Ultimately, whom are we fighting for?

 

Recently, many blogs have been publishing articles and analyses concerning the ecumenist texts and the treacherous agreements made before and after the robber council of Kolymbari. In these articles (for example, https://apotixisi.blogspot.com/ and https://aktines.blogspot.com/), the authors—most of them priests—act as though they had reinvented the wheel and speak about Ecumenism and everything connected with it as though it had only now appeared, producing analysis upon analysis. But worse still, they speak about the heresy, yet neither do they themselves break communion with it—that is, wall themselves off—nor do they call upon the faithful to do so. Their stance shows that they care neither for the flock nor for the salvation and unity of the struggling faithful. The only thing each seeks for himself is the status of an authority, which, contrary to the Faith, they defend tooth and nail. But we ask: Is this what the Saints did?

Among the “divine Fathers, who ordered all things well,” the desire for recognition of their authority never even entered their minds. What concerned them was not their own advancement, but the protection of the flock from the defilement of heresy. For the divine Fathers, separation from heretics was like removing sheep from wolves, a man from a serpent, or healthy people from an infectious disease and contagious pandemic; it was an exodus and withdrawal from a burning house. Walling-off is undertaken so that those who desire to be saved may not be burned together with those who willingly remain within the fire of the pan-heresy!

For this is truly the case: as the Saints teach us, the faithful Christian is devoured and consumed by the wolf and the fire of heresy when he remains in communion with heretics. He is affected both imperceptibly and perceptibly, becomes defiled, and is thus lost. The Apostle Paul warned us that this happens even through conversations and associations of lesser importance: “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (I Cor. 15:33). Therefore, the faithful must withdraw from heretics and from those who are in communion with them, “as from a serpent” (St. Photios the Great)—just as one does when encountering a serpent in one’s path, or when one finds oneself in a place where there is a contagious disease, if one wishes to be saved and not become infected.

For this reason, in their writings they spoke in the imperative mood—not in optional, non-binding exhortations, as many “teach” today—and employed dramatic language filled with imagery and similes. At every opportunity, they called upon the faithful to obey the commandments of the Gospel and the Apostles in times of heresy. They did not write scholarly treatises in order to win praise and recognition, even concealing out of envy the labors of other workers in the vineyard. For this reason, they were also persecuted—unlike today’s “experts,” who speak from a position of safety and criticize only those whom they can safely criticize, while leaving untouched those whom they ought to confront, because in this way they safeguard their own interests. At the same time, they appear neither to love nor to burn with concern for their brethren.

From the beginning of the Church, it has been—and remains—perfectly evident that every believer who regards the Church as the Body of Christ and his brethren as members of that Body, when he sees that the members of the Body have been defiled or are in danger of being defiled by the infectious diseases contained within the Pan-heresy of Ecumenism, out of love and duty toward Christ, the Church (his home), his brethren, and himself, and out of love and concern for the truth and the true Faith, struggles self-sacrificially against every assault upon the Faith and the Church and separates himself from the heretics, sounding the alarm for their sake as well, even if, humanly speaking, he remains alone.

It is impossible for someone to care about his Fathers and brethren, to care about the integrity and preservation of the One Church of Jesus, and for this concern of his to be “academic”—as some foolishly, and indeed approvingly, characterize it! It is impossible for priests to know that struggling faithful remain without Communion and without the Liturgy, or travel hundreds of miles to find a priest, while they themselves restrict their pastoral activity to publishing studies aimed solely at their own self-promotion.

Since Kolymbari [i.e., the Council of Crete], it has become clearer than the sun that the Ecumenist shepherds—and those who commemorate them and remain in communion with them—fear one thing: the cessation of commemoration. Hence their threats; hence the persecutions; and hence their misinterpretation and distortion of the teaching of the Saints, which they carry out with infuriating naturalness, as though performing the holiest of deeds, recalling the Lord’s words: “Whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2).

From all this it is evident that heretics, or those who remain in communion with heretics, are—both figuratively and literally—“hireling” shepherds (John 10:12), and often “evil” shepherds as well. For precisely this reason, what they fear and dread is losing their authority; the communion, recognition, and mutual support of their fellow clergymen; and the prestige conferred upon them by their office, rather than by communion with God—Whom they abandon and offend, since they do not struggle to drive out the heretics who are ravaging His Church! What concerns them is social prominence, income, and the advancement of their own interests.

The Ecumenists’ false assurances that “everything is going well,” that “we are not betraying the Faith,” or that “we are doing all this out of love for the heterodox”—although daily refuted by new betrayals and by the tacit (or even open) acceptance of new errors, whether in word or deed—do not trouble these shepherds in the least; and this is what ranks them among the false shepherds. They continue to keep their eyes closed to the corruption of the Faith and its being sold out, so long as they can continue publishing articles and gaining recognition as authors!

They remain coldly indifferent to the fact that heresy, when confronted with half-measures, indifference, and an ostrich-like refusal to face reality, does not retreat, diminish, or disappear; on the contrary, it grows, gains strength, spreads, and prevails.

They do not even consider turning their eyes toward the lives of the Saints—although every day they praise them in solemn concelebrations—and imitating them: imitating their confession and their manner of confronting heresy. And yet, when a good general sees that the strategy he is employing against the enemy is not succeeding, he changes it. They, however, remain unrepentant and incapable of learning, persisting in the same ruinous strategy. For they do not desire to march together with Christ the Victor, Who alone, seated upon a white horse, “went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Rev. 6:2); rather, what interests them and gives them a sense of security is marching together with the multitude.

Nevertheless, we beseech these priests to abandon scholarly treatise-writing and take up pastoral ministry. Let them disregard recognition from men and seek recognition from God and His flock. It is never too late for any of us. We can all do so. While there is still time, let us all, with concord, unity, humility, and, of course, a SELF-SACRIFICIAL spirit, put into practice God’s specific commandments concerning separation from heretics. The EXAMPLE of the Saints is readily accessible, and we can compare it with the COUNTEREXAMPLE commended to us by today’s false shepherds. It is never too late. And we will support them with all our strength, as befits priests of the Most High.

- Adamantios Tsakiroglou, classical philologist and historian     

 

Greek source: https://eugenikos.blogspot.com/2026/08/blog-post_879.html