Brief Chronology of Ecumenism

Presented by Hieromonk Spiridon Hieromonk Roșu at the Synaxis of Anti-Ecumenist Orthodox Christians in Botoșani, 18 June 2017

Translated from the original Romanian.

 

 

1. General considerations concerning the origins of Ecumenism

The origins of present-day Ecumenism can be found in the middle of the nineteenth century in England and America, when the first initiatives began to appear for uniting the different Christian confessions, wrongly self-styled “churches.” Thus, a series of alliances or federations of an interconfessional character were founded, which proposed common prayers and philanthropic actions. In 1844, in London, the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) was founded, which in a short time spread throughout the whole world, having in 1952 four million members organized in ten thousand branches.

In 1894 a branch for women of the Young Men’s Christian Association was organized: YWCA, the Young Women’s Christian Association. In 1895 the Universal Federation of Christian Student Associations came into being. Archimandrite Haralambos D. Vasilopoulos, in his book Ecumenism Unmasked, makes an analysis of the activity of the two organizations, YMCA and YWCA, emphasizing the fact that they had no clearly established doctrine, but rather an unclear ideology, based on “a humanistic theory of the world, in which reference is made neither to ancestral sin nor to the salvation of the soul.” They cultivated “a turning of man toward the body, reaching even a cult rendered to the body” under the mask of promoting health. The kind of education promoted “favors a lax attitude toward sin and a mocking of the dogmatic truth of the Christian Church. It accepts philanthropy as a distribution of material goods, but not in the name of Christ and His Church,” so that many generations of young people grew up in a false Christianity. Moreover, as is mentioned in an American publication from 1971, within some branches of the YWCA in America and Canada the legalization of marijuana consumption, of abortions, and of the fact that the Name Jesus Christ should no longer be mentioned anywhere was promoted.

The term “ecumenism” comes from the Greek oikoumene, which has the sense of dwelling, inhabiting. Ecumeni means “populated, inhabited earth, the oikoumene.” In antiquity, the Church of Christ called by oikoumene the earth and its inhabitants (Matthew 24:14; Luke 21:25; Revelation 3:10, 12:9). The adjective ecumenical means “universal, that is, concerning the whole earth and its population.” The modern term “ecumenism” was invented and used for the first time by the Methodist pastor John Mott (1865–1955), at the World Missionary Conference, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1910, within which the foundations of the Ecumenist Movement were laid. It should be emphasized that, for the naming of this Movement, the Western Latin term universalism was not used, but the Greek word oecumenicos (whence also ecumenism), which is taken from Orthodox language and thought but to which another meaning is attributed. The purpose is to mask the hidden intentions of the Movement through the use of this term of Orthodox origin, and it aims at the possible identification of the Ecumenical Councils with the World Council of “Churches,” which might proclaim itself in the future as an “Ecumenical Council.”

2. Forms of organization of Ecumenism

In the year 1948 the “World Council of Churches” (WCC) was constituted. Within this body all member religious organizations are accepted under the designation of “church,” regardless of their doctrine, which creates great confusion from the beginning and unjustifiably suggests the idea of a religious uniformity. Its first general assembly, which took place in Amsterdam, brought together the representatives of 147 so-called churches, among whom were also several representatives (on their own initiative) of some Orthodox Churches: the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Church of Cyprus, the Church of Greece. At the same time the first general secretary of the Council was elected, the Dutch pastor Wilhem Adolf Visser’t Hooft.

The hierarchs of the Romanian Orthodox Church joined the “WCC” in the year 1961, participating from then on in all its general assemblies, without a prior catechization of the priests and faithful people and without there being a public debate on this theme. In the year 2015, the “WCC” numbered over 345 so-called member churches, from 110 countries and territories of the world.

3. The ideology of the Ecumenist Movement

The ideology behind the Ecumenist Movement is the heresy which maintains that the Church of Christ does not exist at present and that no one is in possession of the fullness of the Truth, and that the Church will be constituted in the future through the efforts to unify the so-called churches within the Ecumenist Movement. According to ecumenist thinking, none of the churches is the true Church of Christ; but in this case, neither will this true Church be formed from the combination of all these churches. And if all the Christian churches must relate to one another in order to complete one another mutually, the inevitable consequence follows that they must also unite with the other non-Christian religious organizations, so that Christian Ecumenism will end in a universal syncretistic religion.

The theoretical foundations of Ecumenism are:

• The theory of the lost unity of the Church, which promotes the heresy, according to the principle of inclusivity, that all mankind would be incorporated into an “invisible unity” of the Church through the common faith in the Holy Trinity and in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, with a “visible unity” also to be accomplished within the “World Council of Churches” through the union of the confessions, unity in the diversity of dogmas and traditions. But Orthodox teaching says that the Unity of the Church can never be lost, because Christ, as Head of the Church, is not separated from His Body; but, on the other hand, isolated persons or groups of persons can separate themselves from the Body of the Church through the acceptance of heresies or schisms. But this affects neither the unity, nor the uniqueness, nor the integrity of the Church. The theory of the lost unity of the Church violates the patristic teaching which affirms that heretics are not and cannot be called Christians, because through the sin of heresy they have separated themselves from God.

• The theory of the “branches,” which has its roots in Protestantism and maintains the heresy that the different “confessions,” recognized as “churches,” are branches of the “invisible Church,” and that all these would constitute the true Church, as though Christ, the Head of the Church, could have several bodies;

• The theory of the existence of grace outside the One Church constitutes the heresy by which certain mysteries, or waves of grace, are admitted also to the heterodox outside the Church in their “mysteries.” But heresy contains within itself blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and in this case heresy and Grace cannot coexist in one place. In connection with this theory, other theories have also been developed, as for example:

1. The ecumenist baptismal theory. Through this, the validity of the baptism of the heterodox outside the Church is accepted, as well as the fact that the performance of baptism by heretics, invoking the three Trinitarian Persons, makes the one baptized a member of the True Church of Christ, regardless of the dogmas which he believes. The Canons of the Church sanction by deposition the priest who does not distinguish between the Orthodox Holy Mysteries and the so-called mysteries of the heretics.

2. The theory of apostolic succession outside the Church, which maintains that, through the simple external act of the laying on of hands by clerics upon candidates for ordination, the recognition of a valid priesthood for the heterodox is permitted.

All these theories have led to the unacceptable practices, condemned by the Holy Canons and the Holy Fathers, of common prayers at first, but later also of common services of different rites or Mysteries, going as far as common communion!

• The theory of “dogmatic minimalism” is centered on the heresy according to which dogmas are divided into principal and secondary dogmas, and union among the different confessions requires only agreement concerning the principal dogmas, a concept designated as the minimal faith, that is, faith in the Holy Trinity and in Jesus Christ as God Incarnate and Savior, overlooking all the other Dogmas of the Church, called secondary. In the document of the WCC assembly at Lima in 1982, only three mysteries are recognized and accepted: baptism, the Eucharist, and ministry, clerical service, while the other four Holy Mysteries, chrismation, marriage, confession, and Holy Unction, are despised and annulled, falling under the anathema of the decisions of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

Besides the doctrinal heretical theories above, there are also some erroneous strategies of a practical order:

• The theory of the “dialogue of love,” promoted in the Assemblies of the World Council of Churches in the form of an ambiguous and duplicitous language, with the aim of equalizing all religions which, the ecumenists say, would have as their common denominator the “Holy Spirit.” Through this, the intention is to pass over in silence the evangelical Truth, the deviations from the faith of the heretics, with the motivation of not offending their conscience. In the name of a false love, but one which is a deception, the negotiation of the truths of the faith is carried out, forcibly and abusively interpreting the principle of economy, which is known not to be applicable in dogmatic matters.

• The theory of social activism has disastrous consequences within ecclesiastical life, in the erosion of the Orthodox dogmatic conscience; through this, in the name of certain moral values or values of another kind, generally accepted, a rapprochement is desired among the members of the different confessions, especially on the basis of practical activities, with social implications, always carried out by a mixed interconfessional group: cultural activities, musical events, excursions, vacation camps, study scholarships and exchanges of experience, activities concerning the protection of the environment, pro-life movements, charitable associations, groups and non-governmental organizations directed against the moral depravity of society, and especially “peace” groups, etc. Where there are disagreements concerning the general principles of teaching, dogmas, there can be no agreements concerning the practical activities of the respective principles.

4. Deviations from Orthodox ecclesiology. A brief history of Ecumenism

The grave errors from the Orthodox teaching of the faith can be discerned by following the development of ecumenist actions over time.

1879 — The decision of the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, by which it is permitted that, in the absence of Armenian priests and for reasons of economy, the Armenian-Gregorian faithful be administered by Orthodox priests the Orthodox Holy Mysteries of Baptism and Marriage, and, when near the common end, also Holy Communion; but note, the faithful remaining thereafter members of the so-called Armenian-Gregorian church.

1902 — The synodal encyclical of Patriarch Joachim III of Constantinople raises for the first time the question of union with the other “churches,” requesting the opinion of the other local Orthodox Churches, a request to which many Churches respond favorably.

1920 — The Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the “venerable Christian churches everywhere,” starting from the idea that “dogmatic differences cannot constitute an insurmountable obstacle on the path of collaboration with a view to union,” urges them to consider one another not as being “foreign and in dissension, but related and of the same family in Christ, and of the same body, and fellow-heirs of God’s promise in Christ.” In addition, the encyclical suggests the formation of a “community of churches” after the model of the League of Nations, which includes a well-defined program for reaching union, a program consisting of dialogues and theological conferences, regular contacts through correspondence, the closest possible relations among the representatives of the Churches, as also among the theological schools, and the education of the faithful of all confessions in an ecumenist spirit. But the ecumenists succeeded in putting these desiderata into practice only in 2016 within the so-called holy and great council in Crete.

1922, Jan. 24 — Meletios IV is enthroned as Patriarch of Constantinople, although one month earlier he had been canonically sanctioned and deposed from the rank of Archbishop of Athens, for “uncanonical conduct and mixing with heretics” in their “churches.”

1922. Meletios IV, as Ecumenical Patriarch, recognizes the validity of Anglican ordinations.

1923, June. Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios IV convenes the “Pan-Orthodox Conference” in Constantinople with the objective of changing the calendar and modernizing the Church, deciding on the shortening of the fasts, the non-obligatory character of clerical vestments, the possibility of marriage for the clergy after ordination and for bishops, etc. This was contested shortly afterward by Patriarchs Damian of Jerusalem, Gregory IV of Antioch, Photios of Alexandria, Dimitrije of Serbia, and St. Tikhon of Moscow. The true motivation for the change of the ecclesiastical calendar was not caused by astronomical questions, but by the desire to make the Orthodox liturgical calendar uniform with the Western calendar, with a view to facilitating the union of the Orthodox Church with the other so-called churches.

1925, London. Still more characteristic is the decision of the representatives of the Orthodox Churches present at the commemoration of the First Ecumenical Council, which took place in London in 1925. On this occasion, headed by Patriarch Photios of Alexandria, they participated in liturgical attire, reciting the Creed and other prayers, in a service officiated by the Anglican hierarchy. At the same time, in discussions with the Anglicans, they accepted that, under the pretext of reasons of economy, Orthodox clerics and Anglican clerics should mutually officiate for their faithful the Holy Mysteries of Baptism and Marriage, as well as funerals.

1927 — On the basis of the erroneous interpretation of the principle of “economy,” the Patriarch of Serbia, Dimitrije, communed six Anglicans at the Holy Liturgy without their having Orthodox baptism. Although, exactly as in the case of intercommunion at the level of rites, and in the case of intercommunion at the level of the Holy Mysteries, the theologians, hierarchs, and synods of some Orthodox Churches had declared, as a matter of principle, that intercommunion must not be admitted except on the basis of unity of faith. This means that the heretic publicly renounces the heresies of the past and solemnly confesses publicly that he accepts the entire Orthodox teaching. It is precisely this Orthodox principle that is violated through the activities of Ecumenism. The Romanian Orthodox Church decides, regarding relations with the Anglicans, the validity of the mysteries and intercommunion with them, through the application, in a new spirit, of the traditional Orthodox economy.

1935, July. Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis goes mad, and after six days of torments and profound remorse, dies in Zürich, Switzerland, saying: “Woe is me, I have divided the Church, I have destroyed Orthodoxy!”

1948 — Athenagoras, former Archbishop of North and South America, becomes Patriarch of Constantinople after Patriarch Maximos is declared “mentally unfit” and forced to retire. Athenagoras declared: “We err and sin if we think that the Orthodox faith came from heaven and that the other dogmas, religions, are unworthy.”

1948, Moscow. The Moscow Patriarchate convened, in July 1948, the conference of the autocephalous Orthodox Churches with the aim of officially rejecting the invitation to participate in the General Assembly of August 1948 in Amsterdam, when the Ecumenical Council was also founded. Within the consultation, the lectures of Archbishop Saint Luke of Crimea, as well as of Bishop Saint Seraphim Sobolev, stood out; the latter characterized Ecumenism as a heresy against the dogma concerning the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, as we confess in the Symbol of Faith. The holy hierarch Seraphim, examining successively these four attributes of the Church, showed how they are distorted by Ecumenism with the aim of laying the foundations of a new “ecumenical church,” where all the heretics will be gathered together with the false Orthodox Christians: “The Orthodox ecumenists falsify Tradition and the Scriptures, so that the ninth article of the Symbol of Faith can no longer be recognized. Consequently, there results a mixture of truth with falsehood, of Orthodoxy with heresies, which leads the Orthodox ecumenists to an extreme distortion of the true notion of the Church, and especially because they, being members of the Orthodox Church, are at the same time also members of the ‘ecumenical church,’ more precisely, of a kind of universal community with innumerable heretical ramifications. They ought to have kept forever the words of Christ: ‘And if he will not hear the Church either, let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican.’” (Matt. 18:17)

In spite of these valuable individual testimonies, the definitive resolution of the 1948 conference on the question of Ecumenism lacked a firm and principled Orthodox response, and a circumstantial solution was preferred, allowing the possibility of recognizing Ecumenism under other circumstances to be glimpsed.

1948, Amsterdam. The so-called “World Council of Churches” (“WCC”) comes into being, initially comprising 147 “churches.” From that date already, the Orthodox Churches of Constantinople, Cyprus, and Greece become full members.

1950, Toronto. With Orthodox participation, the document called “The Church, the Churches, and the World Council of Churches” was drawn up, which contains many heretical teachings in relation to the Orthodox ecclesiological dogma.

1954, Evanston. The Second General Assembly of the “WCC.” The Orthodox delegates openly stated that the decisions of the assembly had deviated so far from our teaching on the Church that they could no longer be accepted, and other things besides. Instead, they expressed the doctrine of the Orthodox Church in separate statements, showing clearly that Orthodox ecclesiology differs essentially and very greatly from Protestant ecclesiology, and that it is impossible to write a common statement.

1961 — Under pressure from the communist political factor, hierarchs occupying the highest levels of leadership of the local Orthodox Churches in the socialist bloc joined the “World Council of Churches” without prior catechization and without consultation with the priests and the Orthodox laity. Also from this date, bilateral theological dialogues were opened with the Roman-Catholic papists, with the Monophysites, and others, but the results and the evaluation of the consequences of the agreements signed were neither publicized nor explained to the priests and faithful. The false ecumenist dialogues with the other heretical confessions strengthen the erroneous teaching that Orthodoxy and the other pseudo-churches and confessions are equal paths leading to salvation.

1961, New Delhi. The Fourth General Assembly of the “WCC.” Beginning from this date, the Orthodox delegates ceased making separate declarations in relation to the official declarations of the “WCC,” although the ecumenist ecclesiological teaching had not achieved even the slightest rapprochement with Orthodox teaching. In other words, the Orthodox delegates appropriated the official ecclesiological doctrine of Ecumenism.

1961, 1963, Rhodes. The inauguration of the Pre-Synodal Pan-Orthodox Conferences. The Pan-Orthodox Conference recommends the intensification of the activity of all “churches” in the Ecumenical Movement, which “sets itself the restoration of the visible unity of the Church according to the principle of unity in diversity and in communion,” the aim of Ecumenism being the rediscovery of a “Eucharistic basis” of visible unity.

1964, Jan. 6. Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI meet in Jerusalem and pray together in the Holy Sepulchre. At the entrance, a fire breaks out, causing a power outage throughout the entire church.

1964, Aarhus. The Orthodox Church begins the unofficial bilateral dialogue with the Anti-Chalcedonians at the initiative, under the supervision, and with the financial support of the “WCC.” The common statement of Aarhus stipulates, among other things: “We recognize one another in the same Orthodox faith of the Church. Fifteen centuries of history have not separated us from the faith of our fathers.” These shocking affirmations try to induce in us the idea that the Monophysite heretics had never been condemned at an Ecumenical or local Council.

1965, Dec. 7. Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI, simultaneously, “lift the Anathema of 1054.” The Anathema was given against the papal heresies in order to protect the Orthodox from teachings which do not lead to salvation, but to perdition. Through the “lifting” of the anathema, Athenagoras proclaims that the Pope and those who follow him were unjustly anathematized, that the Church erred when it maintained that the papal teachings are false, and that, in truth, the Latin papacy is part of Orthodoxy. “The removal of the mutual excommunications restores canonical relations between Old Rome and New Rome. This restoration is a canonical necessity…,” it is said in a declaration of the Patriarchate; but the essential point is omitted: that the papist heretics did not provide proof of their renunciation of the heretical teachings which led to the separation in the past, but in time also added other errors which make them altogether foreign to the Orthodox Church. From this moment, several monasteries and sketes on Mount Athos ceased commemorating Patriarch Athenagoras at the holy Services and the Holy Mysteries.

1967, Nov. Against the background of extensive protest movements motivated patristically and canonically, the majority of the monks of Mount Athos strongly opposed the “lifting of the anathema of 1054.”

1968 — In the Christmas Pastoral Letter, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras affirms that “the people of Christ,” the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox, will unite without the help of hierarchs or theologians. He also declares that he has introduced the name of Pope Paul VI into the diptychs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The diptychs are the list of Orthodox bishops commemorated during the Divine Liturgy.

1971, Feb. The Pope and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras exchange letters of mutual recognition of their “churches.” Patriarch Athenagoras publicly announces that he gives Holy Communion to Roman Catholics and Protestants.

1972, July. Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras dies and is buried; a funeral with the coffin closed, an unusual fact for an Orthodox bishop. He is succeeded by Dimitrios, who promises to continue the “ecumenical policy” of his predecessor.

At the same time, the Holy Community of the Holy Mountain issues an encyclical for the resumption of the liturgical commemoration of the Ecumenical Patriarch, because “a new climate has been established.” Nevertheless, in September, there were still seven Holy Monasteries of Mount Athos which still did not commemorate the Patriarch liturgically: Esphigmenou, Karakallou, Simonopetra, St. Paul, Xenophontos, Gregoriou, and Kastamonitou.

1974, March. Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios imposes sanctions upon 13 priests and monks for liturgical non-commemoration, among whom were: Archimandrite Athanasios, abbot at Esphigmenou; Archimandrite Evdokimos, abbot at Xenophontos; Archimandrite Dionysios of Gregoriou; and Archimandrite Andreas of St. Paul.

1975, Crete. Within the “Faith and Order” Commission of the “WCC,” the so-called Orthodox theological consultation takes place, whose report stipulates: “As regards the problem of general Christian union, it was noted at the consultation that the Orthodox Church does not demand that the other Christians convert to Orthodoxy by entering into the Orthodox Church, but appeals that all churches and traditions deepen as much as possible the fullness of the apostolic faith.”

1975 — The Thyateira Confession of the Greek Metropolitan Athenagoras Kokkinakis of Thyateira and Great Britain declares that the episcopate and priesthood of the Anglicans, Copts, Armenians, Roman Catholics, and Orthodox are all valid; consequently, the mysteries of the Anglicans and Roman Catholics are those of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. It is also affirmed that “the idea that Masonry is a religion is an erroneous one.”

1975, Nairobi, Kenya. The Fifth General Assembly of the “WCC,” with the theme “Local Churches and the Universal Church,” emphasizes that the aim of cooperation on the ecumenical level is directed, first of all, toward the progressive integration of the Christian confessions into the ecumenical consensus of the Church of all times and everywhere.

1980, June, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. Archbishop Iakovos, of the Greek Archdiocese of North and South America, serves an unprecedented ecumenical service together with Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, United Methodists, and even with representatives of the Jewish religion.

1982, Lima. The BEM document of Lima, which recognizes the mysteries of the Protestants: baptism, the Eucharist, ministry (the priesthood). But by rejecting four Holy Mysteries, chrismation, confession, marriage, and Unction, the first three Mysteries are also inevitably annulled, being distorted in a heretical sense.

1983, July-Aug. The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad, at an assembly in Vancouver, Canada, declares: “Those who attack the Church of Christ by teaching that Christ's Church is divided into so-called ‘branches’ which differ in doctrine and way of life, or that the Church does not exist visibly, but will be formed in the future when all ‘branches’ or sects or denominations, and even religions will be united into one body; and who do not distinguish the priesthood and mysteries of the Church from those of the heretics, but say that the baptism and eucharist of heretics is effectual for salvation; therefore, to those who knowingly have communion with these aforementioned heretics or who advocate, disseminate, or defend their new heresy of Ecumenism under the pretext of brotherly love or the supposed unification of separated Christians, Anathema!” A clear exposition is lacking of the ecumenist heresiarchs who ought to be subjected to the anathema.

1987, November. Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios and his clergy concelebrate at a Roman-Catholic mass together with Pope John Paul II, in Rome. The Patriarch, however, does not receive the Roman-Catholic host.

1989, October. Patriarch Parthenios of Alexandria declares again that “Muhammad is an apostle of God… a man of God, who worked for the Kingdom of God,” and that “when I speak against Islam or Buddhism, I do not find myself in agreement with God.” Here the heretical teaching is affirmed that Christians and Mohammedans worship the same God.

1989, Texas. The “WCC” Conference reinforces the character and finality of the Ecumenical Movement: “The Ecumenical Movement has a comprehensive and indivisible character. There is one single Ecumenical Movement, open to all Churches, so that no Church can claim to be considered the center of this movement, which is greater than any Church taken individually and which includes all Churches.”

1990 and 1993, Chambésy. Acceptance of the Monophysite heresy

After the so-called historic meeting at the Monastery of Anba Bishoy in Egypt, between June 20–24, 1989, where the First Common Declaration on Christology was adopted by the Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the “Oriental Orthodox Churches,” and the ecumenist Orthodox renounced the designation “non-Chalcedonian Churches,” it being replaced with “Oriental Orthodox Churches,” in 1990 at Chambésy the following steps were taken toward the recognition of the Severian heresy, according to which there is a mingling of the divine and human natures into a “composite nature” in the person of the Savior after the Incarnation. In the Common Declaration it is shown that both families, the Orthodox and the non-Chalcedonians, agree “that the natures, with their own energies and wills, are united hypostatically and naturally, unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, and inseparably, and that they are distinguished only in thought.” In the Second Declaration of Chambésy (1990), it was recommended to the Orthodox Churches that there was a need to lift the anathemas and condemnations pronounced against all the Monophysite Councils and heresiarchs whom the Holy Fathers anathematized beginning with the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon.

The ecumenist dialogue between the Orthodox and the Monophysites has as its aim mutual ecclesiastical recognition and common communion as outward signs of communion, without the Monophysites renouncing their heresies.

1991, Canberra, Australia. The Seventh General Assembly of the “WCC” in Canberra, with the theme: “Come, Holy Spirit, renew the whole creation,” reinforces the ecumenist vision concerning a new work of the Holy Spirit in our age and proclaims the same false spirit of peace: “The Churches today are called to confess their faith anew, and to repent for the moments when Christians remained silent in the face of injustice or threats to peace,” certifying the reality that the orientation of the ecumenist assemblies is largely toward the social and political problems of the world, without having any mandate in this regard.

1993, June 17–24, Balamand, Lebanon. The officialization of the theory of “branches” through the introduction of the term “sister churches.” Within this theological agreement between the ecumenist Orthodox and the papists, it was accepted that the papist heresy is a sister church with valid mysteries and apostolic succession. It is also acknowledged in the respective document that the Universal Church, which we believe and confess to be the Orthodox Church, would be incomplete without communion with the so-called Roman-Catholic church, making, in a cunning and inappropriate manner, the analogy with the human body, which is not complete except by having both lungs, that is, the two churches in the ecumenist vision. The Athonite Fathers, authors of the Letter of the Holy Community against the Balamand agreement and the heresy of “sister churches,” showed that “the present Roman church is the church of innovationism and of the falsification of the writings of the Fathers of the Church and of the deformation of the Holy Scriptures and of the decisions of the Holy Councils. Grave theological differences, such as the Filioque, papal primacy and infallibility, created grace, etc., receive amnesty, and a union without any agreement in dogma is fabricated.”

1995, February, Patmos. Unfortunately, the meeting at Patmos constituted one of the few critical stances concerning the ecumenist dialogue, because then the position of the Orthodox patriarchs was more radical, contesting the admission of homosexuality and lesbianism as normal sexual orientations, to be tolerated by all Christians. As a result of the position of the Orthodox Church expressed at Patmos, the Patriarchates of Georgia and Bulgaria withdrew from the “WCC” in 1997 and 1998 respectively.

1995, June 29. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visits the Pope in Rome and “concelebrates a historic liturgy in Saint Peter’s Basilica.” Lightning strikes the dome during the service. Nevertheless, the Patriarch does not receive the host blessed by the Pope.

1998, April 9. The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Church decides to withdraw from the Ecumenical Movement.

1998, Aug.–Sept., Harare, Zimbabwe. At the last General Assembly of the “WCC” of the previous century, with the theme: “Turn to God. Rejoice in Hope,” a “Policy Statement of the Council for the Future” is accepted, and another step is taken toward promoting Orthodox-Protestant dialogue through the creation of a special mixed commission.

1998, August 30, Bucharest. The 12th interreligious prayer meeting of the Sant’Egidio Community takes place, held under the name “Peace Is the Name of God,” in which many Romanian Orthodox hierarchs participated. In general, the presence of Orthodox hierarchs at the meetings of the Sant’Egidio Community, from the very beginning, has been a constant.

1998, October 8. The Holy Synod of the Church of Georgia condemns the Chambésy Agreements, Balamand, the Antiochian agreement, the use by the Orthodox Church of Finland of the Paschalion according to the new style, the theory of branches, and common prayers with the heterodox, and withdraws from the Ecumenical Movement.

1998, November 30, Phanar. In Patriarch Bartholomew’s address to the papal delegation, it is declared: “Those of our ancestors, from whom we inherited this division, were the unfortunate victims of the serpent, who is the origin of all evil; they are now in the hands of God, the Righteous Judge… And these men, being the cause of the schism, are now in the hands of God, the Righteous Judge.” The Ecumenical Patriarch rebels against and repudiates the righteous struggle waged by the Holy Fathers in defense of Orthodoxy.

2002, January, Assisi. The Pope calls all the religions of the world to Assisi in order to pray for the peace of mankind and for union. Representatives of all Orthodox jurisdictions participate, together with Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Taoists, Shintoists, and African shamans. During the meeting, two ecumenical liturgies take place: one for all religions and one for all Christian denominations. The first includes common prayers, the invocation of all deities, and different rituals meant to show unity, while the latter depicts Christian unity through communion from a common chalice. Here the objective of Ecumenism appears clearly: the harmonization and unification of Christianity with all pagan religions.

2002 — The regulation concerning “confessional” and “interconfessional” common prayer at the meetings of the “World Council of Churches” is approved by the representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate!

2006, February, Porto Alegre, Brazil. The ecumenist Orthodox agree at the Tenth General Assembly of the “WCC” that “each church is catholic and not only in part; it is catholic, yet not in its fullness, and it fulfills its catholicity whenever it is in communion with the other churches.” (“The Ecclesiology Text,” paragraph 6) Likewise, in the same text, the quality of Church was recognized for all the Protestant heretical “churches” of the World Council of Churches, and it was accepted that the multitude of their cacodoxies and errors are “different ways of expressing the same faith” and “a diversity of charisms of the Holy Spirit”!

2006, November 30. Pope Benedict XVI visits Constantinople and participates in the liturgy served by Patriarch Bartholomew, sitting on an episcopal throne, dressed in liturgical vestments; he participates actively in the Divine Liturgy in the patriarchal church and is honored as though he were an Orthodox bishop.

2007, October 8–15, Ravenna, Italy. “The references of the Ravenna Document to the apostolic faith, to the Mysteries of initiation, to the Priesthood, to the Eucharist, and to apostolic succession are made with such naturalness regarding the Roman-Catholic Church that one could believe that the Roman-Catholic Church is Orthodox in all these points. From the Ravenna Document there emerges the tendency to confront the question of papal primacy as a normalization of papal privileges and not as a profoundly theological problem which refers to the very mystery of Christ.” Archim. George Kapsanis, Abbot of the Monastery of Gregoriou on the Holy Mountain Athos.

2008, January 6. Bishop Sofronie of Oradea, of the Romanian Patriarchate, concelebrates the service of the Great Blessing of the Waters together with the Uniate, Greek-Catholic, bishop of the city.

2008, May 25. In an unprecedented gesture, one which shocked the entire Orthodox world, Metropolitan Nicolae Corneanu of Banat, of the Romanian Patriarchate, communes publicly in a Uniate church in Timișoara, together with a Uniate bishop, a Roman-Catholic bishop, and the Papal Nuncio. Following Orthodox reactions, after a month and a half the Synod of the Romanian Church issued a decision by which any member of the Orthodox Church, cleric or layman, is forbidden to commune or to concelebrate mysteries or rites with heterodox clerics, with the threat of deposition or excommunication in the case of disobedience; but it avoids showing that the involvement of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the Ecumenist Movement is the true cause of the deviations of some Orthodox hierarchs toward heresy, and at the same time it avoided applying a canonical sanction upon the Metropolitan of Banat.

2013, Busan, South Korea. At the Tenth General Assembly of the “WCC,” His Eminence Nifon of Târgoviște, the representative of the Romanian Orthodox Church, declares: “The unity of the Church has been lost, and in its present form, since it is divided, the Church is deficient from the point of view of the Holy Mysteries. All people are brothers in Christ, Christian Holy Baptism constituting only a higher, mystical stage within the spiritual kinship existing among them.” No hierarch in the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church perceived the gravity of the statements and asked for explanations, and still less for canonical sanctions, as would have been proper.

2014, May, Jerusalem. The meeting between Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. In the common declaration signed by the two, it was affirmed: “Our fraternal meeting today is a new and necessary stage on the path of unity toward which only the Holy Spirit can lead us, that of communion in a legitimate diversity. […] Although conscious that unity is manifested in the love of God and in love of neighbor, we await with eagerness that day when, finally, we shall share together the Eucharistic Supper.” Once again, the reconciliation between the Orthodox Church and the papal heresy without any repentance on the part of the latter is shown in a grave and unacceptable manner.

2014, September, Seoul, South Korea. The Peace Summit organized by the World Alliance of Religions and by the organization “Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light.” The representatives of the principal religions of the world signed, within a festive ceremony, the agreement for the unity of religions, “which constitutes an innovative promise of religions to unite unconditionally and without discrimination in order to obtain true peace.” The agreement has the following content: “We commit ourselves before God, before all the people of the world, and before the advocates of peace, to become one under God through the unity of religions.” Practically, this agreement is a very important step toward the future union in apostasy of all religions into a global religion, which will also have a single leader, as the apocalyptic prophecies show.

2015, September 10, Phanar. In his speech, Patriarch Bartholomew affirms the fact that opposition to the plans of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for “ecumenical unity” is diabolical. In fact, any opposition is diabolical, the Patriarch affirms, and truly defamatory, which corresponds exactly to the opinion of papism, the “sister church” of Phanar. From this it is seen that the most fervent supporters of Ecumenism are in fact the most embittered persecutors of the Orthodox.

2015, September 25, New York. During the Pope’s visit to the September 11 memorial, an interreligious service takes place, in which the Orthodox Archbishop of America also participates.

2016, February 2–3. Within the proceedings of the Sobor of the Russian Orthodox Church, the members of the Hierarchical Synod showed that, in its present form, the draft documents of the Holy and Great Council do not violate the purity of the Orthodox faith and do not deviate from the canonical tradition of the Church. This is a new victory of the ecumenist heretics over the Orthodox mind of the pleroma of the Russian Orthodox Church.

2016, February 12, Havana, Cuba. The common declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, from which we select:

“With joy we have met as brothers in the Christian faith.” (1)

“In spite of this common Tradition of the first ten centuries, Catholics and Orthodox, for almost a thousand years, have been deprived of communion in the Eucharist. We are separated by the wounds caused by conflicts of a distant or recent past, by the divergences, inherited from our forefathers, in the understanding and explanation of our faith in God, One in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (5)

“Conscious of the permanence of numerous obstacles, we desire that our meeting contribute to the restoration of this unity willed by God, for which Christ prayed.” (6)

“We believe that these martyrs of our time, who belong to different Churches but are united through a common suffering, represent a pledge of the unity of Christians.” (12)

Through this common declaration, the aim is the acceptance by the Orthodox of reconciliation with the papists without requiring any kind of repentance from them. At the same time, the false idea was expressed that if all martyrs belonging to the different “churches” suffered persecution for religious reasons, this means that all struggled for and confessed the same truth. This is a dishonoring of the Holy Confessors of Orthodoxy and a cunning diversion of the meaning of their struggle and sacrifice.

2016, April, Lesbos. The common declaration of Pope Francis and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens affirms, among other things: “For our part, obeying the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have firmly and wholeheartedly decided that we will intensify efforts to promote full unity among all Christians.”

2016, June 16–27, Kolymbari, Crete, Greece. The holding of the “Holy and Great Council.” Through the documents signed and approved by the representatives of ten local Churches, mixed marriages between Orthodox and heterodox were admitted, in violation of the Holy Canons of the Church; and on this same occasion the historical designation of “churches” for the heterodox was accepted, although this had been condemned hundreds of years earlier at the Orthodox Council of Jerusalem of March 16, 1672, when the Confession of Faith of Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril Lucaris was anathematized because of Calvinist-Reformed influences. The pseudo-council of Crete imposes the heresy of Ecumenism as the official doctrine of the Church and constitutes the crowning of more than 100 years of efforts concerning the participation of Orthodox representatives in the Ecumenist Movement.

2016, September 15–21, Chieti, Italy. Within the meeting of the mixed commission of dialogue between the ecumenist Orthodox and the papists, papal primacy is recognized by the Orthodox representatives. Representatives of the Bulgarian Church were absent from the meeting.

2016, September, Jerusalem. The Mekudeshet Festival, a Hebrew term referring to marriage, (consecration), gathers together “the three great monotheistic religions,” Christianity, represented by the papists, Judaism, and Mohammedanism, under a new form of interreligious and spiritual meeting: “Amen — A House of Prayer for All Believers,” a meeting within which the three faiths are called to dialogue, study, sing, and pray together in a single temporary house of worship. The organization of the festival is carried out by a group in Israel which calls itself “The Borders Dissolvers,” active in different cultural fields with the aim of changing the reality on the ground. Thus, some titles on the internet speak about the dissolving of borders and the worshiping together of the same god. Once again, the aim of Ecumenism is shown: the syncretistic union of Christianity with non-Christian religions.

2017, May. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia affirms: “I know that here there are both Christians and Muslims; each addresses one and the same Creator God, and behold, in response to this, we receive real divine help.” Here appears the heretical idea according to which Muslims worship the same God as Christians.

2017, April, Geneva. Patriarch Bartholomew openly acknowledges what the aim of the “council” in Crete was: “Ultimately, Orthodox participation in the efforts for reconciliation and unity of Christians within what is called the ‘Ecumenical Movement,’ which until now has been based on decisions taken either individually by the Autocephalous Churches or within the Pan-Orthodox Conferences, had to be ratified synodally, which is the authentic method for formulating a uniform position of the Orthodox Church. We Orthodox, that is, the ecumenists and those in communion with them are meant, are firmly convinced that the Ecumenical Movement and the World Council of Churches have as their aim and reason for existence the fulfillment of the Lord’s final prayer, ‘that they all may be one’ (John 17:21) …” Through this the aim is to erase the differences between Orthodoxy and heresy, and then the union of all in apostasy.

2017, April 28, Cairo. The ecumenist prayer in which Pope Francis, the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Patriarch of Alexandria, and the primates of the Monophysites participate.

We must make the clarification that not all the events of the Ecumenist Movement have been included in the preceding chronological enumeration, but only those which we considered the most important.

Conclusions

From what has been presented above, it is clearly seen that all ecumenist endeavors seek to convince mankind that, at first, all the pseudo-churches and so-called Christian confessions, and afterward all religions, are different paths, yet equal in value, which lead toward salvation. But from this there emerges the fearful blasphemy and heresy that the Savior ought not to have become incarnate, that it was not necessary for Him to sacrifice Himself on the Cross, and that He did not have to establish one single Church with one unique Apostolic Tradition, for whose Truth all the ranks of Saints have struggled and sacrificed themselves for 2,000 years until today. The ecumenist heretics offer the deceitful solution of creating a global religious structure in which all people may live in peace, harmony, and earthly happiness, regardless of what faith they have, pursuing only the fulfillment of certain humanist ideals, but which have no connection with the teaching and life of the True Church.

We, the priests here and the Christian-Orthodox people whom we represent, and who have ceased commemorating the hierarchs who signed the documents from Crete and the other hierarchs who tacitly support those documents, confess that we will never accept the heresy of Ecumenism, being conscious that only in this way will we remain steadfast in the Church of Christ, that is, in the Truth.

 

- Hieromonk Ioan Chițu in collaboration with Hieromonk Spiridon Roșu.