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Welcome
The Orthodox Church is the only true Church that was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ. All other churches that claim to be Christian have been corrupted with heresy. It is only possible to be saved in the Faith that has preserved the truth absolutely unchanged since the time of the apostles.
In modern times the Church has become much smaller than it was in centuries past, since the devil has gradually introduced more and more soul-destroying heresies to attack the Church.
The Orthodox Church is in a difficult situation in our times. It is necessary to understand some background information in order to fully realize the sad state of the world today and the origins of the Genuine Orthodox Church of America.
In the early 1900’s, the plague of Communism appeared in Russia and began to systematically attempt to destroy the Orthodox Church. These atheists, fighting against God, persecuted and killed millions of Orthodox Christians and destroyed thousands of churches and monasteries. A remnant of faithful Christians and clergy fled the country and became known as the Russian Church Abroad or the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, under the leadership of the great Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky).
Years later, the devil contrived another scheme with which to attack the Church. On December 7, 1965, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras, and the Roman Catholic Pope Paul VI simultaneously “lifted” the mutual Anathemas of 1054, which the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox placed on each other when the papal church apostasized 1000 years ago. The Anathema was placed on the papal heresy to protect the Orthodox from blasphemous doctrines which lead to perdition. By “lifting” the Anathema, Athenagoras officially proclaimed that the pope and his followers were unjustly excommunicated, that the Church wrongly held the doctrines of Papism to be false, and that in truth the Latin Papacy is part of Orthodoxy! The patriarch’s action was an act of apostasy and officially ushered in the heresy of Ecumenism.
Ecumenism is the mother of all heresies, which seeks to unite within itself all heresies, all religions, under the auspices of so-called “love,” overlooking their doctrinal errors. It rejects the Orthodox Creed—which professes one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church—by confessing a new creed, which accepts all religions, all creeds, all ideas, all gods, as leading to salvation.
Although the World Orthodox consider themselves “canonical,” belonging to the historical Orthodox community of independent churches, yet, because they have succumbed to heresy, and even fallen under the anathema against this heresy, they have lost their canonicity; for canonicity only remains intact if one maintains the Orthodox Faith and true Apostolic Succession. By “World Orthodoxy” we mean those patriarchates and autocephalous churches which call themselves Orthodox but have fallen into the heresy of Ecumenism, including: the patriarchates of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Serbia, Russia (Moscow), Romania, and Georgia, the official churches of Greece, and all other national churches, all of which are in communion with each other and espouse heretical (ecumenical) ideas.
We find ourselves today in the same situation in which St. Maximos the Confessor found himself when, at that time, the Monothelite heresy had swept the Eastern patriarchates. All the patriarchates considered themselves Orthodox, but as the history of the Church affirms, they were not, because they espoused heresy, doing this en masse, as today we see all the patriarchates and autocephalous churches have done with the heresy of Ecumenism. They have all remained in communion with each other and have all submitted to the heresy of Ecumenism, and on top of this, have added Freemasonry, Modernism, Phyletism, and other heresies and false teachings.
On Dec. 15, 1965, Saint Metropolitan Philaret (head of the Russian Church Abroad) wrote a letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch protesting his Dec. 7th action. The Russian Church Abroad broke communion and stopped concelebrating with those confessing Ecumenism, in practice treating them as heretics. The Russian Church Abroad saw the “lifting of the Anathema” as the official turning point and statement of heretical belief in Ecumenism, a denial of the Creed in the belief of the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” From this time until his death, St. Met. Philaret sought to direct his Church in the strictest opposition to this heresy.
Today, the new Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, follows the same soul-destroying course as his predecessors (Athenagoras and Demetrius) by commemorating the Pope of Rome in the Liturgy! He calls him his “brother in Christ” and says that the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches are “two lungs in the same body.”
In addition, many of the World Orthodox are members of the World Council of Churches (WCC), an ecumenical organization which requires its members to agree that no single member of the WCC constitutes the Church of Christ, but that the Church will only exist in the future when all these heretical, Protestant, and Roman Catholic “denominations” unite. To agree to such a statement of faith is apostasy.
The way to show love in a true way to those outside the Orthodox Church would be to share the light of the true Faith with them in a humble and loving way, exhorting them to return to the apostolic Church of Christ. What is not “loving” is to tell Roman Catholics and Protestants that they are fine just the way they are, and that we are all a part of the Body of Christ. This would be the same as a doctor telling someone with cancer that he is perfectly healthy. When our Savior told us not to judge, this was not concerning matters of the Faith; He was speaking about someone’s way of life, his personal sins or shortcomings. When it comes to determining what the truth is, we are supposed to judge where the boundaries of the Church are.
It is critical that everyone realize that heresy is death for the soul and that no one should have anything to do with those churches involved in Ecumenism, even if they call themselves Orthodox, even if they give all the external appearance of piety. It is also impossible for an Orthodox Christian to be in communion with heresy. Being in communion means that you have the same faith.
Now, to speak more particularly about the Genuine Orthodox Church of America: After the Great Apostasy of 1965, the Russian Church Abroad continued confessing the true Faith for a time, but by the malice of the devil and the intrigues of unscrupulous men, the Russian Church Abroad succumbed and went into communion with the Cyprianite heretics (ecumenists) in 1994, swallowing their poisonous teachings whole. From that time, I, Archbishop (then a priest-monk) Gregory, and those with me left the Russian Church Abroad in order to preserve our Orthodoxy. Today, we of the Genuine Orthodox Church of America (as we are now called) are all that remains of the Russian Church Abroad, preserving the true spirit of confessing the Faith once delivered to the saints. We follow the traditional Old (Julian) Calendar that the Orthodox Church has always used. We do not believe that the New Calendar is a heresy, but it was introduced unlawfully and should certainly be rejected as something opposed to the liturgical unity and tradition of the Church. Unfortunately, all those who follow the New Calendar today have also fallen into the heresy of Ecumenism.
There are also many other Old Calendarist groups today who call themselves Orthodox, but all of them have fallen into heresy or schism. Read the other articles on our website to learn more.
It is clear that the one who wishes to live a life pleasing to God in these dark days of global apostasy (and fake pandemics) must take up his cross and follow a narrow and difficult path. The Gospel tells us not to follow after the multitude on the broad way that leads to destruction. If you desire to walk the road that leads to life and to be a part of Christ’s “little flock,” please carefully consider all of this information.
Anyone who sincerely desires to change his way of life and repent of his sins God will lead to the way of salvation. We must follow the one true Faith that has been handed down to us with such diligence by the Church and the holy fathers, even when everyone around us betrays the Faith and rejects the truth.
May God strengthen and direct all those who are seeking true Orthodoxy!
In Christ, the Truth, the Way, and the Life of all,
+ Archbishop Gregory
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Archbishop Gregory Dormition Skete P.O. Box 3177 Buena Vista, CO 81211-3177 USA |
Contact: Archbishop Gregory
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