Cyprus,

July 8th / July 21st, 2016

CONFESSION OF FAITH AND RENUNCIATION OF THE
HETERODOX ECCLESIOLOGY OF THE SO CALLED
METROPOLITAN SYNOD OF GENUINE ORTHODOX
CHRISTIANS OF THE PATRISTIC CALENDAR.
The following is a declaration to eliminate any possible doubt concerning both my entering into
communion with the Genuine Orthodox Church under the presidency of Metropolitan of Mesogeas
& Lavreotikis, Kirykos (Kontogiannis), and my reasons for doing so, and what changes this
necessarily represents in terms of my recognition of my former synod.

With much prayer and fear of God, we wish in simplicity and with goodwill and affection for all, to
make the following points concerning ourselves known:

Like many Traditional Orthodox Christians, we have been greatly concerned about the growing state of
apostasy around us, and have over time become keenly awakened to not only the more gross examples of
apostasy in World Orthodoxy, but most especially to the degree of subtlety to which this spiritual disease
has spread among even those synods that declare themselves to be True Orthodox. What do we mean
by this? We mean that even the bulk of those synods which no longer have communion with the World
Council of Churchs World Orthodox for their recognition of Lutherans and Latins and others as
possessing genuine mysteries, have themselves fallen into the self-same pit as the World Orthodox by
confessing that the One True Church confessed in the Creed is now visibly divided against itself but united
in invisible grace. Some go so far as to say that the World Orthodox possess genuine mysteries. Others say
that the World Orthodox are unable to confect the genuine mysteries but they confess that their own
breaking of communion with one another among the anti-ecumenists has left the grace unaffected--that
visible divisions amongst the True Orthodox in no way deprive them of spiritual unity in the unique grace
of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. This deeply ingrained idea among the Florinites/Akakians
and the remnants of ROCOR (ROCiE, ROAC, RTOC, etc.) is truly no different than that upon which the
Protestant WCC (World Council of Churches) heresy of ecumenism is built upon. Hence, these disparate
True Orthodox Churches style themselves as being anti-ecumenist whilst, in fact, maintaining the very
same heresy of the WCC: namely, that Churches which do not hold visible communion with each other are
nonetheless effecting the same grace-filled mysteries and, together, invisibly constitute the One Body of
Christs Church. Hence, this is what we can justly call, Old Calendarist Ecumenism.

Indeed, based on our observations among the recently amalgamated Florinite-Kyprianite synods, it
became clearly established that a confession of inter-communion between them and the New Calendarist
Church exists invisibly since, for example, Metropolitan Agafangel (Pashkovsky) and the former SiR bishops,
believe as did Metropolitan Chrysostom of Florina that the mysteries of the World Orthodox are still valid
and grace bearing. The more conservative bishops reserve grace for the remnants of ROCOR alone, though
they have refused to inter-commune for more than twenty years in some cases. Is Christ divided? (1Cor.
1:13)

On the matter of how mysteriological grace comes and goes, they lamely conclude, Who are we to
say when and where it comes or to say there is no grace there? Indeed, in times past when we served as
priests and bishop in under Metropolitan Angelos, we were told this very thing, furthermore, contrary to
Apostolic Canons 101, 452, and also Canons 323, 334 of Laodidcia, we were also told by the same
Metropolitan to give holy communion to New Calendarists and we were even instructed at times to
commemorate the Patriarch of Antioch to avoid confrontations, difficulties and complications; again, on
the rationalization of, Who are we to say there is no grace there? On seeing such things we were
therefore able to see the vast contradiction of our own synods Confession of Faith. We had also been told
that the departure of grace is not sudden and total like flicking off a light switch. So, we ask, How many
official declarations by World Orthodox bishops that Protestants and Papists have mysteries can we sweep
under the rug of grace fades slowly and not out like a light? How many more decades of
non-grace-depriving heresy can we sweep under that rug? For how many decades more? And remember,
these official joint declarations recognizing each others bapitisms as one and the same saving baptism
include those Protestants that blaspheme the Dogmas of our Faith. How is it possible to confess, even as
some of the TOCs and GOCs as well as the ROCOR remnants, that the New Calendarists and the Old
Calendarists both maintain the same grace of mysteries but do not outwardly share communion? Do they
not realise that it is a heresy to say that heresy does not drive out grace? All I wanted was to follow in the
uncompromising steps of the Holy Fathers and to both keep and live the Faith and all the Holy Traditions as
they should be lived, after the self-same manner as the Holy Fathers did.

1
One who prays with the excommunicant, shall himself be excommunicated.

2
Let any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon that only joins in prayer with heretics be suspended, but if he has permitted them to
perform any service as clergy let him be deposed.

3
That one must not accept blessings of heretics, which are rather more absurdities rather than blessings.
4
That one must not join in prayer with heretics or schismatics.

 As for the other True Orthodox Groups who categorically reject, at least on paper, the erroneous
assertion that the World Orthodox still maintain the grace of genuine Mysteries, I have this to say: In some
cases these stricter TOCs officially, but almost without exception in candid discussion, refer to other TOCs
which they are still not in communion with, as, jurisdictions of the True Orthodox Church, as though
there existed some reality of union. A synod cannot be referred to, much less recognized, by them as a
True Orthodox Jurisdiction, if they have no communion with each other. Such a group is what the Holy
Fathers would only have called a schism being an ecclesiastical entity that is estranged from the visible
unity of the Church, that is, alien to the circle of their own Genuine Eucharistic Communion. Yet, it is par
for the course to hear clergy in all TOCs (with the exception of the so-called Matthewites) to refer to
synods they have no communion for years and even decades with as, jurisdictions, as though they were
all in communion with each other. What does it tell you when the one thing that all TOCs agree on is that,
The Matthewites are fanatics, because they alone profess that the Apostolic Church is STILL visibly One
AND THE SAME CHURCH, as Saint John Chrysostom did? It seems that they are singled out and maligned,
because they have not departed from the patristic confession of ecclesiology.

After realizing the wholly untenable and intractable nature of this position under synod of
Metropolitan of Avlona Angelos, under the ROCOR remnant synods, as well as other scattered TOCs,
and that one and all we have done nothing less than renounced the Creeds dogma of Ecclesiology
itself--regardless of our recitation of the words, and that we believed differently, we understood that we
had to sever all ties with you, my former synod and renounce everything which was introduced to us
that was contrary to True Orthodox Confession, Holy Traditions and the Holy Canons of the Church, and
join ourselves to the True Church, which always professed and still professes, that the Church is STILL ONE
AND UNDIVIDED, as She was and always continue to be. We believe that the so-called Matthewites:
namely, the Holy Synod of the Genuine Orthodox Church Worldwide (under the presidency of
Metropolitan Kirykos Kontogiannis), to be the hierarchy which truly upholds and maintains, both an
unbroken Apostolic Succession as well as an uncompromising Orthodox Confession of Faith.

Once we understood that in practice, we actually held heterodox ecclesiological beliefs completely at
variance with that held by the Holy Fathers, we both came to the realization that our Mysteries must
therefore hold no validity before God, because according to the Holy Fathers, there is but one Church, and
only within that Church can Mysteries be valid before God. As soon as we discovered the pure,
unhypocritical Confession of the Genuine Orthodox Church, the desire to join them became the greatest
desire of our heart, and so, we are here, in Cyprus, as we have joined the True Church of Christ, which has
utterly no involvement in the heresy of ecumenism--be it that of the World Orthodox or even from that
subtle form that exists between Old Calendarists. The foregoing explains the reasons for the manner of our
reception described as follows:

As of the 19th June/2nd, July 2016, after much soul-searching, in good conscience we officially
renounced our former ecclesiastical ties to the so called Metropolitan Synod of Genuine Orthodox
Christians of the Patristic Calendar, and were received into the Holy Orthodox Church through
AKRIVIA, through Holy Baptism, which the following Holy Canons prescribe: Apostolic Canons 465, 476

5
We order any Bishop or Priest, that has accepted any heretics baptism or sacrifice be deposed; for what consonance has
Christ with Belial? Or what part has the believer with an unbeliever?
and the Canon of the Third Holy Synod held in Carthage in the time of Cyprian7. Our reception into the
Church via the Sacred Mystery of Holy Baptism, was to us our First and only Baptism, because as the Holy
Fathers prescribe, outside the Church there can be no baptism.

Furthermore, we were then tonsured into the Great and Holy Schema, ordained as deacons and
priests and just as it was decided by the members of the Holy Synod of the Genuine Orthodox Church,
which took place in Athens, on the 12th May/25th May (Midpentecost), my unworthiness, (Bishop
Seraphim) was elevated to the rank of bishop on Sunday, 4th /17th July at St. Xenias Cathedral in Limassol,
Cyprus.

6
If a Bishop or Priest baptize anew anyone that has had a true baptism, or fail to baptize anyone that has been polluted by the
impious, let him be deposed, on the ground that he is mocking the Cross and Death of the Lord and for failing to distinguish
priests from pseudo-priests.

7
The present Canon proves, by means of many arguments that baptism administered by heretics and schismatics is
unacceptable, and they ought to be baptized when they return to the Orthodoxy of the Catholic Church.

1st) Because there is but one baptism, and because this is to be found only in the catholic Church. Heretics and schismatics, on
the other hand, being outside of the catholic Church, have, in consequence, not even the one baptism.

2nd) The water used in baptism must first be purified and be sanctified by means of prayers of the priests, and by the grace of
the Holy Spirit; afterwards it can purify and sanctify the person being baptized therein. But heretics and schismatics are neither
priests, being in fact rather sacrilegists; neither clean and pure, being in fact impure and unclean; neither holy, as not having any
Holy Spirit. So neither have they any baptism.

3rd) Through baptism in the catholic Church there is given a remission of sins. But through the baptism administered by heretics
and schismatics, inasmuch as it is outside of the Church, how can any remission of sins be given?

4th) The person being baptized must, after he is baptized be anointed with the myrrh prepared from olive oil and various spices,
which has been sanctified by visitation of the Holy Spirit. But how can a heretic sanctify any such myrrh when as a matter of fact
he has no Holy Spirit because of his being separated from there on account of heresy and schism?

5th) The priest must pray to God for the salvation of the one being baptized. But how can a heretic or a schismatic be listened to
by God when, as we have said, he is a sacrilegist and a sinner (not so much on account of his works, but rather on account of the
heresy or schism, these being the greatest sin of all sins), at a time when the Bible says that God does not listen to sinners.

6th) Because the baptism administered by heretics and schismatics cannot be acceptable to God as baptism, since they are
enemies and foes with God (i.e., mutually), and are called anti Christs by John.

 CONFESSION OF FAITH
a) I believe in, venerate and worship one God, Maker of heaven and earth and of
all things visible and invisible, Who in three persons is acknowledged; Father and
Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity, one in essence and undivided, equal in honour, equal
in kingship, equal in throne, equal in power, beginning-less, eternal, boundless,
incomprehensible, indescribable, unfathomable.

b) I confess and profess the unutterable and inexpressible incarnation of God the
Word from the ever Virgin Theotokos (birth-giver of God) Maria, the crucifixion,
the burial and His resurrection to the abolishment of sin and death, for our salvation and
our reconciliation with God, His ascension into the heavens, and His Second
coming, in order to judge the living and the dead.

c) I accept with my whole soul and heart, the Holy Symbol of our Faith, to be
compiled through the Holy Spirit by the First and Second Holy Ecumenical Synods,
which consists of twelve articles, and I believe those as they are interpreted by the
One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ, in all
their details.

d) I confess and accept the Seven Holy Sacraments of our Church, namely; Baptism,
Chrismation, Divine Eucharist, Repentance, Priesthood, Matrimony and Unction, and
those I honour and respect as indispensable for the salvation of our soul, and for
transmitting to us the faith, grace and sanctification of the Holy Spirit.

e) I accept and honour the Holy Canons of the Holy Apostles, of the Seven
Ecumenical Councils, those of the approved Regional Councils, also the Canons
from the Holy Fathers which are listed in the Holy Rudder of the Church, as
well as the convening of the Great Councils of Constantinople by Jeremiah II in
1583, 1587 and 1593, which anathematised the new calendar and all other
innovations, just as in the year 1848, the convening of the Great Pan-Orthodox
Council of the Eastern Patriarchs, which again condemned and anathematised every
modernisation and innovation; as transcripts of Satan.

f) I proclaim the 1920 encyclical of Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis, which

was addressed to the "Churches of Christ everywhere", to be heretical and
therefore I reject it. Furthermore, I believe that in 1924, a schism in the
Orthodox world was made due to the introduction of the already Anathematised by the
Church, Gregorian Calendar, into various local Churches, all of which I proclaim
to be, graceless and out of Christs Catholic Church.

g) I proclaim that I will have no ecclesiastical communion with those who

are outside of Christs One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church whether in prayer
or otherwise, not with them, or all those who are in communion with them,
just as the Apostolic Canons prescribe.

h) I confess that the local Church of Greece remained complete and perfect
between the years 1924-1935 despite the fact She was left without bishops
in the same period.
 i) I confess and affirm that the episcopal consecrations which took place in
1935 and 1948 by the true confessing bishops of the Genuine Orthodox Church of
Greece were indeed filled with the Grace of God and that true apostolic
succession was transferred through them on the recipients thereof;

j) I confess and affirm that there was nothing added to or taken away from
the grace of apostolic succession of the Genuine Orthodox Church by the actions
performed on two individual hierarchs of the Holy Synod in 1971 by the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). Furthermore, I affirm that the Holy
Synod of the Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece did not seek validation or
correction for the 1948 Consecrations or for Her Apostolic Succession.

k) I reject and condemn the organization of the World Council of Churches (WCC),
which promotes and practices the Pan-heresy of Ecumenism and I proclaim that I
will never be affiliated with it in any way. I reject and condemn Ecumenism
in all its forms, both mainstream and that which exists within the old calendar
groups, which promotes the heretical teaching that it is possible for the Grace of
the Holy Spirit to co-exist outside Christs One True Church, promoting the idea
that Christs Church and Truth may be divided into many churches.

l) I accept and keep firm every dogma of the Eastern Orthodox Church, those
with regards to the worship of the persons of the Supersubstantial Godhead, and
generally all the Holy Traditions of the Orthodox Church, written and unwritten,
Apostolic and of the Fathers, in agreement with the Great Holy Father Basil
who said: For if we should undertake to discard the unwritten traditions of
customs, on the score that they have no great force, we should unwittingly
damage the Gospel in vital parts.

m) Finally, all which the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ, our Spiritual Mother;
arbitrates, glorifies, keeps and preserves from the beginning until now, I
accept, confess, keep and preserve; and neither one iota or tittle from Her will I
take from, till my last breath, as a genuine and faithful child of Hers. On the
contrary, I anathematise, reject and disdain all which She anathematises, rejects and
disdains, including the modernisation of the papal calendar.

n) Finally, I exclaim: Whosoever rejects any of the Ecclesiastical traditions, written

or unwritten; ANATHEMA! And If anything from in the Ecclesiastical Traditions
and teachings and outlines of the Holy and God-bearing Fathers are changed or
ignored; ANATHEMA! (thrice). I hereby sign as a genuine child of the One,
Holy Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ.

With love in Christ,

Metropolitan of Mt. Lebanon and Exarch of all Phoenicia Seraphim Karam,

Metropolitan Seraphim

Hieromonk Nektarios Maalouf.

Hieromonk Nektarios

July 8th / July 21st, 2016.