How the Orthodox Primates Confront a Primate Embracing Heresy

 Saint Cyril of Alexandria Against the Heretical Nestorius of Constantinople

By Fr. Seraphim Zisis

 

On Sunday, October 20, 2024, in the hall of the Society of Orthodox Studies (Soutsou 3), Monk Seraphim Zisis, in the regular Sunday lesson (11:30 AM – 1:00 PM), developed the topic "How the Orthodox Primates Confront a Primate Embracing Heresy."

Letters from the years 429 and 430 by Saint Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, and other ecclesiastical figures, as well as by the heresiarch Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople, which preceded and prepared the Third Ecumenical Council, were read in their modern Greek translation.

At the subsequent Third Ecumenical Council of 431 A.D., Archbishop Nestorius of Constantinople was condemned in absentia as a heretic because he did not repent of his heresy, namely, the division of Christ into two persons and the consequent denial of the Orthodox term Theotokos concerning our Most Holy Mother of God.

From the Letters (the authentic text of which is found in Patrologia Graeca of Abbot Migne, volume 77), the following conclusions arise indisputably, among many others:

(a) The defense of the Faith is not restricted by ecclesiastical jurisdictional boundaries. In this case, Saint Cyril intervenes in the “internal affairs” of the Church of Constantinople on account of the “universal scandal” that arose from Nestorius' teaching.

(b) The absolute priority of rightful bishops is the defense of the dogmatic Faith for the salvation of Orthodox believers.

(c) A difference in dogmatic mindset canonically entails the immediate cessation of ecclesiastical communion, although this may be temporarily postponed for the prospect of more favorable developments (such as the repentance of the one embracing heresy and consequently the avoidance of extensive discord, etc.).

(d) Concelebration with one embracing heresy (as in the case of Archbishop Nestorius with his heretical bishop Dorotheos, since Dorotheos publicly reviled the lovers of the Mother of God, anathematizing those who use the term Theotokos) is considered proof of like-mindedness with him.

(e) The immediate cessation of communion (walling off) by the Faithful from the one embracing heresy is praised as a confession of Faith, and the penalties against it are disregarded and nullified by the Orthodox everywhere. This is exactly what happened in this case with the population of Constantinople, which in its entirety (along with the clergy and monasteries) immediately isolated Nestorius and walled itself off from him, “except for a few superficial individuals and flatterers.”

(f) In times of necessity and persecution, Services and the Divine Liturgy may also be conducted in homes (as in the case of Presbyter Philip, who was slandered and punished by Nestorius).

(g) The Orthodox Bishops and Primates initially subject the bishop or primate embracing heresy to an examination of his beliefs, demanding from him Orthodox responses, and ultimately impose a deadline for his defense under the threat of deposition and excommunication (cessation of communion).

 

Greek source:

https://katanixi.gr/syntonisteite-tin-tetarti-23-10-stis-1900-m-m-pos-antimetopizoyn-oi-orthodoxoi-prokathimenoi-ena-airetizonta-prokathimeno/