Metropolitans Seraphim of Piraeus and Kythira say no vote happened, no recognition of OCU

Athens, October 14, 2019

Met. Seraphim of Kythira (left), Met. Seraphim of Piraeus (right). Photos: agionoros.ru Met. Seraphim of Kythira (left), Met. Seraphim of Piraeus (right). Photos: agionoros.ru     

While media reports have stated that the Bishops’ Council of the Greek Church resolved to recognize the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” on Saturday, drawing on Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos’ statements to the press, two prominent hierarchs of the Greek Church say this is not true.

Both Metropolitans Seraphim of Piraeus and Seraphim of Kythira, both of whom have addressed the Ukrainian issue several times before, have issued statements in the wake of Saturday’s session, stating that the issue of recognizing the OCU was not put to a vote and that the hierarchs simply reaffirmed the Holy Synod’s earlier decision.

In August, the Holy Synod of the Greek Church “recognize[d] the Ecumenical Patriarch’s canonical right to issue the status of Autocephaly,” though as OrthoChristian wrote at that time, it was unclear if the Synod was speaking of Constantinople’s rights in general or specifically in the Ukrainian situation.

The Synod also recognized “the privilege of the primate of the Church of Greece to further deal with the question of recognition of the Church of Ukraine.”

According to both Seraphims, these recognitions were affirmed by the Bishops’ Council, and nothing more.

In fact, as Met. Seraphim of Kythira emphasizes, Metropolitan Daniel of Kaisariani pushed for a vote to take place, but that did not happen. But, he writes, decisions are made in the Orthodox Church by a vote, so if there was no vote, how could there have been a decision?

Therefore, he laments that spin was immediately put on the Council’s proceedings, and that Met. Hierotheos told the press that the Council’s decisions imply that the Greek Church has recognized the OCU.

Of course, the news spread quickly throughout the Orthodox world, and hierarchs from several Local Churches have already offered formal and informal reactions to the supposed decision of the Greek Church.

While Abp. Ieronymos recommended recognizing the OCU, Met. Seraphim of Kythira argues that the authorization of Abp. Ieronymos to handle the issue further is open to interpretation. Will the matter simply be settled by Abp. Ieronymos concelebrating with or commemorating Epiphany Dumenko in the Liturgy?

Met. Seraphim asks: With this privilege, will Abp. Ieronymos manage, wisely and prudently, the burning canonical and ecclesiological issue which has arisen such that it will be solved in a conciliar and canonical manner with the other primates, or he will proceed to solve it on his own?

Moreover, Met. Seraphim of Kythira writes that the media’s confused reports of only 7 metropolitans standing against recognition of the OCU were a great mistake, one he hopes that was made unintentionally. In fact, he writes, many hierarchs are against it. A few openly spoke against it, while others did not feel the need to repeat what was said by others, the hierarch of Kythira writes. He notes that there are hierarchs from the “New Lands,” which are officially within the jurisdiction of Constantinople, who also oppose autocephaly for the OCU, but who did not speak up because they do not want their view to become public.

In particular, Met. Seraphim of Kythira notes that Met. Seraphim of Piraeus went deeply into the issue, exploring it from a canonical and ecclesiological perspective.

The Metropolitan of Kythira concludes with his own position on that matter, that the hierarchs have totally ignored a letter that came to them from His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the primate of the canonical Ukrainian Church, and they have ignored the fact that the Patriarch of Constantinople cannot receive a petition from another Local Church.

This second point is also made by Met. Seraphim of Piraeus, as he has before, emphasizing that all of Constantinople’s actions in Ukraine are illegitimate because they were made outside of its own canonical territory and beyond its canonical rights. Only an Ecumenical Council can make such decisions, the hierarch of Piraeus writes.

Met. Seraphim of Kythira ends by calling upon the Archbishop and the Patriarch to avoid any other actions and to wait for a pan-Orthodox decision.

Moreover, a source within the Greek Church also told RIA-Novosti that the hierarchs’ decision does not mean recognition of the OCU, as there was no vote directly on recognition. He says, instead, that will come only when Abp. Ieronymos begins to commemorate Epiphany Dumenko at the Liturgy.

“Everything that is being written right now is aimed at serving the interests of, and is mobilized to promote the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,” the source said.

In his opinion, the position of certain hierarchs who are advocating for recognition of the OCU’s autocephaly, such as Met. Hierotheos (Vlachos), who immediately portrayed the Council’s decisions as a recognition of the OCU, do so because of their desire to take up the primatial throne.

The source also said that the recognition of the OCU will lead to a schism in the Greek Church, and he expressed the hope that the Russian Church will not rush to make a decision until the situation is fully clarified.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

10/14/2019

See also
Greek Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira: Constantinople’s actions divide Ukraine, Greek Synod, Mt. Athos, entire Church Greek Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira: Constantinople’s actions divide Ukraine, Greek Synod, Mt. Athos, entire Church Greek Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira: Constantinople’s actions divide Ukraine, Greek Synod, Mt. Athos, entire Church Greek Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira: Constantinople’s actions divide Ukraine, Greek Synod, Mt. Athos, entire Church
The granting of autocephaly to the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU) was lawlessly done under the pressure of geopolitical interest and deeply split not only the Ukrainian people, but also the Local Orthodox Churches, the Holy Mountain, and the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira and Antikythera of the Greek Orthodox Church believes, as he wrote in a statement published on the Greek site vimaorthodoxias.gr.
Greek Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira warns of dangers of Ukrainian situation for entire Church Greek Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira warns of dangers of Ukrainian situation for entire Church Greek Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira warns of dangers of Ukrainian situation for entire Church Greek Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira warns of dangers of Ukrainian situation for entire Church
His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira and Antikythera of the Greek Orthodox Church has again raised his voice about the dangers facing the Orthodox Church because of Constantinople’s anti-canonical and blundering invasion of the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, this time in his Paschal letter sent to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and the primates of all the Local Orthodox Churches.
Metropolis of Piraeus calls on Greek Holy Synod not to recognize Ukrainian schismatics Metropolis of Piraeus calls on Greek Holy Synod not to recognize Ukrainian schismatics Metropolis of Piraeus calls on Greek Holy Synod not to recognize Ukrainian schismatics Metropolis of Piraeus calls on Greek Holy Synod not to recognize Ukrainian schismatics
The Metropolis of Piraeus, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, has called on the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church not to recognize the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” created by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine on December 15.
Comments
Dean Calvert10/15/2019 11:05 pm
The devil is having a field day with the Orthodox right now. Lord have mercy!
P. Antonio Arganda10/15/2019 8:24 pm
The Ukrainian schismatics openly concelebrate with romans and uniates.
Jacob10/15/2019 7:54 pm
Dear sister Irinea, If only everyone in the Orthodox Church had your insight and understood the "slyness" of the Greeks. When one encounters certain members of their clergy and laity, one begins to wonder whether these people were ever truly converted to the love of Christ at all! I never knew how evil and sly mankind could be until I witnessed (firsthand) the tactics of the Greeks towards those that they perceive as their enemies. One also wonders whether it was the mercy of God that took away the great power that the Greek people once possessed and gave their lands to the Turks?! Look at the disenfranchised and poor Arab Christians of Palestine, and you will see how the Greeks treat none-Greek people when they rule over them, even when they share the same faith as them! I personally used to pray that God would resurrect the "Byzantine Empire", but after being witness to the Greek hatred, anger, superiority complex, and deception I now simply pray "God be merciful to us and deliver us from the evils of man", and if that means that the land which once belonged to the Greeks remains under the control of the Turks...Glory to God! We have experienced the evils of Bartholomew and his bishops while in a very weak position, being subjected to Islamic rule, imagine this man and his people with power! The thought should scare us all! May God convert these people, or God forbid that their dark souls and hearts rule over us! Jacob
Bob 10/15/2019 6:55 pm
A sound reminder that we (myself especially) should withhold comment until the truth comes out. It is just so sad and disappointing as Sister points out, that the "church" is not following Christ's commands that yes should be yes and no should be no. Once again a good reminder that we have to look to Christ for Truth, and not the church leaders (unfortunately) who are as frail as the rest of we humans. That is why we need to pray for the church leaders and not to condemn them. I thank the Lord for those that are standing on firm ground in spite of the great pressures being put on them.
Nun Irinea10/15/2019 1:32 pm
This is just another case of Greek slyness, or if you prefer a more polite expression, of "Byzantine subtleness", was we have seen it at the pseudo-council of Crete and its preparatory conferences as well as in the whole dramatics of the Ukrainian question. How much one would wish that at least within the Church such tactics were put aside and that instead of these Christian honesty would prevail, according to Christ's command that our "yes" should be yes, and our "no" should be no.
Here you can leave your comment on the present article, not exceeding 4000 characters. All comments will be read by the editors of OrthoChristian.Com.
Enter through FaceBook
Your name:
Your e-mail:
Enter the digits, seen on picture:

Characters remaining: 4000

Subscribe
to our mailing list

* indicates required
×