+Seraphim of Piraeus on the Eighth Ecumenical Council
From the Conference “On the Eighth Ecumenical Council: The Catholic Condemnation of the Filioque,” hosted by OrthodoxEthos, 14 March 2024
Dear brothers and esteemed participants, participating mentally with my humble message in your God-inspired conference, I congratulate you with all my heart and thank you for your confession and for the honour of my invitation, wishing you success in the proceedings of your conference. I particularly thank Father Peter Heers, who confess to the Orthodox faith in your great country. We, the Orthodox, do not stop counting the Holy and Ecumenical synods at the Seventh Holy and Ecumenical Synod of the Year 787 A.D. Against the Heretics and Accusers of Christians, Iconoclasts. But we also count as Holy and Ecumenical synods, two more synods. First, the Synod under the great Photius in 879–880, which is the Eighth Holy and Ecumenical Synod. And second, one during the Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki in the year 1351, which is the Ninth Holy and Ecumenical Synod. The Holy and Ecumenical Synod in Hagia Sophia, the Eighth Synod, was convened in Constantinople in the years 879–880, during the reign of Basil, the Macedonian. Three hundred eighty-three holy and God-bearing Fathers from East and West, representing the five primeval Orthodox patriarchates, among whom were the Patriarch of Constantinople, the great Photius, who presided over the synod; the representative of the Orthodox Pope of Rome, John the VIII, Peter the presbyter, together with Paul and Evgenios; the representative of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theodosius, Elias the presbyter; the representative of Patriarch of Alexandria, Michael, Cosmas the presbyter; and the representative of the Patriarch of Antioch, Theodosius, Basil, Bishop of Martyropolis. The Synod was convened in order to put an end to the scandals which followed between the Eastern and Western Christians regarding Bulgaria, and in order to unite the secessionist bishops due to the expulsion of the former Ignatius of Constantinople and the ordainment of Saint Photius. The Synod also declared the Seventh Holy and Ecumenical Synod as Ecumenical. The most important issues discussed at the Synod were the following five.
- First, the primacy of the Pope of Rome.
- Second, the functions in the Church and the relations among them.
- Third, local customs.
- Fourth, per saltum ordination.
- And fifth, Filioque. That is, the illegal and heretical addition of the procession of the Holy Spirit.
The records of this Synod were published by the Holy Dositheus, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in his book entitled Tome of Joy, published in Rimnium, Hungaro-Wallachia in September, 1705. The Synod of the years 879–880 has all the characteristics of an ecumenical synod and may be called the Eighth Ecumenical Synod. It preserves all external and internal elements of an ecumenical synod. This Synod is and is called ecumenical because, (a) it was convened by the Emperor Basil, the Macedonian, (b) the representative from all patriarchates attended, the great personality of the great Photius presided, and also the representatives of the Orthodox Pope of Rome, John the VIII, (c) it dealt with serious dogmatic, ecclesiastical, and canonical issues, (d) its decisions follow the teachings of the Holy Prophets, Apostles, and Fathers of the Church, id est, they are in accordance with the whole tradition of the Church, (e) there was ana agreement among all Orthodox patriarchs and high priests of the Catholic Orthodox Church, which is apparent in their signatures on the matters determined and settled by the Synod, which agreement is the constitutive character which makes a synod ecumenical, according to the Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite, and (f) this Synod was characterized as ecumenical by many holy fathers and teachers like Theodore Balsamon, Nilus of Thessaloniki, Saint Nicholas Cabasilas, Nilus of Rhodes, Macarius of Ancyra, Saint Symeon of Thessaloniki, Saint Mark Eugenicus of Ephesus, Holy Joseph Bryennius, Saint Gennadius Scholarius, Holy Dositheus of Jerusalem, Constantine Oikonomos, etc. But also by more recent ones like the late Archbishop of Athens and all Grece, Chrysostomos Papadopoulos of blessed memory, the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Saint Basios, Mr. Hierotheus, Most Reverend Metropolitan of Gortyna and Megalopolis, Mr. Jeremias, His Grace the Bishop of Abydos, Mr. Kyrillos Katerelos, the Very Reverend Father Philippos Zymaris, etc… By reading the records of that Synod carefully, one finds out that the Synod itself is conscious of its ecumenical character, and this title is given to it by the Kings, the great Photius, the legates of the Orthodox Pope of Rome and its members. The term “Ecumenical” is mentioned hundreds of times in the records. All members of the Synod are aware of the fact that it is a continuation of the Seventh Holy and Ecumenical Synod, which they affirm as ecumenical. Therefore, the fact that the Seventh Holy and Ecumenical Synod was confirmed by the Eighth Ecumenical Synod, among other things, proves its seriousness. Based on the above, there is nothing original or innovative if we accept as a holy Metropolis, as a local Church, the Synod under the great Photius as ecumenical, and to propose its official acceptance as such by the whole Orthodox Catholic Church since, according to the Orthodox tradition, the Synod intervenes to declare, officially, now the already existing and proven, in the infallible conscience of all the people of the Church, ecumenical character of a synod.
At this point, we must briefly mention two of the issues which occupied the Eighth Holy and Ecumenical Synod in order to show the importance of this Ecumenical Synod. These issues are, first, the primacy of the Orthodox Pope of Rome, and second, the heresy of the Filioque.
First, the first issue which concerned the Eighth Holy and Ecumencial Synod is related to the primacy of the Orthodox Pope of Rome. The discussion which took place at the synod between the great Photius, the Eastern representatives, but also the representatives of the Orthodox Pope of Rome, John the VIII, clearly showed that the Orthodox Pope of Rome has a primacy inside the Church, but with clear ecclesiological limits as they are determined by the 34th Apostolic Canon. This means that he’s first only regarding the primacy within, and not above the Church. According to this view, every bishop who does not comply with the spirit of this Apostolic Canon puts himself outside the Church and is deposed or excommunicated. The Popes of Rome are no exception. The Great Photius and the Holy Fathers of this Synod defended the primacy of honours as a necessary ecclesiological principle for the preservation of unity for the Church throughout the world. According to the primacy of honour, however, this preservation of unity is clearly not meant as an imposition by a first person who is above the Church as an authority. This position is clearly expressed in a letter by Saint Photius, in which he stresses the Orthodox interpretation of the Gospel line: ‘And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church…’ (Matthew chapter 16 verses 18–19). This interpretation leads to the crucial ecclesiological principle that each bishop is equal, regarding his episcopal rank, the Orthodox Pope of Rome, and not the current head of heretics, has the privilege of the honour and he must maintain the holy canons of the Church, and this privilege must be done in the spirit of the holy canons. This means that the Orthodox Pope of Rome has no authorities in other ecclesiastical regions. When the Pope of Rome does not keep the holy canons and places himself above the Church, then he may be deposed, as happened with Pope Nicholas the I, who was deposed because he interfered in Constantinople and Bulgaria. The first holy canon drawn up by this Synod in its fifth act is very characteristic as it establishes the autonomy of its ecclesiastical administration, in matters of order and discipline. In this holy canon, the synodical system of administration is accepted, and it is clarified that the primacy of the Orthodox Pope of Rome is not a power primacy, but primacy of honour. Id est, the Orthodox Pope of Rome, and not the current one who has, as well as his predecessors, fallen in bad heresies from year 1014 onwards, is not the head of the whole Church. He is not the source of holiness, etc. and consequently he has no competence over the other ecclesiastical administrations. This holy canons is of crucial ecclesiastical importance, and it is a restorative action against the pyramid-shaped Western universal ecclesiology, which was expressed in the robber synod of 869–870 in which the only true local Church, in the sense of universality, is the Church of Rome, which is identified with a universal Church and the only substantial bishop is the Pope of Rome.
Second, the second point to concern the Eighth Holy and Ecumenical Synod is the matter of the Filioque introduced by the Franks into the Creed. Id est, that the Holy Spirit proceeds as an existence from the Father and the Son. The first and the most important cause of the 1054 schism, id est, the secession and severance of the primeval Patriarchate of the West. The heresy of Papism from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church was the heresy of the Filioque. The Filioque is a terrible heresy because, first, it is contrary to the irrefutable words of Christ Himself, who said that ‘the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father [John 15:26].’ This means that we have a flagrant breach of God Himself, Christ. Second, it is contrary to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed according to its ‘I believe… and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.’ Consequently, we have a breach of both Holy and Ecumenical Synods, the 1st and the 2nd. Third, it is contrary to the 7th holy canon of the 3rd Holy and Ecumenical Synod, which forbids any addition or removal to the Creed. Therefore, we also have a breach of the 3rd Holy and Ecumenical Synod. Fourth, it destroys the relations among the persons of the Holy Trinity and confuses the un-communicated hypostatic nature of the three persons. Fifth, it demotes the Holy Spirit to the level of creation. And sixth, it introduces binarism to the Holy Trinity. If the Son is also a source of the Holy Spirit, this means that we have two sources, two authorities, in the Holy Trinity, God the Father, and the Son.
Of course, behind the Filioque heresy, there is nothing else than the horrible heresy of the Pope of Rome, the pride, the arrogance, the infallible, and the primacy of his authority, that only he may legislate above the traditions of the Orthodox Church as the Saint Gregory Palamas theologizes astutely. The discussion on this important issue took place during the sixth session, and it was decided that this false doctrine should be prohibited. At the proposal of the attending Emperor Basil, the Synod decided to condemn the Filioque. Id est, the introduction by the Franks in the Creed of the heretical teaching regarding the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, which the Franks also introduced in Bulgaria. The conclusion is that the Synod, under the great Photius, in 879–880 is indeed the Holy and Ecumenical Synod of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church, and this has passed into the infallible conscience of the fullness of the Church. Today, the heretical Popes of Rome do not count the Synod of 879–880 as the Eighth Holy and Ecumenical Synod, but in its place they count the robber synod of 869–870, which condemned the great Photius, insulting the Equal-to-Apostles Saint as an alleged head of heretics.
We conclude, pointing out, that we consider as imperative the convocation of the Pan-Orthodox, Holy and Great Synod with the participation of all Orthodox patriarchs, archbishops, metropolitans, bishops, abbots, archimandrites, priests, monks, and secular theologians, which will consider synodically the matter of Pan-Orthodox declaration of this Synod under the great Photius as the Eighth Holy and Ecumenical Synod. Moreover, it is particularly inacceptable on the one hand that we consider as protector and custodian of the Church and theology, the Saint, Equal-to-Apostles, great Photius, and on the other hand that we converse, associate ourselves with, and pray together, wholly, and regularly with the heretical Papal, religious, conventicle, and communion, which, for obvious selfish reasons, accepts as the Eighth Ecumenical Synod the robber synod of 869–870, which, as we have already said, insults the great Photius, as alleged head of heretics. It is finally needless, we believe, to mention that the above-mentioned matter doubtlessly bothers and puts on fire the demon of the pan-heretic, syncretistic, inter-Christian ecumenism and its fellow travelers.
By the prayers and supplications of our father among the Saints, Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, the Great, together with the Holy Glorious, and God-bearing Fathers, who constituted the Holy Eighth Ecumenical Synod, Lord the Father grants plentifully all earthly and heavenly riches.
+Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus
