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The Traditional Teaching of the Holy Orthodox Church “Preach the word; be ready in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, they shall heap un unto themselves teachers according to their own desires; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned aside unto fables.” (II Timothy 4:2-4) “Whosoever has communion with one who is excommunicated is to be excommunicated, as one who brings confusion into the order of the Church.” (10th Apostolic Canon) “Let a bishop, presbyter, or deacon who has only prayed with heretics be excommunicated; but if he has permitted them to perform any clerical office, let him be deposed.” (45 th Apostolic Canon) sacrifice of heretics be deposed. For what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath a believer with an infidel?” (46th Apostolic Canon) received baptism, or who shall not baptize one who has been polluted by the ungodly [i.e. those in heresy] be deposed, as despising the Cross and death of the Lord, and not making a distinction between the true priests and the false.” (47 th Apostolic Canon) “Those baptized by heretics shall be baptized with the one true baptism in order to be admitted to the Church.” (Canon 1 of the Local Council of Carthage) “The sacraments of those preserving in heresy shall obtain from them the heavy penalty of eternal damnation.” (61st Canon of Council of Carthage) The Teaching of the Saints of the Holy Orthodox Church “We have cut the Latins off from us for no other reason than that they are not only schismatics, but also heretics. For the reason it is wholly improper to unite with them.” “All the teachers of the Church, all the Synods, and all the Sacred Scriptures admonish the faithful to flee from those that teach heresy, and they forbid them to have communion with them.” (St. Mark of Ephesus) “With a great voice, St. John Chrysostom addressed as enemies of God not only the heretics, but also those who were in communion with them.” (St. Theodore the Studite) “Is the shepherd a heretic? Then he is a wolf! Flee from him; do not be deceived by him even if he appears gentle and tame. Avoid communion with him even as you would flee from a poisonous snake.” (St. Photius the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople) “Who is antichrist?… The one is the pope ant the other is he who is on our head.” [i.e. the Ottoman Moslem rulers] (St. Cosmas of Aetolia) “The division of the churches with transpired during the time of St. Photius the Great was rather for the better, since the Church was in danger of falling away from the One Catholic and Apostolic Church (Orthodox) and becoming Roman, or rather Papal, which preaches not any longer those things of the Holy Apostles, but the dogmas of the Popes.” (St Nectarios of Pentapolis) “Our Father denounced and anathematized Origen for perverting the truth.” (St. Cyril of Alexandria) The doctrine of Origen is a doctrine of wickedness which arouses in souls an unclean stench.” (The Rule of St. Pachomius the Great) AGAINST FALSE ECUMENISM ANATHEMA to 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 heresy of ecumenism under the pretext of brotherly love or the supposed unification of separated Christians, Anathema ! (Pronouncement of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, 1983, signed by all the Bishops, to be permanently added at the end of the Anathemas listed in the "Rite of Orthodoxy," celebrated on the First Sunday of the Great Fast, the Sunday of Orthodoxy) INTERPRETATION OF THE ANATHEMA "The Orthodox Russian Church Abroad, headed at the present time by Metropolitan Philaret, confesses itself to be an inseparable part of the historical Russian Church. As a Local Church it has the right to assemble its own regular sobors and to pronounce resolutions which are completely obligatory for all her children dispersed throughout the world. Time will show whether the other Local Churches will accept our decision concerning Ecumenism, even as in their own time, the decrees of the ten Local Councils were accepted by all, and were entered into the "Book of the Canons of the Holy Apostles, the Holy Ecumenical and Local Councils and the Holy Fathers" of the Ecumenical Church. ... As far as Ecumenism is concerned, every Local Church has had sufficient time over the past one hundred years to study it, and if any given Local Church bases its teaching and life on the canons of the Holy Apostles, on the canons of all the Orthodox Councils, then it cannot but acknowledge the fact that Ecumenism has assembled into one all the heresies which have ever existed, both past and present, and called this unity a church. Such a manifestation is already plainly of the Antichrist. Thus, in proclaiming the Anathema, we have protected our flock from this apocalyptic temptation, and unintentionally have simultaneously posed a serious question to the conscience of all the Local Churches, which they must sooner or later resolve on one side or the other. Their future spiritual fate in the universal Orthodox Church will depend upon the resolution of this question. De jure the Anathema which has been pronounced by us is of a purely local character of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, but de facto it has an immense historical significance universally, historically and ecclesiastically, precisely because Ecumenism itself is a heresy of a world-wide scale. This position of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad is clearly on the conscience of all the Orthodox. For us, this is a great cross which the Lord has placed upon us. But we can be silent no longer, for further silence would be tantamount to a betray +Archbishop Vitaly of Montreal |
