{{Traducere EN}}

==Istoric==

==Grecia==

''"Those who now administer the Church of Greece have divided the unity of Orthodoxy through the calendar innovation, and have split the Greek Orthodox People into two opposing calendar parts. They have not only violated an Ecclesiastical Tradition which was consecrated by the Seven Ecumenical Councils and sanctioned by the age-old practice of the Eastern Orthodox Church, but have also touched the Dogma of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Therefore those who now administer the Greek Church have, by their unilateral, anticanonical and unthinking introduction of the Gregorian calendar, cut themselves off completely from the trunk of Orthodoxy, and have declared themselves to be in essence schismatics in relation to the Orthodox Churches which stand on the foundation of the Seven Ecumenical Councils and the Orthodox laws and Traditions, the Churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Serbia, Poland, the Holy Mountain and the God-trodden Mountain of Sinai, etc....That this is so was confirmed by the Commission made up of the best jurists and theologian-professors of the National University which was appointed to study the calendar question, and one of whose members happened to be his Blessedness the Archbishop of Athens in his then capacity as professor of Church History in the National University...Since his Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens has by his own signature declared himself to be a Schismatic, what need do we have of witnesses to demonstrate that he and the hierarchs who think like him have become Schismatics, in that they have split the unity of Orthodoxy through the calendar innovation and divided the Ecclesiastical and ethnic soul of the Greek Orthodox People?"''<ref>[http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/downloads/92_NEW_ZION_IN_BABYLON_PART_3.pdf] Cited in Moss, ''New Zion in Babylon'', Part 3, p. 92</ref>

From April 23rd to April 26th 1935 the ordination of four new bishops took place. Ordained were the Archmandrites: Germanos (Barikopoulos) as Bishop of Kyklades, Christoforos (Hatzis) as Bishop of Megaris, Polycarp (Liosis) as Bishop of Diavleia, and Bishop Matthew (Karpathakes) of Bresthena).<ref>[http://www.hotca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71:the-change-in-the-calendar-of-the-church-of-greece&catid=23:goc-history&Itemid=71]</ref>

By the 1940s, two parties had formed within the Church of Greece: the [[Florinites]] (under Metropolitan [[Chrysostom (Kavourides) of Florina]]) and the [[Matthewites]] (under Bp. [[Matthew (Karpathakis) of Bresthena]]). The schism originated in Metropolitan Chrysostom's hesitation to consider the mysteries of the State Church as graceless, whereas the adherents of Bishop Matthew (the "Matthewites") maintained the rigorist position: that State Church was schismatic and therefore graceless.

In 1948, Bishop Matthew singlehandedly consecrated another bishop, and together they made more new bishops, furthering the rift and causing many former Matthewite clergy to join ranks with the Florintes. After the death of Bishop Matthew, however, Chrysostom of Florina reaffirmed the decision of 1935 declaring the New Calendar State Church as [[schism]]atic. The declaration had as its motivation to heal the Matthewite schism. Nonetheless, the irenic gesture went unheeded and the Matthewites proceeded to elect Archbishop Agathagelos to the rank of Primate of Athens in 1958.

After the death of Metropolitan Chrysostom, the Florinites had no bishops, and Metropolitan Chrysostom advised his flock to go under the protection of the Matthewite bishops. Fearing the repercussions, however, the Florinites opted to seek a new hierarchy and appealed to Bishops of the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] to help them. In 1960, Archimandrite Akakios Pappas was made a bishop with the title of Bishop of Talantion for these communities without the official blessing of the ROCOR Synod by Archbishop [[Seraphim (Ivanov) of Chicago]]<ref>[http://www.roca.org/life_of_archbishop_seraphim.htm]</ref> and Bishop [[Theophilus (Ionescu) of Sèvres|Theophilus (Ionescu)]], an anti-communist Romanian bishop under the ROCOR, whose parishes followed the new calendar. The following year, the ROCOR elected and ordained Archimandrite Petros Astyfides as Bishop of Astoria in order to serve as archpastor of the Greek Old Calendarist immigrant communities in the United States and Canada. Later Bishop Akakios of Talantion and Archbishop [[Leontius (Filipovich) of Chile]]<ref>[http://users.sisqtel.net/williams/archbishopleonty.html]</ref> of ROCOR ordained five more bishops in Greece. Thus in 1961, Akakios of Talantion became the new First-Hierarch of the restored Florinite Synod. He died, however, in 1963. The Synod thus proceeded to elect Auxentios Pastras, Bishop of Gardikion, to be their new leader as Archbishop of Athens. The ROCOR under Metropolitan Philaret recognized the validity of the consecrations in 1969.

The Restored Florinite Synod of the True Orthodox Church of Greece was fraught with problems by the 1970s, and two major separations occurred during the lifetime of Archbishop Auxentios. However, few doubt that Archbishop Auxentios himself was of a saintly character, albeit a poor bishop. Recently there have been attempts to rehabilitate his memory (Archbishop Auxentios died in 1994); most of his synod, barely held together by the 1980s. In 1979, two Florinite Metropolitans, Kallistos of Corinth and Antonios of Attica, unilaterally consecrated seven Archimandrites to the episcopacy in an attempt to counteract the irregularities they perceived in the administration of Archbishop Auxentios. This led to the formation of the short-lived '''Kallistite Synod''', most of whose members reconciled themselves with the main body of the Florinite Synod by 1985.

'''[[Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece (Lamian Synod)|The Makarian (Lamian) Synod]]''': In 1995, a resistance faction of six bishops formed within the synod of Chrysostom (Kiousis) and separated itself over what they claimed to be a series of canonical infractions, headed by Metropolitan Kallinikos (Hatzis) of Lamia. The charges related to the trial of Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Euthymios (Orphanos), who had been charged with moral infractions, and the election of Bishop Vikentios (Malamatenios) of Avlona as Metropolitan of Peiraeus. By early 1997, the movement had fragmented into three groups, one of which reconciled with Archbishop Chrysostom (Kiousis). A second group, Paisios Loulourgas (Met. of America) and Vikentios Malamatenios (titular Bp. of Avlona), submitted to the Ecumenical Patiarchate. Later that same year, Kallinikos of Lamia and Euthymios of Thessaloniki proceeded to ordain five [[bishop|titular bishop]]s in an attempt to create a new synod. In 2003, they finally decided to elect a primate, and elected Makarios (Kavakides) of Athens. A good deal of their membership was then lost, as many who did not see themselves as separate from the Kiousis synod were forced to decide between the two.

For all the negative press the Matthewites have received over the years due to the strictness of their position, their church has been strangely free from long lasting schisms. Only two separations are worthy of note from the main body, and while they had the potential to destroy the unity that exists within the Matthewite True Orthodox Church of Greece, they did not. The first Primate of Athens selected by the Matthewites was Agathangelos of Athens, who reposed in 1967. Andreas of Athens, one of the original three bishops made, was elected to the primacy in 1972; unitl his death in 2005 he was one of the oldest and longest-reigning of Orthodox bishops in the world.

'''[[True Orthodox Church of Greece (Matthewite)|The Synod of Archbishop Nicholas]]''': In February, 2003, Archbishop Andreas of Athens retired, and Archbishop Nicholas of Athens, considered by many to have a progressive vision for the Matthewite church, was elected. Extremely popular with younger Matthewites, Archbishop Nicholas seems generally poised to keep the Matthewite synod united. However, it has been advanced that Archbishop Andreas retired in violation of the canons.

==Romania==

==Bulgaria==

The majority of the faithful are in communion with the Synod in Resistance (see "Metropolitan Cyprian of Fili" above) and the Romanian Old Calendar Orthodox Church, but are an autonomous Church - The Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria - and comprise a few dozen parishes under Bishop Photii of Triaditsa.

The ecclesiastical and canonical status of the various Old Calendarist jurisdictions is complex. Some regard themselves as being the only true Orthodox Christians and thus view the mainstream Orthodox Church as being in [[apostasy]]. As such, they do not share either communion or concelebration with the mainstream churches. Other Old Calendarists (typically those "in resistance") have suspended concelebrations with mainstream clergy, but will still commune the faithful of mainstream jurisdictions. They thus see themselves as a reform movement within the Orthodox Church. The question of canonicity follows much the same sort of patterns.

Views from the mainstream Orthodox on the Old Calendarists range from trying to heal the various breaks in communion or concelebration to outright declarations that such groups are themselves apostates, that is, no longer Orthodox.

These churches refrain from both [[concelebration]] and [[full communion|communion]] with the mainstream Orthodox churches, regarding the hierarchies of the official churches to have apostasized and placed themselves outside Orthodoxy. In response, they have fully developed Synods in contrast to the official Church: for example, as there is an Archbishop of Athens, a rival Archbishop of Athens is elected to the see. With few exceptions, the Russian groups have not done the same due to the political climate, although the Rus-OC under Metropolitan Damascene of Moscow claims jurisdiction over the territory of the Patriarch of Moscow.

Such a claim is usually accompanied by the position that the corresponding official body is completely [[schism]]atic.

These churches refrain from [[concelebration]] with the mainstream Orthodox churches, but do not consider themselves schismatic, nor have they formally declared the mainstream churches without grace. In general, they set up alternative hierarchies that use the names of sees that are not used by the state Church in question<ref>[http://www.synodinresistance.org/Theology_en/Resistance.html]</ref>.

It is said that they would also communicate the faithful of those churches after confession. A notable exception is the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Romania, who receive members of the New Calendar Churches by Chrismation.

*[[Florinites]]

**[[Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece (Florinite)| Synod of Archbishop Kallinikos of Athens]]

*[[Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria]] ''

These are the dioceses of larger Synods in North America:

*[[Genuine Greek Orthodox Church of America]], Metropolitan Diocese of America (Synod of Archbishop Chrysostom)

*[http://www.genuineorthodoxchurch.net/america.html Matthewite Parishes in America under Metr Kirykos of Mesogaia]

These are bodies which claimed independence from their parent churches.

*[[Genuine Orthodox Church of America]], under Archbishop Gregory of Denver

<references/>

*[http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/downloads/234_NEW_ZION_IN_BABYLON_PART_2.pdf| Vladimir Moss, ''New Zion in Babylon: A History of the Orthodox Church throughout the World in the Twentieth Century'' (2010), Part II]

*[http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/downloads/217_NEW_ZION_IN_BABYLON_PART_3.pdf| Vladimir Moss, ''New Zion in Babylon: A History of the Orthodox Church throughout the World in the Twentieth Century'' (2010), Part III]

* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodox-tradition/ Paradosis: The Original Internet E-mail Forum for Traditionalists]

* [http://www.euphrosynoscafe.com/ The Euphrosynos Café: A Portal and Forum for all Old Calendar Orthodox Churches]

::(Discussion of the three bishops who in 1935 declared their separation from the official Church of Greece: Metr. Germanos (Mavrommatis) of Demetrias (1907–1935); Metr. Chrysostom (Kavourides) of Florina (1926–1932), a retired bishop; and Metr. [[Chrysostomos of Zakynthos|Chrysostomos (Demetriou) of Zakynthos]])

*[http://www.hotca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=203%3Athe-calendar-question&catid=50%3Aorthodox-awareness&Itemid=62| The Calendar Question], by Fr. Basil Sakkas

*[http://www.synodinresistance.org/pdfs/2013/12/30/20131230aTheOldCalendarGreekOrthodoxChurch-ABriefHistory.pdf The Old Calendar Greek Orthodox Church: A Brief History], by Bishop Ambrose of Methone

**[http://www.saintjonah.org/articles/patapios_rejoinder.html A Rejoinder to Hieromonk Patapios’ essay: “The Deficient Scholarship of Monk Basil’s Comments on the Allegedly Anti-Patristic Stand of the So-Called“Old Calendarist Zealots”], by Fr. John Whiteford

* [http://www.ecclesiagoc.gr/ Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece| Official website of the Synod of Archbishop Chrysostom of Athens]

* [http://www.synodinresistance.org/ Official website of the Holy Synod in Resistance]