1958 Address of the G.O.C. to the Autocephalous Churches of Orthodoxy

 

To All the Patriarchates and Autocephalous Churches of the Great Orthodox Eastern Church of Christ

Most Holy,

Most Blessed,

Most Reverend,

Those who write these lines are children of the Orthodox Eastern Church, loving and revering Orthodoxy as an affectionate mother, and struggling to repel every corruption or alteration of her through the penetration into her whole ecclesiastical life of elements foreign to her age-long tradition, which goes back to her Founder, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, first of all, they offer to you, the wise helmsmen of the individual Churches and venerable fathers of Orthodox peoples, the deepest respect of approximately one million Greeks who remain firmly and immovably within the unalterable and immovable boundaries which the Great Fathers of Orthodoxy set, and who believe that in the present times, attachment to the sound conservative spirit is imperative.

Known to you is the eventful, yet glorious and triumphantly victorious history of the Orthodox Church of Christ, especially in the years after the schism, when the plot from the West, strengthened by secular authority, enabled the Pope, on the one hand, to deviate from the venerable boundary of the sacred dogmas and traditions of Orthodoxy, and, on the other hand, to dare to ensnare Orthodoxy through supposedly unitive intentions, and especially through the establishment of the Roman Unia in the various Orthodox states.

And a trap gilded with the splendor of scientific precision is also the work of the Jesuit Pope Gregory XIII, the Gregorian calendar. Admittedly, this constitutes the most satanic and most deceitful means of corrosion, because, while it presents itself as free from any dogmatic implications, it achieves the rapprochement of the Orthodox toward the Papists through the common celebration of the great feasts of Christendom, the fruit of which will be the progressive lessening of dogmatic oppositions, the formation of a dogmatic syncretism, and thereafter the now easy transfer from the flock of Orthodoxy into the pit of Papism. That this is how matters stand is proved by the steadfast and persistent refusal of the titans of Orthodoxy, Jeremiah II Tranos, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Meletios Pegas of Crete, Patriarch of Alexandria, to accept the calendar reform, and by their convening, for its repulsion, the great local council in Constantinople in 1583, at which they condemned this reform.

Furthermore, the intentions of the adherents of the calendar reform are revealed by the illegitimate Pan-Orthodox Conference convened in Constantinople in 1923, at least from the standpoint of competence and authority. In it, the inspirer and patron of the conference in question, Meletios Metaxakis, in wild enthusiasm, informed the representative of the Anglican Church, Bishop [Charles] Gore, who happened by chance (!) to be present, that “I shall ask Your Eminence to announce to the Archbishop of Canterbury that we are disposed to accept the new calendar, which we shall find together with the West” (5th Session, May 23, 1923).

“I shall ask Your Eminence to inform the Archbishop of Canterbury that we are prepared to accept the new calendar, which we shall determine in concert with the West.” (5th Session, May 23, 1923).

There is no room, we think, for doubt concerning the aims of the Papal Church and of her accomplices, alas, so-called Orthodox.

But beyond all these things the question arises: Why do the elder Churches continue the application of the old calendar? Why does Mother Zion [i.e. the Patriarchate of Jerusalem] joyfully ring her bells together with the Slavic Churches, when other Orthodox Churches run ahead by thirteen whole days? Certainly, in the thinking of the Churches which act thus, respect for the unity of Orthodoxy, for the decisions of local Councils, and for the spirit of the great Fathers of Orthodoxy prevails.

For the Church, chronological accuracy does not occupy the place of an ideal and a value, but rather the unity of the Orthodox.

Burningly longing for this unity ourselves as well, we address ourselves to the venerable heads of Universal Orthodoxy, that holy supranational reality, governed under one constitution, the Holy Canons, and speaking one language, that of love, that they may restore the unity of the Orthodox Peoples and Churches.

Honorable Fathers,

We possess letters from many of you, written indeed in the particular tongue in which you were born, yet breathing the sweet fragrance of genuine Orthodoxy. And our ears are still delighted by the remembrance of words strengthening our movement, during the precious meetings in Greece or abroad.

The time has already come for it to be emphasized, in a spirit of love, to the Autocephalous Church of Greece, which in legendary and renowned fashion taught those who remained where You remain and who desire what Pan-Orthodoxy desires, that the pending Old Calendar question be settled, which, as we pray, it will examine this coming October in the Hierarchy being convoked. And that this is not an internal question of one Autocephalous Church, but a matter of Pan-Orthodox interest, is proved by the sympathetic comments which from time to time are published in foreign-language Orthodox periodicals, but also by the clear declaration of the ancient throne of Saint Mark and second throne of Orthodoxy, that of the Alexandrians, according to which: “For this reason, the Church of Greece, if by herself she cannot find the path of Pan-Orthodoxy, would do well to seek also the help of the other Autocephalous Churches, above all of the Patriarchates” (Pantainos July 13, 1957).

And we think that only two solutions are indicated: the restoration of the calendar order, so that also in the outward manifestation of worship we may be in agreement as members of Universal Orthodoxy; or the establishment of a mixed committee for the finding of a solution, until the convocation of a Pan-Orthodox Synod.

In the hope that the highest interests of Orthodoxy will overshadow the small sectional reservations concerning the indispensable action requested above, we remain faithful children of beloved Mother Orthodoxy and of her venerable heads.

The Ecclesiastical Committee

The President
Archim. Akakios Pappas

The Gen. Secretary
Archim. Chrysostomos Kiousis

The Members
Archim. Parthenios Skourlis
Archim. Auxentios Pastras
Archim. Merkourios Kalostamis
Archim. Theophilos Tsampas
Archim. Gabriel Kalamodakis
Hieromonk Gregorios Papavlachos
Hieromonk Dionysios Kalargyros
Priest Stylianos Papadopoulos
Hieromonk Panaretos Petridis

 

Greek source: The Voice of Orthodoxy, No. 292, August 11, 1958 (O.S.), pp. 1-2.