The Symbol of Faith

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; being of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation came down from the heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Maria, and became man; And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures; And ascended into the heavens, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; And shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life; Who proceedeth from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the prophets.

In One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.

The Confession of Faith (Ecclesiology) of the Genuine Orthodox Church

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Gathered by the Grace of the Holy Spirit, with one mouth and one heart, we declare to all Orthodox Christians, where-so-ever they may be, and confess before God and men, the following:

a) In 1924 the introduction of the new Papist calendar, which was condemned and judged by the three Pan-Orthodox Councils of 1583, 1597 and 1593, and which served as the first step of the Eastern Orthodox Church’s entry into Ecumenism, caused a real schism triggered by clearly doctrinal, namely ecclesiological, reasons. Therefore the New Calendar “Churches,” formed in 1924 and afterwards, are schismato-heretical and the “mysteries” held by its celebrants are not recognized, since Divine Grace, according to the teaching of the Fathers, does not act upon schismatics. The Genuine Orthodox Christians, in 1924, remained faithful to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, adding nothing and omitting nothing, and thus continued and continue to be the faithful members of the Body of the Church of Christ, and they—both Clergy and Laity—represent and express Her.

b) The deviations from the above Confession – Ecclesiology by each of the false brethren caused various schisms, first of which was that of the former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostom, in 1937. These schisms have a Doctrinal – Ecclesiological cause, namely, the blasphemous theory regarding the so called “potential but not actual” schism of the new Papist calendar. A similar schism of ecclesiological nature is proven to have also occurred in the Genuine Orthodox Church of Romania by the Old Calendarist group in Romania which received its succession of Episcopal ordinations from the New Calendarist, Galaction Cordun. This group accepted the Florinite cacodoxy and identified itself with the schismatic Florinite faction of Cyprian of Phyle, with which its successors and followers march. These ecclesiological deviations are condemned and averted by the local Genuine Orthodox Churches of Greece, Africa, Russia, Cyprus and Romania.

c) But the following newer schisms of 1995 and 2005 in Greece and Cyprus, absolutely have the same Doctrinal – Ecclesiological origins with that very Florinite schism of 1937, and essentially serve as the continuation, extension and broadening of the same. By all of these schismato-heretics, of 1995 and 2005, an attempt was made, albeit unsuccessful, to interrupt the Apostolic Succession, as much as with the failed “cheirothesia,” as with all the other traps and deceitful methods since 1971, and finally with their audacious and brazen en masse retreat, in 2003, from what was in essence and actuality a simple prayer of absolution into a “cheirothesia.” They pursued this, not only to disgrace the Apostolic Succession, but also to make the Confession – Ecclesiology baseless and void, and thereby the recently deceased New Calendarist Archbishop Christodulus could “resolve the old calendarist problem,” as he had planned.

This Confession, which we formulated unanimously at the first encounter and discussion between our local Churches about the topic of union, is the same Confession which our Fathers preserved in the midst of persecutions, “without innovation and without reduction,” and upon which we, as upon a firm foundation, stand. We also secured our unity and that of our flocks, in our Mother, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and through her we are preserved upright and unharmed by the innovators and heretics of the current ecumenistic apostasy.

Today, we also promise to preserve this Confession, and to also confess our common march, because this Confession, as “handed down by the holy Fathers” and according to the very Confession of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, is the most secure confirmation that we are strengthened to be genuine members of the Body of Christ and participants in His salvific divine Grace. According to St. Maximus the Confessor, “Christ the Lord called that Church the Catholic Church which maintains the true and saving CONFESSION of the Faith” (Minge P.G. 90, 132), and according to the Seventh Ecumenical Council, “whoever has this confession is a genuine son and participant of the Catholic Church.” The Church can even be “preserved among three persons,” according to the Holy Fathers.

We also officially declare this same Confession now, in order to confirm and seal the complete ecclesiastical unity of our local Churches, which we accommodated and declared after the discussions, verdicts and decisions of our Holy Synods of the local Churches of Greece, Africa, Russia, Cyprus and Romania.

We specifically DECLARE that:

a) We embrace, accept and confess whatever the Holy Apostles and God-bearing Fathers in the Ecumenical and Local Councils handed down to us to preserve, “adding nothing, and subtracting nothing”, because “he who accepts modernism or innovation denies the faith of Christ and falls under the eternal anathema”, according to the decision of the Pan-Orthodox Council of Constantinople in 1848. The Holy Apostles and our Holy Fathers, convened together in the Holy Spirit, gave unto us “that which they received” from Christ, therefore it is necessary and beneficial for us to preserve this sacred Heritage, because in the future we will need to “give our word” on the day of Judgment, that we have wholly preserved [that which we received]. Likewise in the present declaration we refer to the Confessions of St. Photius the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople, St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, and St. Mark Eugenicus, Bishop of Ephesus. The later bishops, clergy and fullness of the laity, also followed their path even until the contemporary confessors of the Genuine Orthodox Church, as much in Greece and Cyprus, as in Romania and Russia. Also following this Confession were the Blessed Bishops of Greece, Matthew I of Bresthena, Matthew II of Bresthena, Chrysostom of Messenia, Agathangelus of Tenus, Meletius of Attica, Bessarion of Tricala, Demetrius of Thessalonica, John of Thebes, Eumenius of Crete, Lazarus of Bresthena, Panaretus of Larisa, Gorgonius of Citrus, and, for the most part of his life (until he was misled at the end by his evil advisors), Andrew of Patras. Also following this Confession were the Blessed Bishops of Cyprus, Spyridon of Trimythus and Epiphanius of Citium; those of Romania, Victor of Bucharest, Nephon of Tomis and Clement of Iasi; and those of Russia, especially Joseph of Petersburg, Andrew of Ufa, Peter (Ladygin) of Glazov and Barnabas (Belyaev) of Pechersk, and several other New Martyrs and Confessors. We also, following their remnant and teaching and declaring their Confession to all, exclaim to them MEMORY ETERNAL.
b) We recognize the consecrations which occurred in Greece in 1935, 1948 and 1995 (we only refer to these dates because they constitute special stages in the history of the Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece), as dogmatically complete and perfect, Orthodox and Canonical, and not needing any “cheirothesia” or “prayer of absolution.” The decision of 1971, [prepared by the then Bishop Laurus Shkurla of Manhattan,] which occurred as a result of sly onslaughts against the Genuine Orthodox Confession and the uninterrupted Apostolic Succession, was never fulfilled in Greece, firstly because [the decision itself] was hidden by the Delegation [consisting of Bishops Callistus and Epiphanius and Fathers Eugene and Calliopius], and was only revealed much later by the Florinites, and, secondly, because it was never declared to be a cheirothesia, but rather, according to the statement of the Delegation and later by Metropolitan Philaret Voznesensky of New York, it was a simple prayer of absolution, [which was only accepted by our Synod] to nullify every argument of the Florinites, who refused to unite with the Church because of the “single-handed” [consecration]. This prayer of absolution was tolerated in Greece, because it had no relation to the dogmatic uprightness and fullness of the mystery of the single-handed consecration. But much later, especially from 2003 onwards, [various hierarchs and clergy of our Church,] “with bared head,” reconstructed the meaning of the prayer of absolution into a so-called “cheirothesia as upon schismatics,” thereby giving substance to the unsubstantial (according to the Church) “cheirothesia.” An example of this is the so-called “condemnation of the cheirothesia” enacted by those surrounding Nicholas (act no. 3280/28.11.2007), [who, in “condemning” the cheirothesia, have suggested that there actually was one to begin with, and have thereby] blasphemed against their own Apostolic Succession, which they have now denied. We, on the other hand, confess that the consecrations of 1935, 1948 and 1995 are complete and perfect, and we place under anathema all those who prate otherwise and attempt to cover up the “discharges” of the Drama Magistrate’s Court 46/91 and Piraeus Magistrate’s Court 54/76 [in which the leaders of today’s Gregorian and Nicholaitan factions, respectively,—while still members of the Church—secretly defended their orders in the local Magistrate’s Courts based on the so-called “cheirothesia” of 1971, a blasphemy which, no doubt, led to their later fall from the Church, in 1995 and 2005, respectively].
c) We, as genuine shepherds of the Church, therefore condemn and place under anathema both New Calendarist and Old Calendarist Ecumenism alike, as well as the schismato-heresies and blasphemies created by the above forms of Ecumenism, which vainly war against the Church of Christ. In particular, we condemn the Pan-heretical Encyclical of the Patriarchal Synod of Constantinople in 1920 and the false Pan-Orthodox Council under Meletius Metaxakis in 1923. We specifically condemn the schismato-heresies ensuing from the above, namely, that in Russia caused by Antoninus Granovsky and the Renovationists (1922), in Greece by Chrysostom Papadopoulos (1924), in the regions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate by Gregory (1924), in Romania by Miron Cristea (1924), in Alexandria by Meletius Metaxakis (1926), in Russia by Sergius Stragorodsky (1927), and in Cyprus by Cyril III (1928). We also condemn the ensuing schisms in Greece by the former Bishop of Florina, Chrysostom Kavourides (1937), the former Bishop of the Cyclades, Germanus Varykopoulos (1943), the former Bishop of Corinth, Callistus Makris and his successor Cyprian Koutsoumpas (1977-1979), the former Bishop of Messenia, Gregory Roussis (1995), and the former Bishop of Piraeus, Nicholas Mesiakaris (2005). We also condemn the schism in Romania currently led by Blasius Mogarzan. All the above heresies and schisms were created by the dark and antichristian centers of Papo-ecumenism, and that which hides behind it, namely, Judaeo-masonry, which has been warring against the Church for 88 years. But, just as today’s Confessional Inter-ecclesiastical Council makes evident, “The Church is warred against, but she overcomes; she is insulted, but she stands most bright; she is rocked, but she does not sink; she receives blows, but she does not fall (St. John Chrysostom).” The slaughtered lamb of the Apocalypse rose victorious. For “they will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them (Rev. 17:14).” And “this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our Faith (1 John 5:4).”

Finally, by our current Synodical Act, we openly declare the always existing (according to our common Confession – Ecclesiology) UNITY between our local Churches, recognizing each other as brethren and fellow servants in Christ. Calling upon the Grace of the Holy Spirit, to heal anything ailing and fill anything missing, we seal our unity with an embrace in Christ, with a greeting, and with the Communion of our Lord’s All-immaculate Body and Blood from the same Cup.

In the year of our Lord, 2008.

The Holy and Sacred Pan-Orthodox Synod

+ KIRYKOS, by the mercy of God, Metropolitan of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki

+ MATTHEW, by the mercy of God, Metropolitan of Nairobi and all Kenya

+ SERAPHIM, by the mercy of God, Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine

+ PARTHENIUS, by the mercy of God, Metropolitan of Citium and all Cyprus

+ CASSIAN, by the mercy of God, Metropolitan of Bacau and all Moldavia

+ GERONTIUS, by the mercy of God, Bishop of Vrancea.

The Confession of Faith made by Priest Mark Smith upon joining with the Geniune Orthodox Church of Greece:

    Ι, Priest Mark Smith, approaching to join myself to the True Orthodox Church, as expressed by His Eminence Kyrikos, Metropolitan of Mesogaia and Lavreotikis and his confession of faith, do hereby confess before God and in the presence of you all that I sustain and confirm the truth and orthodoxy of the Holy Church established on earth by our Lord Jesus Christ on Pentecost;

    I confess the Faith and Church of the Holy Apostles and Disciples whom our Lord chose and likewise the worthy successors whom they chose by the Holy Spirit;

    I confess and confirm all the councils guided by the Holy Spirit; the 7 called ecumenical, the one in Blachernae against the papists, the pan-orthodox and local councils including the synods of 1583, 1587, 1593 and 1848, and all the holy traditions and canons they and the fathers put forth, with which the Holy Church is guided to this day, I confirm all that they confirm and say anathema to all which they call anathema;

    I confess, with the synod of 1935, that the new-calendar is graceless and that the use of the new Gregorian calendar for the purpose of prayerful unity with the papists and with the world is a part of the pan-heresy of ecumenism and also creates a schism from the True Orthodox Church; wherefore, since schismatics and heretics are without the Grace of Almighty God in their mysteries', I have no ecclesiastical communion, in prayer or otherwise, not with them, or all those in communion with them and will not, even to the day that our Lord Jesus Christ returns to judge all men;

    I confess and affirm also that the episcopal consecrations in the True Orthodox Church in 1935 and 1948 are indeed filled with the Grace of God and conferred true apostolic succession on the recipients thereof; I further confess that there was nothing added to or taken away from the grace of apostolic succession by the actions performed on our hierarchs in 1971 by the Russian Church Abroad;

    Adopting the expression of St. Maximos the Confessor, I call that Church Catholic which confesses this true and salvific faith and all who confess this faith to be genuine sons of the Orthodox Church; I boast of the spiritual legacy of our fathers, including the Holy New-Confessor Archbishop Matthew, and with this legacy I hope to stand before God and receive absolution of sins; without this legacy, continuing with the expression of St. Mark Evgenikos, I do not know what kind of justice will deliver us from eternal hell, if someone tries to remove us from this legacy and give to us another one, even if he be an angel from heaven, let him be anathema, for it is God alone Who gave us this faith and no one else, to him be glory unto the ages - Amen+

 St. Dimitrios 2006