On the union of Churches

On the union of Churches

Ecumenism and the union of Churches

     We have received your letter which we read carefully. You write us not to impede the union with Pope Paul VI, the caretaker of the first of the Apostles Peter, because we shall regret it for ever. We answer that you are not telling the truth. We want the union and always pray for it above all unions. You, the papists, impede it in essence. And if you do not repent here, during this brief life, you will repent in Hades where there is no repentance.
     We, the Orthodox Greeks, desire the union in Christ, while you latins desire it in the Pope. If the Pope was in agreement with Christ, do not doubt it that we, the Orthodox, the true followers of Christ, would have accepted the union. However, since the Pope does not agree with Christ, it is impossible that we shall ever agree with the Pope. So hearing, my dear, the truth, which when you get to know and accept, you shall confess it and separate yourself from the Pope and join Christ and us, Orthodox Christians, the true followers of Christ.
     Christ has declared to His followers and through them to us as well as to all Christians, "Yet it shall be so among you; but whoever of you desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many" Mark 10; 43-45 also Matt 20; 26-28. He did not exclude Peter from the other Apostles, not even the Popes. He did not say "You Peter and your successor Popes be first and call yourselves great".
     You can see my dear, that the Pope does not agree with Christ; Christ says "he who wishes to be first let him be slave to all, the least and the last. However, what does the Pope say? I am the first. All the rest are my subordinates and should acknowledge me as such.
     Saint John the Theologian writes: "if we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and truth is not in us.......if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him liar and His word is not in us (1John 1; 8-10). Can you see my dear, that Saint John the Theologian clearly, clearly, tells us that if we say we are not sinners we deceive ourselves and don't tell the truth, but lies? The Pope and all his successors and followers say that he is infallible. How is it possible my dear to want the union, since the Pope and you papists are in disagreement with the teachings of the Bible of our Saviour, Jesus Christ and the holy Apostles?
     Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded His followers saying, "go teach the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt 28; 19) and "the baptized believer will be saved" (Matt 16; 16). Even this commandment of the Lord and God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Pope and you, his followers, set aside and instead of baptizing you sprinkle. Christ did not say "sprinkle them" but "baptize", nor did He say the sprinkled will be saved but the baptized will be saved.
     The ecumenic   teacher, the preacher of God and Apostle to the nations, Paul, the mouth of Christ, writes: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph 4;5). And the first Ecumenical Synod (to which the Pope of Rome Sylvester, had sent his representatives, the bishop of Cordou, and the Presbyters Victor and Vikend) concurs with the Apostle Paul in one faith and one baptism as the symbol of faith. " I believe in one God Almighty.....and in one Lord Jesus Christ .....and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.....In One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church I confess one baptism..."
     This holy symbol of faith was accepted and adopted by all Popes and by all Christians in the West, till the 10^th century, when they left and separated from the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and ignoring the greatest preacher of God, Paul and the seven Ecumenical Synods and the holy   Fathers, they instituted a second, new Church, they falsely call Catholic. They added to the Symbol of faith and replaced the "one baptism" with sprinkling and pouring of water on the head of the baptized. Proceeding with time, the Popes changed and replaced almost all the mysteries, ignored the holy canons, and the holy traditions which we received from the holy Apostles and holy Fathers.
     Witnessing the eliminations and renovations of various Popes, Luther protested and having been ignored, he left the western Church and instead of returning to the original One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, he instituted his own, that of the Protestants. Its followers and of Calvin, built many churches and continued to build without interruption. Thus, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, became many, the one faith, many, the one baptism many baptisms. All the misbehaving, deceits and heresies were born out of the Western Church, from the Popes, who divided and shred the "robe of the Church" in many pieces. In continuation the Popes did not cease their renovations. They reached the point of applying renovations on themselves, on their bodies. Even though God, the Creator of all and of everything, created the men, they changed their appearance by shaving their whiskers and beards, they transformed themselves into females, contrary to the Will of God, To appear even in this against God, who commanded through Moses to the Israelites and in particular to the son, Aaron, the priests but also to us and to all men of all ages, "do not cut your whiskers" (Lev 19;27). All the holy Prophets, Apostles, Saints , were with beards and even God Himself appeared in the old days to Daniel with beard. The only begotten and Word of God and of the Father, who descended to earth from heavens and became man identical to us, but without sin, for our salvation, was with beard. Also the Popes in Italy before the schism were with beard and the saints in Italy depicted in old Churches had beards.
     Do you see my dear how the many errors, delusions and pride have brought down the Popes? By raising themselves and believing that they are above everyone, they have dragged you and all those in the West to accept the delusion that they are infallible. How is it possible for us to accept union with those who say, think and act against God, against the traditions of the Church Fathers?   God's preacher Apostle Paul writes "stand and hold the traditions as you were taught either by word or by epistle" (2Thess 2:15). And also: "But though we, or an angel from heaven , preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you that you have received, let him be accursed"(Gal:1;8-9). On this the Godbearer Ignatius says: "anyone trustworthy who neither fasts, nor is chaste and does no signs, is like a wolf in sheepskin that brings destruction to the flock of sheep. Also the 7^th Ecumenical Synod declares: "If any of the Church traditions and teaching be revised after this (Synod), let him be anathema. (Synodic of the 7^th holy ecumenical synod on the feast of Orthodoxy. Triodion,   Sunday of Orthodoxy)
     The wise Bryanus says: "If anyone changes anything passed on by the Godbearing Fathers, it should not be called economy but violation and betrayal of faith and disrespect to God".
     After all these and many more renovations, eliminations and disregard of many holy Canons and traditions of the Church Fathers, judge for yourself my dear, if there should or be acceptable to have union. We believe it is not acceptable as long as it is done according to the Pope and you the papists. And should it occur , it will have the opposite result, namely divisions. It will cause the creation of new Churches, bringing forth disputes and divisions. It will happen the same that happened after the union at Ferrara and Florence during 1438-39, which union, because it was not according to Christ but according to Pope Eugene and Joseph the Second, Patriarch of Constantinople, was overturned and annulled by a single Bishop, Saint Mark of Ephesus, rendering the boastful and proud Pope Eugene to declare "we accomplished nothing"
     My dear friend, I see you greatly wish the Union, there being nothing sweeter and beneficial in the world. This is also the wish and blessing of our Saviour. This, I the least, I desire even more than you. Then cease from now on to say that I impede the union, as by so saying you are not truthful and you sin.
     Let us pray, my dear, with humility and faith. Let us remember that good is not good unless it is done properly. What greater can there be than union! But only if it is accomplished in God and not by selfish purposes and aims and suspicious self-centeredness by each one. For the "union" to happen, it  will require the Pontiff,- no matter how painful it may be or however much it may cost-to descend the mountains of conceit and high mindedness to lower ground (we do not mean that he lose his hierarchal rank and that of the leader of the Church), and the West to become humble. Only through this uplifting humility, he and you will be able to see, recognize, and confess where the truth is and through this humility, the divine grace will act, whose task is the desired union.
     Now that it is time for introspection, let us put on the uniform of Godliness (humility), both Churches, with knowledge, foundation, and compass, using the source, the holy Canons, let us work towards the achievement and satisfaction of the divine wish "that we all be one" Another way does not exist, nor is it possible to negotiate the non negotiable, nor contemplate economy. Except of course if we seek a superficial, general and apparent union, in other words, an alliance and co-existence, to fight so called common enemies, with complete disregard of the internal reasons and ignoring the internal true union, without which all external ties will soon break, merely becoming a co-existing relationship, simply worldly and simply friendly.
     What is important and which must be the main topic, is the union of Churches on the basis of one and same faith, of one and the same baptism, as provided by the Lord and the Apostles who guarded it closely and was delivered by the Seven Synods, and which the Popes since the schism, transgressed against and set aside, the results of which you bear as victims in the present life and most tragically in the future life, if you will not wake up and reject the harness not of the Lord but of the Pope. For the harness of the Lord is Christ and His load is light but the harness of the Pope is human, sinful and the load unbearable.
     Let us hope the new Pope is honest and his pastorship should take the first steps of return to the state before the schism, from the One, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and the re-establishment will then occur through the Holy Spirit. Only then will the dark forces that oppose the faith will be utterly defeated, proving once more that the "Gates of hell shall not prevail"