For a timeline of the events that caused the departure of the overwhelming majority of HOCNA to the GOC-Kallinikos, click here.

Another priest has left HOCNA for the GOC-Kallinikos, commonly referred to in the United States as the HOTCA.

Fr Christos Paitsas, one of three priests at the Pillars of Orthodoxy Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, has joined the HOTCA. No statements have been found to that effect, though pictures have surfaced online from his reception.

In other former HOCNA news, a barn has been winterized for the large number of monks who left HOCNA for the HOTCA. According to an email sent out by Fr Panagiotes Carras, “Four cars/trucks with trailer went to Holy Ascension Monastery between November 15 to 19 to assist the brotherhood in winterizing a barn for monastics to live.  This trip will never be forgotten. We accomplished a great deal in the working days and nights with Gods help. The trip was well organized from beginning to end.”

For those unclear as to how large a contingent from HTM left, a picture attached to the email serves as a useful reminder.

The Members

† AKAKIOS of Attica and Diauleia

† MAXIMOS of Thessalonica and Demetrias

† ATHANASIOS of Larisa and Platamon

† JUSTIN of Euripus and Euboea

† PAVLOS of America

† GERONTIOS of Piraeus and Salamina

† CHRYSOSTOMOS of Attica and Boeotia

† MOSES of Portland and the western United States, but now elected Metropolitan of Toronto

† GREGORY of Christianoupolis

† PHOTIOS of Marathon

† THEODOSIOS of Bresthena

† SERGIOS of Loch Lomond, but now elected Bishop of Portland

† DEMETRIUS of Boston

† CHRISTODOULOS of Theoupolis

As reported on the 19th of December (NS), on the SiR website, discussions between the Genuine Orthodox Church under the presidency of Archbishop Kallinikos of Athens and the Synod in Resistance have been continued.

The GOC (K) appointed Bp. Photios of Marathon as its representatives, along with two lay theologians, Zisin Tiotran and Constantine Panon.  The SiR appointed Bp. Cyprian of Oreoi, Bp. Ambrose of Methone, Bp. Clement of Gardikon and three priests-Archimandrie Glicherie Aghiokiprianitul, Fr. George Ghian, and Fr. Anghelos Mura.

On 6/19 November, 2012, meetings at the Sts. Cyprian and Justina monastery were followed by agreements of procedure. Other matters were determined in the process of discussions.

There are still issues which separate the SiR from the GOC (K), such as the SiR view on the Sergianist and/or Ecumenist Patriarchates being part of the Orthodox Church. As to whether this matter will be discussed and the SiR will change its position still remains to be seen.  The GOC (K), on the other hand, considers itself to be the true and legitimate Church of Greece, and, in consequence of this view, has viewed the SiR as being in an illegitimate position.

Possibly complicating this matter is the fact that, any discussion or possible union of the SiR with the GOC (K), would entail effects upon the SiR’s sister Synods in Romania, Bulgaria, and the ROCOR (A).

We are pleased and honored to announce that thanks to the efforts of the Metropolis of Portland and their choral society, NFTU Radio will be hosting a live Agrypnia (All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy) for the Feast of the Nativity from the Cathedral of the Nativitiy of the Theotokos, Portland OR, from the evening of January 6 until the conclusion of service in the early hours of January 7.

As we understand it, this will be the last major feast celebrated there by Metropolitan Moses, who is being transferred by the Synod to the newly-established Metropolis of Toronto. Bishop Sergius of Loch Lomond is being made Bishop of Portland. The GOC (K) Synod stated:

a) The Holy Metropolis of Toronto is founded, which encompasses the territory of southern Ontario. The Metropolis is sovereign and His Eminence Metropolitan Moses of (until now) Portland is elected as Metropolitan of this newly-founded Metropolis.

b) The sovereign Holy Metropolis of Portland is converted into a Diocese with the same name and canonical boundaries (the western United States). The Holy Diocese of Portland is subject to the Metropolis of America. His Grace Bishop Sergios of Loch Lomond is raised to the rank of Diocesan Bishop of Portland.

We will also have a live broadcast of Vespers from the Cathedral tonight at 6 PM PST (9 PM EST).

Every year, until the feast of the Theophany (Jan 6/19 NS) NFTU places up the Nativity Epistles of various True Orthodox hierarchs throughout the world. If our readers spot one we missed, please send it to us using the contact form at the top of the page.

NATIVITY MESSAGE

YEAR OF SALVATION 2012

To the entire Church

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

The Members

† AKAKIOS of Attica and Diauleia

† MAXIMOS of Thessalonica and Demetrias

† ATHANASIOS of Larisa and Platamon

† JUSTIN of Euripus and Euboea

† PAVLOS of America

† GERONTIOS of Piraeus and Salamina

† CHRYSOSTOMOS of Attica and Boeotia

† MOSES of Toronto

† GREGORY of Christianoupolis

† PHOTIOS of Marathon

† THEODOSIOS of Bresthena

† SERGIOS of Portland

† DEMETRIUS of Boston

† CHRISTODOULOS of Theoupolis

(source and full story: hotca.org) It’s not every day that one goes to the doctor, and ends up finding a priest to serve at his or her local Orthodox parish, but that is exactly what happened when Donald and Susan Dimoff went to an appointment with physician Dr. Patitsas, also known as Fr. Christos Patitsas.

On the one hand, Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church was searching for a way forward after years of challenges and difficulties, being served during this time by visiting clergy, who, while dedicated, could not provide a permanent solution to the parish’s pastoral needs. The plans for this historic church were finalized in 1916, with members pledging two dollars a month for the treasury. Two lots were purchased at the corner of North Jefferson and Sherman Streets, and church furnishings and liturgical items were imported from Russia. Parish historian Georgianna Abrashoff remarks that the chandelier, banners, and Bible remain to this day. Some of the funds for the Church came directly from Tsar Nicholas II, who was later glorified as a saint in the Orthodox Church due in part to such philanthropic activities, and also for suffering exile and death at the hands of the Communists in 1917.

As with many parishes built by hard-working Eastern European immigrants in the early 20th century, the parish faced many challenges over the decades as demographic changes, Orthodox jurisdictional disputes, and natural disasters took their toll. After Hurricane Agnes in 1972, the Church, which was closed at the time, was almost given over by the Redevelopment Authority to a non-Orthodox group whose parish was slated for demolition. This led to parishioners rallying together, and the Church flourished for twenty years after.

SECOND JOINT STATEMENT

On March 2/15, 2013 in the hall of the church “The Unfading Rose” in Piraeus, the second meeting occurred of the committees for dialogue between the Church of the G.O.C. of Greece and the Orthodox Community of Those in Resistance.

All of the designated members of both committees were present.

During the coarse of this meeting, which took place in a warm and brotherly atmosphere, methodological subjects were discussed first, then the written report entitled “The Ecclesiological Self-Understanding of the Orthodox Ecclesiastical Community of Those in Resistance” was discussed at length.

Questions were submitted, and necessary clarifications were given on the subjects contained in this report, questions were asked which will be discussed together with the relative Report of the other side during the next meeting which will convene on Monday April 9/22, 2013 in the Holy Monastery of Sts. Cyprian and Justina in Phylē, Attica.

From the Joint Secretariat of the Committees for Dialogue.

Piraeus – Phylē

March 7/20, 2013

NFTU Radio, as we continue to focus on strengthening our multimedia focus, will be streaming a live broadcast of the Χαιρετισμοί (“Salutations”) to the Theotokos this Friday, April 6/19, at 7 PM PST.

The service is the culmination of the Friday services of Great Lent in the Eastern tradition. The Akathist (“standing”) service is divided into four parts, each sung in succession, until Friday’s service, which includes the complete hymn.  The four sections into which the Akathist is divided correspond to the themes of the Annunciation and the Nativity, and then Christ and the Theotokos herself.

The Service will be chanted by the Cathedral Schola of the Holy Nativity Orthodox Cathedral, of the newly-reorganized  Diocese of Portland.

Having received increasingly positive feedback for the quality and availability of the services, we have been discussing the availability of the Holy Week services for True Orthodox in the English-speaking world unable to reach a regular service. Regardless of what happens we are overjoyed and excited to have yet another opportunity to give those without local spiritual support, as well as first time listeners, the opportunity to hear this hymn from the mouths of the talented chanters of the Holy Nativity Cathedral.

In a long-expected move, the HOCNA has announced its intention and establishment of full Eucharistic communion with the Synod of Archbishop Makarios of Athens. The reunion documents, however, strangely refer to HOCNA and the Makarios Synod as “Sister Churches”, although until well after the death of Abp Auxentios, the HOCNA was comprised of American dioceses of the Greek Church.

The announcement was posted today and reads as follows in English:

Beloved clergy and the faithful,

It is with heartfelt gratitude to our merciful Saviour, that we are able to inform you of the
following joyous news.

The Holy Synods of our two Churches, understanding that we confess one and the same Holy
Orthodox Faith, realizing that we are the children of the same father and teacher in Christ,
Archbishop Auxentius of blessed memory, accepting fully each others’ ordinations, and finding
that there is neither reason nor excuse anymore for us to be separated, have come to the
unanimous decision to enter into full Communion with each other as Sister Churches, laying as
the foundation for this decision the mutual endorsement of our respective written Confessions of
Faith and by the hierarchical concelebration between our bishops.

Consequently, as brothers in Christ, we cast into oblivion everything that had been said or
enacted against each other, as well everything that had kept us separated until now and the sign
of the unity and reconciliation of our two Churches will be the hierarchical concelebration
between our bishops.

May our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ keep our Churches in lasting unity and in the
steadfastness to the blameless Orthodox Faith. Amen.

This of course leads us to the obvious question: is the Makarios Synod intending to grant autonomy to their American “sister Synod”, thus repairing the obvious canonical anomaly of a claim of independence without a shred of support for it– or is HOCNA intended, long term, to be subsumed as regular dioceses of the Makarios Synod?

An even bigger question remains: does the Makarios Synod now formally endorse the Imyabozhie teaching of Antony Bulatovich, Gregory Luriye, and a swath of clergy and people in the remainder of the HOCNA, having caused a substantial majority of HOCNA to seek elsewhere?

These questions are now worthy of an answer.

We reported recently on the union between HOCNA and the GOC-Makarios Synod. With more details, NFTU has learned that at least two of the Bishops of the Makarios Synod are active name-worshippers already.

One of our sources, remaining anonymous, has indicated that between private correspondence between Bp Philaret of France and our source, the name-worshipping heresy was not only accepted formally by some of the bishops of the Makarios Synod as Orthodox teaching, but that they may have known in advance about the HOCNA leadership’s acceptance of the name-worshipping heresy in advance of the recent schism in HOCNA where the majority of the jurisdiction joined the GOC-Kallinikos.

The name-worshipping heresy, or “imyabozhie”, was condemned in the early 20th century by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Russian Church. Its condemnation was one of the last accepted condemnations synodally in a pan-Orthodox fashion before the rise of ecumenism and Sergianism.

Further, we have learned that one of the Makarios Synod’s younger Bishops, Bp Nectarios (Yashunsky), was in fact an Archimandrite who wrote a monograph about name-worshipping before being consecrated by the Makarios Synod in 2007.

Since we had been given warnings in advance about the HOCNA union, it came as no surprise– however, the depth to which the name-worshipper “faction” in the Makarios Synod has grown, now having orchestrated the adoption into communion of the majority of the small, but deceptive, name-worshipper sect in America, does not bode well.

For the spiritual safety of our readers from entering into condemned heresies and for the sake of common sense, we will shortly remove the Makarian Synod from our national directory. As they only had one mission in the United States before this union, we imagine it won’t be particularly difficult.

Update: Author of the first letter requested to be identified.

NFTU recieved this from John Lamberes Friday. We hope to have both sides of the story soon so that this can be resolved for the good of the priest, the parish, and Orthodoxy in the Chicago area.

On July 5^th, 2013 Fr. John Somers, priest at Holy Unmercenaries in Alsip, IL was suspended after a disagreement erupted with Metropolitan Pavlos (Stratigeas).

The disagreement started when Fr. John, who was only recently transferred to Holy Unmercenaries, realized one of the laymen, Ted Lagen, was openly confessing heresy both verbally and through publications. A part of this heresy says that each man is a pre-existing soul, and that his body is something which is shed and reincarnated. It also says, we believe in the same god as Muslims and that Mohammad is a “child of God”.

He was barred from Holy Communion immediately.

In reaction, Ted Lagen contacted Met. Pavlos directly and seems to have been able to push Met. Pavlos to demand to Fr. John that he commune Ted Lagen, without signing a libellus, or Orthodox confession of faith. When Fr. John refused, he was suspended.

Fr. John appealed to the Eparchial Synod, who met on July 6, and lifted the suspension.

This is alarming to many of us at Holy Unmercenaries as it has become clear that Met. Pavlos has, to the detriment of all other considerations (family’s, onlookers, his priest, the priests family, etc.) sided with a heretic. We have heard further that Met. Pavlos is so upset that he wants Fr. John out and we are therefore waiting for this matter to be resolved in the spirit of truth and love for the all the souls involved at our church.

NFTU received the following from another anonymous source as well:

-Anonymous

Reported on Sept. 18, 2013

Representatives of the GOC-Kallinikos visited the Romanian Old Calendar Church seated in Slatioara. The first hierarch of this Synod is Met. Vlasie.  In the past 2 years there seems to be increasing contact between the GOC-K and representatives of the various Synods connected with the Synod in Resistance in Greece.  As is known, the Romanian Old Calendar Church does not seem to accept the ecclesiological position of the SiR that the Patriarchates have the grace of the Mysteries (since the Romanians either baptize or chrismate those coming to them from the Romanian Patriarchate).

Metropolitan Christopher of Mesogaia has left the Lamian Synod, according to the statement on the website Confessor, an unofficial organ of the Lamian Synod, which has sided with the Metropolitan.

The Lamian Synod united with HOCNA after the majority of HOCNA left for the Synod of Archbishop Kallinikos of Athens.

The website also provided the following translation of the Metropolitan’s departure letter:

ENCYCLICAL

Salamina, October 15/28, 2013

Fathers and Brothers in Christ, Beloved Children in the Lord,

I find myself in the unpleasant position of informing you that from October 11/24 of the current year I have taken myself outside the Synodal arrangement under Archbishop Makarios of the G.O.C. of Greece, for reasons of conscience.

The main reason is that I am unable to accept the union of the above-mentioned Synod with the “Holy Orthodox Church of North America” (HOCNA) because of them not supplying a written renunciation against all those known ecclesiological deviations and fallacies. From the beginning I supported this union and I expected a canonical type of union, according to the Orthodox tradition, namely a written common Confession of Faith and a renunciation on the part of HOCNA of everything that it is attributed to them concerning deviations from the Orthodox Faith and Tradition. During my oral and written protests I always received the promise of the expected God-pleasing written testimony and proof, nevertheless in vain.

Consequently, on the one hand of not being capable to accepting the ridicule of months and, secondly in denying a hypocritical participation of myself in this ecclesiastical body, I decided to sever myself from it, remembering the Sacred Vryennius saying: “There is a bad concord and a good disagreement. It can be good to be torn and bad to be in agreement. Among whom friendship becomes the ambassador of loss, to those, hate becomes a case of virtue. And better of the hateful union is the apathetic space between them.”

Wishing to all, as the Lord God enlightens all of you, the illumination of His True Light, I remain,

With best wishes and blessings,

THE METROPOLITAN

+ Christophoros of Mesogaias and the Islands

His Eminence the Former Metropolitan of America Pavlos (TOC-K)

Recently, His Eminence Metropolitan Pavlos (Stratigeas), the President of the Eparchial Synod of the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of America (GOC-Kallinikos) visited Greece for the first time since he suffered a debilitating stroke in early 2006. While there, he participated in various events, such as the exhumation of the remains of Metropolitan Petros of Astoria (+1997) and Hieromonk Niphon (Astyfidis) (+1994), who were his great-uncles-according-to-the-flesh and mentors.

While there, he also attended a Synodal meeting on October 10/23, wherein he submitted his request to retire from his position as the Metropolitan of America owing to his ill health since the time of his stroke. His request was approved by the Holy Synod, which at a subsequent meeting on November 6/19, appointed His Beatitude Archbishop Kallinikos of Athens and All Greece to be the Locum Tenens.

His Eminence released an Encyclical explaining his decision here, which was followed by the Holy Synod releasing its own Encyclical concerning His Eminence’s retirement here.

Archimandrite Pavlos was ordained to the Episcopacy of the Orthodox Church on February 13 (n.s.), 1998 by His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II (Kiousis) of Athens and All Greece, to serve as ruling hierarch of the Holy Metropolis of North and South America, a position which incorporated the former Metropolis of Astoria, which had been vacant since the death of His Eminence Metropolitan Petros, and the Metropolis of North and South America, which was widowed when its ruling hierarch Metropolitan Paisios (Loulourgas) left the Synod and eventually fell to the Ecumenistic heresy.

Bishop Ambrose of Philippi

On February 6/19, Bishop Ambrose of Philippi was received into the Church of the GOC of Greece under the Presidency of Archbishop Kallinikos, from the GOC under Archbishop Makarios.

A source familiar with the situation indicated that Bishop Ambrose had become discontent with the recent union between the GOC-M and the Holy Orthodox Church in North America (HOCNA). Recently, Metropolitan Christophoros of Mesagaias walled himself off from the GOC-M for the same reason and remains independent.

Further details will be posted as they become available.

For some time now, a dialogue has been occurring between representatives of the Synod in Resistance and the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece under Archbishop Kallinikos. The major points of disagreement—ecclesiological and canonical—have been acknowledged and discussed in an open atmosphere, with brotherly love, and with recourse to the primary source documents present in the archives of both Synods.

For the benefit of our readers, we are providing links to the most recent joint statements. We are quite pleased that the Commission decided to release written reports for each meeting, allowing a chronicling of this process.

Tenth Meeting

Eleventh Meeting

Twelfth Meeting

On Thursday, February 7/20, 2014, the Joint Committee for Dialogue between the Church of the GOC of Greece and the Synod in Resistance met. Of note:

1. A joint text, titled The True Orthodox Church in Opposition to the Heresy of Ecumenism Dogmatic and Canonical Issues was finalized; the work on ecclesiology is thus finished. This text will need to be approved by the respective Synods.

2. The remaining work will be of a canonical and pastoral nature:

Both Committees came to realize the fortunate completion of the work presented to them. Furthermore, the cooperation of the two sides will continue through the Committees’ Secretariats so that they can address and finalize those things which remain for the compilation of some other documents. Simultaneously, the Dialogue will continue between Committees made up of different personnel, in order to discuss issues of a canonical and practical nature.

3. An agreement on the work presently concluded will be signed the Second Week of Great Lent

It was agreed that he next Joint Deliberation made up of the present personnel, which will be of a procedural nature in order to sign the Common Conclusions of the present Dialogue, will take place on within the 2nd week of the Fast in the hall of church of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Daphne, Athens.

Source: The Thirteenth Joint Statement

The Holy Synod of the GOC under Archbishop Kallinikos

At the completion of the Official Dialogue of the Church of the G.O.C. of Greece with the Orthodox Community in Resistance, the Press Office of the Holy Synod of the G.O.C. makes the following announcement:

Today, March 5/18, 2014 the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece under the Presidency of His Beatitude Archbishop Kallinikos of Athens and all-Greece convened in the church of the All-Holy Theotokos “The Unfading Rose” to unite and incorporate the Orthodox Ecclesiastical Community in Resistance into the Church of the G.O.C. of Greece.

After the confirmation of the ecclesiological agreement and the lifting of the canonical impediments, the Bishops of the Orthodox Community in Resistance finally are full and canonical members of the Holy Synod of the Church of the G.O.C. of Greece.

In continuation, the Holy Synod, with its new enlarged composition, successfully addressed the various organizational and jurisdictional issues related to the practical part of the Union.

Finally, the Holy Synod appointed the Hierarchical concelebration to take place this coming Sunday, the Veneration of the Holy Cross, March 10/23 in the Monastery of St. Nicholas in Paiania, presided over by His Beatitude Archbishop Kallinikos of Athens and all-Greece.

Translated from the Greek

Source: http://www.hotca.org/eparchial-synod/announcements/529-announcement-concerning-the-union-of-the-synod-in-resistance-with-the-church-of-the-goc

The following was written concerning the recent union from Abp Andrew, Bishop of the American Diocese of ROAC and is published, as always, in the public interest.

About the recent merger of the Synod in Resistance, the GOC, and the ROCOR(A)

APOSTOLIC CANON 46
We order  any  Bishop or Priest, that has accepted any heretic’s baptism or sacrifice (eucharist)  be  deposed;  for  “what  consonance  has Christ with Belial? Or what part has the believer with an unbeliever?”

APOSTOLIC CANON 47
If a Bishop or Priest baptize anew anyone that  has  had a  true baptism, or fail  to  baptize  anyone that has been  polluted by the impious,  let  him  be deposed,  on  the  ground  that  he  is  mocking  the  Cross  and  Death  of the Lord and for failing to distinguish priests from pseudo­priests.

It seems to me that, based on the two above­cited canons, the Apostles had an expectation that the clergy should be able to tell the difference between where the grace of the Mysteries of the Church was present and effectual, and where it was not.

But here we are not talking about grace in general.

The grace of the Holy Spirit is the life­ creating force at work in all of creation. Everything that has breath breathes by the grace of the Holy Spirit. His grace is everywhere present and fills all things. Everything that is alive lives by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Birds fly by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Grass moves in the wind by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Fish swim by the grace of the Holy Spirit. He takes the grace of His Spirit away and all things return to their dust. Man, being the crown of creation, is certainly not foreign to the action of this grace, Which is at work in the world to draw all things to Itself. So, in a way, it is fair to say that all men have the grace of the Holy Spirit, just like the rain, which falls on all men, or the sunlight, which illumines all men, good and bad alike.

However, that grace which descended upon the Holy Apostles on Pentecost Day while they were gathered in the locked room (symbolizing the finite borders of the Church), that FULLNESS of grace, the grace of the Church, the grace of the Sacraments, resides only in those upon whom
the Holy Apostles have laid their hands (or their descendants – the bishops). This grace is not common to all men. When a man leaves the Church, he loses this grace. But he is not grace­less. But rather, he falls back into the category of those who experience the grace which is common to all. This grace again begins to work on him to draw him back to the Church.

Often, men who experience this general grace, not knowing the difference between these two states (either because they have never tasted the grace of the Church, or because they have lost the ability to distinguish between the two), mistake it for the grace that they read about in the
Scriptures, and they think that what they experience must be the grace of the Church, the grace of the Sacraments. But what they are really experiencing is the grace which moves all men to seek God.

It seems to me that in these recent statements made by these synods, there is really nothing new. No one has repudiated Cyprianism. No one has called it a heresy or repented of it. The basic premise of Cyprianism is that the grace of the Church, the grace of the Sacraments, exists in the True Church as well as in the false “church.” The statement made by the Cyprianite Synod seems to me to be rather vague. The GOC, which has condemned Cyprianism on paper, nevertheless practices it, both in Greece, and in the US. This was the case in the past several years, and is still the case.

All of these men rightly condemn ecumenism. But they fail to see how their imprecise understanding of where the grace of the Church, the grace of the Sacraments, truly resides, and where it is absent, gives reason for the True Orthodox to believe that they have accepted a veiled form of
ecumenism, or crypto­ecumenism. This is the essence of Cyprianism. And so, we see another trick of the devil in capturing men’s souls by the error that they think they have eradicated. I have no doubt that they sincerely reject the idea of Cyprianism, but they don’t understand that, although they reject it in word, they continue to practice it in deed.

+Archbishop Andrew,
of Pavlovskoye and Rockland
March 10/23, 2014

One of True Orthodoxy’s most prolific writers and vocal critics has weighed in on the union of the GOC under Archbishop Kallinikos, the ROCOR-A, and their respective Synods of True Orthodox of Romania and Bulgaria.

His conclusion: this probably isn’t a good thing but it will likely have at least some positive outcomes.

Dr. Vladimir Moss spelled out his conclusions yesterday in a new article, “The Kallinikite Unia”,  on his website.

Moss, whose work and research covering True Orthodoxy extends over 30 years, contends that the “Unia”– a term that hearkens to the corporate reunions of some Orthodox bodies with Rome in the 17th century– ultimately leaves questions such as grace outside of True Orthodoxy unresolved on paper. He also expresses a low opinion of both Metropolitan Agafangel and Archbishop Kallinikos over a number of paragraphs, as well as implying this was a victory for the “Cyprianite” parties.

So is he completely negative in his assessment? “Undoubtedly a short-term benefit will be that many will be relieved and rejoice that the continuing disintegration of True Orthodoxy into ever more jurisdictions has been halted and partially reversed. Also to be welcomed is the possible encouragement it will give to some World Orthodox to look again at True Orthodoxy and consider joining it,” the article states. It further concludes that this will have positive unitive aspects for True Orthodox Synods that have not joined in the ecclesiastical union in Russia, such as RTOC, ROCOR (V) and ROAC.

Moss’ most celebrated work is the multi-volume series on Saints of Orthodox England. His most recent series on the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia his largest to date and many of his books are available for download.