Meeting Held between Met. Agafangel, Abp. Kallinikos, and Met. Vlasie On Ecclesiology
March 21, 2014
According to the website of the GOC (K) Metropolis of Attica and Boeotia, a meeting was held between Abp. Kallinkos, First Hierarch of the GOC (K), Metropolitan Vlasie of the Romanian Old Calendar Church, and Metropolitan Agafangel of the ROCOR (A). The discussion is to cover the topic of the “Genuine Orthodox Church against the heresy of ecumenism.”
There are still many publicly unanswered questions as regards the situation of the Met. Agafangel and the Synod of the ROCOR (A) in regards to the accomplished union of the now defunct SiR with the GOC (K). A question which has caused some heated debate is that in regards to the ‘Grace Question’. Hopefully, in the near future, more information will be forthcoming.
ROCOR is in communion with the ecumenist Moscow Patriarchate. Under these conditions, union with them is not possible.
And the GOC under Abp. Kallinkos would say you are correct! But, the group in discussion is not the ROCOR under the Moscow Patriarchate, but, one of the various other ROCOR groups that did not accept union with Moscow.
Fr. Michael, beginning in 2001, Met. Vitaly was falsely removed from being First Hierarch, he then, with another ROCOR bishop, (re)-founded another ROCOR group (on stricter Orthodox grounds than the abmiguities in the old ROCOR).
These later had broke up.
However, in 2007, or so, of the bishops that didn’t go with Vitaly, but, stayed in the main ROCOR group, Bp. Agafangel of Odessa refused to sign the union with the Moscow Patriarchate. He proclaimed that he was the True Continuator of ROCOR. He later consecrated additional bishops with the help of the now defunct Synod in Resistance. He was then name Metropolitan. Thus, when the above post says “ROCOR (A)”, it is not speaking of the ROCOR lump body that joined the MP, but of the ROCOR people that following Agafangel (and thus the in “A”). ROCOR (A) under Met. Agafangel is not in union with the MP and repudiates the union; the ROCOR group that is in communion with the Moscow Patriarchate is the ROCOR-MP.
Simply put, you have the following:
ROCOR group in communion with Moscow:
ROCOR-MP
ROCOR groups repudiating union with Moscow:
ROCOR (A)
ROCOR (V) [there are various ROCOR-V groups that broke up after the death of Metropolitan Vitaly]
Thanks