Why did the Hierarchy of the GOC collectively resign in 1952?

 The 1952 Resignation of the Hierarchy of the Church of the G.O.C. of Greece


MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE OLD CALENDAR BISHOPS

[Submitted to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Education on November 3, 1952. Original copy contained in the Archives of the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports, Athens. After Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina’s resignation was refused by the PTEOK Board of Directors and others, it was rescinded on November 27, 1952.]


The following undersigned Bishops of the Old Calendar, the former Metropolitan of Florina Chrysostomos, Bishop Christophoros of Christianoupolis, and Bishop Polykarpos of Diavleia, having gathered for a meeting at the residence of His Eminence, the former Metropolitan of Florina Mr. Chrysostomos, located in Athens, on Krissis Street 24, on 3 November 1952, and having reviewed the general situation of the Old Calendar issue, exchanged thoughts and opinions. Unanimously and with a clear and uninfluenced conscience, we have come to the following decision on the future:

First and foremost, we declare our deep awareness that the cause of the ecclesiastical division is not us, but those who introduced into Orthodox divine worship, unilaterally and without the consent of the other Orthodox Churches convening in a Synod under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, accepted against the established norms of the Orthodox Eastern Church, the Gregorian calendar, which was condemned by the Pan-Orthodox Synods of 1583 and 1593 during the time of [Patriarch] Jeremias II, on the one hand; and on the other hand, there was a numerous and substantial group of Orthodox Greeks who, for reasons of religious conscience, refused to accept the New Ecclesiastical Calendar and thus established their own independent religious community separate from the hierarchy of the Church of Greece.

Secondly, since we possess a profound understanding that we entered into the struggle for the Old Calendar, about eleven years after the ecclesiastical division, out of respect for the ancient and venerable tradition of the liturgical calendar, on the one hand; and on the other hand, in the interest of the Church, to put an end to the deviations into which the Religious Community of the Old Calendarists had advanced, lacking religious leaders with theological education and canonical formation, thereby compromising the authority of the Church.

Thirdly, because we are aware that we have been placed at the forefront of the liturgical struggle, not to widen the gap of the ecclesiastical division, but to bridge it, on the one hand, by self-restraint and compliance with the canonicity and ecclesiastical decorum within the framework of the legitimate and lawful tradition of the Old Calendar; and on the other hand, to provide the hierarchy of the Church of Greece with an opportunity to reconsider the calendar innovation.

Fourthly, because the hierarchy of the Church of Greece, instead of using enlightening and peaceful means to persuade the Old Calendarists who separated from the Church and bring them back into her fold, proclaimed, on the contrary, a fierce and base persecution against them. By doing so, she exposed the authority of the Orthodox Church and the liberal spirit of Greek culture to great ecclesiastical and national damage in the eyes of both the Orthodox and the outside world.

Fifthly, because the hierarchy of the Church, instead of benefiting from our departure as Bishops into the liturgical struggle and striving, as we repeatedly sought through memoranda, to achieve the desired resolution of this ecclesiastical division, within the framework of the Holy Canons and Traditions, not only did it disdain to respond to us, but also applied anti-Christian and unconstitutional measures of harsh persecution against us, using as a pretext the perversions of the [Matthewite] Monastery of Keratea, with which we and our followers had no ecclesiastical relations or communion since 1936, as was well known to it.

Sixthly, because the successive governments, instead of seeking the best interests of both the Church and the State by promoting and, if necessary, imposing upon the hierarchy the pacification of the Church, as they are duty-bound and authorized to do under the law, by which the establishment of Synodical authorities and the examination of their actions fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, on the contrary, they adopted and implemented these unconstitutional and anti-canonical decisions of the Church without any governmental oversight. They forcefully executed these decisions without any governmental regulation.

Seventhly, because these anti-Christian and unconstitutional persecutions against the Old Calendarists continue to this day, leading to the defamation and weakening of both the Church and the State, we, as hierarchs and steadfast Orthodox Greeks, do not desire to be complicit before God and history in contributing to the continuation of these responsible authorities' pretext for this unwarranted persecution. Therefore, we have reached the following decision, absolving ourselves from any responsibility for the consequences that may arise for both the Church and the State.

For all the reasons mentioned above, we declare that we hereby resign from any active service and pastoral care over our flock. However, we do not renounce our Episcopacy and Faith in adherence to the tradition of the Patristic Ecclesiastical Calendar, which we will diligently maintain for ourselves as individuals, until a definitive and conclusive resolution of the calendar issue is reached by a Pan-Orthodox Synod.

Finally, we recommend and instruct all the priests of our former flock to cease commemorating our names during the holy services, according to the holy Canons, as we have resigned from our pastoral office and authority over those following the Patristic Ecclesiastical Calendar.

We seal this present record of our resignation with a heartfelt and sincere prayer, beseeching the Lord God from above, who oversees and protects the Orthodox Church, to enlighten the rulers and authorities of the Church and the State, guiding them towards the unity of all Orthodox Christians within the framework of ecclesiastical Traditions and Orthodox institutions. May all the Orthodox Churches and faithful Christians glorify, with one mind and one heart, the all-honorable and majestic name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.


The Bishops

† Chrysostomos, formerly of Florina

† Christophoros of Christianoupolis

† Polykarpos of Diavleia

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