Breakdown of the Matthewites

[d9popov]

BREAKDOWN OF THE MATTHEWITES

Today, there are five Matthewite groups.

(1) Archbishop Stephanos (Tsakiroglou) of Athens, Metropolitan Andreas of Thebes, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Phillipi, Metropolitan Ignatios of Larisa, and Metropolitan Panteleemon of Phthiotis, http://oprotoklitos.blogspot.com/ and http://www.orthodox-christianity.net/. In Cyprus, Metropolitan Sevastion of Kition and Metropolitan Lazaros of Amathous. This group recently announced disciplinary action against group 2. This group has internal disagreements about icons, fasting, and the frequency of Communion, and possibly also about name-glorification. A Mathewite view on the dispute on the veneration of God’s name is at https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzJKrDV ... g1M3BDRzQ/. This group has been accused of reaching out to the Kallinikos synod, but denies this.

(2) Metropolitan Eustratios (Tourles) of Patra, http://impatron.blogspot.com/, https://churchdocs.wordpress.com/2016/0 ... ll-clergy/, and and Metropolitan Pachomios of Argolis. This group may be in the process of separating from group 1. It may be reaching out to group 3.

(3) Metropolitan Kerykos (Kontogiannes) of Mesogaia, http://kirykos.livejournal.com/, http://churchgoc.org/, http://churchgoc.org/index_el.html, and http://genuineorthodoxchurch.com/, Metropolitan Serafim of Kiev, Metropolitan Matthew of Nairobi, Metropolitan Cassian of Bacau, Metropolitan Gerontie of Vrancea. In Cyprus, Metropolitan Parthenios of Kition. This group fanatically rejects Saint Chrysostom of Florina and Saint Philaret the New Confessor of New York. This group also imposes non-traditional fasting rules on laity that it does not impose on clergy.

(4) Metropolitan Chrysostomos (Metropoulos) of Thessalonica, http://www.egoch.org/. He is in communion with no other bishops and a tiny number of clergy. He calls those not with him iconoclasts and antichrists.

(5) Metropolitan Chrysostomos (Tzanes) of Thebes, http://churchgoc.blogspot.com/, Metropolitan Ignatios of Phthiotis, Metropolitan Iakovos of Messenia, and Metropolitan Kosmas of Attica. They have an obsession with desputes over icons and with the name-glorification dispute, but do not undertand it, and they rely on non-traditional sources,

[Maria]

This post above, due to its polemical nature and speculations, has been relocated into the Intra-TOC polemics. Anastasios has ruled that this board is not to engage in gossip or speculation even in the private forums. Also please be careful not to link to boards and blogs or mention the names of those who post gossip and speculation.

These two subjects should not be addressed at E Cafe and are to be avoided:
#1 - specious speculation that Archbishop Stephanos is reaching out to the Kallinikites
#2 - gossip about Group 2 moving to Group 3

d9popov, please be careful where you post. Any more polemical and/or speculative posts most likely will result in a public board issued warning.

While we must pray for the two recently disciplined Metropolitans who were under Archbishop Stephanos, it is never good to post speculations and gossip on what they or Archbishop Stephanos might do. Hopefully, these two disciplined Metropolitans will come to their senses and will not join the schismatic and heretical Monk Kyrikos.

Maria
Administrator

p.s. In the past few years, Monk Kyrikos has embraced more heresies and has become even more fanatical. This is not surprising as schismatics have lost grace, and when grace departs heresies and wickedness abound.

[d9popov]

THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO RUMOR OR SPECULATION in the posting concerning the new relationships between the three (of five) Matthewite groups. All the information was taken directly from the official synodal document of Archbishop Stephanos (Tsakiroglou) of Athens, Metropolitan Andreas of Thebes, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Phillipi, Metropolitan Ignatios of Larisa, and Metropolitan Panteleemon of Phthiotis. These five metropolitans, in turn, took their information about the other two metropolitans (Metropolitan Eustratios [Tourles] of Patra and Metropolitan Pachomios of Argolis) from official documents issued by Metropolitan Eustratios and from photographs. It was these five metropolitans (not me) that decided to emphasize that group 2 has been reaching out to group 3. The five metropolitans cited many documents and photographs to prove that historical fact. My posting summarizes the dispute based on careful readings of the official documents. Citations to official church websites were provided in the posting. The Euphrosynos Cafe archives show that (1) it has always been permitted to discuss official letters of synods or bishops (of any jurisdiction) and (2) the moderator (whether Florinite, Matthewite, or Milan/Avlona) allowed a free exchange of opinion, without trying to limit the expression of opinion from another side. I support the Florinite tradition, so Matthewites and Milan/Avlona people will disagree with some postings. But what I wrote was accurate. I do not support Metropolitan Kerykos of Mesogaia (the scholar and theologian Menas Kontogiannes), but we should respect him enough to spell his name correctly. The name is Kirykos (or better Kerykos) [Latin/English: Cerycus]. The name Kyrikos is a totally different name, with a different meaning, different saint, and different feast day. The first name (Kerykos) is related to Keryx and Kerygma (preacher and proclamation) and the second name (Kyrikos) is related to the words for lord and valid. I agree that we should avoid rumor. We should look carefully at official Matthewite documents and websites and at serious commentaries online. That is what I did.

[Maria]

Mr. Anastasios Hudson, the CEO and webmaster here at E Cafe and former Kallinikite Priest, has agreed with the need for this Intra-TOC Polemics private board because of the destructive polemical postings not only from the followers of Monk Kerykos, but also from others who claim to be True Orthodox, who have knowingly or unknowingly posted unsavory things about the various synods who claim to be True Orthodox, and who have been using this web forum to promote their own version of True Orthodoxy.

It is now against the rules at E Cafe to post unsubstantiated rumors, gossip, and speculations, to proselytize a particular True Orthodox Synod in the public forum, or to engage in polemics by attacking another True Orthodox Synod in the public forum.

If you would check the postings of Mr. Anastasios Hudson, you will notice that he has posted in the Intra-TOC polemics subforum. These posts of Mr. Anastasios were not split off and removed to the Intra-TOC polemics subforum. Instead, he has actively participated in this very subforum.

[Maria]

Yes. We must pray for Archbishop Stephanos and for all parties involved. The two former metropolitans who were recently deposed by the Synod under Archbishop Stephanos were warned repeatedly. They were too rigid.

One of their rigid practices was not communing laity who did not fast every day for one week prior to receiving Holy Communion, even during the Pascha season. Yet, this practice was not imposed on the clergy. This practice of very restricted communion, especially not giving communion to laity at the Sunday Divine Liturgy, was contrary to what St. Nectarios, the spiritual father of St. Matthew, and St. Matthew preached and practiced. Furthermore, this practice of infrequent communion by the laity smacks of the Roman Catholic Jansenistic heresy taught by very legalistic Jesuits.

Since these two extremely legalistic ex-metropolitans believe as does the deposed Kyrikos, perhaps they will join Monk Kyrikos as they have visited him many times with photo opportunities on various websites to prove these meetings. These meetings with Monk Kyrikos have caused much grief to Archbishop Stephanos and to his synod. For this reason, we must pray for all these men.