Bp Clement (GOC-K): Refutation of a NC Encyclical Sermon

[Maria]

On June 22, 2014, Bishop Klemes of Gardikion (GOC-K) published a timely and excellent rebuttal to an outlandish attack on Old Calendarists by a New Calendarist Greek Bishop. This NC Bishop delivered his sermon, "Let Us Attend: That We May Offer The Confession of Faith in Humility and With A Correct Ecclesiology" two weeks ago on All Saints Sunday, June 15, 2014.

Below is the link to the English translation of His Grace Bishop Klemes' refutation:
http://www.hsir.org/pdfs/2014/06/29/201 ... darist.pdf

[Maria]

Here are some excerpts from Part 2:

• We assure him that we are not out of communion with the Church of Christ, the Church of the Firstborn in the Heavens (6), the Church of the Saints, the Righteous, and the Confessors of our Faith, and also of those of like mind on the earth, but are totally out of communion with all who have diverged from the straight oath, created a schism, and suffered a dreadful fall into the apostatic heresy -- and panheresy to boot -- of ecumenism. It makes no difference to us whether those who have fallen and those, like our accusers, commune with them "cut us off" from their Church.

...

• The Divine Chrysostomos, as St. Gregory Palamas explains, "was cut off from the Church and condemned to banishment" (8) in accordance with the unjust deposition imposed on him synodally by the partisans of Theophilos of Alexandria, and it is precisely for this reason that he did not abide by it or take the least account of it! For unjust condemnations are reckoned as "persecutions" (9) and furnish a greater abundance of Divine Grace and benediction.(10)

Comment: Isn't it interesting that the Patriarch of Alexandria also attacked St. Nectarios of Aegina and exiled him? In two biographies, St. Nectarios was shown to be a prolific writer who denounced modernism and ecumenism as the clerics of his time attended Western universities, shunned the priestly raissa and facial hair to appear more modern, and encouraged unity with Rome. This was at the turn of the century, in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of St. Nectarios' writings remain in the Greek. If only they would be translated and disseminated widely in Russian and in English to the faithful True Orthodox! What an unopened treasure we have awaiting us!

[Maria]

In Part 3, Bishop Klemes shows that this NC Bishop has admitted that ecumenism is a pan-heresy and that the calendar change is wrong, but one cannot say that this supposed change of heart is significant as it seems more like a smokescreen.

• 3. It is gratifying that he now at least acknowledges that the calendar was "wrongly changed" and that ecumenism is patently and unequivocally a "pan-heresy." In the "Encyclical Sermon" under review he admits, inter alia: "I see that the boundaries which our Fathers set are being violated."

As this NC Bishop takes two tiny steps in the direction of True Tradition to keep his traditional flock happy, he takes two gigantic steps in the opposite direction toward World Orthodoxy as he lulls his flock to sleep with the assertion that he is canonical but that the Old Calendarists are non-canonical with invalid sacraments.

• Our denigrator leaves us no room for encouragement, because he hastens to tone matters down by incessantly harping on "violations of the Sacred Canons," (12) as though the panheresy of ecumenism resided solely in violations of the Sacred Canons (!), and also because the root of the problem remains the same: rather than turning with all his might against this panheresy, which manifestly deprives those implicated in it of eternal salvation, and making sure to distance himself from it -- for whether he likes it or not, he is implicated in it through his Mysteriological (Sacramental) communion with the Patriarchs, Archbishops, and, in general, those concelebrants of his who are exponents thereof -- he instead defends his reprehensible communion with heresy and turns with vehemence and animosity on the "Old Calendarists"! They, in his opinion, "did what was wrong"! They, he affirms with bombast and Papal absolutism, "are not a Church, and their Mysteries are invalid"! They, he concludes dauntlessly, "have not a leg to stand on," and for this reason he is an adversary of their stand and their praxis.

[Maria]

In Part 4, this NC Bishop defends himself for commemorating the Patriarch and his fellow NC Bishops.

• 4. Our deprecator declares simplistically, at least in the text under consideration, that the unity of the Church is expressed by commemoration of the Bishop: "Through commemoration there exists unity in the entire Church. ... If I, your Bishop [he is instructing his flock], cease to commemorate the Holy Synod, I cut myself off from the Church." And all who follow him in this are thereby automatically "outside the Church."

...

• This position, in any event, entails the hallmark of centralized and absolutist Papist ecclesiology, in which every thing hinges on communion with, and a relationship of dependence on, a see purportedly infallible solely by virtue of the station and rank of the occupant of that see; that is, the Pope. This occurs precisely when Grace is made subordinate to the institution, to history, and to a place: when the Church is rendered supposedly subject to Peter, and not Peter to the Church!

By commemorating heretical bishops in a synod who hold to the panheresy of ecumenism, this NC bishop knowingly or unknowingly remains in schism with the True Church. However, can it be said that this NC Bishop somehow believes in Papal Infallibility with his strange desire to commemorate with heretical bishops? He has certainly bought into some pernicious teaching that renders him incapable of dissociating himself from these heretics, but I do not think we can label it "Papal Infallibility." Perhaps, this NC Bishop is trying to appear humble and avoid the accusation of prelest by submitting in "blind obedience" to his synod. Yet, explain his strong encyclicals that have attacked the Pope and have raised eyebrows! These encyclicals are not those written by a humble fool for Christ.

On second thought, have the EP and the Greek Orthodox Hierarchy become enamored with the Ecclesiastical Powers of the Pope -- those of Papal Infallibility and Papal Supremacy -- in their quest to have equal power with Rome and ultimate union with the Vatican? Would not this greatly increase their unholy powers as hierarchs?