1953 Response of St. Chrysostomos the New to an article in the official organ of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, "The Apostle Andrew."

Source: Η Φωνή τησ Ορθοδοξίασ [The Voice of Orthodoxy], No. 154/May 4, 1953.

 

Recently, we became aware of an article titled "A Joy and a Prayer of the Church," published in the official organ of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, "The Apostle Andrew." This article is divided into two parts. In the first part, the author describes the joy felt by the entire Orthodox Christ-loving flock over the hoped-for recovery of His Beatitude, the Patriarch of Alexandria, Christophoros, from his recent illness. Taking this occasion, the author highlights, on the one hand, the significant role that the illustrious Apostolic throne of the Patriarchate of Alexandria has played throughout the centuries in the history of the Church, and on the other hand, the seriousness, due to theological education and ecclesiastical experience, of the person of His Beatitude, the Patriarch of Alexandria, Christophoros.

In the second part, the author describes the new phase that the Old Calendarist issue, which has been troubling the Church of Greece for 30 years, has entered following the defection of two leading figures—namely, the former Bishop of Christianoupolis, Christophoros Hatzis, and the former Bishop of Diavleia, Polykarpos Liosis—from the Old Ecclesiastical Calendar to the New Calendar and their admission into the ranks of the State Church. They were received in their episcopal rank, which they had received from the Church of the Old Calendarists, thereby recognizing the validity of the ordinations performed by the Old Calendarist Hierarchs who consecrated them.

At the same time, the author urges the present writer, the former Metropolitan of holy Florina, Chrysostomos Kavourides, who is also the president of the Church of the Old Calendarists, to likewise join the ranks of the State Church so that, in his view, the Old Calendarist issue, which has significantly preoccupied the Church of Greece, may thus come to an end.

As for the transition of the aforementioned two Bishops from the Old Calendar to the New Calendar, respecting the religious freedom of each individual, I pass over this matter in silence, since they have managed to convince their conscience that this action neither undermines their personal dignity nor causes scandal to the faithful, who do not tolerate vacillation and inconsistency in a Bishop regarding matters of faith and worship—such as the Patristic Ecclesiastical Calendar, established by the First Ecumenical Council, which serves as a unifying link among all Orthodox Churches in the celebration of feasts and as the infallible compass of Orthodox divine worship and the Church’s typikon.

However, regarding the exhortation that the author addresses also to my humble self, urging me likewise, as one who acknowledges the truth, to join the ranks of the State Church, I have the following to respond to him:

First of all, I thank the author for his exceedingly favorable judgments, which he has been pleased to express from the abundance of his well-intentioned heart concerning my humble services to the Church and the Nation throughout my forty-year hierarchical ministry, having done nothing beyond my duty to the Mother Church, which gave me spiritual birth and nourished me with the life-giving waters of Orthodoxy. Since the author, being knowledgeable of the divine and sacred Canons and of the Pan-Orthodox Synodal decisions (1583, 1593) under Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremias II Tranos, in which the Gregorian calendar was characterized for the Church as "a novelty of Old Rome, a universal scandal, and an arbitrary violation of the divine and sacred Canons," has carefully avoided touching upon this matter, we too refrain from emphasizing what significance and meaning this holds for the Orthodox Eastern Church. Therefore, our response shall be limited to two points: first, whether I can comply with the appeal addressed to me to join the ranks of the State Church, and second, whether my own adherence to the new ecclesiastical calendar would contribute to the increase of its authority and benefit.

Answering the first point, I assure the well-intentioned author that I would very willingly hasten to comply with his benevolent exhortation to me if he could convince me that the stance I maintain on the issue of the ecclesiastical calendar is contrary to the sacred mission of a Bishop, whose foremost and unwavering duty is to respect and uphold the divine and sacred Canons and the decisions of the Pan-Orthodox Synods, for the unaltered preservation of which he solemnly pledges, so to speak, with a living voice before the holy altar during his ordination and elevation to the high episcopal office.

Otherwise, it is entirely impossible for me, now that I am at the end of my episcopal ministry, to follow to Gregorian calendar and to transgress the divine and sacred Canons and the decisions of the Pan-Orthodox Synods, against my religious conscience—which is, for every faithful Christian, the most precious and sacred gift of Christ, which I am obliged to deliver on the Day of Judgment intact and unaltered to the divine Giver. It would indeed be a praiseworthy endeavor if the one urging me to follow the Gregorian calendar could convince me with canonical arguments that those who follow the Patristic ecclesiastical calendar out of reverence for their religious conscience are in error. In that case, not only would I comply with his friendly exhortation, but I would also owe him the greatest gratitude and appreciation.

However, this, in my humble judgment, is impossible, because to claim that one who conscientiously follows the ecclesiastical calendar established by the First Ecumenical Council, later affirmed by subsequent councils and sanctioned by centuries of practice, is in error, is equivalent to believing and confessing that the entire Orthodox Church, which upheld the old calendar for centuries, was in error—something false and unacceptable. Moreover, in such a case, the heretical and heterodox Churches of the West, which follow the Gregorian calendar in their worship, would be justified in claiming that the evangelical saying of Christ, “Behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age” does not refer to the Orthodox Church but to the Churches of the West.

And these points pertain to the first issue of my response. As for the second issue, regarding the author's opinion that my joining the ranks of the State Church would benefit it and contribute to the complete resolution of the Old Calendarist issue, I state the following:

First of all, such a transition is impossible for me, for the reasons I have already outlined. However, in addition to these reasons of religious conscience, which prevent me, under any circumstances, from following the New Calendar, I am also convinced that such a shift—an act of vacillation—on my part toward the Gregorian Calendar would not only fail to benefit the State Church but would in fact harm it. This is because, in such a case, the Old Calendarist faithful who remain under my pastoral care, and who are currently kept within the bounds of the Canons, ecclesiastical order, and legitimacy, would still remain steadfast in the traditional calendar system, just as they did even after the defection from the calendar struggle of the Hierarchs of Zakynthos [Chrysostomos], Christianoupolis [Christophoros], and Diavleia [Polykarpos].

Furthermore, there is also the fear that this right-believing Old Calendarist flock, finding itself without pastoral guidance, may seek such guidance from the bishops associated with the women's monastery of Keratea, who were uncanonically ordained by the late Bishop [Matthew] of Bresthena, the founder of Keratea.

Here, in summary, are the reasons why I am unable to comply with the exhortation addressed to me by the author of the aforementioned article. I therefore recommend to him that, in the best interests of the Church, he advise His Beatitude, the Archbishop of Athens, and the governing Synod around him to cease the persecutory measures against the Old Calendarists, which tarnish the radiant mirror of Orthodoxy, and to allow them the freedom to perform their religious duties in their own churches according to the dictates of their religious conscience. And this, at least temporarily, until the convocation of a Pan-Orthodox Synod, which alone has the authority to resolve in a timely and definitive manner the disputed and contentious issue of the ecclesiastical calendar, so that all Orthodox Churches and all Orthodox Christians may celebrate the religious feasts simultaneously and in unity, to the glory of Christ and His Church.

Athens, May 8, 1953

Chrysostomos, former Metropolitan of Florina

 

Translated from the newly-released collection of writings of St. Chrysostomos the New (which were not included in the Greek edition of his "Collected Works") in memory of the 70th anniversary of his falling asleep. Edited by Mr. Ioannis N. Paparrigas:

https://entoytwnika1.blogspot.com/2025/03/70.html