No one has the right to alter the Orthodox Phronema. Not even the Patriarch! The Church does not belong to any man!
Sotirios Tzoumas |
August 25, 2025
It is not few the times that as
believers we now see with sorrow the deviations that are taking place in the
ecclesiastical sphere, not by the unlearned or enemies of the Church, but even
by the very shepherds of it.
The occasion for this comment was
given to us by the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch at an “ecumenical
prayer” in the Cathedral of Uppsala, in the presence of heterodox “clergy” and
political figures, including women “priests.”
It was a definitive act of
apostasy. It was the official face of a shameless spiritual betrayal
that is now manifested without shame, without pretenses, with
photographs, with handshakes, with embraces, and with self-serving joint
prayers in the temples of heretics.
And unfortunately, the
protagonist of this nightmarish ceremony is the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew. No longer as “first among equals,” but as a sacred yet
sorrowful symbol of submission to Ecumenism, to the pan-heresy that levels
everything and recognizes everything, as long as it pleases the West, the
diplomats, the leaders of this world.
What do we see in the photograph?
A woman “priest” standing in vestments and reverence behind the Patriarch, in
common prayer, with smiles and photographs. Joint prayer and recognition
— not only of her “priesthood,” but also of the very altered and blasphemous
“ecclesiastical” system which she serves.
Where is the voice of the
Fathers? Where is the anathema against the heretics? Where is the “anathema to
Arius”? Where is the memory of the First Ecumenical Council, which we
supposedly “honor” this year? Perhaps this “anniversary” also became an
occasion to forget what was decided then, to deny the line of the Saints, and
to raise the cup of pseudo-unity above the grave of the Truth?
We wonder: for what purpose is
this theater? What is the spiritual meaning of such gatherings and why must
the Patriarch be present in person? Let him have sent a representative!
Is this the way to honor the 1700
years since the First Ecumenical Council, where the Fathers of the Church with
boldness stood up then against heresy and defined the Symbol of our Faith?
Or is it perhaps just another
cheap festival of public relations with a European sauce of tolerance?
The Patriarch – as it is said and
as we believe it to be – “represents Orthodoxy.” Yet Orthodoxy is not
diplomacy, it is not worldly courtesy, nor smiles before cameras and
photographs such as those we saw! It is a Confession of Faith.
And when the Patriarch stands
with the Hierarchical Mantle and the Staff beside, or even a few steps ahead
of, a woman priestess with a blue phelonion together with all that mob of the
heterodox, the image is not simply “a snapshot.” It is something like a
declaration. It is acceptance, it is compromise, and allow me to say that in
our eyes, it looks like betrayal!
Why, Your All-Holiness?
So then let someone explain to us
with convincing arguments: what business do we have to be jointly praying
with heretics, with those who do not accept the Fullness of the Truth? I
repeat, since it was so important, let him have sent some representative! Why
did he himself have to go?
When you pray together with
them, it is not that you simply respect them – but YOU RECOGNIZE THEM.
Spiritually, you place them beside you. You grant them prestige. Who allows us
to do this? Who authorized us for this?
The Church will not be saved by
diplomacy. The “good image” does not save. Only the TRUTH saves.
And this is what is being
abandoned daily for the sake of pseudo-unity, an ecumenistic hybrid that has no
relation whatsoever to the Light of Christ.
No, this is not a “mistake.” It
is a conscious strategy of altering the Faith. It is a plan of the secularization
of the Church. They do not care about Orthodoxy — they care about being
pleasing to politicians, to European progressives, to ecumenistic
organizations. The Church is gradually being transformed into an NGO of
religious tourism, and the hierarchs into delegates or presenters of
international conferences.
Those of us who participate in
and approve of these actions lead the people into spiritual confusion. We
scandalize the faithful. We give birth to fanaticism and reactions! And we
encourage reactions and discord!
It is time to say it clearly and
for them to accept it: we will not follow in this. We will not betray
the Tradition of our Fathers in order to please the world and to engage in
public relations lest they call us backward!
The Church does not need to be
“pleasing” – it needs to be faithful to Christ and to the deposit handed
down to us by the Holy Fathers of our Church. Let this lawlessness finally
cease.
To be a Patriarch does not mean
that you can alter the Orthodox Phronema for the sake of high contacts
and public relations! The Church does not belong to any man. It belongs to
Christ. And to Him alone we owe obedience. But then, who among the other
hierarchs will tell all this to the Patriarch? They fear him! And those who
dare to express politely their differentiation are targeted and written into
the black registers! The cases are many and the examples recent.
That is why Bishops and
Metropolitans are elected as “dependent” persons … so that no one dares to say:
“Hey, where are you going!! Hey,
what are you doing!!”
The great statures of our
Church have vanished! Could the previous Ecumenical Patriarchs behave in such a
way, or would they dare to? I read old historical events of the Phanar
concerning great Patriarchs — which a venerable Hierarch kindly provided me —
and I see that the past has no relation whatsoever to the present!
Unfortunately, the situation has gotten out of hand!
We, however, continue to respect
the venerable center. But neither will we remain silent! We will say what
troubles us and we will censure the evils. And surely, we will never worship
the beast of the New Age.
Without pretending to be Saints,
we will remain faithful to Orthodoxy. To the Faith of the Saints. To the Faith
of the Martyrs. And all these things we will say and we will write! At whatever
cost! The mountains are accustomed to the snow! What more can they do to us
now…
We are absolutely expressed by
what the Lord said:
Whosoever will come after Me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
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