Our Sister Church is Facing a Threat

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A Call to Pray from our Synod
Appeal ROCOR Synod of Bishops
October 15/28, 2009

The persecution of the faithful in Bulgaria is instigated by the "global communist system" which more and more reveals itself to be "an apocalyptical church-harlot."
            "We call upon our faithful flock to pray fervently to our Lord, Jesus Christ, His Immaculate Mother and all the saints, so that they may keep our souls unharmed from the destructive influences of globalism, ecumenism, sergianism, [and socialism*] and give all of us the strength to endure the latest onset of persecution of the Church of Christ."

    Joanna's Shared Library
    folder: RRb Archives
    file: 2009.10 RRb.pdf

* I added "socialism" to the list after I discovered a socialist among our most loyal American convert members.  His name is Michael.  Please pray for him.  If he could be fooled, then we all are at risk.  Our Church sees Socialism as a trick for Communism to get its foot-in-the-door.  Old Jordanville clearly teaches socialism is of the antichrist spirit.

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"I, my fellow clerics, and our faithful will be watching this situation closely.'
GOC bishop's official letter sent to Bulgaria's USA Ambassador

Patriarchal Sergianism and the Beginnings of Persecutions in 'Orthodox' Bulgaria
https://www.orthodoxtraditionalist.com/post/patriarchal-sergianism-and-the-beginnings-of-persecutions-in-orthodox-bulgaria
By Subdeacon Nektarios, M.A.

 

It has come to the attention of many within the True Orthodox community around the world that, in typical New Calendarist fashion, the ‘official’ Patriarchate of Bulgaria, in cooperation with the government, is currently engaged in the legal persecution of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria Metropolitan Photiy of Triaditsa, the First Hierarch of the Bulgarian Old Calendarist Church.

His Eminence Metropolitan Photiy of Triaditsa

Recently, the Supreme Court of Bulgaria—the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC)—ruled in favor of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria, granting it the right to register as a Church in the City Court of Sofia. However, the registering body in the capital city denied their registration, despite this Supreme Court ruling.

Government officials, along with the newly installed 'Patriarch' Daniil of Bulgaria, have since devised various pretexts to ensure that these True Orthodox Christians, who represent unaltered Orthodox Christianity—free from the heresy of ecumenism and the innovation of the New Calendar—remain an unrecognized Church. In a statement, Bulgarian Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev described the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria—a jurisdiction of approximately eighteen parishes—as a "potential threat," further stating, "I am convinced that the people’s representatives will take this into account and eliminate this potential threat."

Similarly, in a manner reminiscent of Sergianism, the New Calendarist Patriarch Daniil claimed that the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria under His Eminence Metropolitan Photiy—who was in communion with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia prior to its false union with the Soviet-created Moscow Patriarchate in 2007—poses a "threat to the security of the Bulgarian Church and people."

Furthermore, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has declared that the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria constitutes a "threat to the national unity and sovereignty of the Bulgarian people."

In a conversation with His Grace Bishop Seraphim of Sozopol, the assistant bishop to Metropolitan Photiy of Triaditsa, he stated:

          "We are currently under significant pressure. Our Church recently obtained legal registration as a religious entity, which has provoked a strong reaction from the Patriarchate and its political supporters. The Parliament is preparing to pass amendments to the Act on Religious Denominations that would designate the Patriarchate as the sole representative of Orthodoxy in the country. Consequently, our registration is likely to be revoked, and any future attempts to reinstate it would be impossible."

What crime has warranted this Sergianist-Stalinist-style persecution? The answer is simply Holy Orthodoxy. The Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria has long stood as a confessor of True Orthodoxy, rejecting the pan-heresy of ecumenism, the New Calendarist innovation of the Bulgarian Patriarchate, its historical membership in the World Council of Churches prior to its exit in 1996, and its continued communion with other World Orthodox jurisdictions that remain in fellowship with ecumenist bodies.

The Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria is a sister Church of the Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad under its First-Hierarch Metropolitan Agafangel (Pashkovsky) of Odessa. In response to this persecution, His Grace Bishop Auxentios of Etna, Ruling Hierarch of the Western Diocese of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of America, has issued an official letter* of protest to the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and forwarded it to numerous U.S. lawmakers to raise awareness of the ongoing religious persecution of Orthodox Christians in a nation purportedly committed to religious freedom and modern democratic values.

*download link here
https://www.orthodoxtraditionalist.com/post/patriarchal-sergianism-and-the-beginnings-of-persecutions-in-orthodox-bulgaria
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These anti-Orthodox statements by Bulgarian government officials, along with the Sergianist rhetoric of their so-called Patriarchate, serve as yet another reminder that the concerns of World Orthodoxy are not centered on doctrinal purity but rather on submission and obedience to the officially sanctioned Church supported by the state.

The Bulgarian Patriarchate and its government have now joined the ranks of past persecutors of the Orthodox Church such as Stalin, Todor Zhivkov, Josip Broz Tito, the Greek government since 1925, and all of the “official” World Orthodox Patriarchates who are demonstrating a willingness to go to great lengths to force the True Orthodox faithful into submission to their innovations and heresies.

May Saint Catherine the New Martyr and the Holy Catacomb Saints of Russia intercede for the faithful of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria in their time of struggle. Let us also be reminded of the words of our Lord:

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (St. Matthew 5:10-12).

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