Translated from the original Greek.
Anthousa, July 16, 1985
To: Most Reverend brother Hierarchs in Christ,
Akakios of Attica and Megara,
Chrysostomos of Thessalonika,
and Gabriel of the Cyclades.
Most Reverend brothers in Christ.
Once again, with the help of the Holy God, I find myself in Greece, in order to
receive refreshment, so that I may be able, with God working together, to
continue the much-toilsome but unseen by you work of our mission in America.
But what sort of spiritual rest
can I receive, when my eyes now see the sacred struggle of Orthodoxy being
trampled down and destroyed? My soul, brothers, is sorely grieved by this
gloomy state of affairs.
As a bishop, I feel great is my
debt before God and the sacred struggle, and this because the Lord entrusted
me, on the day of my ordination, to bear and to transmit to the coming
generation the sacred deposit of the Faith.
With the help of the Triune God,
my beloved brothers, I labor for the preservation of the sacred deposit from a
young age, having labored in the vineyard of the Lord.
There is, however, no greater
blow for a hierarch than when his hierarchical status and his militant Orthodox
mindset are called into question, and specifically: the evil serpent has warred
against my humble person with unprecedented fury from the beginning of my
missionary activity, with the most important weapon his arsenal possesses:
slander. Was it not with this weapon that Satan warred against the Lord of
glory and His holy friends? How often do we hear the chief Apostle Paul in his
epistles complain because the “Judaizing” brethren of Jerusalem doubted his
apostolic status? Was not the universal teacher John Chrysostomos slandered to
a frightful and unbelievable degree? Was not Athanasios the Great, who shone
before him, the pillar and foundation of Orthodoxy, slandered as guilty of
bloodshed? Or do we perhaps forget the case of the ‘murdered Arsenios’?” But we
have nothing else to do, brothers, except to sail to Aegina and see the
thrice-great Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis shining and flashing forth in his
tremendous miracles. During his life, was not this contemporary Saint terribly
slandered? As immoral, he who was pure and blameless; or do we perhaps not hear
even down to our own days that this most Orthodox Father of the Church was
Latin-minded, an ecumenist, and an iconoclast? Shudder, O sun.
But if the saints suffered
unjustly from the plotting of the devil, would I, the wretched one, escape?
If, brothers, I were a simple
monk, I ought to keep silent if I heard slander against me, as Saint Agathon
did; and this I wished to do throughout my whole life, to keep silent when I am
slandered. This I both did and do. Did not our Lord teach us thus: “Blessed are
ye when they shall reproach you and persecute you and cast out your name as
EVIL for the sake of the Son of Man; rejoice in that day and leap for joy”?
Is there, brothers, another way
of life for an Orthodox Bishop? Must I not imitate my Lord, Who, “being
reviled, reviled not again; suffering, He threatened not”? This I must do if I
wish to see the face of Christ, and this I would have done.
But when, in my person, the very
substance of the Church itself is being touched, then I am now obliged to
defend myself, not for my own sake, but for the sake of beloved Orthodoxy.
This, essentially, is the purpose
of the present letter: namely, to clarify my position regarding specific
slanders which have been hurled against me and which, consequently, as I
believe, touch the dignity of the mystical Body of Christ.
I believe you are aware that I
was consecrated as a hierarch in America in 1962 by the ever-memorable
Archbishop of Chile, Leonty, and by His Eminence Seraphim, Archbishop of
Caracas in Venezuela, both belonging to the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox
Church Abroad. This consecration of mine was officially recognized by the
higher Holy Synod in 1968, which gave me an official Certificate of
Consecration, protocol number 948.
Before the delivery to me of the
Certificate of Consecration, and after it, I had full ecclesiastical communion
with the hierarchy of Russian bishops. I also believe that it does not escape
your memory how much I labored in the U.S.A. for the consecration of the
ever-memorable Akakios Pappas, and for the raising up of hierarchs for the
G.O.C. in Greece.
Regarding the matter at hand. A
brother hierarch informed me that, when Bishop Gregory Grabbe was in Greece two
years ago, he informed you that — shudder, O sun — “Bishop Petros was never
consecrated by our Church; that, although he was consecrated by the Archbishop
of Chile, he did this through simony; and that his Certificate of Consecration
is spurious.”
First of all, before I proceed to
refute the above slanders of Mr. Grabbe, I would like to tell you that the very
great ..."Saint" of Boston, Panteleimon Metropoulos, also
participates in my calumniation; he, together with Bishop Grabbe, warred
against me by every means except A WRITTEN ACCUSATION. The warfare of Grabbe
and Panteleimon was always oral.
For they knew and know that in
America slander — DISCRIMINATION [written in English] — can put even the
President of the U.S.A. himself in prison.
No, brothers, I was neither
simoniacal, nor is my Certificate of Consecration forged.
And I denounce Gregory Grabbe and
Panteleimon Metropoulos as grievous SLANDERERS and LIARS; and I challenge them:
what they told you orally about me, let them inform you also IN WRITING — YES, IN
WRITING.
Not with words of wind, which are
easily overturned; and then the judicial justice of the U.S.A. will have the
floor.
That the saying may be fulfilled:
“Punish the disorderly, lest they become arrogant.” And while we are speaking
about written statements, I would like to know why, since for so many years
Panteleimon Metropoulos and Bishop Grabbe, the notorious baron, have been
spreading accusations of simony, the Synod of Metropolitan Philaret did not summon
me to try me and depose me, as I requested of it IN WRITING twice, and to try
not only me, but also Leonty, who consecrated me, and Seraphim together with
him? Why did they not try the ever-memorable Archbishop Averky, [St.] John
Maximovitch, Archbishop of San Francisco, Bishop Sava of Edmonton, and other
hierarchs and priests of the Russian Synod who had communion with me?
Do you perhaps think that all
these men had not heard all these things about simony? Of course they heard
them, but because they knew very well who Archbishop Leonty was, they had
excluded every idea of such a crime.
Bishop Grabbe had serious reasons
for making use of this base, deceitful, and underhanded behavior.
Bishop Grabbe concealed great
hatred against the struggler and truly Orthodox Archbishop Leonty. He warred
against him fiercely; he tried by every means to neutralize him. For this
reason, although Leonty was a doctor of theological science, the then-Father
George Grabbe arranged to exile the brilliant scholar, theologian, and hierarch
Leonty Filipovich from the central administration of the Russian Synod.
But why this hatred of Grabbe?
Quite simply, the ever-memorable Leonty had a very serious difference with Fr.
George Grabbe. He did not recognize HIS PRIESTHOOD; and this because Grabbe had
been “ordained” a “priest” BY A NON-EXISTENT UKRAINIAN ‘HIERARCH’ in Europe. [*]
For the above reason, Archbishop
Leonty, being the struggler that he was, at a liturgical gathering of the
Hierarchs and before the astonished eyes of the ever-memorable [Metropolitan] Anastasy,
seized the impious Grabbe, made him kneel before the Holy Table, and ordained
him a canonical priest. After he ordained him, he characteristically said to
him: “Congratulations; now you are a canonical priest.” From then on, Grabbe
uprooted the war against every act and action of Leonty.
You can now imagine what fury he
concealed against my humble self. As an assistant in the war against Leonty,
and consequently also against my own standing, he found Panteleimon
Metropoulos, who was then, and is now, “actively” working in America. They said
many things — very many things — concerning my consecration. But those old
hierarchs COMPLETELY REJECTED the outcries of Metropoulos and Grabbe.
In the meantime, the years were
passing; my old collaborators in the Russian Church, slowly, one after another,
were departing for the Heavenly Kingdom.
Nevertheless, when the famous
encyclical was being issued in 1974, I, in my humility, refused to sign the
text of the encyclical, because I considered myself unqualified for so great a
matter as taking an ecclesiological position regarding the Mysteries of
250,000,000 Orthodox Christians.
I turned once again to the
Russian Church and asked for her theological direction. The Synod of Philaret answered
me IN WRITING by its letter dated October 29, 1974, protocol number 3-50-242; I
enclose the letter for you. [**]
I shall emphasize two points in
the letter: the beginning and the end. And in both of these places,
Metropolitan Philaret, as president of the Synod of the Hierarchy, calls me
Bishop of Astoria and beloved brother in Christ.
Could it be that, in the twelve
years after my consecration, Metropolitan Philaret had not heard the
accusations against me? In the end, how could the president of the Russian
Synod bring himself to call a SIMONIAC a brother in Christ and Right Reverend
Bishop of Astoria? Something is not right, brothers. Is this Synodal document
also forged? Are the numerous concelebrations with the Russian hierarchs, which
have been photographed and filmed, also ... forged? That is, have we reached
the tragic point where it is being heard and said that the written attestations
of the Russian Synod of Philaret are of no force, while the things said orally
by His Grace Grabbe are authoritative?
Must we then also believe the
oral denial of Theophil Ionescu, that he did not take part in the consecration
of the ever-memorable Akakios Pappas? But since, after all, the oral word of
Grabbe has such force, listen to what he said years ago.
When the Russian Church
proclaimed the Russian New Martyrs saints, I sent my priests and deacons to
attend the ceremonies. When they were at the Synodal building in Manhattan,
Bishop Grabbe and His Eminence Archbishop Laurus of Syracuse received them in
audience. After they had discussed various matters that concerned us, they put
the following question to Mr. Grabbe: Why, after so many years of cooperation,
does Philaret not receive Bishop Petros?
The answer of Bishop Grabbe,
before many witnesses, was clear: “The Synod itself has no impediment to
receiving your Bishop; however, the Greeks who belong to the Synod have an
objection.” This is the reality, the truth which Grabbe himself confesses,
namely that Panteleimon Metropoulos DID NOT WANT AND DOES NOT WANT THE GREEK
BISHOP PETROS TO OBSERVE AND CHECK THE EXTERNAL MANNER OF HIS ECCLESIASTICAL
ACTIVITY. The unrepentant Panteleimon Metropoulos is the source of the whole
wretched state of affairs; he is THE CHIEF CAUSE OF MY CALUMNIATION. May God
have mercy on him.
Note that he has not met me even
once. Certainly, I could write “whole volumes” about Panteleimon Metropoulos’
systematic warfare against me.
To confirm emphatically what has
been said, brothers, I am sending you a photocopy of MY UNQUESTIONABLY
AUTHENTIC CERTIFICATE OF CONSECRATION, with the signatures of the Most Reverend
hierarchs Philaret, Nikon, and Laurus, and with protocol number 948. Together
with this, I am sending you the first Certificate of Consecration from the
ever-memorable Leonty and Seraphim, Bishop of Caracas, as well as excerpts from
the correspondence which I had with the Synod of Philaret, which was published
in Orthodoxos Logos.
In closing, I would like once
again to repeat that I denounce as false everything said by Bishop Gregory
Grabbe against the ever-memorable Archbishop Leonty, Archbishop Seraphim of
Caracas, and my humble self. Before I proceed, you must ask yourselves, Most
Reverend brothers, why Bishop Gregory Grabbe continued for so many years after
my consecration to concelebrate with the above-mentioned two hierarchs, whom he
considered and still considers simoniacs — perish the blasphemy. You see, in
the crime of simony, as you know, not only the one who pays the money
participates, but also those who accept the payment. You see how shamelessly
and irresponsibly the wretched Gregory Grabbe, pitiable for the state to which
he has fallen, calumniates.
My brothers, after all the above,
I would like to believe that you have now been convinced that I was
never a simoniac, nor did I pay money in order to become a Bishop.
I was consecrated by two
Orthodox, holy hierarchs, who are known to all for their holy patristic life.
I was consecrated, brothers, for
the struggle of Orthodoxy, in which I believed with all my heart.
I did not seek to become a
hierarch — God is my witness. The priests of the G.O.C. of New York voted for
me for the episcopal office. And the ever-memorable Archbishop Akakios Pappas
repeatedly wrote to me to accept the office of the episcopacy. Finally,
Archbishop Leonty himself persuaded me to accept the promotion, WITHOUT SIMONY
AND WITHOUT INTRIGUES, as many would have liked there to have been, because
this would have served their subterranean designs both in America and in
Greece. I was consecrated, brothers, canonically and validly, for the service
of the struggle of the G.O.C.
The time which I have been
awaiting has now arrived, and my relevant correspondence with the
ever-memorable Akakios Pappas and Archbishop Leonty Filipovich concerning the
matters of the raising up of hierarchs of the Old Calendar in Greece, and other
matters related to the sacred struggle, will see the light of publication. And
this because the night is far spent.
Also, brothers, I would like to
inform you that my Orthodox mindset has not changed in the slightest. I am the
same as I was. I renounce and condemn the new and Papal Calendar, and together
with it also the pan-heresy of Ecumenism. I say these things to you because
recently a new slanderous attempt against me has also been circulated. It is
rumored by various well-wishers that I supposedly submitted a request to
Archbishop Iakovos of America for him to receive me as a Bishop into the New
Calendar, and that he rejected my request.
This too is a lie, brothers, and
indeed a most malicious one; but we know the source. It is the broken cistern,
whose water “does not flow straight.” No, brothers, I never made such efforts
so as to deny my sweetest Orthodoxy, for which I was exiled and imprisoned.
With the help of the Most Holy Theotokos,
I always was, am, and shall remain an Orthodox hierarch; and without any
concession I shall follow, until my last breath, the ancestral Orthodox Festal
Calendar.
This is my defense to those who examine
me. FROM HENCEFORTH LET NO ONE TROUBLE ME. These things are for the restoration
of my hierarchal conscience, which has been brutally wounded.
May God forgive and have mercy on
all those who IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER have slandered me, and may He count them
worthy of sincere repentance; without repentance, the slanderer shall not see
the face of God unto the ages.
I hope, Most Reverend brothers,
that from the above there will finally be clarified and made plain, after 52
years of our acquaintance within the setting of the sacred struggle, the
various questions which have recently occupied you concerning my humble person.
Finally, I have this to say, and
I pray that the sincere and guileless nature of my character may not once again
provoke your displeasure against me.
Humanly speaking, I ask each one
of you, the Most Reverend hierarchs, the evangelical words: “Have I been so
long with you, and yet hast thou not known me?”
I embrace you in the love of
Christ,
† Petros of Astoria
[*] Regarding the source of Bishop Gregory Grabbe’s priestly
ordination: In 1924, then-Archimandrite Seraphim [Lade] received his
episcopal consecration from the Synod of Metropolitan Pimen (Pegov), who was a
part of Renovationist (schismatic) movement in Ukraine. Since the future
Metropolitan Seraphim spent many years collecting historical evidence about the
Lord, he was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Education and the Committee
for Combatting Unbelief. In 1930, along with many other Russians of German
descent, he was allowed to leave the USSR for Germany. In August of 1930, the
ROCOR Synod decided to receive him without his being (re)ordained (through
repentance). This fact of the reception via repentance later caused Bishop
Leonty of Berdichev (later of Chile and Peru) to refuse to recognize as valid
ordinations performed by Metropolitan Seraphim.
Source: https://www.rocorstudies.org/2023/12/22/metropolitan-seraphim-lade/
[**] See:
https://orthodoxmiscellany.blogspot.com/2025/08/why-did-bishop-petros-of-astoria-refuse.html
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