Arhim. Pavlos Dimitrakopoulos

Head of the Office for Combating Heresies and Sects

Holy Metropolis of Kythira and Antikythira

In Kythira, April 4, 2025

Beloved brother and concelebrant in Christ, Father Matthew,

May the Grace of God be with You.

Thank You for sending me the letter of Father Theodoros Zisis, from which I have been informed of the unjust persecutions Your Reverence is enduring, for having taken the fully justified canonical action of ceasing the commemoration of the name of Your hierarch, His Eminence Silouan, Metropolitan of the British Isles and Ireland of the Patriarchate of Antioch.

I praise You, my brother, for this courageous act of walling off from heresy, which You have undertaken, confessing the Orthodox Faith and following the example of the Holy Fathers. I fully agree with Fr. Theodoros that You should not accept any decision by the Patriarchate of Antioch to depose You, but should continue Your priestly ministry, ignoring any unjust decision.

Rejoice and be glad, my brother, in enduring unjust persecutions, for great will be Your reward in heaven and You will be counted among the Holy Confessors of the Faith.

I embrace You with much reverence and love in Christ and ask You to remember me in Your prayers.

May You have a blessed remainder of Holy Lent.

Fr. Pavlos Dimitrakopoulos

His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira (Church of Greece) CONTESTS the deposition of Father Matthew Vulcanescu as uncanonical

HELLENIC REPUBLIC
HOLY METROPOLIS OF KYTHIRA & ANTIKYTHIRA
Postal Code: 801 00 KYTHIRA
Tel.: 2736031202 & 2736038359
Fax: 2736031202 

Kythira, 9 April 2025

Prot. No.: 95

To the Most Reverend Protopresbyter
Fr. Matthew Vulcănescu
Liverpool, United Kingdom

Most Reverend and beloved in Christ, Father Matthew,

May You have a blessed, peaceful, and Grace-filled HOLY PASCHA!

We have received Your letter dated 4 April 2025, in which You express, with profound sorrow and deep spiritual unease, Your concern regarding the dogmatic issues involving the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Antioch, to which You belong spiritually and administratively. These issues (such as the participation in the “World Council of Churches”, the failure to condemn heresies contained in the texts of the pseudo-synod of Crete of 2016, the agreements of Chambesy (1989, 1990, and 1993), the synodal declaration of November 1991 regarding inter-communion with the Monophysites, the refusal to proclaim anathemas against all heresies, and the acceptance of the “baptism” of the heterodox in the name of the Holy Trinity) endanger our salvation, as previously stated in Your letter of 6 December 2023.

We share Your sadness and pain as an Orthodox clergyman; we praise your Orthodox confession and pray fervently that the All-Merciful God will strengthen You and the Most Holy Spirit will enlighten You, so that You may “grow in life, faith, and spiritual wisdom,” to struggle as one who loves God and is pleasing to Him in “the good fight of faith, taking hold of eternal life,” “following the Holy Fathers,” and “not moving the eternal boundaries established by the Fathers.”

“Strive for the truth unto death, beloved brother, and the Lord God shall fight for you” (Wisdom of Sirach). Let us also recall the timely words: “Behold, the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and unworthy is the one whom He finds negligent.” And another exhortation: “Let us love the Bridegroom, brothers; let us prepare our lamps, shining brightly through virtues and Orthodox Faith.“

“Stand firm as an anvil when it is struck, brother. It is the mark of a great athlete to be struck and yet to conquer.” (Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer, Bishop of Antioch, to Saint Polycarp of Smyrna)

With love and bright Paschal wishes, 

† Seraphim,
Metropolitan of Kythira and Antikythira

Moscow Patriarchate
Moldovan Orthodox Church
Diocese of Ungheni and Nisporeni

To
His Beatitude Patriarch John X
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
Patriarchal Residence
Balamand
Koura
Lebanon

2 April 2025

Your Beatitude, Patriarch John,

With all due respect, I would like to bring to Your Beatitude’s attention my humble position regarding case reference number 2024-02 of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland, whose verdict to depose Father Matthew (Ion-Valentin) Vulcănescu I wish to appeal. Opening my heart to Your Beatitude, I express the pain caused by the persecutions endured by His Reverence due to His Orthodox confession in these troubled times, where the truth is mingled with the lie of heresy.

Father Matthew (Ion-Valentin) Vulcănescu is well-known and respected throughout the whole Church for his unwavering confession of the Orthodox Faith, something that should be an honour for the Antiochian Orthodox Church. His Reverence is also highly regarded for His valuable experience in inter-Orthodox dialogue as a representative of the Metropolis of Piraeus (Church of Greece), as well as for his collaboration with prominent contemporary Orthodox theologians.

While we were analysing the decisions issued on 23 December 2023 and 16 March 2025 (case reference number 2024-02) by Metropolitan Silouan Oner of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland, we reached the conclusion that Father Matthew has been deposed twice from the priesthood, without any canonical basis. Furthermore, only a Synod of Bishops holds the authority to depose a priest, not an individual metropolitan acting alone.

Additionally, a fundamental principle of natural justice has been violated, namely that no one should be a judge in their own cause (Latin: nemo judex in causa sua). This implies that Metropolitan Silouan, being the accused party, cannot impartially judge his own case; thus, the deposition of Father Matthew is invalid and cannot be accepted. In this situation, there is also a conflict of interest, as Metropolitan Silouan has made decisions and undertaken actions against Father Matthew following the accusations of a dogmatic nature made against His Eminence.

Having carefully examined the Encyclical of 16 December 2023 and the document entitled “Canonical Resources and Policies for the Reception of the Heterodox” dated 9 January 2024 (Edition 1.1), issued by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland, it is evident that Metropolitan Silouan in fact endorses the baptismal heresy (established by the 1950 Toronto Statement of the “World Council of Churches” and quietly reaffirmed by the controversial Council of Crete in 2016). This is demonstrated by the fact that Metropolitan Silouan, through the aforementioned Encyclical, forbids the reception by Baptism into the Holy Orthodox Church of the heterodox who were previously “baptised” in their own denominations, thus implicitly recognising non-Orthodox baptism: “Those who enter the Holy Orthodox Church from heretical or schismatic communions, who are nevertheless baptized in water and in the name of the Holy Trinity, are generally received by Chrismation, since it is forbidden to baptize twice.”

Furthermore, the above mentioned document “Canonical Resources and Policies for the Reception of the Heterodox” contains serious theological errors, including the affirmation of the existence of the Grace of Salvation outside the Orthodox Church, the distortion of the definition of salvation and the incorrect interpretations of the terms economia and akribeia. Moreover, this document introduces a new canon which stipulates the excommunication of lay persons and the deposition of clergymen who receive a “corrective” baptism (that is those who are baptised Orthodox after having been received into the Church by Chrismation), thereby reaffirming the recognition of baptism performed outside the Orthodox Church (on the condition that it was performed “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, with water by a church that professes a trinitarian faith”).

In support of Father Matthew’s position regarding the baptism of the heterodox, we bring to Your attention the book entitled “I Confess One Baptism,” authored by Father Professor Georgios Metallinos of blessed memory, written with the blessing of his spiritual father, Elder Parthenios of Saint Paul’s Monastery on the Holy Mount Athos, a well-known contemporary saint. This work demonstrates that Holy Orthodox Baptism cannot be substituted, altered, or completed by any other practice or formula. Thus, the application of economia regarding the reception of the heterodox—who have been separated from the Church for centuries—is unacceptable. The reception of them without Baptism, based merely upon mechanically invoked formulas, contradicts the Holy Canons and the teachings of the Holy Fathers. In other words, just because the heretics used the formula “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” when they “baptised,” this does not mean that what they performed is an Orthodox Baptism.

The questions and positions expressed by Father Matthew and the community he shepherds are natural, legitimate, current and reflect the genuine concerns of any Christian with a living Orthodox conscience. In the letter to Your Beatitude dated 6 December 2023, Father Matthew also requested clarification regarding inter-communion with Monophysites who receive Holy Communion within the Antiochian Orthodox Church, yet there has been no response to date. Instead, the January-February 2024 edition of the St. Dunstan Antiochian Orthodox parish newsletter, Narthex, confirms that the decisions of the Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch in November 1991 are being put into practice and that there already is a long-standing custom of communing Monophysites within the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland. This demonstrates that Father Matthew’s concerns are fully justified and the issues raised should indeed be clarified.

Therefore, the actions and positions of Father Matthew are entirely canonical and Orthodox. In light of the fact that His Reverence continues to serve, He has acted correctly and in accordance with Canon 3 of the Third Ecumenical Council, and we recognize him as a priest of the Church and concelebrate with him. Father Matthew deserves honour and support for His courage in confessing the Truth, even while assuming significant personal risks. A potential defrocking of Father Matthew cannot be accepted by the Orthodox faithful but only by those who either do not understand or do not have the Orthodox Faith.

We fully stand with Father Matthew and are aware of the support that He is already receiving from other Metropolitans of the Autocephalous Churches, who are carefully analysing this situation and intend to publicly express their solidarity, to the glory of God. Even our Father, Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow, appreciates Father Matthew for His courageous public stand against the Ukrainian schism, and has personally congratulated Him for this.

We approach Your Beatitude with confidence, believing firmly that You will make a wise decision in conformity with the teachings of the Holy Fathers of the Church, as well as with the great contemporary spiritual fathers and confessors, who have always received all the heterodox into the Church through the one and unique Orthodox Baptism, such as Saint Porphyrios Kavsokalyvitis, Saint Augustine Kantiotis, Elder Ephraim of Arizona, Father Georgios Metallinos, Elder Parthenios (Abbot of Saint Paul’s Monastery on Mount Athos), together with all the abbots of the Athonite monasteries and other charismatic spiritual fathers of contemporary Orthodoxy.

Your Beatitude’s decision regarding this issue will remain in Church history as a testimony to the Orthodox Truth, which does not belong personally to Father Matthew, but to the entire Orthodox Church. We trust that through Your Beatitude’s pastoral guidance and spiritual discernment, peace will be restored within the Church, thus preventing significant disturbance at a pan-Orthodox level.

With all love in Christ,

 † PETRU
Archbishop of Ungheni and Nisporeni

Protopresbyter Theodoros Zisis
Emeritus Professor of the Faculty of Theology
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki

To the Reverend
Protopresbyter Matthew Vulcănescu
Orthodox Parish of
Saint Edward the Martyr
and Saint Paraskevi of Rome
Liverpool

Thessaloniki, 31 March 2025

Beloved brother in Christ and concelebrant, Father Matthew,

I thank you warmly for informing me in a fraternal spirit, by sending the relevant documents regarding the persecutions which Your Reverence is undergoing, due to Your fully justified canonical action of ceasing the commemoration of the name of Your bishop, Silouan, Metropolitan of the British Isles and Ireland of the Patriarchate of Antioch.

I support and praise Your courage in confessing the Orthodox Faith and Tradition, following the Holy Gospel and the Holy Fathers, against all heresies, both old and new—among which are the anti-Chalcedonian Monophysites, with whom, unfortunately, the Patriarchate of Antioch has been in communion for many years, thereby mixing what should remain unmixed: Orthodoxy with heresy, Truth with delusion.

In particular, the cessation of commemoration of a bishop who publicly promotes heresy (αἱρετίζοντος ἐπισκόπου) is endorsed and upheld by the 31st Apostolic Canon and the 15th Canon of the First-Second Synod (861) of Saint Photios the Great. The latter Canon describes bishops who publicly promote heresy as pseudo-bishops, and this is not an insult—as Metropolitan Silouan claims that Your Reverence has insulted Him—but is an act of rebuking heresy. In the New Testament and in the writings of the Holy Fathers, we frequently encounter references to false prophets, false apostles, and false teachers. This is not an insult, but a necessary rebuke for the return of those led astray and for the protection of the Orthodox faithful.

From the beginning, the Metropolitan reacted with anger and wrath rather than with fatherly understanding. His Eminence acted hastily and decided by Himself on Your deposition, although this is forbidden both by the Holy Canons and by civil law, since it is neither permissible for the accused to judge the accusation made against them, nor for the accused to judge themselves, nor for the accused to pass judgment on their accuser. Canon 107 of the Council of Carthage states: “It has pleased the Synod to decree that a single Bishop shall not be his own judge.” And Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite, interpreting this canon in the Pedalion explains: “The present Canon decrees that a bishop shall neither pass judgment on the case of another bishop who has a dispute with him, nor of a presbyter who has any dispute with him, nor of any other cleric, according to Canon 9 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council; as a presbyter accused by someone else or a deacon, cannot be defrocked by one bishop alone according to Canon 12 of this Council.”

Now, through a more recent decision—as His Eminence informed Your Reverence by letter on March 16, 2025, (case reference: 2024-02)—He refers Your Reverence to His own episcopal court, the members of which are appointed by Him and follow whatever the bishop decides. Therefore, nothing changes in essence. Instead of Himself judging Your Reverence, it is those whom He has appointed that now judge Your Reverence and they have decided without proper scrutiny that it has been proven that You have violated the Holy Canons, even though nothing has actually been proven. The communion with the Monophysites and the baptismal theology adopted by the Patriarchate of Antioch are indeed heterodox and heretical teachings, as Your Reverence has imputed to the Patriarchate, and they must be corrected, not regarded as insults.

As for the Metropolitan’s proposal for making an appeal within thirty (30) days to the Patriarchate, the Metropolitan should forward the case file to the Patriarch, so that the Synod, the synodal court, may decide accordingly. The Patriarch has already been informed of Your positions through a detailed text Your Reverence has sent His Beatitude on December 6, 2023. In any case, whatever the decision of the synodal court—even if it is Your deposition—since this is not a matter of administration or morality, but a matter of Faith and doctrine, Your Reverence will not accept the decision and will continue Your priestly duties, as Your Reverence has already stated. Woe unto us if the Orthodox were to obey the decisions of heretical bishops or heretical synods or of those who promote heresy[1]—there would be no Orthodoxy left today! This is what many Saints taught and practiced: Saint Athanasius the Great did not accept his defrocking by Arian synods, neither did Saint Gregory Palamas as a hieromonk accept it from the Barlaamite Patriarch John Kalekas; nor did Saint Theodore the Studite accept it from the iconoclasts; nor Saint John Chrysostom and many others who continued to serve despite their unjust and uncanonical defrocking. Saint Isidore of Pelusium writes in a letter that it is better to be defrocked than to be associated with scandal-causing clergy: “It is better to be persecuted and defrocked than to be counted among such men.” (PG 78, 1608B).

Saint John Chrysostom, the pride of Antioch, in the third discourse of his classic work On the Priesthood, says that a worthy priest must always be ready, as it is fitting for Christian men, to have his priesthood removed, knowing that an unjust defrocking carries no lesser crown than the priesthood itself: «Ἡ τοιαύτη καθαίρεσις οὐκ  ἐλάττονα φέρει τῆς ἀρχῆς τὸν στέφανον.» Moreover, when someone is defrocked without having done anything unworthy of the priesthood, this brings condemnation on those who unjustly defrocked him, and brings a greater reward to the one who was wrongfully removed. (On the Priesthood 3, 11, PG 48, 648).

The cessation of the commemoration of bishops—known as walling off —as Your Reverence know well, dear Fr. Matthew, when they fall into heresy and are in communion with heretics, is a God-given act and tradition of the Holy Fathers of the Church, practiced by many Holy Fathers and modern Saints, whom we confidently and assuredly follow as clergy who are concerned for our own salvation and for the small flocks we shepherd. The Church of Antioch, which from Apostolic times has offered Christianity many spiritual treasures and great figures among the Fathers and Teachers, has unfortunately, in recent decades, tarnished her Orthodox character by the decision of inter-communion with the Monophysite heretics. For Your Reverence, walling off was the only way—the only Orthodox way—since Metropolitan Silouan supports this decision. According to the Holy Canons, we must flee from communion with heretics, and furthermore, it is the bishop’s duty to labour in every possible way to bring them back to Orthodoxy. Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite, interpreting the 122nd Canon of the Council of Carthage, writes: “Bishops ought not to neglect the heretics residing in their diocese, because they shall have to render an account of them and be held responsible for them; but they ought to make every effort to win them and to return them to the catholic unity, that is the Church”. In general, both the bishop and the presbyter are obliged to teach the pious and Orthodox dogmas to the clergy and the laity, in opposition to heresies. Otherwise, they themselves should be excommunicated and defrocked, not those who teach the Orthodox Faith. As the 58th Apostolic Canon says: “If any bishop or presbyter neglects the clergy or the laity, and fails to instruct them in piety, let him be excommunicated: but if he persists in his negligence and indolence, let him be defrocked.”

Nevertheless, since it is possible that Metropolitan Silouan may have been well-intentioned and that His harsh attitude towards Your Reverence stemmed from lack of knowledge, I would advise him to read two short works of mine on the matters in question: one is titled: «Δὲν εἶναι σχίσµα ἡ Ἀποτείχιση. Ὀφειλόµενες ἐξηγήσεις» (“Walling Off is Not Schism: Necessary Explanations”), and the other: «Ἡ Ὀρθοδοξία τῶν Ἀντιχαλκηδονίων Μονοφυσιτῶν» (“The Orthodoxy of the Anti-Chalcedonian Monophysites”). Your Reverence may send them to His Eminence for information. I believe He knows Greek, since He studied in Thessaloniki.

We, my dear Fr. Matthew, have ceased communion with and the commemoration of our bishops in order to be in unity with the Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers because, as the great confessor and pillar of Orthodoxy—who walled off himself from the papist-minded Patriarch Mitrophanes of Constantinople—says, all the teachers of the Church, all the synods, and the Holy Scripture counsel us to flee from those who have a heretical mindset and to have no communion with them: «Ἅπαντες οἱ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας διδάσκαλοι, πᾶσαι αἱ σύνοδοι καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ Θεῖαι Γραφαὶ φεύγειν τοὺς ἑτερόφρονας παραινοῦσι καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν κοινωνίας διΐστασθαι». We are assured, as the same great struggler affirms, that the more we distance ourselves from them, the closer we come to God and to all His Saints; and when we wall off from them, then we unite ourselves with the Truth and with the Holy Fathers, the Theologians of the Church. Saint Mark gave the command shortly before his death that neither the patriarch nor any other philo-papist clergy should be present at his funeral, saying: “For I am absolutely convinced that the more I distance myself from him and from those like him, the more I draw nearer to God and to all the Saints; and just as I separate from them, so do I unite myself with the Truth and with the Holy Fathers, the Theologians of the Church.”

I pray that Christ, the source of Truth, through the intercessions of the Most Holy Theotokos and of all the Saints, may sustain and strengthen us on the one and only Orthodox way, in fleeing from the delusion of other religions and heresies, for Christ alone is the Life and the Truth, the only true Light, and only the Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

With much love and appreciation for our common struggles for the Truth
and with heartfelt wishes for a blessed journey toward Pascha,

Protopresbyter Theodoros Zisis

Endnotes

1. Translator’s note: Presbyters, bishops or synods not yet condemned, who preach heretical teachings which have been condemned or not yet condemned.