State Church of Greece Primate Rejects Jerusalem’s Proposal of a Pan-Orthodox Council

OrthoChristian published on 22th November an article that follows the recent proposal from Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilos III, to meet and discuss in Jordan about the Ukrainian issue. But Abp Ieronymos, New Calendar Archbishop of Athens has already rejected this possibility just after a couple of days. The New Calendar Church of Greece will continue to support Bartholomew at any cost.

Indeed, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, the President of their Holy Synod, was the first primate to recognize the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” after Patriarch Bartholomew, told journalists that he will not attend any such Synaxis, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.

“Not everyone can call a pan-Orthodox council. It is the prerogative of the Ecumenical Patriarch. If the Ecumenical Patriarch calls us we will not say no; if anyone in charge of any other Church calls us I will say no,” the Archbishop explained.

We can call this attitude a papish obedience, the same path followed by the Latin episcopate in the years which followed the great Schism, leading the entire West into perdition. The papist project of the Phanar is every day clearer, as we can observe. From a theological point of view, each local synod can call a Synaxis and, in a way, the local Churches are even “obligated” to do it, according to the decrees of the ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (+451):

Canon 19

“Whereas it has come to our ears that in the provinces the Canonical Synods of Bishops are not held, and that on this account many ecclesiastical matters which need reformation are neglected; therefore, according to the canons of the holy Fathers, the holy Synod decrees that the bishops of every province shall twice in the year assemble together where the bishop of the Metropolis shall approve, and shall then settle whatever matters may have arisen. And bishops, who do not attend, but remain in their own cities, though they are in good health and free from any unavoidable and necessary business, shall receive a brotherly admonition.”

Whenever a social, spiritual or ecclesiastical crysis does manifest itself, the Local Church has the right and the duty to call a council to enstablish new rules and to make people respect the old ones. In this case, the refusal of Athens to join Jerusalem shows a real ecclesiological ignorance, as Jerusalem is also part of the Pentarchy and far more important in the ecclesiastical diptychs than Athens.

The crisis among the World Orthodox is becoming worse every day. Only God knows what else might happen.