Avlona Synod deposes Bishop Seraphim Karam

[Maria]

Here is part one of the Synodal Document (in two files)

[Maria]

Part 2 of the Synodal document:

[Barbara]

There are so many questions !

1. Who is the Avlona Synod ?

2. To which Synod did Bishop Seraphim transfer ? If it is known yet.

3. Was this hierarch ever based in Sarov ? Or this was only a title bestowed upon him like many Greek synods do ? I am glad the Russian ones don't have that practice, for it leads to unnecessary confusion.

4. What is the Press and Intelligence Office ? That sounds funny ! When has a True Orthodox Synod given this title to a department ?!

5. What nationality is the person in question ? He sounds French or of French extraction obviously by the name Jacques. What about the last name Karam ? That sounds Middle Eastern to me.

[Jean-Serge]

I do not have the dates in mind but I know the following regarding Anghelos of Avlona, the head of this synod.

• a was a new calendarist hiromonk

• joined the Synod in Resistance when the latter had it s cyprianite ecclesiology and was made bishop there

• as a bishop, he denounced the cyprianite ecclesiology and joined GOC-Makarios that did not have this cyprianite ecclesiology

• then suddenly left GOC Makarios and remained a bishop alone, before ordaining new bishops for Greece with... Euloge of Milan who seems to have at this time a cyprianite ecclesiology

• Euloge of Milan then petitioned to join the Moscow Patriarchate, and Anghelos of Avona split with him.

[Barbara]

Thanks so much for the background history, Jean-Serge. At least this Angelos had the sense to not follow Evlogy of Milan Synod in his defection to the MP. That speaks better for him.

But who is this mysterious Frenchman - if indeed he is such - who was made a Bishop by the Avlona Synod ? Clearly Angelos felt he had been massively betrayed by this Seraphim. The way Angelos described his former Bishop, the latter is adept at playing the sympathy card and COULD show signs of either abusiveness or narcissism. For this behavior "poor me, the eternal victim of other people who are fully to blame for my predicament" is characteristic of these personality disorders. However, we only have one side of the story.

Perhaps former Bishop Seraphim [ Karam ] will come forward with his in his " now jurisdiction ". About that latter, all we know is that it "fulfills the perspectives for a repenting monastic life ".

Maybe Jean-Serge will be able to dig up more information for us to fill out the picture so we can assess fairly this deposition.

[Maria]

Please, everyone, we must be careful not to engage in gossip or polemics. This is the public forum after all.

[Agios_Irineos]

There are so many questions !

1. To which Synod did Bishop Seraphim transfer ? If it is known yet.

2. Was this hierarch ever based in Sarov ? Or this was only a title bestowed upon him like many Greek synods do ? I am glad the Russian ones don't have that practice, for it leads to unnecessary confusion.

Barbara,

There was no transfer. He was reordained to all clerical ranks in the Mathewite synod of Met. Kyriakos. He is based in Lebanon.

To my knowledge he was never in Sarov, though I could be wrong.