Ierissos, Chalkidiki, Greece, May 23, 2025
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
A Greek Orthodox metropolitan has issued a strongly-worded pastoral letter warning his congregation against what he calls the “systematic” proselytizing activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Chalkidiki region of northern Greece.
Metropolitan Theoklitos of Ierissos, Mount Athos and Ardamerio describes the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ activities as “a terrible and unholy phenomenon” that threatens “the security of the Orthodox faithful of our Church, as well as our beloved homeland.”
In the letter, distributed to parishes in his metropolitan area near Mt. Athos and published by the Orthodoxia News Agency, the bishop accuses the religious group of being part of a broader political movement rather than simply a Christian denomination.
“Millennialism doesn’t appear only as a ‘religious’ organization, but primarily as a cunning political, anti-national, anti-Christian international movement, with specific economic goals around the world,” he wrote.
The Metropolitan says the group’s leadership has historically been Jewish, naming several past and present leaders, with connections to “international Zionism.” He cites a 1930 legal opinion describing the organization as having “inexhaustible and colossal capital” and maintaining “agents, very well paid, down to the most remote villages.”
According to the bishop, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been particularly active in recent months in his region, “standing in squares and markets of our cities and villages or going door to door, ringing doorbells, especially during major holidays or Sundays to ‘catch’ some naive prey.”
Other hierarchs also warned about the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ increased activity especially during Lent and Holy Week, trying to draw Orthodox Christians to their “commemoration of the death of Jesus” service.
Met. Theoklitos’ letter accuses the group of adopting various historical heresies and of showing disrespect toward Orthodox churches, clergy, holy icons and relics, which they allegedly view as “instruments of the devil.”
In fact, in a statement issued in December 2020, the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church warned that “all the religious beliefs of the so-called ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ are completely contrary to the Christian faith, while the Watchtower [magazine] is internationally known for its false prophecies about the end of the world.” A statement from the Metropolis of Patras in the same month listed 12 specific heresies.
Met. Theoklitos provides four specific recommendations for his faithful on how to respond to Jehovah’s Witnesses:
A) With our contempt, let us avoid them
B) With our systematic information, about their false doctrines, let us expose them
C) By informing the holy clergy about any movement of theirs, we will know their intentions, and
D) By throwing their texts in the garbage, we thwart their ambitions
The Metropolitan praises his parishioners for their response to Jehovah’s Witnesses, saying they “give them the most beautiful answer-proof of their failure: They close the door on them and return their leaflets to them, immediately informing their holy clergy, their parish priest or their bishop.”
He concluded the letter by referencing a 1985 court case in Tripoli, Arcadia, where Jehovah’s Witnesses “suffered a catastrophic defeat” in legal proceedings, warning them “it would be good for them to be careful.”
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
