CONFESSOR

1582 Pope Gregory XIII changes the calendar.

1583 Pan-Orthodox Council in Constantinople condemns and places the new [Gregorian] calendar under anathema.

1587 Pan-Orthodox Council in Constantinople condemns and places the new calendar under anathema.

1593 Pan-Orthodox Council in Constantinople condemns and places the new calendar under anathema.

1670 Patriarch Dositheos of Jerusalem and his Sacred Synod condemn the new calendar.

1827 Ecumenical Patriarch Agathangelos and his Sacred Synod condemn the new calendar.

1895 Ecumenical Patriarch Anthimos VII and his Sacred Synod condemn the new calendar.

1902 Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III and his Sacred Synod condemn the new calendar.

1903 Patriarch Damianos of Jerusalem and his Sacred Synod condemn the new calendar.

1903 Sacred Synod of the Church of Russia condemns the new calendar.

1903 Sacred Synod of the Church of Romania condemns the new calendar.

1903 Sacred Synod of the Church of Greece condemns the new calendar.

1904 Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III and his Sacred Synod again condemn the new calendar.

1910 The modern Ecumenical Movement is born at the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1919 Sacred Synod of the Church of Greece again condemns the new calendar.

1919 Meletios Metaxakis becomes Archbishop of Athens.

1920 Metropolitan Dorotheos of Prusa, topotiritis of the throne of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, issues the Encyclical entitled, “To the Churches of Christ Wheresoever They Might Be,” thereby indicating for the first time Constantinople’s willingness to enter into ecumenical discussions.

1921 In December, Meletios Metaxakis is deposed as Archbishop of Athens for canonical infractions and for causing schism.

1922 In January, with the support of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but without being canonically elected, and though deposed by the Sacred Synod of the Church of Greece, Meletios Metaxakis is enthroned as Ecumenical Patriarch. Under intense political pressure from the government of Greece, his defrockment as Archbishop of Athens is lifted in September.

1922 Ecumenical Patriarch Metetios Metaxakis recognizes the validity of Anglican orders.

1922 Meletios Metaxakis establishes the Greek Archdiocese in the United States and places it under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate..

1923 In January, in a Report to the Committee of the Department of Religion in Greece, Chrysostomos Papadopoulos (the future Archbishop of Athens) writes: “No Orthodox Autocephalous Church can separate itself from the rest and accept the new calendar without becoming schismatic in the eyes of the others.”

1923 Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis recognizes the Communist-sponsored Living Church in Russia.

1923 Meletios Metaxakis convenes the Pan-Orthodox Congress in May and June. At this “Pan-Orthodox” assembly, only the Orthodox Churches of Greece, Romania and Serbia and the Anglican Church are represented.

1923 In July, outraged Orthodox Christians of Constantinople physically expel Metaxakis from the premises of the Patriarchate. Metaxakis officially resigns as Ecumenical Patriarch in September, citing “reasons of health.”

1924 Pressured by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the State Church of Greece adopt the new calendar on March 10/23, 1924.

1924 In Romania, Metropolitan Myron Christea accepts the new calendar. Shortly thereafter, working in close conjunction with the Uniate prime minister of Romania, Julius Manius, he unilaterally adopts the Western Paschalion as well. Riots break out in the streets over the issue, and the adoption of the Western Paschalion is retracted.

1924 In unanimity with Patriarch Gregory of Antioch, Patriarch Damianos of Jerusalem, and Archbishop Kyrillos of Cypus, Patriarch Photios of Alexandria and his Sacred Synod condemn the introduction of the new calendar.

1925 On September 14 (Julian), the Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross, the Cross appears in the heavens over the Church of St. John the Theologian on Mount Hymettos, outside of Athens, where two thousand faithful had gathered to celebrate the Vigil of the Feast of the Cross. The police, who were sent by Archbishop Chrysostomos Papadopoulos of Athens to break up the service and to arrest the priest, are converted.

1925-1935 Some 800 communities of those who follow the traditional Orthodox calendar are established. Memoranda from bishops of the State Church and from the traditional Orthodox Christians pour into the offices of the Greek Government and the State Church. Intimidated, a few government officials allow some accommodation for the believers, but the State Church under Chrysostomos Papadopoulos insists on persecuting and exiling the traditional Orthodox clergy and faithful.

1926 The State Church of Greece issues an encyclical declaring the Mysteries of the traditional Orthodox Christians “bereft of divine grace.”

1926 Meletios Metaxakis, under the auspices of the Greek government and the British Mandate government in Egypt, becomes Patriarch of Alexandria. The Patriarchate of Alexandria immediately adopts the new calendar.

1927 The Churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania participate in the (Protestant) Faith and Order Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland.

1929 In July, Archbishop Chrysostomos Papadopoulos of the State Church of Greece convokes a meeting of his Sacred Synod in an effort to legitimize the adoption of the new calendar and to condemn all those who remain faithful to the traditional Church calendar. Of the forty-four bishops present, thirteen depart from the Synod meeting, twenty-seven refuse to endorse this decree; only four actually sign.

1931 An Orthodox delegation under the leadership of Meletios Metaxakis attends the Anglican Lambeth Conference.

1935 In May, seeing that nothing avails in convincing Archbishop Chrysostomos Papadopoulos to reject his innovation, three Metropolitans of the State Church – Germanos of Demetrias, Chrysostomos of Florina, and Chrysostomos of Zakynthos – renounce the innovation and take up the leadership of the traditional Orthodox Christians. Four new traditionalist bishops are consecrated by them: Germanos of the Kyklades Islands, Christophoros of Megaris, Polykarpos of Diavlia, and Matthaios of Bresthena. In an encyclical to the faithful the three Metropolitans who first left the State Church declare that body to be schismatic and under the condemnation of the Pan-Orthodox Councils of 1583, 1587, and 1593 [see above].

1935 In June, the State Church holds a spiritual court and condemns the above-mentioned traditional Orthodox hierarchs. All are “deposed”; of these, three are banished and exiled, while Matthaios of Bresthena is confined to his monastery. Chrysostomos of Zakynthos, Polykarpos of Diavlia, and Christophoros of Megaris recant and return to the State Church.

1935 In July, Meletios Metaxakis dies in Zurich and is buried in Cairo. Anglican churches throughout Egypt and the Sudan pray for him.

1937 In Edinburgh, the Churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Poland and Albania participate for a second time in the Faith and Order Conference.

1937 Metropolitans Chrysostmos of Florina and Germanos of Demetrias disagree with Metropolitans Germanos of the Kyklades Islands and Matthaios of Bresthena over whether the State Church of Greece is in true schism or not. The traditional Orthodox Christians become divided into two factions – the “Florinites” and the Matthewites.”

1943 Metropolitan Germanos of Demetrias reposes, leaving Metropolitan Chrysostmos of Florina briefly by himself.

1944 Christophoros of Christianopolis (formerly) of Megaris) and Polykarpos of Diavlia leave the State Church of Greece, and rejoin Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina.

1948 In violation of the Apostolic Canons, Matthaios of Bresthena consecrates new bishops by himself. As a result, many clergy and faithful leave his jurisdiction and join Metropolitan Chrysosotomos of Florina.

1948 The Faith and Order Conference fuses with the “Life and Work Movement” in Amsterdam to become the “World Council of Churches” (WCC). The Churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Greece, and Romania participate.

1948 Ecumenical Patriarch Maximos is declared “mentally unfit” and forcibly retired; Archbishop Athenagoras of North and South America arrives in Constantinople on an aircraft of the United States State Department and becomes Ecumenical Patriarch. The Western religious and secular media report on the political overtones and illegality of Athenagoras’s election.

1949 Metropolitan Germanos of the Kyklades Islands returns to the Sacred Synod of Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina.

1950 Seeing no sign of repentance from the State Church of Greece, the Sacred Synod  under Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina issues an encyclical declaring the State Church schismatic and its mysteries void of grace.

1950-1955 Archbishop Spyridon of the State Church of Greece initiates and maintains a period of fierce persecutions against the traditional Orthodox Christians, accusing them of being pro-Slavic, pro-Communist, and traitors to Greece.

1950 Bishop Matthaios of Bresthena reposes.

1951 Metropolitan Germanos of the Kyklades Islands reposes. The State Church does not permit funeral rites for him. Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina is arrested and sent into exile for a year and a half.

1952 Constantinople, Antioch, Cyprus, and the American Metropolia (later, OCA) participate in the Faith and Order Conference in Lund.

1952 Intimidated by the persecutions, Polykarpos of Diavlia and Christophoros (now of Christianopolis) again return to the State Church.

1954 At the Evanston assembly of the WCC, in a statement prepared and inspired primarily by Father Georges Florovsky, the Orthodox delegates declare, “We are bound to declare our profound conviction that the Holy Orthodox Church alone has preserved in full and intact the Faith once delivered unto the saints.”

1955 Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina reposes, leaving no successor. Patriarch Christophoros of Alexandria presides over a full memorial service for Metropolitan Chrysostomos in Alexandria.

1957 At the WCC’s conference in Oberlin, Ohio, in response to the Protestants’ conference theme, “The Unity We Seek,” the Orthodox delegates, again, at the inspiration of Father Georges Florovsky, respond that this “Unity has never been lost … For us, this Unity is embodied in the Orthodox Church.”

1959 Archbishop Iakovos is enthroned as head of the Greek Archdiocese in the Americas. The secular press reports on the irregularities in his election to this position.

1960 ROCA Archbishop Seraphim of Chicago and ROCA Bishop Theophilus of Detroit secretly consecrate Archimandrite Akakios Pappas as Bishop of Talantion for the Florinite jurisdiction.

1961 At the order of Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, conveyed through his exarch, Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America, the Orthodox delegates at the WCC assembly in New Delhi are “to refrain” henceforth from issuing “separate statements” at the WCC conferences. The Moscow Patriarchate joins the WCC, followed quickly by Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria.

1962 ROCA Archbishop Leonty of Chile and Peru and Akakios of Talantion consecrate three more bishops for Greece: Parthenios of the Kyklades Islands, Auxentios of Gardikion, and Chrysostomos of Magnesia. Later, Akakios of Dialia and Gerontios of Salamis are also consecrated.

1963 In April, in an address to members of a WCC gathering in Buck Hills Falls, Pennsylvania, Archbishop Iakovos states: “It would be utterly foolish for true believers to pretend or to insist that the whole truth has been revealed only to them, and that they alone possess it. Such a claim would be both unbiblical and untheological … Christ did not specify the date nor the place that the Church would suddenly take full possession of the whole truth.”

1963 Akakios of Talantion reposes. Auxentios of Gardikion is elected Archbishop.

1964 Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI meet and hold joint prayers in the Holy Land in January.

1965 The Patriarchate of Serbia joins the WCC. In December, Constantinople unilaterally lifts the 1054 Anathema against an unrepentant Rome. The canonist of the new calendar Greek Archdiocese of North and South America, Rev. Theodoros T. Thalassinos, writes: “The removal of the mutual excommunications between the two Churches restores canonical relations between Rome and New Rome. This restoration is a canonical necessity, since there is no possible third situation between ecclesiastical communion and its negation: ecclesiastical excommunication.” In a letter to Patriarch Athenagoras, ROCA Metropolitan Philaret protests this alleged lifting of the Anathema.

1966 Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras states that “theoretical unity [between Rome and Constantinople] already exists. But actual unity will shortly take place.”

1967 In July, Pope Paul VI travels to Constantinople and holds joint prayers with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras.

1967 In October, Patriach Athenagoras travels to Rome and holds joint prayers with Pope Paul VI.

1967 In London, Patriarch Athenagoras holds joint prayers with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

1968 At the WCC assembly in Uppsala, the Protestant and Orthodox delegates open the sessions with the prayer, “O God, Father … Your love is stretched out upon all men, to seek the Truth, which we have not known.” For the first time, the Orthodox officially become “organic members” of this ecumenistic body.

1968 In his Christmas Encyclical, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras announces that he has inserted Pope Paul VI’s name in the diptychs to be commemorated at the Divine Liturgy.

1969 ROCA Metropolitan Philaret writes a letter of protest to Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America; in addition, he addresses a “Sorrowful Epistle” to all the hierarchs of World Orthodoxy.

1969 The Moscow Patriarchate officially begins giving communion to Roman Catholics.

1969 The Sacred Synod of ROCA recognizes the episcopal consecrations of the Sacred Synod of Archbishop Auxentios of Athens and All Greece which had been enacted without the knowledge of ROCA.

1971 With specific conditions, ROCA regularizes the uncanonical consecrations of the Matthewite jurisdiction. The ROCA’s conditions are only partially implemented by the Matthewites.

1971 Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras publicly proclaims that he gives communion to Roman Catholics and Protestants.

1971 ROCA Metropolitan Philaret addresses his “Second Sorrowful Epistle” to the bishops of World Orthodoxy.

1972 Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras dies. Dimitrios is enthroned in his place. In his enthronement speech, the new Patriarch addresses the Pope of Rome as “the leader of Christendom”, while speaking of himself as “the leader of the Orthodox.” He also vows to continue Athenagoras’s policies.

1974 Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios banishes thirteen Athonite monks – including three Abbots – who refuse to commemorate him because of his ecumenistic policies.

1974 The Sacred Synod of Archbishop Auxentios re-confirms the 1950 encyclical of the Sacred Synod of Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina concerning the invalidity of the mysteries of the schismatic State Church of Greece and all followers of the calendar innovation.

1975 Metropolitan Athenagoras of Tyateria and Great Britain, with the written commendation and approval of the Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, publishes his Thyateria Confession, which recognizes the priesthood and the sacraments of heretical denominations, espouses the “Branch Theory,” admits that Moslems deny the divinity of Christ, but nonetheless teaches that “they believe in the true God”; and finally, it permits Orthodox, in the absence of their own clergy, to have intercommunion with Roman Catholics and Anglicans. This document is never repudiated or condemned by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

1975 At the WCC’s assembly in Nairobi, the Orthodox representatives state: “The Orthodox do not expect that other Christians be converted to Orthodoxy in its historic and cultural reality of the past and present and to become members of the Orthodox Church.”

1976 The Matthewites break with the ROCA and later repudiate that Church’s regularization of their consecrations in 1971.

1978 During an official audience with the newly-elected Pope John Paul I, Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad collapses and dies in the arms of the Pope, from whom he receives the Roman Catholic last rites. It is later revealed that Nikodim of the Moscow Patriarchate  had secretly espoused Roman Catholicism.

1979 Formation of the Kallistos Schism. Metropolian Kallistos of Corinth (formerly of the Matthewites, but a member of the Sacred Synod of Archbishop Auxentios since 1976) and Anthony of Megaris secretly and uncanonically consecrate eight bishops. The Sacred Synod of Archbishop Auxentios deposes both consecrators and the “consecrated” of the Kallistos Schism, and consecrates ten new bishops.

1979-1986 A period of disarray prevails among the various groups of traditional Orthodox jurisdictions in Greece, with the emergence of two new groups: the Kiousis Synod and the Kyprianos Synod.

1983 The WCC holds assembly in Vancouver, during which shamanistic and other pagan rituals are performed.

1983 ROCA Metropolitan Philaret and his Synod pronounce an anathema against the pan-heresy of Ecumenism and its adherents.

1984 Demise of the short-lived Kallistos Schism, with various re-groupings of its former bishops.

1984 In affirmation of the teaching of the Thyateria Confession of 1975, Bishop Kallistos Ware of the Ecumenical Patriarchate confirms in writing that he gives communion to Monophysites.

1985 In November, ROCA Metropolitan Philaret reposes, and that jurisdiction, under the new Metropolitan, Vitaly Ustinov, initiates a change of ecclesiastical policy, with increasing joint prayers with ecumenistic clergy.

1985 ROCA Bishop Mark of Germany visits the Holy Mountain, Athos, and commemorates Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios.

1986 In January, the “Church Leaders’ Covenant” is jointly signed by Orthodox, Protestant, and Unitarian clergy in Boston in order “to manifest more clearly the oneness of the Body of Christ.”

1986 In October, the “Assisi Gathering” is convoked by Pope John Paul II. “World Orthodoxy” bishops participate, together with representatives of other religions.

1986 ROCA Archbishop Anthony of Geneva gives a blessing to his clergy to concelebrate with clergy of ecumenistic jurisdictions. After protests which go unanswered over the span of a year, two monastic establishments, many parishes, and thirty-six clergy in the United States and Canada leave ROCA.

1986 ROCA Metropolitan Vitaly, in his Nativity Epistle, completely re-defines the 1983 Anathema Against Ecumenism/

1987 The ROCA Synod endorses the letter of priest Alexander Lebedev which permits intercommunion with ecumenistic jurisdictions.

1987 More parishes and clergy in the United States, France, and elsewhere in Europe leave ROCA and are united to the Sacred Synod of Archbishop Auxentios.

1987 Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios states that it is permitted for Orthodox to receive communion from and impart communion to Roman Catholics under certain conditions. This re-affirms the teaching of the Thyateria Confession published in 1975 with the official approval of the Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

1987 Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios and his archdeacon participate in a papal mass in Rome.

1988 In March, Archbishop Iakovos of America states, “The unity we seek cannot be Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or Protestant. It has a wider dimension, that of Catholicity.”

1989 In September, MP Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk declares his intention to publish the Koran “for the disciples of the Prophet Mohammed” in Russia.

1989 In October, Patriarch Parthenios of Alexandria declares that “Mohammed is a Prophet of God,” and that anyone who “speaks against Islam or Buddhism speaks against God.”

1990 Metropolitan Bartholomaios of Chalcedon (future Ecumenical Patriarch) of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, during a visit to San Francisco with Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios, expresses views tolerant of abortion.

1991 At the WCC’s assembly in Canberra, Protestant and Orthodox delegates participate in pagan purification rites.

1991 “Agreed Statement” of the Patriarchate of Antioch with Monophysites (Jacobites), allowing joint prayers and intercommunion, though the Monophysites do not accept the Seven Ecumenical Councils.

1991 Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios dies. Metropolitan Bartholomaios of Chalcedon replaces him.

1992 In their “Summit Message,” the heads of the autocephalous Churches of “World Orthodoxy” – including Patriarchs Diodoros of Jerusalem and Paul of Serbia – condemn attempts to convert non-Orthodox “Christians” to the Orthodox Faith.

1992 In October, Patriarch Paul of Serbia is received by ROCA Archbishop Anthony of San Francisco in his cathedral with full patriarchal honors and the chanting of “Eis polla eti Despota.”

1993 The “Balamand Agreed Statement,” signed by representatives of the Churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Russia, Romania, Cyprus, Poland, Albania, and Finland, accepts the Roman Catholic denomination as a “Sister Church,” with fully valid sacraments.

1994 Repose of Archbishop Auxentios. At his funeral, many of his former adversaries (including bishops) come to pay their last respects to him and tearfully ask forgiveness.