The Ecumenists: Valid or Invalid Mysteries?

The position of some that we should tell the faithful that the mysteries of the Ecumenists are invalid because, otherwise (if we say they are valid), we will not persuade them to adhere to the walling off, is clearly dishonest and condemnable. It introduces fear, coercion, and misleads the faithful. And where does the deception lie? In not telling them that the problem lies in the defilement they receive by having communion with heretics, whether they [the Ecumenists] have valid or invalid mysteries. The word of Scripture is clear: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). And if the faithful are indifferent to the fact of defilement and the only thing that interests them is receiving the mystery of Holy Communion, even if they receive it from priests who commune with the heresy, if they are not persuaded to distance themselves from the heretics who are enemies of God (and they KNOW it well), then Holy Communion benefits them as much as it benefited Judas.

- Theologian Panagiotes Simatis, translated from Η ΣΤΑΣΗ ΜΑΣ ΕΝΑΝΤΙ ΤΩΝ ΑΙΡΕΤΙΚΩΝ ΜΕΣΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΗ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ [Our Attitude Towards Heretics Throughout Ecclesiastical History], Part V (2018).

Original Greek: https://paterikiparadosi.blogspot.com/2018/12/blog-post_46.html

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The fear of some present-day believers is understandable, to some extent, who argue: how are we going to convince people to wall off if we tell them that the Ecumenists have valid mysteries?

The answer is simple: as Christians, it is not possible for us to discover fears and dilemmas that the Christians of other eras did not face. It is not possible for us to encounter something different from what the Saints experienced. The mysteries of condemned heretics are invalid. If it were the same for the uncondemned, we would encounter it at every step, in every letter of the Saints who fought against heresies, as it is such an important issue, as some assert today. They tell us that Ecumenism contains condemned heresies. Let us recall again and again that even the Nestorianism under examination taught heresies condemned by multiple Councils, and especially Ecumenical Councils.

- Theologian Panagiotes Simatis, translated from Η ασφαλής αντιμετώπιση του Οικουμενισμού κατά το παράδειγμα της αντιμετωπίσεως του Νεστοριανισμού [The Safe Treatment of Ecumenism According to the Example of the Treatment of Nestorianism], 2019. 

Original Greek: https://paterikiparadosi.blogspot.com/2019/10/blog-post_72.html

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