Synod of Metropolitan Agathangel Meets in the USA

Last week a meeting of the Synod Abroad of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) under Metropolitan Agathangel (Pashkovskiy) of Odessa was held at the Tolstoy Foundation in Valley Cottage, New York. At the meeting the assembled hierarchs, most of whom have been consecrated since Metropolitan Agathangel's schism from the mainstream ROCOR in 2007, agreed to publish an appeal to their clergy and faithful not to return to the Moscow Patriarchate. The Synod also approved plans for the establishment of a new international headquarters and residence for its first hierarch in New York. The consecration of the new headquarters' church, which will be dedicated to St. Philaret (Vosnesenskiy) the Confessor of New York, is to be celebrated on 19 November.

During the meeting Metropolitan Agathangel informed the Synod of his conversation with deposed Patriarch Irinaios (Skopelitis) of Jerusalem, claiming that he was deposed for his anti-ecumenical stance and could therefore continue to remain in communion with the schism as the ROCOR had been in communion with him prior to the 2007 reunion with Moscow. (This despite the fact that the strongly anti-ecumenical Patriarch Diodorus (Karivalis) of Jerusalem was never deposed during his patriarchate and the fact that the ROCOR remained in communion with Jerusalem when Patriarch Theophilos III (Giannopoulos) was enthroned in 2005.) This is pending the agreement of the Synod in Resistance of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Lastly, the Synod considered an appeal from Old Calendrist parishes in Georgia for reception into the ROCOR. More on the Synod's discussions can be found here.

Former Jerusalem Patriarch Not Imprisoned, Refuses to Leave Patriarchate

Claims that the deposed Patriarch Irinaios I (Skopelitis) of Jerusalem is imprisoned at the Patriarchate have proved to be untrue. He instead remains at the Patriarchate because he believes that once he leaves he will not be permitted to return. Irinaios continues to believe that he is the legitimate Patriarch of Jerusalem despite his deposition and defrocking and the universal recognition of his successor, Patriarch Theophilos III (Giannopoulos). More here.

ROCOR Schism Commemorating Deposed Patriarch of Jerusalem

The recent 2007 schism from the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad led by Metropolitan Agathangel (Pashkovskiy) of Odessa has begun commemorating deposed Patriarch Irinaios of Jerusalem, apparently with his blessing. What this means, if anything, for the unity of the Church of Jerusalem, if anything, remains to be seen. More here.

Beit Jala Parish Protests Visit of Theophilus III to Bethlehem

During the visit of Patriarch Theophilus III (Giannopoulos) of Jerusalem to the Bethlehem area this past Sunday for St. Nicholas' day the parishioners of the Palestinian Orthodox parish in Beit Jala, a suburb of the holy city, refused to meet with the patriarch and instead protested his visit because of revelations that the Patriarchate has continued to sell lands owned by the Palestinian Orthodox Church in the occupied West Bank to Israeli citizens for development as Jewish settlements.

The predecessor of Theophilus III, Patriarch Irenaeus I (Skopelitis), was removed from the Patriarchate for selling land to Israelis, so the failure of the new patriarch to stand up for the interests of his flock and to serve instead the interests of the predominantly Greek Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher (which administers the Patriarchate and the holy sites of Palestine) has come as a great disappointment to the Palestinian Orthodox faithful. In addition to his mishandling of church property in the Holy Lands Patriarch Theophilus also recently abandoned the Jerusalemite Orthodox faithful in North America under pressure from the Phanar, transferring them to the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

More on the Beit Jala protests can be found here.