There is no shame in simply forgetting Jean-Serge. It was a minor oversight.
I was simply trying to ascertain whether or not you neglected to mention them because you simply forgot about them or perhaps were not aware of them, or rather because you consider the so-called "Matthewites" to be outside the sphere of traditional Orthodoxy. That was all.
Now that Theophan has refreshed my recollection (thank you) and has confimed that Fr. Cassien does indeed agitate against the holy icons, it was probably for the better that you did not mention his mission.
It does raise an interesting point however.
The Episcopal Deputy of Abp. Nicholas of Athens, Fr. Anthony Gavalas in Astoria NY, has mentioned publicly that the following encyclical no. 2566 remains the official stance of the Holy Synod.
http://www.orthodox-christianity.net/co ... icons.html
Of course this pastoral encyclical not only defends the veneration of these holy icons but enjoins the flock to venerate them.
So naturally one wonders if the GOC Synod of Abp. Nicholas has imposed any restrictions on the activities of this priest in the past, or if they have any intention of doing so in the future.
One wonders how it is that this priest Cassien can agitate against these icons contrary to the official stance of his Synod. The encyclical enjoins that they be venerated on certain feast days. Does Fr. Cassien indeed obey this encyclical and venerate these icons on the prescribed feast days? Or does he simply disregard the instructions of the Synod?
Some have accused the Synod of Abp. Nicholas of just that. That is, they assert that the Synod only maintains the official position I linked to above defending these icons in pretense, while in truth allowing the publication of works that deny them and agitate against them.
I have no way of knowing whether or not there is any validity to these accusations, since this controversy has been conducted over the span of several years, over in Greece, and I don't think the synod of Abp. Nicholas even has a website, aside from the one of Fr. Stephen Fraser in Arizona, which I linked to above.
P.S. Theophan, can you tell me what year it was that Rdr. Vladimir Moss abode with Fr. Cassien and experienced first-hand this agitation against the icons? This was many years ago, or more recently?
