Greece
1935-1955
The intellectual leadership of the Holy Struggle
The objection of Orthodoxy against the innovation that the leaders of the Managing Orthodox Church enforced in Church’s worship was not an instant reaction but a realised expression of Orthodox Confession. Their distress however from the first years was the deprival of Archpriests. They knew that this lackness rendered them firstly without ecclesiastical leadership and secondly it would create problems in the performance of their religious duties because of the lack of priests. All these years there were efforts to amplify certain Hierarchs, so that they recant the innovator Church and undertake the leadership of the Holy Agon. So, they also visited Metropolitan of Florina Hrisostomo (Kavouridis). At 1928, Metr. Chrysostomos (Kavouridis) after a disease he asked to be abdicated of his duty and to stay as an inapprehensive in Athens permanently. He had the
chance to know closely the zeal and the crowd of the Orthodox faithful whom were fighting against the innovation of the new-calendar, he realised their ingenuous fight and decided to join them. After some contacts he had with other Hierarchs he undertook the pastorate of Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece with Metropolitans Dimitriados Germano (Mavrommati) and Zakinthou Hrisostomo (Dimitriou).At the 13th of May, a Holy Liturgy took place by the three Hierarchs at the H.T. Of Assumption – Athens. The three Hierarchs, in front of 25000 faithfuls, declared the undertaking of pastorate of G.O.C. and read the relativeproclamation which was their Orthodox Confess. On the next day they sent to the Synod of the New-calendar Church their renunciation and their interruption as members. As soon as the three Hierarchs found that, the New-calendar Church, was about to proceed against them with trials and persecutions, they decided to
ordain Bishops. The ordinations were done in the Holy Monastery of Pefkovounogiatrissa at Keratea- Attika and were elected the Archimandrites: Germanos (Varikopoulos) as Bishop of Cyclades, Christophoros (Hatzis) as Bishop of Megara, Polikarpos (Liosis) as Bishop of Diavlia and the abbot 
of the Monastery Matthaios (Karpathakis) as Bishop Vresthenis. So, the Church of G.O.C. acquired its Ecclesiastical Administration and the president was Metr. Germanos of Dimitriados. The reaction of the New-Calendar Archbishop of Athens Chrysostomos was direct. He accomplished to turn the Government against the Hierarchs of G.O.C.He sent a powerful police force at the offices of Archdiocese of G.O.C (at that time they were at 37 Aristotelous St.) and placed the three Metropolitans in restriction inside the offices. The restriction began on 29th of May and on the 1st of June the Hierarchs were judged by the New-Calendar Church and were condemned in cashiering and exile. Our Hierarchs remained limited in the offices and with guards up to the 7th of June. We should say that three synodical Metropolitans of the New-calendar ofChurch did not agree with the prosecution of Archbishop Chrysostomos against the Hierarchs of G.O.C. These were Metr. Prokopios Of Hydra, Metr. Ireneus Of Samos and Metr. Ierotheos Of Aitolia , they reached up to the point of resigning from their synodical duties.
At the 7th of June, the pastorals of G.O.C. were led to the exile. Metropolitan of Dimitriados was exiled in the Monastery of Hozeviotissa in the island Amorgos, ex- Metr.Chrysostomos of Florinis in the Monastery of Saint Dionisios at Olympus and Metr. Chrysostomos of Zakinthos in the Monastery of Romvou at Akarnania and while the two first were led to the place of their exile, Metr. Chrysostomos of Zakinthos, declared penitence and came back in his province. The four neworda-ined Bishops received the same sentences. Except two of them, Polikarpos of Diavlias and Christophoros of Megaridos who followed the example Chrysostomos of Zakinthou. They apologized to the New-calendar Synod and avoided their punishment. They hadn’t been accepted as Bishops but as Archimandrites. However, they hurried to declare that are convinced in the decision of Church but in their conscience they feel Bishops. So –they declared – neither will they act anything as Bishops but neither will they function henceforth as Priests, thing which they made. The other two, Germanos of Cyclades was exiled in the Monastery Strofadon of Zakynthos, and Vresthenis Matthaios was limited because of illness in his Monastery. After the return of the Hierarchs from the exile the holy Synod of G.O.C. were constituted from the Germanos of Dimitriados, Chrysostomos of Florinis, Germanos of Cyclades and Matthaios of Vresthenis. However the ordeal of G.O.C. at this second period does not finish here. The two Metropolitans Germanos of Dimitriados and Chrysostomos of Florinis as main perpetrators of the recommended Hierarchy of the G.O.C. accepted as was natural a bigger rage from the New-calendar Church. They considered necessary not to accept passively the unfair decisions of New-calendar Hierarchy against them. With letters to the leadership of the New-calendar 
Synod and to the Government, they protested and explained the reasons of their cutting off, from the “government owned” Church. Also,ex-Metr. of Florinis used in his speeches the theological term “by power and not by action”, meaning that the New-calendar Hierarchy is schismatic against Orthodox, but the schism they made, it is ratified only by Panorthodox Synod. Is eligible – clarified the memorable Hierarch – each Orthodox to interrupt ecclesiastical society with a schismatic clergyman or popular and to denounce this, but cannot declare him officially schismatic, a right which only the Synod has. From the above, the Bishops Germanos of Cyclades and Matthaios of Vresthenis disputed the Orthodox consent of Metropolitans Germanos and Chrysostomos. The two Metropolitans uselessly tried to maintain the unity of the Hierarchy. A civil war prevailed for a lot of years. They did not stop to sent letters one to the other, the clergy and the faithful were fanaticized and finally the race in favour of the faith was changed in internal conflict.
We should report for historical reasons that the ex- Metr. of Florinis tried many times to meet the Bishop of Vresthenis in his effort to stop this war but unfortunately all his efforts stopped in the intolerance of Bishop Matthaios and his advisers. At 1944, Metropolitan Germanos of
Dimitriados died. Next year, Bishops Hristophoros of Megaridos and Polycarpos of Diavlias, joined G.O.C. again under the presidency of ex- Chrysostomos of Florinis. At 1947, was organised the first Pan-Hellenic Congress of G.O.C. in which took part 500 representatives from all Greece. At 1948, Bishop Matthaios of Vresthenis proceeds alone in ordinations of Bishops. Bishop of Germanos of Cyclades ceases the ecclesiastical communion with him and joins, again, the Holy Synod of G.O.C. under the Presidency of ex-. Chrysostomos of Florinis.At 1949, Archbishop and Primate of the New-calendar Church becomes the Metropolitan Spiridon Vlahos. The more intense persecutions of G.O.C became at his days. Hierarchs were exiled, priests were unfrocked and shaved, Holy Temples were stamped, Holy symbols and utensiles were profaned, simple faithful were jailed, the children of G.O.C. were excluded from the Theological faculty of University of Athens and a lot of other savageries against the G.O.C. characterize this era.Bishop Matthaios Karpathakis died at the 14th of May of 1950. The New-calendar’s Archbishop Spiridon Vlahos exploiting the pan-hellenic uproar that had been done by the scandals of the Keratea Monastery (Bishop Matthaios’s) accused the whole old-calendar people and asked from the state their prosecution. Metropolitan Chrysostomos knowing the Archbishop’s Spiridon mischief, tried to unite the variant Old-calendar people to confront the upcoming new trials. Many clerics, H. Temples and Monasteries that followed the Matthiouites, returned to the canonical Synod of G.O.C. by this unionist circle of his. He also prepared the Hierarchs, the clerics and the faithful for the new befalling persecutions. The feast of Epiphany at 1951 was unprecedented. Thousands of people followed their Hierarchs and clerics. This fact made Archbishop Spridon’s anger to get wilder. At the 1st of February 1951 ex-Metr. of Florinis was arrested and led for an other time to the exile, this time in the Monastery of Ipsilou in Mitilini. At the town of Desfina, the New-calendar Metropolitan of Fokida Athanasios, entered during the time of the H. Liturgy in the Temple of G.O.C., struck the Priest who officiated and after he threw in the floor the Holy Communion started to step on it. At the island of Hios, Metr Panteleimon of Fostinis had arrested and unfrocked 10 monks of the Holy Monastery of Saint Markos and the nuns of the H. Monastery of Megali Panagia, because they followed the old calendar. A lot of our priests were hiding so they can avoid the anger of the new “Dioclitianos” Spiridon Vlahos and were servicing secretly in 
country churches and in basements. At the dawn of 24th of March of 1951, Bishop Germanos of Cyclades is transferred from the house he was hiding to the hospital because of cerebral accident. Since he had realised the gravity of his situation, memorable Stavros Karamitsos (member of the Administrative Council of the Community of G.O.C.) went to Archbishop Spiridon and asked him to stop the persecution for a while and especially for the dying Bishop, so that a priest could go to a hospital and give him the Holy Communion. He also asked from the Archbishop Spiridon to unseal a Temple so that it could be chanted the burial service when the patient Bishop would have been dead. The cruelty of Archbishop Spiridon didn’t buckle even this moment. On the contrary he sent police force in the Hospital in order to guard the dying Bishop. At the evening of the same day, Bishop Germanos of Cyclades whom the police force was continueing to guard died. In spite of all these, the rigidity of the “representatives of love», was beat by simple people. Fr. Andreas Konstantinatos secretly (rather with the tolerance of guards) went to the hospital and gave to Bishop Germanos the Holy Communion. Since the patient Bishop slept, the head of the guard who was guarding the dead Bishop, learning the cruelty of Archbishop Spiridon, approached somebody from the faithful who was found there and told him secretively “bring a priest in the night to chant the burial service for the dead”. He hesitated to accept fearing that it was subterfuge in order to arrest the Priest who would come. Then the officer assured him by his honor that he would not arrest the priest. So, at that night, since they dressed the dead Bishop with his pontificals, and eased the pile seating (as the ancient customs of Orthodox Church demand), the burial service was chanted by the (at that time) Archim. Hrisostomo Kiousi, with the presence of some faithfull. The other day they imposed to the Administration of G.O.C. to transport concealingly the dead in the cemetery and bury him without a Priest. In spite of all these, news circulated very fast and thousands of faithful G.O.C hurried in the B’ Cemetery of Athens. The faithful were dissolved by the police and many brothers arrested, judged and condemned for illegal concentration. The terrorism and the violence from the organs of the New-calendar Archbishop Spiridon were continueing. 
The temples of G.O.C. were sealed one after the other, the faithful whenever were assembled for operation or prayer they were arrested and judged, any Priests that were located were arrested and unfrocked. One priest from Piraeus (unfortunately we are not sure about his name) was in despair because he needed to buy a new fabric for his new robes after so many times that he was unfrocked. So, he bought a whole bolt of fabric and gave it to a faithful woman who knew crochet by telling her “keep this fabric and whenever you hear that I’m arrested start sewing new robes”. At July of 1952, after the interference of some deputies, the exile of ex-Metr. Chrysostomos of Florinis was interrupted and the persecutions against the G.O.C. were stopped. The other Hierarchs and clerics of ours appeared from where they were hiding all this time free at last. The elections were close in Greece.As it happens in such cases, a lot of promises are given. A lot of deputies promised to help for the recall of the Old-calendar in Church if their party was elected. There was a proposal for our Hierarchs to resign from the ecclesiastical administration of G.O.C. for facilitation of counsel. Such it happened. But memorable ex- Chrysostomos of Florinis distinguished the game of politics quickly. He recalled his resignation immediately, but Bishops Hristophoros and Polikarpos after consultations with the New-calendar Church adhered to it and were accepted as Bishops (they were promoted to Metropolitans later). The blissful Primate Hrisosomos alone was facing the cruelty of the New-calendars and the bitterness of Matthewites until the 7th / 20th of September of 1955, when his blissfully soul flied to the sky so that God give him the wage of faith’s confessor.