Ἐγκύκλιος 1950
Ἀρ. Ἐγκυκλίου :13
Ἐν Ἀθήναις τῇ 13/26 Μαΐου 1950
ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΕΥΛΑΒΕΣΤΑΤΟΥΣ ΙΕΡΕΙΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΑΘ’ ΗΜΑΣ ΑΓΙΩΤΑΤΗΣ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣ ΤΩΝ Γ. Ο. Χ. ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ
Τέκνα ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀγαπητά,
Χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ Εἰρήνη παρὰ Θεοῦ παρ’ ἡμῶν δ’ εὐχὴ καὶ Εὐλογία.
Ἡ Ἱερὰ Σύνοδος τῆς καθ’ ἠμᾶς Ἁγιωτάτης Ἐκκλησίας λαβοῦσα ὑπ’ ὄψιν πληροφορίας καθ’ ἃς τινὲς τῶν εὐλαβεστάτων Ἱερέων ἡμῶν ἀμελούσι καὶ τὴν ἐκπλήρωσιν τῶν καθηκόντων αὐτῶν βάσει τῶν Ἱερῶν Κανόνων καὶ τῆς ὑφ’ ἠμῶν δοθείσης ὁμολογίας κατὰ τὸ Σωτήριον ἔτος 1935, προαγόμεθα ὅπως ὑπομνήσωμεν πάσιν αὐτοῖς τὰ ἀκόλουθα.
Κατὰ τὸ Σωτήριον ἔτος 1935 ἐκηρύξαμεν τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τῶν Καινοτόμων Νεοημερολογιτῶν Σχισματικήν· ἐπαναλαμβάνομεν καὶ αὔθις τὴν τοιαύτην διακήρυξιν καὶ κατὰ συνέπειαν ἐντελλόμεθα τὴν ἐφαρμογὴν τοῦ Α´ Κανόνος τοῦ Μεγάλου Βασιλείου δεδομένου ὅτι τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν Νεοημερολογιτῶν τελούμενα Μυστήρια, ὡς σχισματικῶν ὄντων τούτων, στεροῦνται τῆς Ἁγιαστικῆς χάριτος.
Ὡσαύτως οὐδένα Νεοημερολογίτην δέον νὰ δέχεσθε εἰς τοὺς Κόλπους τῆς καθ’ ἡμᾶς Ἁγιωτάτης Ἐκκλησίας καὶ κατὰ συνέπειαν νὰ ἐξυπηρετεῖτε τοῦτον, ἄνευ προηγουμένης ὁμολογίας δι̉ ἧς νὰ καταδικάζη οὗτος τὴν καινοτομίαν τῶν Νεοημερολογιτῶν καὶ νὰ κηρύσση τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τούτων σχισματικήν. Προκειμένου δὲ περὶ βαπτισθέντων ὑπὸ τῶν καινοτόμων νὰ Μυρώνωνται διὰ Ἁγίου Μύρου ὀρθοδόξου προελεύσεως, τὸ ὁποῖον εὑρίσκεται ἐν ἀφθονίᾳ παρ’ ἡμῖν. Ἐπὶ ταύτη δὲ τῇ εὐκαιρίᾳ ἀπευθύνομεν πρὸς πάντας τοὺς Γνησίους Ὀρθοδόξους Χριστιανούς, ὑστάτην ἔκκλησιν καλοῦντες αὐτοὺς Πατρικῶς, ὅπως προσέλθωσιν εἰς Ἕνωσιν μεθ’ ἡμῶν, ἣν ἐπιβάλλει τὸ συμφέρον τοῦ Ἱεροῦ ὑπὲρ τῆς Πατρώας εὐσεβείας ἡμῶν ἀγῶνος καὶ ἀποτελεῖ τὸν διακαῆ πόθον πάντων ἡμῶν.
Προσκαλοῦντες δὲ ὑμᾶς, αἵρωμεν τὰ ἐξ ὑπαιτιότητος ἡμῶν δημιουργηθέντα σκάνδαλα καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ἀνακαλοῦμεν καὶ ἀποκηρύσσωμεν πᾶν ὅ,τι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔτους 1937 ἕως σήμερον ἐγράφη καὶ ἐλέχθη ὑφ’ ἡμῶν, διὰ κηρυγμάτων, διασαφήσεων δημοσιευμάτων καὶ ἐγκυκλίων, ἀπᾶδον καὶ ἀντιστρατευόμενον πρὸς τὰς Ἀρχὰς τῆς Ὀρθοδόξου Ἀνατολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τοῦ ὑφ’ ἡμῶν διεξαγομένου Ἱεροῦ Ἀγῶνος ὑπὲρ τῆς Ὀρθοδοξίας οὗτινος τὸ κήρυγμα περιλαμβάνεται ἐν τῇ ἐκδοθείσῃ ἐγκυκλίῳ ὑπὸ τῆς Ἱερᾶς Συνόδου κατὰ τὸ ἔτος 1935 ἄνευ οὐδεμιᾶς προσθήκης καὶ ἀφαιρέσεως καὶ αὐτὸν ἀκόμη τὸν ἐπιστημονικὸν ὅρον «Δυνάμει καὶ ἐνεργεία».
Ταῦτα πάντα δηλοῦμεν δι̉ ὑστάτην φοράν, χάριν τῶν σκανδαλισθέντων Χριστιανῶν ὧν ἐπιθυμοῦμεν τὴν ψυχικὴν σωτηρίαν καὶ ἐπ’ εὐκαιρίᾳ διακηρύσσομεν ὅτι πάντες ἡμεῖς δέον νὰ φυλάσσωμεν τὴν ὑφ’ ἠμῶν δοθεῖσαν ὁμολογίαν ἐν ἔτει 1935 ἀκεραίαν μέχρι τέλους τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἐπικαλούμενοι τὸ ἔλεος τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ πάσαν παρέκκλισιν.
Στῶμεν ὅθεν καλῶς.
Μετ’ Εὐχῶν Διαπύρων
Ἡ Ἱερὰ Σύνοδος
Ὁ Πρόεδρος † Ὁ πρ. Φλωρίνης Χρυσόστομος
Τὰ Μέλη
† Ὁ Κυκλάδων Γερμανός
† Ὁ Χριστιανουπόλεως Χριστόφορος
† Ὁ Διαυλείας Πολύκαρπος
________________________________________________________________________
1950 Encyclical
No. 13
In Athens on May 13/26, 1950
To the most reverend priests of our most Holy Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians in Greece
Beloved Children in the Lord,
Grace and peace be unto you from God, and prayer and blessing from us.
Taking into consideration reports that some of our most pious priests are negligent in fulfilling the duties on the basis of the canons and the confession of faith we made in the year of Salvation, 1935, the Sacred Synod of our Most Holy Church undertakes to remind all of the following:
In the year of our Savior 1935 we proclaimed the Church of the innovating New Calendarists to be schismatic. We reiterate this proclamation and in consequence ordain the enforcement of the First Canon of St. Basil the Great that the sacraments celebrated by the New Calendarists, in that the latter are schismatics, are deprived of sanctifying grace.
Therefore no New Calendarist must be received into the bosom of our Most Holy Church or be served without a prior confession by which he condemns the innovation of the New Calendarists and proclaims their Church Schismatic. As regards those who have been baptized by the innovators, they should be Chrismated with Holy Chrism of Orthodox origin, such as is found in abundance with us.
We take this opportunity to address a last appeal to all the True Orthodox Christians, calling on them in a paternal manner to come into union with us, which would further our sacred struggle for patristic piety and would satisfy our fervent desire.
In calling on you, we remove the scandals which have been created by us through our fault, and to that end recall and retract everything written and said by us since 1937, whether in announcements, clarifications, publications or encyclicals, which was contrary and opposed to the Principles of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ and the sacred struggle for Orthodoxy conducted by us, as proclaimed in the encyclical published by the Holy Synod in 1935, without any addition or subtraction, and including the scientific definition “Potentiality and Actuality”.
These things we affirm this final time for the sake of the scandalized Christians, whose spiritual salvation we desire; and on this occasion we [again] proclaim that all of us must preserve intact even to the end of our days the confession we made in 1935, invoking God’s mercy for every deviation.
Therefore, let us stand well.
With fervent prayers,
The Holy Synod.
The President
+Chrysostom, formerly of Phlorina
The Members
+ Germanos of the Cyclades Islands
+Christopher of Christianopolis
+Polycarp of Diavlia
May 13/26, 1950