Former Archbishop Gregory Assumes Responsibility For Priests in Schism From GOC

According to the website of former ROAC Archbishop Gregory (Abu-Assaly) of Dormition Skete in Denver, Colorado, two former priests of the Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece were have abandoned their Bishop and joined his one Bishop “Synod”.

Fr Athanasios Tsorvas and Fr Komnenos Hatzileris of the Genunine Orthodox Church of Greece (GOC) in America under Metropolitan Pavlos publically left their Bishop this week to join the former Archbishop for apparently different reasons.

Fr Athanasios, known primarily on the Internet for his extreme ecclesiological views and open sympathy for the former Archbishop (who was removed from the same Synod a few years before), was most recently serving in a house chapel under the GOC Synod, but found his own extreme ecclesiastical positions far at variance from those of his Synod. To many, his departure comes as no surprise. Some express surprise only that this did not occur sooner.

Fr Komnenos’ story is a little less known to the public. According to various reports, he was banned from serving for three years by his Synod in 2000 after being indicted in a police sting in Clearwater, FL for soliciting a prostitute. Citing health reasons, Fr Komnenos later retired from a practical standpoint.

On a related matter, late this month there was a debate on Internet lists over how to receive Monophysites into the Church dealing with a case in the same GOC in which a Monophysite was received in without redoing his baptism. It was only recently discovered that this accusation was being used to scare members of the GOC in Chicago out of their parishes and bring them under the control of the former Archbishop.

The former Archbishop was removed from the ROAC Synod last year amidst charges that he forced rebaptisms on True Orthodox Christians and claimed supra-national jurisdiction over the Church in the Diaspora.

No public announcements were made by the former Archbishop or Dormition Skete save the addition of the priests to their parish directory.