Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • OCA Holy Synod Elects Archimandrite Vasily (Permiakov) as Bishop of San Francisco and the West
    • Dr. Vigen Guroian Speaking on the Unity of the Orthodox Church and Orthodox Christian Student Fellowships on College Campuses in America
    • American Orthodoxy Today: Results from the Pew and CES Surveys
    • Summer Edition (Vol. 1, No. 3, 2025) of the St Sophia Quarterly
    • The Power of a Backpack: A Short Film by FOCUS
    • OCMC Board of Directors Appoints Dr. Nathan Hoppe as New Executive Director
    • Suprasl: Enhancing the Awareness of Unity – July 2025 Newsletter
    • Video: A Vision for Orthodox Christianity’s Future in North America
    Orthodox Christian Laity
    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
    • Home
    • OCL
      • About OCL
      • Leadership
      • OCL News
      • OCL Publications
      • Focused Study and Research Topics
      • OCL Archives at DePaul University
    • Orthodox News & Links
      • Orthodox News Stories
      • Headlines & News Archives
      • Governance & Unity
        • Governance Top Stories
        • Governance & Unity Essays
        • Grassroots Unity in Action
      • OCL Forums
      • Orthodox Christian Laity News
      • Web Links
    • Audio & Video
      • Audio Index
      • Video Index
    • Contact
    • Make a Donation
    Orthodox Christian Laity
    You are at:Home»Governance & Unity News»Governance & Unity Essays»Is the Phanar about to Fall into Schism?

    Is the Phanar about to Fall into Schism?

    2
    By Webmaster on June 9, 2016 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Uncategorized
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email Telegram WhatsApp Copy Link

    Orthodox EnglandSource: Orthodox England

    Two Local Orthodox Churches, Bulgaria and Antioch, have withdrawn from the Crete meeting, organized by Phanar bureaucrats in Constantinople. The Georgian Church, savagely insulted by the Phanar (just as it also insulted the Bulgarian Church, causing a diplomatic incident, and the Church of Greece, whose canonical territory it invaded) for its faithfulness to Orthodoxy, may not attend. The Serbian Church has called for the meeting to be postponed and the Russian Church, 75% of the whole, has called for an emergency conference to convene to discuss the problems and mediate. If the Russian Church does not attend the meeting, as it has said it will not if others do not attend, then the whole fantastic project will fall apart. Only the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Romanian Church, both with US-appointed Patriarchs, and the tiny Albanian Church (which is financed and run from the Greek Diaspora in the USA) are for the moment attending.

    The modernistic and even heretical documents the Phanar has prepared, with help from its sponsors in Washington which wants an Orthodox Vatican II, have been torn to pieces by Orthodox everywhere, not least by Mt Athos – part of the Phanar’s own jurisdiction. Now we have heard the absurd words of the notorious Phanar agent in the USA, Fr John Chryssavgis, who has openly stated that, ‘if one or more Churches doesn’t attend, or withdraws during the Council (sic), or is not present and doesn’t vote, all the decisions made will still hold and be binding for all Orthodox Churches. A Great Council is above and beyond any individual Church council or Synod … and it remains such even without the participation of one or more Church’. This piece of blackmail would be hilarious, if it were not meant seriously and so were not criminal in intent.

    The Phanar is now desperate: it knows that it is make or break time. If it loses here, it will no longer be taken seriously by either of its two backers, the US State Department, that ensures its mere survival in Turkey, and the Vatican, that alone takes it seriously. Power will pass to Moscow, where everyone is looking as the natural Orthodox leader. In its desperation to put pressure on the Russian Church, the Phanar is resorting to the US-inspired Plan B. This is to ‘do an Estonia’ in the Ukraine, that is, to blackmail by invading Russian canonical territory in the Ukraine and set up a schismatic Ukrainian Church under its jurisdiction (1). Thus the Phanar, its bureaucrats with their Uniatizing doctorates obtained at the Catholic Gregorian University in Rome, in control of less than 2% of the Orthodox world, tries to browbeat the Orthodox into submission, as though it were run by a Turkish sultan (some say it is).

    It looks as though the Phanar is going to hold a meeting in Crete, at which it will talk to itself – as it has been doing all along, on account of its refusal to consult and to listen, which has led it to its present self-humiliating fiasco. Its dictatorship has led to its self-marginalization from the Orthodox world. We are seeing not the Council of Crete, but the Second Council of Florence. Only this time St Mark of Ephesus is the vast majority. The fact is that the US attempt to impose heresy on the Orthodox world has been an abject failure, unlike at Vatican II. Since the Phanar has been abandoned by Mt Athos, it would be better if its discredited Patriarch resigned and went to repent in a monastery there as a simple monk. And in his place an Orthodox monk from Mt Athos could be elected, this time without, for the first time since 1948, any meddling from the US State Department.

    In three days’ time we will be celebrating the Fathers of the First Universal Council, those who preached Christ as God and man, unlike the humanist (‘personalist’) philosophers of the Phanar. In three days’ time we will be celebrating the Fathers of the First Universal Council, those who adopted the Church calendar, unlike the philosophers of the Phanar who rejected it. Those in the Phanar, greedy for power and domination as in Rome of old, may yet fall away from the Church into schism; it does not matter, we in the Church shall celebrate victory: sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks before a proposed Council, as it has done through the Churches of Bulgaria and Antioch.

    The Ascension of the Lord 2016

    Note:
    1. ‘To do an Estonia’ refers to the 7,000-strong ‘Estonian Apostolic Church’ set up by Constantinople on the canonical territory of the 100,000-strong Estonian Orthodox Church, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Greek-run group is led by a Greek bishop who speaks Greek and French; the canonical Estonian Orthodox Church by an Estonian Orthodox.

    Posted by Archpriest Andrew Phillips

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp Copy Link
    Previous ArticleMESSAGE OF THE HOLY ASSEMBLY OF BISHOPS OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH REGARDING THE HOLY AND GREAT COUNCIL
    Next Article GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE PROTESTS THE READING OF KORAN IN HAGIA SOPHIA

    Related Posts

    July 16, 20252 Mins Read

    OCA Holy Synod Elects Archimandrite Vasily (Permiakov) as Bishop of San Francisco and the West

    July 16, 20251 Min Read

    Dr. Vigen Guroian Speaking on the Unity of the Orthodox Church and Orthodox Christian Student Fellowships on College Campuses in America

    July 16, 20251 Min Read

    American Orthodoxy Today: Results from the Pew and CES Surveys

    2 Comments

    1. John Nicholas on June 10, 2016 5:44 pm

      Forgive my ignorance.
      “We are seeing not the Council of Crete, but the Second Council of Florence. Only this time St Mark of Ephesus is the vast majority. The fact is that the US attempt to impose heresy on the Orthodox world has been an abject failure, unlike at Vatican II. ”
      I understand the first part of this statement, but not the second.

      Reply
      • Iyad Gabbour on July 2, 2016 3:21 pm

        Vatican II was the End of first Catholicism as known and the begining of Protestant-led Vatican

        Reply
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Register for OCL's Annual Conference - October 11, 2025

    Sign the Declaration for Orthodox Christian Unity

    Enter the Slogan Contest

    Share this page
    DISCLAIMER

    All articles represent the views of the authors and  not necessarily the official views of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL). They are posted to encourage thoughtful discussion on topics and concerns relevant to Orthodox Christians living in a pluralistic society. OCL encourages your comments.

    Stay Informed!

    Subscribe to our Newsletter

    WE WELCOME YOUR INPUT AND SUPPORT!

    Your donation impacts and helps advance the unity of the Orthodox Church of America.

    DONATE NOW

    THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

    Upcoming Events
    Notice
    There are no upcoming events.
    Recent Comments
    • Jimmy Kallis on HAVE WE HIT ROCK BOTTOM? REFLECTIONS OF A NOT-SO-INNOCENT BYSTANDER [witnessing the present decline of the Orthodox Church as an institution]
    • Lou Gaviras on How will the Female Diaconate Help Prevent Abuse?
    • pERRY tORMAS on HAVE WE HIT ROCK BOTTOM? REFLECTIONS OF A NOT-SO-INNOCENT BYSTANDER [witnessing the present decline of the Orthodox Church as an institution]
    • Perry Tormas on HAVE WE HIT ROCK BOTTOM? REFLECTIONS OF A NOT-SO-INNOCENT BYSTANDER [witnessing the present decline of the Orthodox Church as an institution]
    • Myron Kaleras on How will the Female Diaconate Help Prevent Abuse?
    • Levantios on 90% OF PEOPLE OF GREEK DESCENT HAVE LEFT THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
    • Jerry Maras on 90% OF PEOPLE OF GREEK DESCENT HAVE LEFT THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
    • John on 90% OF PEOPLE OF GREEK DESCENT HAVE LEFT THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
    • Jupiter's Son on Leading Liturgists Reaffirm the Ordination of Women to the Diaconate
    • Timothy Mulligan on Ethno-Phyletism: A Problem for the American Church
    OCL Archives Online
    Project for Orthodox Renewal
    renewal-resize
    OCL Digital Newsletter

    Subscribe to our Newsletter

    MAKE A DONATION

    Sign the Declaration for Orthodox Christian Unity

    Facebook
    Twitter
    YouTube

    St. Symeon the New Theologian and St. Photini are the Patron Saints of OCL

    footer-fnl

    Orthodox Christian Laity
    PO Box 6954

    West Palm Beach, FL · 33405
    561-585-0245

    Sponsored by Ann Souvall in memory of husband George

    DISCLAIMER: All articles represent the views of the authors and  not necessarily the official views of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL). They are posted to encourage thoughtful discussion on topics and concerns relevant to Orthodox Christians living in a pluralistic society. OCL encourages your comments.

    ©2023 Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) ·  Login

    St. Symeon the New Theologian and St. Photini are the Patron Saints of OCL

    footer-fnl

    Orthodox Christian Laity
    PO Box 6954

    West Palm Beach, FL · 33405
    561-585-0245

    Sponsored by Ann Souvall in memory of husband George

    DISCLAIMER: All articles represent the views of the authors and  not necessarily the official views of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL). They are posted to encourage thoughtful discussion on topics and concerns relevant to Orthodox Christians living in a pluralistic society. OCL encourages your comments.

    ©2025 Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) ·  Login

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.