1938 Compromise Proposal of Metropolitan Germanos of Demetrias and St. Chrysostomos the New Confessor with the Official Church, following the Matthewite schism

Note: The terms of the below proposal were the result of the signatory’s frustration with the unstable old calendarist movement, which began to fracture almost immediately following the consecration of bishops in 1935, and particularly after the Matthewite Schism of 1937, with the consequential spread of fanatical opinions and ecclesiology.

The Official Church declined the offer, obviously sensing the weakened position of the old calendar movement and hoping for its eventual demise. – Translator. 

 

 

KINGDOM OF GREECE
THE MINISTRY OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS
AND NATIONAL EDUCATION

Athens, January 15, 1938
Protocol No. 1615

 

To:
The Holy Synod of the [Official] Church of Greece

We have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a memorandum from the deposed former Hierarchs of the Old Calendarists, so that you may take note of it as you see fit.

Minister [of Religious Affairs and National Education]
K. Georgakopoulos

 

The pacification of the Church, desired by all, can be achieved and settled by a mixed committee composed of two [Official] synodal hierarchs, authorized for this purpose by the Holy Synod, the hierarchs [Germanos] of Demetrias and [Chrysostomos] formerly of Florina, and two representatives of the Government, under the following terms:

1. That all condemnatory decisions be annulled and regarded as never having taken place, by which clergy of every rank were deposed on account of the Calendar, and that these be restored immediately to their proper ranks and, after the final settlement of the question, also to their proper positions.

2. That the consecrations of the bishops performed by us be recognized as valid, as they are such according to the canons. And of the bishops, Chrysostomos, formerly of Zakynthos, and Polykarpos of Diavleia are to be placed at the disposal of the Church, while Germanos Varykopoulos and Matthew the Athonite are to become defendants before the Standing Holy Synod, for the uncanonical and unlawful acts and publications which they committed against us and against the official Church due to a lack of discernment; and that up to ten ordinations of Priests, which took place with our approval and decision for the pressing needs of the Old Calendarists, be recognized as valid.

3. That the application of the new calendar by the [official] hierarchy be regarded not as final and irrevocable, but as temporary and provisional, being subject to the approval or ratification of the so-called Pre-Synodal [Pan-Orthodox] Conference of the Holy Mountain, in accordance, moreover, also with the encyclical no. 1931 of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to all the autocephalous Churches.

4. That all clergy of every rank and laypeople who follow the Patristic Calendar in matters of worship in their own churches be free and without persecution until the final and valid settlement of the question by a Pre-Synodal Conference.

5. That the forthcoming Great Lent be set as the final time limit for the convening of a Pre-Synodal Conference, and the day, if possible, the first Sunday of Orthodoxy, so that the coming Holy Pascha may find us united, and that thereafter we may all continue celebrating all the Christian feasts with one and the same Calendar.

6. That one of us also, by appointment of the Standing Holy Synod, become a member of the delegation which is to represent the Church at the Pre-Synodal Conference, so that our views concerning the Calendar may also be set forth therein.

7. That the decision of the Pre-Synodal Conference concerning the Calendar, whatever it may be, become binding upon us and upon the entire Hierarchy, and that it be put into effect immediately by the Church, in accordance with the synodal Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which forbids any definitive and binding decision on certain questions which, by their nature, are important, such as the union of the Churches today, including the question of the Calendar.  For the acceptance of this, the Pre-Synodal Conference may also give an opinion concerning the immediate and obligatory implementation by the Churches of its relevant conclusions, even before their ratification by the Ecumenical Council. But this can take place only under the indispensable condition of a unanimous relevant decision of all the representatives. And should this not exist, not only can no obligation for the Churches arise from the Pre-Synodal Conference, but certainly no Church will undertake, in such a case, a unilateral implementation. (Orthodoxy, year 23, month of December, issue 72).

8. That the independent Religious Community of the Genuine Orthodox be abolished as unnecessary [having sided with the Mattewites], and that the churches of Saint Marina of Piraeus, the Dormition, and the Three Virgins of Athens, which it possesses, be placed under the jurisdiction of us, the lawful and canonical representatives of the Old Calendarists.

9. That all the appropriate ecclesiastical measures be taken against all clergy of every rank and those laypeople who, having undertaken the sacred struggle for the old ecclesiastical calendar as a business and a means of impious exploitation, have strayed beyond the canonical boundaries and have proceeded to words and deeds diminishing the Orthodox authority of the Church and contributing to the establishment and perpetuation of the division of Orthodox Christians.

10. In the event that, for one reason or another, the Pre-Synodal Conference of the Holy Mountain does not convene by the coming Pascha, the Standing Holy Synod shall have the obligation, by synodal decision, to determine for the Church the use and application of the Old Calendar for all the feasts of the Church, in accordance with the spirit of the aforementioned Patriarchal Encyclical, and with the sacred canons and the pan-Orthodox festal tradition, until the Ecumenical Council, in accordance with the divine and sacred canons and with what is prescribed by Canon 55 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council as follows:

It therefore seemed good also in this, that throughout the whole world, the holy Church of God should maintain one order in carrying out the fast, according to the Royal Decree of 1923, which stipulates the following:

Article 1, paragraph 3. — The Julian Calendar remains in force insofar as it concerns the Church in general and the religious feasts.

And finally, in accordance with the Constitution in force, that the Orthodox Greek Church preserve the divine and sacred canons and the ecclesiastical traditions, as do all the other Orthodox Churches.

With all these things having been accepted by the Standing Holy Synod, we, taking up the work of the peace of the Church desired by all, shall remain in the present ecclesiastical status until Pascha, and shall avoid every new ordination and ecclesiastical act capable of impairing the authority of the official Church and of making more difficult the peace of the Church and the union of Christians, which the above mutual agreement promises to be secure and certain.

With exceptional honor and heartfelt wishes,
we remain, in regard to these matters,

† Germanos of Demetrias
† Chrysostomos, former Metropolitan of Florina

Scan of the original Greek:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FrwOa_DN2kkLe0Nip0FlZ587hCLi766V/view?usp=sharing