On the attack against Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Attica

Nikolaos Mannis | February 17, 2025

 

I have known His Eminence Chrysostomos since childhood, but I do not belong to the circle of his spiritual children, nor do I agree with him on everything. Therefore, what will be written here does not come from a "follower" or "idolater."

For a year now, His Eminence Chrysostomos has been silently enduring a fierce attack from a well-known clergyman who is under Archbishop of the G.O.C., Kallinikos.

Recently, this attack received great publicity, and hundreds of like-minded supporters of the accusing clergyman participated in an unprecedented online lynching of the personality of His Eminence (who, to his credit—and in contrast to other fellow bishops—followed the command of the Holy Scripture, not resorting to civil courts [see 1 Corinthians, Ch. 6]).

And while His Eminence is being ridiculed as supposedly a "heretic" and a "traitor to the Faith," some believe that the only one responsible for this attack is the aforementioned accusing clergyman.

However, this is not the truth. Responsible for this situation is the extreme ecclesiology (whether we call it Matthewite, Sakarellian, etc.) that has been cultivated for decades within the ranks of the G.O.C., to the point that anyone who follows the prudent and truly Orthodox line of Saint Chrysostomos, formerly of Florina— which the ignorant call "Cyprianism"—is accused of being a "heretic."

Unfortunately, the very Synod of the G.O.C. under Archbishop Kallinikos refuses to take a clear stance on ecclesiological issues, attempting to keep all sides satisfied with the inconsistent ecclesiology it expresses, referring to the contradictory and vague "Common Ecclesiological Text" it issued in 2014 (with certain points, however, leaning towards extreme ecclesiology, thereby vindicating the aforementioned clergyman).

However, the more the Synod insists on not taking a clear stance, the more what it supposedly strives for—namely, unity—will be at risk. The events themselves prove this exactly.

May there finally be a clarification so that all of us (both we and the enemies of Saint former Florina) may have our conscience at peace.

- Nikolaos Mannis

 

P.S. To the clergymen (both high-ranking and low-ranking) of the Synod who are like-minded with the accusing clergyman, I dedicate the following letter of their predecessors so that they may determine who is truly following in their footsteps… They themselves or His Eminence Chrysostomos?

[Translation of the scanned historical letter:]

 

March 29, 1956

To

His Beatitude the Archbishop

of Athens and All Greece, Kyr Kyr Dorotheos

Your Beatitude,

Wishing that the Lord may strengthen you in the exceedingly great and beautiful work of shepherding the Autocephalous Church of Greece, we duly render to you the respect that is due.

Drawing courage from the abundant and broad education of Your Beatitude, as well as from Your well-known zeal for the Church, we address You, being possessed by the most fervent and unquenchable desire that troubled consciences may find peace, that mutual respect may be established, and that a spirit of Christian magnanimity and propriety may prevail among religious Greeks.

It will be known to You that since 1924, Greek Orthodox Christians have been divided into two factions: the New Calendarists and the Old Calendarists. We do not enter into either the essence of this division or its originating causes, as they are well known to Your esteemed and canonically well-structured Beatitude. Allow us only to emphasize the gravest and most perilous consequences: the wounding of ecclesiastical prestige, the banishment of the spirit of Christian love, and the terrifying and unprecedented persecution of people who practice their faith according to their conscience, regardless of the correctness or error of their beliefs, for freedom of conscience is a sacred principle.

We are more than certain that such consequences will surely grieve the soul of an ecclesiastical man who views the Church not through the myopic lens of the immediate present, but through the vast and boundless horizon of the Church’s eternity. Thus, for Your most discerning Beatitude, the measures for establishing peace will not be drawn from the outdated and dust-laden arsenal of force, but from the clear heavens of Christian wisdom and love.

Being absolutely convinced of the above, we appeal to You to be so gracious as to reconsider the course of action hitherto applied by the Autocephalous Church of Greece towards the Old Calendarists and to inaugurate a new approach, inspired by the undeniable reality of the moral superiority of love over those who dissent.

Through the present letter, we also request that You be willing to receive a delegation from among us, so that it may orally convey to You our intentions.

With the timely hope that You will prove Yourself worthy of the lofty missions of Orthodoxy and will grant peace and tranquility to thousands of consciences, in the name of Him who said, "Love one another," we remain with due respect,

The Ecclesiastical Committee

The President + Archimandrite Akakios Pappas

The Secretary + Archimandrite Panteleimon Tsaloupis

 

Greek source: https://krufo-sxoleio.blogspot.com/2025/02/blog-post_17.html