History of HOCNA

Issues Relating to HOCNA clergy departing from the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1986

After the blessed repose of Metropolitan Philaret on the feast of the Holy Archangels, November 8, 1985, many of the faithful began to notice with alarm that, whereas for the past twenty years the Russian Church Abroad had been progressively cutting off ecclesiastical contact with the innovating local churches, these contacts now began to increase, especially at a hierarchical level. Those of non-Russian background especially protested, since they saw this turn of events as a repudiation of the reason they had left the ecumenistic jurisdictions they had belonged to before. Such tendencies had been observed for a time in some of the bishops of the Russian Church Abroad, but now, with the repose of Metropolitan Philaret, and the repose and retirement of other bishops, these tendencies became a full-fledged policy “by economia” and later by synodal decree.

On 4/17 February 1987, during its meeting in Montreal, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad officially commended Archpriest Alexander Lebedev's reply to Fr. Neketas Palassis of Seattle, Washington. In this letter, Fr. A. Lebedev states that it is permitted to give communion to members of the new calendar, ecumenist jurisdictions.

Some thirty clergy, twenty-five parishes, one monastery, one convent, and many faithful in North America left the Russian Church Abroad in December 1986, and asked to be accepted by Metropolitans Akakios of Diavlia and Gabriel of the Cyclades.* Thus, these traditional Orthodox Christians, wishing to remain faithful to the legacy they had received from Metropolitan Philaret, were in accord with Church Tradition in their departure from the Russian Church Abroad. This departure was further justified within a few weks by Metropolitan Vitaly's Nativity Epistle of 1986, in which he gave an entirely novel interpretation to the understanding the Church has always had of the terms “anathema” and “economy,” thereby effectively negating the Anathema against Ecumenism.

*The Russian Synod tried to claim that this departure was for personal reasons—to prevent an investigation of various accusations against the monastery in Boston. However, the charges against the monastery—which had been petitioning for a canonical investigation and trial for eleven months—were handled in complete violation of canonical order. Furthermore, the charges alleged against the monastery would hardly have precipitated such a mass exodus from the Russian Church Abroad if there were not valid doctrinal causes. This is clearly demonstrated by the subsequent departure of the French Mission, as well as additional clergy of the Russian Church Abroad, who departed for the same reasons of faith in the following year, 1987, after waiting in vain to see any change of direction in this Russian jurisdiction.

The Struggle Against Ecumenism
The Holy Orthodox Church in North America,
Boston, 1998, pp. 134, 140-1

A Review of The Struggle from the New Calendar periodical "The Sword," Sept., 1998

A Response to Vladimir Moss' Review of The Struggle

Letter of Bishop Laurus to Fr. Neketas Palassis December 18/31, 1977

Letter of Fr. Neketas to Bishop Laurus February 19/March 4, 1978

Letter of Fr. Neketas to Fr. George Grabbe Marchy 7/20, 1979

Head of Anglican Church a Guest of Patriarch German of Serbia from the Orthodox Christian Witness

Letter of Bishop Hilarion to Fr. Neketas March 18/31, 1986

Letter of Fr. Neketas to Bishop Hilarion October 15/28, 1986

Letter of HOCNA Clergy to Metropolitan Vitaly November 8/21, 1986

Letter of Departure from ROCOR November 25/December 8, 1986

Letter of Fr. Seraphim Johnson to a ROCOR parishioner

Revision of the text of the 1983 Anathema Against Ecumenism

A Call to Sanity