unilateral activities [in relation to HOCNA] are not approved of by the other hierarchs, clergy and lay people of the Lamian Synod. The so-called STATEMENT OF EUCHARISTIC COMMUNION has been hidden from those in Greece. Clergy and people in Greece realize that the term Eucharistic Communion is another way of saying Eucharistic Hospitality."
No, that is completely false. The process of entering into full Eucharistic communion between the G.O.C.-Makarios and HOCNA in 2013 (including countless hierarchical concelebrations) was done publicly and publicized online. The unity between the G.O.C.-Makarios synod and HOCNA was publicly documented with official reports, countless pictures, and several videos, almost all of which were placed online. The videos of the hierarchical concelebrations in Greece between the North American hierarchs and the synod of bishops under Archbishop Makarios were made and posted on the internet by the Metropolis of Thessalonica. HOCNA released a long list of these websites, reports, pictures, and videos so that people might find them more easily. The Makarios synod released an official Synodal Encyclical on May 20, 2013 (old style) issued by Archbishop Makarios for his Holy Synod expressing their joy at the unity that was achieved. The encyclical was printed in the official periodical of the Synod of Archbishop Makarios, Ὀρθόδοξον Πατερικὸν Σάλπισμα. This periodical is widely distributed in Greece, but is hard to find in North America. An English translation of this encyclical is at https://web.archive.org/web/20140409065 ... lical.html.
The main text from the Makarios synod reads: “our Holy Synod always pursues contacts with Orthodox brethren who do not belong to our domain, as for example the hierarchs of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of America under the most reverend Metropolitan Ephraim, who were not long ago our brothers in the hierarchy and who have drawn their ordinations from our admirable Archbishop Kyr Auxentios. With great care and diligence for a long period of time we have examined from all sides both our ecclesiastical situation and theirs, as well as administrative issues, and we have found, to our great joy, that there is much uniting us and nothing of importance to keep us apart. Having then examined each other’s confession on the sound basis of the holy dogmas and traditions of the Church, and having established and sealed this confession as being truly Orthodox in all, we have decided to reestablish our ecclesiastical communion and seal it with holy concelebrations here, as well as in America in this present after-Paschal period. With this present statement we establish all of us as partakers of the happiness of this joyful event which took place in America of the holy concelebrations between us in accordance with our union in Christ, for which we offer great doxology to the Triune God Who wishes all His true children peace and love. ...For the Holy Synod + Makarios Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.”
On Sunday, October 20/November 3, 2013, HOCNA sent out a document stating:
"The entire Synod of Bishops of His Beatitude, Archbishop
Makarios of Athens and All Greece and the entire Synod of Bishops
of the Holy Orthodox Church in North America (HOCNA) are in full
agreement that we all teach and practice the Orthodox Christian
Faith and we all reject every heresy condemned by the Holy
Scriptures, Councils, and Saints of the Orthodox Church. Both the
Greek synod and the North American synod derive our ordinations
from the synod of Archbishop Auxentios of Blessed Memory, our
common forefather in the Faith. Archbishop Makarios of Athens and
his Holy Synod accepted the written Confession of Faith of our North
American bishops as completely Orthodox. Likewise, the Holy
Orthodox Church in North America recognizes that the written
Confession of Faith of the Synod of Archbishop Makarios is equally
Orthodox. The Greek synod and the North American synod
announced their mutual recognition of their respective Confessions
of Faith and their recognition as Sister Churches in their joint official
statement that was issued on April 5/18, 2013, three weeks before His
Beatitude’s visit to North America. The announcement stated that
this unity in the Orthodox Faith would be sealed by hierarchical
concelebration of the Divine Liturgy.
During Archbishop Makarios of Athens’ visit to North America
from April 28/May 11 to May 10/23, he concelebrated the Divine
Liturgy with the bishops and other clergy of HOCNA, at the Saint
Nicholas Cathedral and the Holy Theotokos Convent in Toronto, at
the Holy Transfiguration Monastery and Holy Nativity Convent in
Brookline, and at Saint Anna’s Orthodox Church in Boston. His
Beatitude also visited the Holy Apostles Skete in Maine and spoke to
laypeople at a family home in Boston.
Early this fall, two of our bishops from North America traveled
to Greece and concelebrated with the Synod of Bishops of
Archbishop Makarios—in Athens, Thessalonica, Lamia, and Serres.
There are now many pictures and videos of these joyous
concelebrations on the Internet. Our only regret is that this unity was
not achieved ten years earlier.
Recently, one clergyman in Greece, Metropolitan Christophoros
of Mesogaia, has decided to split from the Holy Synod of the Church
of Greece under Archbishop Makarios of Athens. It was unfortunate
that this clergyman, after supporting our unity in Christ, later chose
not to meet the North American bishops while they visited Greece. It
is likewise unfortunate that he chose to be absent from the recent
synod meeting in Greece, before he officially announced his schism.
To our knowledge, Metropolitan Christophoros had only two priests
in his diocese and only one has followed him into schism. These
unfortunate actions do not detract from the unity that the synods in
Greece and North America have achieved through God’s grace.
Our unity—of hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and faithful—in the
one Holy Orthodox Faith has now been sealed. Those who are
interested may want to look at the official documents and reports, as
well as the pictures and videos, that are now available on the
Internet, as well as the reports in the official printed periodical of the
Synod of Archbishop Makarios, Ὀρθόδοξον Πατερικὸν Σάλπισμα,
that record our two synods’ achievement of this God-pleasing unity
in the true Orthodox Faith."
προσκυνητής wrote:As usual, Fr. Panagiotis Carras had his "facts" wrong in his email. He totally mischaracterized the split between Kiousis and the "Lamians." He said that "many of the newly ordained hierarchs" left the Lamians which is incorrect. I would like to see the names of those "many". And the most blatant misstatement was that Abp. Makarios only had three bishops left when they elected the recent episcopal candidates; in fact, Abp. Makarios still had five bishops with him: Met. Kallinikos of Fthiotis and Thavmakou, Met. Efthymios of Thessaloniki, Met. Philaretos of France, Met. Pankratios of Korinth and Nemea, and Bp. Nektarios of Olympus.
Over the years, I've written to Fr. Panagiotis to correct his fact errors and he never does. Take what he writes with a grain of salt.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURATE DOCUMENTATION
Yes, we call all agree with the poster "προσκυνητής" (worshiper, pilgrim) that, as Christians, it is important to represent historical facts accurately. The purpose of this post is to document some of these facts, with reference to actual, public documents.
To add to what προσκυνητής wrote, it should be pointed out that, at the time of these eight new consecrations of bishops, the six Makarian bishops had already been in communion with the four HOCNA bishops for some time already. HOCNA had seven bishops as of 2018. The current picture (April 17, 2019) of the Makarian synod of bishops on its website (https://ec-goc.gr/iera-synodos/iera-synodos) actually includes two HOCNA bishops in the picture --- although the Makarian church calendars make it clear that the Makarios synod and the HOCNA synod are distinct synods. The original announcement of the unity between the two synods in 2013 (announced officially in a signed document by Archbishop Makarios of Athens and Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston) referred to the two churches as "sister churches" who received the same true apostolic succession from their father in the faith Archbishop Auxentios.
Father Carras also makes this provably-false statement: "Many of Archbishop Makarios' unilateral activities [in relation to HOCNA] are not approved of by the other hierarchs, clergy and lay people of the Lamian Synod. The so-called STATEMENT OF EUCHARISTIC COMMUNION has been hidden from those in Greece. Clergy and people in Greece realize that the term Eucharistic Communion is another way of saying Eucharistic Hospitality."
No, that is completely false. The process of entering into unity between the G.O.C.-Makarios and HOCNA in 2013 (including countless hierarchical concelebrations) was done publicly and publicized online. The unity between the G.O.C.-Makarios synod and HOCNA was publicly documented with official reports, countless pictures, and several videos, almost all of which were placed online. The videos of the hierarchical concelebrations in Greece between the North American hierarchs and the synod of bishops under Archbishop Makarios were made and posted on the internet by the Metropolis of Thessalonica. HOCNA released a long list of these websites, reports, pictures, and videos so that people might find them more easily. The Makarios synod released an official Synodal Encyclical on May 20, 2013 (old style) issued by Archbishop Makarios for his Holy Synod expressing their joy at the unity that was achieved. The encyclical was printed in the official periodical of the Synod of Archbishop Makarios, Ὀρθόδοξον Πατερικὸν Σάλπισμα. This periodical is widely distributed in Greece, but is hard to find in North America. An English translation of this encyclical is at https://web.archive.org/web/20140409065 ... lical.html.
The main text from the Makarios synod reads: “our Holy Synod always pursues contacts with Orthodox brethren who do not belong to our domain, as for example the hierarchs of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of America under the most reverend Metropolitan Ephraim, who were not long ago our brothers in the hierarchy and who have drawn their ordinations from our admirable Archbishop Kyr Auxentios. With great care and diligence for a long period of time we have examined from all sides both our ecclesiastical situation and theirs, as well as administrative issues, and we have found, to our great joy, that there is much uniting us and nothing of importance to keep us apart. Having then examined each other’s confession on the sound basis of the holy dogmas and traditions of the Church, and having established and sealed this confession as being truly Orthodox in all, we have decided to reestablish our ecclesiastical communion and seal it with holy concelebrations here, as well as in America in this present after-Paschal period. With this present statement we establish all of us as partakers of the happiness of this joyful event which took place in America of the holy concelebrations between us in accordance with our union in Christ, for which we offer great doxology to the Triune God Who wishes all His true children peace and love. ...For the Holy Synod + Makarios Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.”
On Sunday, October 20/November 3, 2013, HOCNA sent out a document stating:
"The entire Synod of Bishops of His Beatitude, Archbishop
Makarios of Athens and All Greece and the entire Synod of Bishops
of the Holy Orthodox Church in North America (HOCNA) are in full
agreement that we all teach and practice the Orthodox Christian
Faith and we all reject every heresy condemned by the Holy
Scriptures, Councils, and Saints of the Orthodox Church. Both the
Greek synod and the North American synod derive our ordinations
from the synod of Archbishop Auxentios of Blessed Memory, our
common forefather in the Faith. Archbishop Makarios of Athens and
his Holy Synod accepted the written Confession of Faith of our North
American bishops as completely Orthodox. Likewise, the Holy
Orthodox Church in North America recognizes that the written
Confession of Faith of the Synod of Archbishop Makarios is equally
Orthodox. The Greek synod and the North American synod
announced their mutual recognition of their respective Confessions
of Faith and their recognition as Sister Churches in their joint official
statement that was issued on April 5/18, 2013, three weeks before His
Beatitude’s visit to North America. The announcement stated that
this unity in the Orthodox Faith would be sealed by hierarchical
concelebration of the Divine Liturgy.
During Archbishop Makarios of Athens’ visit to North America
from April 28/May 11 to May 10/23, he concelebrated the Divine
Liturgy with the bishops and other clergy of HOCNA, at the Saint
Nicholas Cathedral and the Holy Theotokos Convent in Toronto, at
the Holy Transfiguration Monastery and Holy Nativity Convent in
Brookline, and at Saint Anna’s Orthodox Church in Boston. His
Beatitude also visited the Holy Apostles Skete in Maine and spoke to
laypeople at a family home in Boston.
Early this fall, two of our bishops from North America traveled
to Greece and concelebrated with the Synod of Bishops of
Archbishop Makarios—in Athens, Thessalonica, Lamia, and Serres.
There are now many pictures and videos of these joyous
concelebrations on the Internet. Our only regret is that this unity was
not achieved ten years earlier.
Recently, one clergyman in Greece, Metropolitan Christophoros
of Mesogaia, has decided to split from the Holy Synod of the Church
of Greece under Archbishop Makarios of Athens. It was unfortunate
that this clergyman, after supporting our unity in Christ, later chose
not to meet the North American bishops while they visited Greece. It
is likewise unfortunate that he chose to be absent from the recent
synod meeting in Greece, before he officially announced his schism.
To our knowledge, Metropolitan Christophoros had only two priests
in his diocese and only one has followed him into schism. These
unfortunate actions do not detract from the unity that the synods in
Greece and North America have achieved through God’s grace.
Our unity—of hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and faithful—in the
one Holy Orthodox Faith has now been sealed. Those who are
interested may want to look at the official documents and reports, as
well as the pictures and videos, that are now available on the
Internet, as well as the reports in the official printed periodical of the
Synod of Archbishop Makarios, Ὀρθόδοξον Πατερικὸν Σάλπισμα,
that record our two synods’ achievement of this God-pleasing unity
in the true Orthodox Faith."
προσκυνητής wrote:As usual, Fr. Panagiotis Carras had his "facts" wrong in his email. He totally mischaracterized the split between Kiousis and the "Lamians." He said that "many of the newly ordained hierarchs" left the Lamians which is incorrect. I would like to see the names of those "many". And the most blatant misstatement was that Abp. Makarios only had three bishops left when they elected the recent episcopal candidates; in fact, Abp. Makarios still had five bishops with him: Met. Kallinikos of Fthiotis and Thavmakou, Met. Efthymios of Thessaloniki, Met. Philaretos of France, Met. Pankratios of Korinth and Nemea, and Bp. Nektarios of Olympus.
Over the years, I've written to Fr. Panagiotis to correct his fact errors and he never does. Take what he writes with a grain of salt.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURATE DOCUMENTATION
Yes, we call all agree with the poster "προσκυνητής" (worshiper, pilgrim) that, as Christians, it is important to represent historical facts accurately. The purpose of this post is to document some of these facts, with reference to actual, public documents.
To add to what προσκυνητής wrote, it should be pointed out that, at the time of these eight new consecrations of bishops, the six Makarian bishops had already been in communion with the four HOCNA bishops for some time already. HOCNA had seven bishops as of 2018. The current picture (April 17, 2019) of the Makarian synod of bishops on its website (https://ec-goc.gr/iera-synodos/iera-synodos) actually includes two HOCNA bishops in the picture --- although the Makarian church calendars make it clear that the Makarios synod and the HOCNA synod are distinct synods. The original announcement of the unity between the two synods in 2013 (announced officially in a signed document by Archbishop Makarios of Athens and Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston) referred to the two churches as "sister churches" who received the same true apostolic succession from their father in the faith Archbishop Auxentios.
Father Carras also makes this provably-false statement: "Many of Archbishop Makarios' unilateral activities [in relation to HOCNA] are not approved of by the other hierarchs, clergy and lay people of the Lamian Synod. The so-called STATEMENT OF EUCHARISTIC COMMUNION has been hidden from those in Greece. Clergy and people in Greece realize that the term Eucharistic Communion is another way of saying Eucharistic Hospitality."
No, that is completely false. The process of entering into unity between the G.O.C.-Makarios and HOCNA in 2013 (including countless hierarchical concelebrations) was done publicly and publicized online. The unity between the G.O.C.-Makarios synod and HOCNA was publicly documented with official reports, countless pictures, and several videos, almost all of which were placed online. The videos of the hierarchical concelebrations in Greece between the North American hierarchs and the synod of bishops under Archbishop Makarios were made and posted on the internet by the Metropolis of Thessalonica. HOCNA released a long list of these websites, reports, pictures, and videos so that people might find them more easily. The Makarios synod released an official Synodal Encyclical on May 20, 2013 (old style) issued by Archbishop Makarios for his Holy Synod expressing their joy at the unity that was achieved. The encyclical was printed in the official periodical of the Synod of Archbishop Makarios, Ὀρθόδοξον Πατερικὸν Σάλπισμα. This periodical is widely distributed in Greece, but is hard to find in North America. An English translation of this encyclical is at https://web.archive.org/web/20140409065 ... lical.html.
The main text from the Makarios synod reads: “our Holy Synod always pursues contacts with Orthodox brethren who do not belong to our domain, as for example the hierarchs of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of America under the most reverend Metropolitan Ephraim, who were not long ago our brothers in the hierarchy and who have drawn their ordinations from our admirable Archbishop Kyr Auxentios. With great care and diligence for a long period of time we have examined from all sides both our ecclesiastical situation and theirs, as well as administrative issues, and we have found, to our great joy, that there is much uniting us and nothing of importance to keep us apart. Having then examined each other’s confession on the sound basis of the holy dogmas and traditions of the Church, and having established and sealed this confession as being truly Orthodox in all, we have decided to reestablish our ecclesiastical communion and seal it with holy concelebrations here, as well as in America in this present after-Paschal period. With this present statement we establish all of us as partakers of the happiness of this joyful event which took place in America of the holy concelebrations between us in accordance with our union in Christ, for which we offer great doxology to the Triune God Who wishes all His true children peace and love. ...For the Holy Synod + Makarios Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.”
On Sunday, October 20/November 3, 2013, HOCNA sent out a document stating:
"The entire Synod of Bishops of His Beatitude, Archbishop
Makarios of Athens and All Greece and the entire Synod of Bishops
of the Holy Orthodox Church in North America (HOCNA) are in full
agreement that we all teach and practice the Orthodox Christian
Faith and we all reject every heresy condemned by the Holy
Scriptures, Councils, and Saints of the Orthodox Church. Both the
Greek synod and the North American synod derive our ordinations
from the synod of Archbishop Auxentios of Blessed Memory, our
common forefather in the Faith. Archbishop Makarios of Athens and
his Holy Synod accepted the written Confession of Faith of our North
American bishops as completely Orthodox. Likewise, the Holy
Orthodox Church in North America recognizes that the written
Confession of Faith of the Synod of Archbishop Makarios is equally
Orthodox. The Greek synod and the North American synod
announced their mutual recognition of their respective Confessions
of Faith and their recognition as Sister Churches in their joint official
statement that was issued on April 5/18, 2013, three weeks before His
Beatitude’s visit to North America. The announcement stated that
this unity in the Orthodox Faith would be sealed by hierarchical
concelebration of the Divine Liturgy.
During Archbishop Makarios of Athens’ visit to North America
from April 28/May 11 to May 10/23, he concelebrated the Divine
Liturgy with the bishops and other clergy of HOCNA, at the Saint
Nicholas Cathedral and the Holy Theotokos Convent in Toronto, at
the Holy Transfiguration Monastery and Holy Nativity Convent in
Brookline, and at Saint Anna’s Orthodox Church in Boston. His
Beatitude also visited the Holy Apostles Skete in Maine and spoke to
laypeople at a family home in Boston.
Early this fall, two of our bishops from North America traveled
to Greece and concelebrated with the Synod of Bishops of
Archbishop Makarios—in Athens, Thessalonica, Lamia, and Serres.
There are now many pictures and videos of these joyous
concelebrations on the Internet. Our only regret is that this unity was
not achieved ten years earlier.
Recently, one clergyman in Greece, Metropolitan Christophoros
of Mesogaia, has decided to split from the Holy Synod of the Church
of Greece under Archbishop Makarios of Athens. It was unfortunate
that this clergyman, after supporting our unity in Christ, later chose
not to meet the North American bishops while they visited Greece. It
is likewise unfortunate that he chose to be absent from the recent
synod meeting in Greece, before he officially announced his schism.
To our knowledge, Metropolitan Christophoros had only two priests
in his diocese and only one has followed him into schism. These
unfortunate actions do not detract from the unity that the synods in
Greece and North America have achieved through God’s grace.
Our unity—of hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and faithful—in the
one Holy Orthodox Faith has now been sealed. Those who are
interested may want to look at the official documents and reports, as
well as the pictures and videos, that are now available on the
Internet, as well as the reports in the official printed periodical of the
Synod of Archbishop Makarios, Ὀρθόδοξον Πατερικὸν Σάλπισμα,
that record our two synods’ achievement of this God-pleasing unity
in the true Orthodox Faith."