Testimonies of Holy Figures of the Church Concerning the False Council of Crete

Those Who Knowingly Maintain Communion with Heresy Are Without Excuse

Archimandrite Pavlos Dimitrakopoulos, theologian and author

 

 

Let us see, once again, briefly and in passing, what great saintly figures of our time said about this Council, which, in their day, was yet to be convened. Their opinion naturally carries great weight, since they were holy men.

Contemporary saintly figures of our time, closely following the entire course of the successive so-called Pan-Orthodox conferences and consultations, as well as the preparation of the “Council of Crete,” discerned, through the divine illumination within them, the ruinous ecumenist course along which the entire preparation was proceeding. They also discerned the rotten ecumenist foundations upon which the entire undertaking rested and foresaw that the “Holy and Great Council” that was to be convened would be nothing other than an ecumenist, heretical false council.

* * *

Let us see what Saint Justin Popović said—a great saint and confessor of our time. In 1971, he submitted a memorandum to the Holy Synod of the Serbian Church entitled: “Concerning the Proposed Great Council of the Orthodox Church: A Memorandum to the Synod of the Hierarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church.”

This is a text of historic significance and a splendid Orthodox Confession, in which the God-bearing Father points out, among other things, the following:

“Personally, I do not see that, under present circumstances, there is truly an unavoidable need to convene an Ecumenical Council. But if such a need does exist, the present moment is the most unsuitable in the history of our Church. Any new Ecumenical Council will be neither Holy, nor Ecumenical, nor the Eighth, unless it first accepts the ecumenical and unshakable decisions of the preceding Councils.”

The Saint perceived that the proper conditions for convening an Ecumenical Council did not exist, because even at that time Ecumenism already prevailed in almost all the Local Churches. Consequently, if such a Council were convened, it would not be a Council of Holy Fathers, but a false council of ecumenist hierarchs. But if the circumstances at that time were, in the Saint’s judgment, unsuitable, consider how much more unsuitable they are now, five and a half decades later. How much more unfavorable conditions have become today, when the tempest of the heresy of Ecumenism has swept away everything and assumed far greater proportions.

And the Saint concludes this historic memorandum of his with the following prophetic words:

“But finally, it is known both to the Angels and to men, and especially to Orthodox Christians, that in this apocalyptic age it is difficult—or rather, impossible—for many hierarchs of the Local Orthodox Churches, because of human weaknesses, to confess the Orthodox dogmas and canonical truths in an Orthodox and patristic manner at this ‘Ecumenical Council’ that may possibly be convened. For this reason, the more Orthodox course would be for an Ecumenical Council not to be convened, or at least for no one to participate in it.”

Five years later, in 1976, Saint Justin, foreseeing the bitter fruits of the future convocation of the “Council of Crete,” would once again make a new appeal to the hierarchy of the Serbian Church in another memorandum. He writes:

“Once again, at the prompting of my conscience, I address this plea and my filial, prayerful cry to the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Serbia: that the Serbian Church abstain from participating in the preparation of an ‘Ecumenical Council’ in name only, and most especially from participating in it if it is ultimately convened.”

* * *

Venerable Philotheos Zervakos, an elder known to all of you, reposed in 1980. He too followed with deep concern the developments concerning the “Holy and Great Council” that was being prepared.

In complete agreement with Saint Justin Popović, he writes the following in a relevant article entitled “Concerning an Ecumenical Council”:

“Thus, we consider the convening of an ‘Ecumenical Council’ entirely superfluous with regard to matters upon which the divine Apostles and the God-wise Fathers and Teachers of the Church have already pronounced through the Holy Canons.”

* * *

The ever-memorable Archimandrite Charalambos Vasilopoulos likewise makes the same observations concerning the proposed Council and warns of the same dangers arising from its possible convocation. He was the founder of the newspaper Orthodoxos Typos and the Panhellenic Orthodox Union (P.O.E.). He writes:

“Unfortunately, the ‘Eighth Ecumenical Council’ now being prepared will also be a robber council. If we judge from what we have seen thus far, the ecumenists intend, through the proposed ‘Eighth Ecumenical Council,’ to ratify the innovations that they themselves are presently promoting within the Church. They want it to be a Council that will overturn the previous decisions of the Seven Ecumenical Councils.”

* * *

Another great saintly and patristic figure, the former Metropolitan of Florina, Augustinos of blessed memory, writes in an important article in Spitha:

“If the principal reason for which Ecumenical Councils are convened is heresy, then there is indeed a serious reason for convening an ‘Ecumenical Council.’ And this reason—apart from the other errors and heresies that must be condemned—is the heresy that a distinguished hierarch of blessed memory of the Church of Greece called the heresy of heresies. The name of this heresy? Ecumenism.”

* * *

The ever-memorable Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios, a man of pan-Orthodox stature and spirituality, said in 1991, referring to the “Holy and Great Council” that was to be convened, in his book entitled Two Homilies Concerning the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem:

“Such a Council is not guided by the Holy Spirit, but is driven by the dark powers, with Freemasonry at their head. Let this be understood. Yes. For this reason, if this Council does take place, it will be characterized as a False Council—as though he too were speaking prophetically. It will not be accepted. What spiritual state are those bishops in who will sit down to discuss the matters of this Council? Do they uphold the Orthodox Faith or do they not? From what we are able to know today—I, you, and all of us—those who will participate have been taken captive by Ecumenism. To speak unequivocally, with perhaps a few exceptions, these men do not uphold the Orthodox Faith, even though they are called Patriarchs, Archbishops, and Bishops. They do not uphold the Orthodox Faith. We know the manner in which they act and express themselves. We know this. I shall say it once again: they have been taken captive by Freemasonry and Ecumenism.”

Father Seraphim Zisis is currently giving a series of talks entitled “The Gradual Masonization of the Church,” in complete harmony with what Father Athanasios of blessed memory says here.

* * *

I shall conclude with what was said by another great ecclesiastical figure of our time, the grace-filled and discerning American Orthodox monk Father Seraphim Rose. He is known to all of you through his books, which have also been translated into Greek. This holy hieromonk, Father Seraphim, lived in California. What, then, does he say? He wrote in 1976:

“Judged according to the sober standard of immutable Patristic Orthodoxy, the preparations for an ‘Eighth Ecumenical Council,’ now called a ‘Pan-Orthodox Council,’ reveal themselves to be unorthodox, lacking in seriousness, and pastorally altogether irresponsible. Such a Council is an undertaking rooted not in the Orthodox mind and in heartfelt concern for the salvation of souls, but rather in the spirit of the age. It seeks to please not God, but the world—and specifically the heterodox world. Judging from the experience of the Vatican Council, which had taken place several years earlier, and its consequences for Papism, such a Council, if convened, will produce profound disorder and anarchy in the Orthodox world. The proposed ‘Ecumenical Council,’ judged on the basis of the preparations already made, can be nothing other than a robber council—a betrayal of Christ and His Church.”

 

Greek source: https://aktines.blogspot.com/2026/06/blog-post_115.html

Shared by the Holy Metropolis of Oropos and Phyle:

https://www.imoph.org/pdfs/2026/08/21/20260821aMart-PsevdoSyn-Kr.pdf