Open Letter of Esphigmenou Monastery to the Fathers of the Holy Community of Mount Athos

Protocol No. 17/2025

To the Fathers of the Holy Community of Mount Athos

December 14, 2025 (N.S.)

OPEN LETTER

 

Reverend Fathers,

As is known, on November 29 (new calendar), during the official visit of Pope Leo XIV to the Phanar, both the “ecumenical patriarch” Mr. Bartholomew and the Pope signed a Joint Declaration in the “Throne Room of the Patriarchal House” at the Phanar. Mr. Bartholomew, after recalling that according to the liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church, the cleric, before participating in the Divine Eucharist, reads a prayer known as the “Kairos,” said to the Pope that he had come to Nicaea to receive his own “Kairos” for strength and support, as he begins his ministry with a clear will to serve the Lord’s call for Christian unity, which is more necessary than ever. In the same spirit, the Pope stated: “We are encouraged in our effort to seek the restoration of full communion among all Christians.”

From the statements of the two men, it is evident that the “Ecumenical Patriarchate” regarded the Pope not as a heretic, not as a transgressor of the Holy Canons, but as a religious leader, as the head of a Christian “church” and bearer of the grace of the Apostles. Furthermore, given that the meeting took place in the context of joint prayer, official ecclesiastical doxology, courtesies, and priestly addresses toward the Pope as if he were an Orthodox primate, the above conclusion becomes even more certain. Thus, it is clearer than the sun that the purpose of the meeting between the two men was not merely the celebration of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council, but the strengthening and further advancement of the effort for the union of East and West within the framework of the global movement of Ecumenism.

Indeed, all these things demonstrate yet again the Phanariot ecclesiology as it has appeared since 1924, and it is not the first time in the history of our Church that “patriarchs” and “bishops” betray the confession of the faith and transgress the Holy Canons on matters of Faith. The question, dear Athonite fathers, is how you will respond and what you will do in light of all these developments.

With a sincere disposition of brotherly love, we will remind you that all of us left the world and came to the Holy Mountain for one reason: to save our soul. However, the fact that we have lived in coenobitic monasteries of the Athonite Peninsula, in the Ark of Orthodoxy, in the chosen Clergy of our Lady Theotokos, does not unconditionally guarantee our salvation. This, as you well know, is based on the fulfillment of our monastic duties and, moreover, on the preservation of our spotless holy faith, as we received it from our forefathers, without alterations or additions and subtractions.

Let us not forget, beloved fellow monks, that especially as Athonites—whether as simple monks or as hieromonks—we have the particular obligation to safeguard the Orthodox faith and to anathematize the heretical false doctrines, along with all those whom the Ecumenical Councils and our holy Fathers have anathematized. This obligation is imposed by the Second, the Fifth, and the Sixth Ecumenical Councils and by the Synodikon of Orthodoxy. We are bound to guard spiritual Thermopylae and not to deviate from the consensus of the God-bearing Fathers.

Anyone who deviates, innovates, or espouses false doctrine has already been clothed with a curse as with a garment, according to the decision of the Orthodox Patriarchs of the East in 1848. Thus, our obligation to immediately break communion with those proclaiming heresy—whether they be superiors, abbots, bishops, or patriarchs—is simultaneously imposed.

At this point, it is necessary to cite the interpretation of Zonaras on the 15th Holy Canon of the First-Second Council, which states: “If by chance the patriarch, or the metropolitan, or the bishop is a heretic, and being a heretic publicly preaches the heresy, and with bare head, instead of teaching the truth, continually and shamelessly, with audacity, teaches heretical dogmas—those who separate themselves from him, whoever they may be, not only are not to be punished for this reason, but on the contrary are worthy of all honor, because they separate themselves from communion with heretics; this is what ‘walling-off’ means [for the wall is a separation of those within it from those outside it]; for indeed, they did not depart from a Bishop, but from a false bishop and false teacher; nor did they create a schism in the Church, but rather delivered the Church from schisms, as much as was possible from their side.”

The renowned Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite interprets the relevant passage in the Pedalion in the same manner: “If the aforementioned presidents [bishops] are heretics, and they publicly preach their heresy, and for this reason those subject to them separate from them—even before a synodal decision is made regarding this heresy—those who separate are not only not condemned for the separation, but are also worthy of appropriate honor as Orthodox, because by that separation they did not cause a schism in the Church, but rather freed the Church from the schism and heresy of those false bishops.”

Holy Fathers, we learn that next week you will convene in the Hall of the Holy Community in Karyes, to make critical decisions following the shameful meeting of Mr. Bartholomew and the Pope at the Phanar. The decisions you will make will be recorded in History. Do not forget that the holy Fathers and Teachers were emulated also by the Hagiorite Venerable Martyrs who suffered under Bekkos the Latin-minded, and who composed that renowned letter to Emperor Michael Palaiologos—a letter profoundly theological and full of Divine truths. In that letter, among other things, the following were included:

“It is also included in the 15th Canon of the holy and great Council called the First and Second, that not only are they without blame, but that they ought even to be praised—those who separate themselves from those who are manifestly heretical and publicly teach heretical doctrines, even before there is a synodal condemnation of them—precisely because the Orthodox Church of Christ has always considered the commemoration of the name of the hierarch during the celebration of the unbloody sacrifice as full communion with the commemorated hierarch and his mindset. For it has been written in the explanation of the Divine Liturgy that the celebrating priest also commemorates the name of the hierarch and that he is a partaker of him and of his faith, and a successor in the Divine Mysteries, and that there is defilement in the communion solely through the commemoration of him, even if the one making the mention is Orthodox.”

(Historical Essay on the Schism of the Western Church from the Orthodox Eastern Church and on the Treacheries and Coercions Committed against the Orthodox at the Council of Florence, written by the Hagiorite Monk Kallistos Vlastos, Mount Athos 1895, reprint 1991, pp. 106–107).

The Athonites, who suffered martyrdom under Bekkos, proclaim that those who, prior to a synodal verdict, separate themselves from those who are manifestly heretical and publicly teach heretical doctrines, are to be praised—even before there is a synodal condemnation of them. The Venerable Martyrs cut off the commemoration of the Latin-minded before any synodal verdict. No synod had yet condemned the Latin-minded. Of course, the Latin-minded were deposed and anathematized according to the Holy Canons, as well as according to Canons 1 and 2 of the Third Ecumenical Council, where such persons fall from the priesthood (see also Canon 1 of the Seventh). Naturally, they paid for the cessation of the commemoration of the heretics with their lives...

Therefore, according to the consistent teaching and practice of the Holy Fathers and the teachings of the Orthodox Church of Christ, every Orthodox Christian is obliged to cease commemorating the heretical bishop and all those who are in communion with him—especially when these bishops do not follow the teaching of the Holy Fathers, and even more so when they are in manifest opposition to the teaching of the Church and openly, with bare head, preach heresy from within the Church.

It is not possible for Mr. Bartholomew to pray together not only with heterodox heretics but even with those of other religions, and for the innovators to tell us that we are leaving the “church” when we cease communion with them and with those who are in communion with them.

Does not also Saint Theodore the Studite say that enemies of God are not only the heretics but also those who commune with them, referring to the related teaching of Saint John Chrysostom? Is Mr. Bartholomew a bearer of Apostolic Tradition when he prays together even with priestesses of Satan—Protestant female pastors—in Canberra, Australia, in America, in Assisi, and in Greenland? Does he express the Orthodox Church when he communicates the Mysteries to heretics in Ravenna? Is Mr. Bartholomew an Orthodox patriarch when he participated in the demon-worship of Canberra or in the pandemonic events of joint worship and prayers with Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and the entire conglomerate of the devil, the World Council of Churches? What does Church History teach about heretics and those approaching the Church? All the Councils always considered heretics to be outside the Church.

Listen, beloved fathers, if you care for your salvation, to what the Luminary of Ephesus, Saint Mark of Ephesus, teaches: “For I am firmly convinced that the more I distance myself from him and those like him, the closer I draw to God and to all the saints; and just as I separate from them, so also I unite myself to the truth and to the holy fathers, the theologians of the Church.” (Apologia of the Most Holy Metropolitan Mark of Ephesus, spoken extemporaneously at his repose).

Turn to the ecclesiastical books and see how the priests and abbots of the historic Great Monasteries in Palestine defended the dogma and the Orthodox Faith, such as Saint Sabbas the Sanctified and Theodosius the Cenobiarch. But why go so far? Recall here, on the Holy Mountain, our Lady the Theotokos, who helped the Zographou monks by appearing to the ascetic Elder who lived outside the monastery, saying to him: “Go quickly to the Monastery, and announce to the brethren and the Abbot that the enemies of Me and of My Son have drawn near,” referring to the Latin-minded under the “patriarchate” of John Beccus—the like-minded of today’s “patriarch” Bartholomew—who were approaching the Monastery in order to later make 26 Zographou monks into Venerable Martyrs.

We have so many Athonite holy fathers who were martyred for refusing to venerate Papism—such as the Venerable Martyr Kosmas the First (1279), the 12 Koutloumousian Venerable Martyrs (1280), the 14 Iviron Venerable Martyrs (1279), the 13 Vatopedi Venerable Martyrs (1279), and many others, who did not bow down to Latin-minded and unionist “patriarchs.”

All that we have mentioned, venerable Athonite fathers, we have mentioned with anguish of soul and not with the intent of becoming your teachers. The teachers of us all are the holy fathers, whose commandments, sayings, and Holy Canons we are bound to uphold unwaveringly—even at the risk of sacrificing our lives. This is what our forefathers taught us, this is what the previous monastic brotherhoods practiced, and for these things many of our fellow monks laid down their lives.

Let us take heed, beloved, to our salvation. The legacy of the holy fathers we are obligated to hand down undefiled to the generations to come. The decisions you, as the Holy Community, will make in the coming days will be recorded in History. We will all render account to the Lord God and to our Lady Theotokos as to whether we allowed the wolves to invade the chosen flock of Christ.

We pray for enlightenment from on high and for the good confession of the faith.

Supplicant before the Lord,

The Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Esphigmenou

 

 

Greek original:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11LHAgVr9qMb1nTBsMus5SiiustmipIk9/view?usp=sharing