Krasnodar, Russia, October 9, 2017

A working meeting of strugglers against ecumenism from several Local Churches took place October 4-5 in the south Russian city of Krasnodar, gathering priests from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and the Holy Mountain under the patronage of Great Martyr Catherine. The participants stressed both the need to continue striving for the purity of the Orthodox faith, while denouncing schismatic ideas and actions at the same time, reports Odigitria.

The meeting was an occasion for strugglers against Ecumenism from various Local Churches to get acquainted with one another, learn of their struggles in various situations, and develop future forms of cooperation between themselves. Welcome remarks were read out on behalf of Romanian priests and laity who have ceased commemoration of their hierarchs for their ecumenical stances.

Elder Savva Lavriotul of the Great Lavra, the representative of the Athonite fathers who have ceased commemoration of their hierarch, outlined the main canonical and dogmatic routes to follow in the struggle against Ecumenism to avoid several possible mistakes. He also fielded various related questions, including on Canon 15 of the First-Second Council (presided over in 861 by St. Photios the Great) which allows for the cessation of commemoration of a hierarch, and the relationship between the simultaneous presence of grace and Ecumenism in the Church, among others. Fr. Savva insisted upon the need for pan-Orthodox organization and close cooperation in the common struggle for the purity of the Orthodox faith and the boundaries of the Church.

For a full explanation of the cessation of commemoration of a hierarch, see the letter Defense and Declaration of Cessation of Commemoration of a Bishop on Account of the Teaching of Heresy of Fr. Theodore Zisis, who has been called to spiritual court by his hierarch Metropolitan Anthimos of Thessaloniki for having ceased commemoration.

In turn, the Romanian Orthodox representative summed up their struggles led by priests and laity, as well as the persecution of priests and monastics for their stance against the heresy of Ecumenism, stressing that they acted within the limits of Canon 15 of the First-Second Council in ceasing to commemorate their hierarchs who support the highly-controversial Crete Council of last summer. He explained that the Romanian experience demonstrates that the main danger in the struggle is slipping into schismatic conceptions and positions. This danger can be avoided by remaining firmly within the Orthodox Church, not seeking shelter in any other jurisdiction, not joining any non-canonical or non-Orthodox groups, not seeking the jurisdiction of another hierarch, and avoiding various schismatic claims.

It was decided to continue such meetings, with the aim of forming a coordinated struggle against Ecumenism on a pan-Orthodox level. First contact was also made with the strugglers against Ecumenism in the Serbian Orthodox Church.