1) In January 1986, four former members (monastic brethren) of Holy Transfiguration Monastery (HTM) in Brookline, Massachusetts, charge Fr. Panteleimon with sexual perversion. A special commission is appointed by the ROCOR to investigate the allegations. Archbishop Anthony of Los Angeles and Bishop Alypy of Chicago are selected. (See Panteleimon Admits His Guilt)
2) The commission presents its report to the Synod in May of 1986, having interviewed both the accused and two accusers before the Gospel and Cross. At this Synod meeting in May, two additional accusers also come forward – Monk Menas and Monk Evgenios, having left HTM previously.
The written testimony of the two other former members of HTM is read at the next Synod Meeting in Masonville, Canada, along with the other four previously interviewed who gave oral testimony, making the total number of accusers six. The dean of the New England Deanery and Monk Ephraim spoke in defense of Fr. Panteleimon. Fr. Panteleimon was extensively questioned, publicly denies the charges, but agrees to be relieved of his duties as abbot. The Synod agrees that this is best and decrees retirement to Fr. Panteleimon on May 16/29,1986 -- this decision is relayed to Fr. Panteleimon by Met. Vitaly personally. Father Isaac is made temporary administrator. The Synod met again on Nov 12/25, 1986 and decided the following:
a. Fr. Isaac was to be relieved of his duties as administrator.
b. To suspend both Fr. Panteleimon and Fr. Isaac from serving.
c. To appoint a commission to investigate charges against Fr. Isaac.
d. To appoint Fr. Justin as temporary administrator.
MET. VITALY, AS DIOCESAN HIERARCH OF EASTERN AMERICA, FULFILLS THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF NOV 20/DEC 3 OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS AND SUSPENDS BOTH FR. PANTELEIMON AND FR. ISAAC.
Instead of obeying the Synod, HTM elects Fr. Isaac as its new abbot, despite the fact that Fr. Isaac is suspended, and that neither he nor the Monk Ephraim could be considered for anything until charges against them had been cleared.
3) On December 12, 1986, Met. Vitaly received a letter from HTM informing him that they had left the ROCA because of its Modernism and Ecumenism.
JUST TWO WEEKS BEFORE THINGS CAME TO A HEAD WITH REGARD TO THE ACCUSATIONS ABOUT HTM, FR. PANTELEIMON HAD THIS TO SAY ABOUT ROCOR:
“The Synod Church [the ROCOR] is a real standard of Orthodoxy.... Therefore, discerning where the Truth is found, we remain in unity under our bishops in the midst of many trials...because grace abides in the Synod.... We uphold our Synod primarily and foremostly as a standard of Orthodoxy. All others have betrayed the Truth. This was demonstrated of late by the election of our new Metropolitan [Vitaly]....”[Fr. Alexey Young, The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia: A History and Chronology (The Borgo Press, 1993), p. 77f. Original source: A personal letter from Fr. Panteleimon to Fr. Alexey Young dated February 10, 1986 -- a month after the first accusers came forward, unbeknownst to Panteleimon.]
FR. PANTELEIMON WAS SUSPENDED AND BEING INVESTIGATED BY THE ROCOR FOR THESE PERVERSIONS WHEN SUDDENLY THE ROCOR CEASED TO BE THE LAST REFUGE OF PURE ORTHODOXY, AND OVERNIGHT, METROPOLITAN VITALY BECAME A LIBERAL ECUMENIST.
4) On December 1/14, 1986, the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR sets forth an Official Statement from the Chancery of Bishops. August 19/ September 1, 1987, the ROCOR Synod officially deposes Fr. Panteleimon, Fr. Isaac, and all the partisan clergy that followed HTM into schism. The ROCOR Synod advises all the ROCOR faithful that, “...all the clergymen who have withdrawn with Archimandrite Panteleimon who dare to celebrate the divine services, ignoring their suspension, and thus violate the canons and pronounce upon themselves a sentence of condemnation," i.e., deprive themselves of their rank, depose themselves from the priesthood. Cf. Canons 28 and 38 of the Council or Carthage, they also violate Canons 12, 15 and 16 of the Holy Apostles. Canon 31 of the Holy Apostles states: “If any presbyter, despising his own bishop shall collect a separate congregation, and erect another altar, not having any grounds for condemning the bishop with regard to religion or justice, let him be deposed for his ambition; for he is a tyrant. In like manner also the rest of the clergy, and as many as join him: and let laymen be excommunicated....”
5) The Panteleimonites then came under two independent Bishops, Akakios of Diavlia and Gabriel of the Cyclades. HTM came under these Bishops so as to have two bishops so they could ordain their (HTM's) candidates in America. They told these bishops that they were being persecuted by the ROCOR because of the exact confession of Orthodoxy which HTM and the clergy with them adhere to. In this way, they deceived these bishops, who thought that they were saving the Church from "corruption" that was in the ROCOR. Unfortunately they did not speak English, and could not examine the other side adequately.
6) When ROCOR was informed that the renegade clergy joined the above mentioned bishops, Bishop Hilarion immediately sent to each bishop, both Akakios and Gabriel, all the documents concerning Fr. Panteleimon and the clergy who followed him into schism. These included the testimonies of the six victims and the OFFICIAL suspension and deposition papers, since they abandoned their lawful hierarchy.
7) When Metropolitan Gabriel (Clyclades) received the above mentioned documents, he decided that he had made a terrible mistake by receiving these clergy in that he was guilty of violating the holy canons, specifically, APOSTOLIC CANON XII: "If any clergyman, or laymen, who has been excommunicated, or who has not been admitted to repentance, shall go away and be received in another city, without commendatory letters, both the receiver and the one received shall be excommunicated." And, APOSTOLIC CANON XI: "A clergyman who prays together with a deposed clergyman shall also be deposed...." Therefore, he abandoned this newly-formed “Synod”and decided to remain alone, as he was previously.
8) When HTM/HOCNA found themselves with only one Bishop, this jeopardized their whole scheme to have their own “hierarchy”that will forever protect the abominable actions of Fr. Panteleimon, which indeed did happen years later when they received a “hierarchy”. Therefore, Fr. Panteleimon and company decided to leave Metropolitan Akakios in search of another “solution”to their dilemma, i.e., two or more bishops, whom they can tell the world are “true confessors”of True Orthodoxy.
9) When Metropolitan Akakios learned that HTM had initiated communication with the deposed Archbishop Auxentios of Athens, he wrote HTM a stern letter of warning regarding Auxentios. The letter was as follows:
THE SACRED METROPOLITAN DIOCESE OF ATTICA AND DIAVLEIA
See: Sacred Monastery of Saint Nicholas Paiania, Attica, Greece Tel.
66-42-3671
Protocol No. 287
In Paiania, Attica on July 1, 1987
(Received in the U.S. on July 7/20, 1987)
Fathers and Brethren:
Bless!
While we were preserving vividly and indelibly the wonderful image of all that we saw and heard during our recent visit to your Orthodox parishes, suddenly, the information came, like a lightning bolt out of a clear sky, that a few of your spiritual leaders are thinking of going under the irrevocably fallen former Archbishop Auxentios. We hope that it is only some malicious rumor designed to defame your Orthodox ecclesiastical communities before all Orthodox everywhere and to render futile the struggle you have waged in behalf of exactness of Orthodoxy. That is what we believe, for only the utmost madness and morbid recklessness would otherwise explain the subjugation of a movement in behalf of piety and the preservation of the traditional genuineness of our Holy Orthodoxy under a leader who so tragically failed and brought the Church of the True Orthodox in Greece into contempt and disrepute. A multitude of un-canonical actions and illegal ordinations done with total disdain for the authority of our Holy Church, the lack of fear of God in the trampling down of the Sacred Canons, and the devious manner of the “ordination to the episcopacy”of the piteous and miserable Dorotheos Tsakos render k. Auxentios guilty before divine and human justice, as well as before the impartial and un-bribable judgment of history itself. Can it be that you seek refuge in such a wreckage of a house? Shudder, O Sun and groan, O Earth! If that be the case, with your own hands, you will destroy your own work and raze your spiritual edifices to the ground. Moreover, you will offer to your enemies' arguments against yourselves which they never expected. These are much more shaking than the arguments with which they presently seek to sully the reputation of pious and virtuous clergymen who, at the present moment, head up your struggle! And, above all, such a thoughtless and frivolous action will sever the unity of your ecclesiastical communities because those among you whose souls have a more acute sense of smell will not be able to tolerate the stench of the condemned and illegal actions of that devious failure k. Auxentios. It is out of a pained heart that we write the above so that the beacon of Orthodoxy will not be so ignominiously extinguished, the beacon which is kept lit by the exactness of your Orthodoxy and your blameless ecclesiastical ethos. And beyond all that we've said previously, as long as you came freely and unconstrained by anyone and committed the episcopal supervision of your parishes to me, I condemn any discussions with Auxentios as divisive acts and I advise you to cut them off completely. Do not forget that “he who acts in secret from his bishop serves the devil,”according to Saint Ignatius the God-bearer. Moved by love and respect, we propose that a Congress of all the parishes be called for the purpose of discussing a number of matters, among which is also the ecclesiastical-episcopal organization of your God-loving parishes. At a Congress of this type, which is the only appropriate one that can make a decision regarding the above matter; we would have no objection to responsibly presenting our views.
With both fatherly cautions against suicidal solutions and with prayers and
blessings, we remain,
Akakios of Attica and Diavleia
10) HTM disregarded the hierarchal admonition, and even disregarded Fr. Panteleimon's previous opinion of Archbishop Auxentios, when he (Fr. Panteleimon) called Auxentios, in writing, the “garbage-pit of Orthodoxy”, because of his innumerable un-canonical actions when he was head of the GOC of Greece. HTM then came under Archbishop Auxentios, who had been deposed by his own Synod for ordaining a “notorious person”(i.e. a homosexual) Dorotheos Tsakos, to the episcopacy for an undisclosed amount of money. Indeed, Fr. Panteleimon and company did not choose Auxentios at the beginning of their rebellion because they were accused of homosexual lawlessness and would be perceived guilty if they ran to a disposed bishop who promotes homosexuality because of which he was deposed.
11) Maximos of Kephalonia replaces the reposed Auxentios on January 7, 1995. Maximos asks the ROCOR for the same official documents that were sent to Metropolitans Akakios and Gabriel, because Maximos knew that Auxentios received HTM without any valid investigation, and Maximos had a better reputation than Auxentios for maintaining “some”canonical order. After receiving these documents Maximos determines these clergy are all guilty and separates himself from them, leaving them only to “create”their now incorporated “HOCNA”. By that time, however, Auxentios had already "ordained" bishops for HTM, and the departure of Maximos was of little consequence, due to the fact they had what they “needed”now, which was immunity from any type of investigation or prosecution into the guilt of all the schismatic clergy of HTM.
FROM THE HISTORY OF THE GOC OF GREECE
In 1985, the holy Synod of our Church deposed the then Archbishop Auxentios Pastras and the following former hierarchs of Larisa (Athanasios), Thebes (Gerasimos Vrakas), and Kefallonia (Maximos Vallianatos), since with a command of the first (Auxentios), the last two ordained as bishop, secretly and in ignorance of the Holy Synod, the former hieromonk of the new calendarists, Dorotheos Tsakos, who was deposed by them for unethical practices. This unlawful and anti-canonical ordination of Dorotheos Tsakos is considered as never having taken place by the Holy Synod. From their depositions the following false churches ensued: a. The monk Auxentios advanced the following false ordinations of bishops: 1) Ephraim (Boston), 2) Makarios (Toronto), and 3) Photios (France). With the death of the Monk Auxentios in November of 1994, the Monk Maximos Vallianatos (formerly of Kefalonia), self-proclaimed himself Archbishop of his party. In May of 1996, without the knowledge of the rest of his false bishops, together with the collaboration of Demetrios Biffe, a clergyman of the new calendarists, who made his appearance as Bishop of Kandano, the following new false ordinations of hierarchs were enacted: 1) Auxentios Marines (Aigina), 2) Pankratios Xouloges (Nemea), and 3) Ephraim Papadopoulos (Serres). Also, Demetrios Biffe was named Archbishop of Crete, and altogether they formed a synod of their false church. The remaining false bishops of the company of Maximos Vallianatos, namely, Ephraim (Boston), Makarios (Toronto), and Photios (France), with the Monk Athanasios, former Bishop of Larisa, formed a new false church; a parasynagogue. In the USA this false church is called HOCNA.
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