The Ecclesiology of Saint Chrysostomos of Florina and the Deviation from it

Ioannis N. Paparrigas | September 20, 2025

 

The ecclesiology of Saint Chrysostomos, formerly of Florina, served as a support for the sacred struggle of the Genuine Orthodox against innovations. His line was sober, patristic, and absolutely canonical: he insisted on the avoidance of excesses, on adherence to conciliarity, and on the expectation of a Pan-Orthodox Council.

The comparison with the contemporary ecclesiological texts of the G.O.C. reveals a diametrical opposition.

Saint Chrysostomos delivered three fundamental principles:

1. Oikonomia – a temporary forbearance or management within the Church, without violation of the Orthodox Confession.

2. Provisionality – the existence of Synods within the context of the Struggle was a measure of emergency, not the founding of a “church.”

3. Goal – a true Pan-Orthodox Council, which alone is competent synodally to resolve, diagnose, and definitively denounce the errors.

This course constituted an antidote both to Ecumenism and to extreme zealotry. In the more recent ecclesiological texts, a shift is observed which constitutes a deviation from the ecclesiology of Saint Chrysostomos.

It is noted that certain individuals argue that the positions of Saint Chrysostomos of Florina “belonged to other times” and that today heresy “has now acquired a universal character,” so as to justify their different stance.

On the contrary, the correct understanding, as taught by the Saint, completely refutes this argument: the truth of the Church and the established canonical order are not subject to temporal changes. The obligation of the bishops to uphold the right faith and the recognition of the Pan-Orthodox Council as the sole competent authority remain in force regardless of the era.

True honor toward the confessors is not achieved by invoking their name, but by the faithful adherence to their positions. Those who today present themselves as continuators, while proclaiming contrary ecclesiological positions, objectively annul their memory.

Orthodoxy demands truth and consistency: that we struggle both against the leftist delusion of Ecumenism and against the rightist delusion of extreme zealotry. The path marked out by the worthy clergyman remains a guide: precision in Confession, oikonomia in practice, and the ultimate goal—the Pan-Orthodox Council—as the sole guarantee of ecclesiological order.

 

Greek source: https://entoytwnika1.blogspot.com/2025/09/blog-post_88.html