Factions of the New Calendarists in Greece

Nikolaos Mannis | August 15, 2013

 

 

In 1924, then-Archbishop of Athens Chrysostomos Papadopoulos, through an encyclical, introduced the Gregorian calendar for the fixed feasts into the Church of Greece. Those who followed this innovation were called New Calendarists. The New Calendarist Church was recognized by the State as the “Church of Greece.” This recognition included both the payment of its clergy by the state treasury and the persecution of those Orthodox who remained steadfast in the Patristic traditions. However, this innovating established Church does not represent the “Church of Greece” canonically and in its fullness. It represents only that indicted portion of the Church which accepted the innovation—that is, the New Calendarists.

In the New Calendarist Church, therefore—the one presented as THE “Church of Greece”—the following unprecedented phenomenon is observed: the existence of administrative unity without unity of faith! This arises due to the relationship with the State mentioned earlier. Since the clergy of this Church are also public servants, any disagreement on matters of faith does not affect administrative unity, because every act of walling-off (cessation of communion on grounds of faith) automatically results in deposition from this Church and dismissal by the State. Thus, within the New Calendarist Church, various “factions” have emerged—not so much distinguished by the outward mark of administration, as among the Old Calendarists—but by the far more essential mark of Faith. The principal among these are:

1. The Ecumenists. They are advocates of Ecumenism, of the World Council of Churches, of pan-Christian and inter-religious unity—without the Orthodox prerequisites—and they consider that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church does not presently exist, but will be re‑established when all the “Churches” unite. Representative figures of this group include the bishops Dorotheos of Syros, Chrysostomos of Messinia, Ignatios of Demetrias, as well as the majority of professors in the so-called “Theological” Schools. They constitute the “unionists” of our time.

2. The Conservatives. They are opponents of Ecumenism and, in theory, profess and proclaim what the Orthodox Church professes and proclaims. And we say “in theory” because, although they have signed the “Confession of Faith against Ecumenism,” they are nevertheless administratively united with the Ecumenists, with whom they maintain full communion. They are also proponents of the so-called “structured walling-off,” by which they hope to achieve the necessary majority within the New Calendarist Church in order to avoid possible sanctions from it—as well as from the State. Representative figures of this group include the bishops Seraphim of Piraeus, Kosmas of Aetolia, Seraphim of Kythera, abbots of Mount Athos and other monasteries, as well as distinguished theology professors, Protopresbyters George Metallinos and Theodoros Zisis. [The latter ceased commemoration of his bishop over Ecumenism in 2017. – trans. note]

3. The Indifferent. They make up the majority of New Calendarists. In addition to the indifferent laity, included in this group are careerist clergy, as well as bishops who happened to choose the clerical path for the sake of salary, career, and social status. Among them are also homosexuals, who are known among themselves by female pseudonyms—as is well known by many, including New Calendarists themselves who strive for the cleansing of the Church.

4. The “Organization” Members. They are divided into many Protestant-style organizations, with various differences on numerous issues. The most well-known are “ZOE” and “SOTIR” (“The Savior”), while even today there exists a Makrakist organization (St. John the Baptist) that believes in the tripartite nature of man. Many of these organizations have been influenced by Western “theology” (e.g., the notion of satisfying divine justice), and even accept—albeit in a veiled manner—condemned heretical views (e.g., Nestorianism).

5. The Neo-Orthodox or Neo-Nicolaitans. They are the product of a reaction against the Western puritanism and conservatism of the religious organizations. Their chief representative is Christos Yannaras.

6. The Neo-Barlaamites. They are proponents of the so-called “liturgical renewal.” They call for the translation of liturgical texts into the vernacular (modern Greek) and the reform of the typikon of the services.

There also exist smaller “factions,” such as the “Theologians” in Larissa (followers of Theologos of Larissa, who did not accept the new adulterous bishop), the “Eschatologists,” who await the Antichrist and the end times (e.g., monk Maximos Varvaris), the “Orwellians” (opposed to electronic surveillance—AMKA, Citizen’s Card, etc.) with chief representative Fr. Sarantis Sarantos, the “Donors,” that is, those in favor of organ transplants, considering killing to be philanthropy, and others.

(In the above-mentioned “factions,” we did not include those who are walled off under the New Calendar, because although they belong to the sphere of the calendrical innovation, they have broken communion with the New Calendarist Church due to Ecumenism.)

The main justification used by those who belong to the established Church, regarding this fragmentation, is the following: we may disagree, but we all belong to the Church! This baseless argument collapses, first of all, because when we Orthodox confess the Church to be One, we are not necessarily referring to administrative unity—which, of course, is desirable when it exists—but to unity of Faith. Saint John Chrysostom explains this: "When we all believe the same, then there is unity… for this is unity of faith, when we are all one, when we all equally recognize the bond between us" (P.G. 62, 83); and Saint Maximus likewise defined the Catholic Church as: "the correct and saving confession of faith in Him" (P.G. 90, 132). Secondly, this argument fails because both the Orthodox and the heterodox cannot belong to the same Church. Unless, of course, the conservatives consider the ecumenists Orthodox, the organization-members consider the neo-Orthodox Orthodox, and all of them together consider the Makrakists to be Orthodox as well…

Following, therefore, our article on the divisions within the Old Calendarist sphere and the present article on the divisions within the New Calendarist sphere, a new article will follow in which we will provide answers to the question that troubles many well-intentioned brethren: "To which Church should I go in order to be saved?"

 

Greek source: https://krufo-sxoleio.blogspot.com/2013/08/blog-post_15.html