Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church in America
His Eminence, Archbishop Gregory (George)
of Denver and
Colorado
Archbishop Gregory was born in 1944 and baptized with the name Robert George
George into the Antiochian Orthodox Church in America. His family immigrated to
America from Lebanon because of the Moslem massacres of Christians in that
country at the turn of the century. He was educated in Boston, going through
grade school, technical High School, and attended three years at Northeastern
University, studying electrical engineering.
He remained in the Antiochian Church until 1965. When the “Lifting of the
Anathema” was proclaimed that year by Patriarch Athenagoras, he then joined the
Russian Church Abroad under Metropolitans Anastassy and Saint Philaret. He was
twenty-one years old at that time when he left the University and entered a
monastery of the Russian Church Abroad in Boston, where he remained for thirteen
years.
Seeking a more quiet life, he left the monastery in 1978 to start a small
skete away from the world. He was blessed to do this by the clairvoyant Elder
Archbishop Andrew (Rymarenko) of Novo-Diyevo, New York. He was also given a
written release by Bishop Constantine (Jesenski), who was at that time Bishop of
Boston. He stayed for three months at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New
York, and then another three months with Archbishop Vitaly in his monastery of
Saint Seraphim of Sarov in Montreal, Canada. After that he finally settled in
Colorado in 1979.
By the mercy of God, he was given 10 acres of mountain property to build a
small monastery. Archbishop Seraphim (Ivanov) of Chicago blessed him to start a
monastery in his diocese, and to be ordained a priest.
He was ordained a deacon on the Feast of Holy Protection in 1979, and then a
priest on the Sunday of All Saints of Russia in 1980 by Bishop Alypy
(Gamanovich). He remained in the Russian Church Abroad for thirty-one years.
He left the Russian Church Abroad, because of the ecclesiastical union and
communion with the deposed Greek Metropolitan Cyprian of Fili. He remained five
years with the Genuine Greek Old Calendar Church. In 1996 he was made
Archimandrite in Athens on the Feast of the Holy Protection of the Virgin Mary.
He petitioned and was received back into the Russian Orthodox Church under
Metropolitan Valentine. He was ordained a bishop on December 2, 2001, in Suzdal
by Metropolitan Valentine, Archbishop Theodore, and Catacomb Bishop Anthony. He
was raised to Archbishop on Pentecost in 2004 by Metropolitan Valentine per the
desires of the Holy Synod of the ROAC.
The Episcopal
Acceptance Speech of Archbishop Gregory (George)
Contact His Eminence, Archbishop Gregory of Denver and Colorado
His Eminence, Archbishop Ambrose (Moran-Dolgorouky)
of New York City and New York State
To the Clergy and the Faithful of the Genuine Orthodox Church
in North America, South America, Europe and Africa:
Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Reverend and dear Fathers, and Faithful;
It is with great joy that I write to you from the grace filled Paradise of Dormition Skete into which I have been accepted and numbered among the struggling monastic fathers. My greatest joy is that I have been accepted as a brother in the episcopate by His Eminence, Archbishop Gregory. You should know that this occurred because of the prayers of St. John Maximovitch who tonsured me a Rassophore monk and made provision for me to receive the Great Schema on Mt. Athos. He foretold that I would end my days in a grace filled monastery. This too has come to pass. I have been in conversation with the monastery brethren for over three years and through their encouragement I have been brought into communion with true confessing Orthodox Christians. Pray for me dear Fathers that I may live up to the expectations of my monastic Father, St. John Maximovitch and fulfill God’s Will for me in defending the Genuine Holy Orthodox Faith.
I come to you in humility having been tonsured into monasticism over forty years ago and having served in the episcopate for over thirty years. I have served as Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Synodal Jurisdiction and as Archbishop Exarch of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and later as Epitropos of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Please keep in mind that in actuality I maintained in this country an Old-Calendar jurisdiction of the elderly clergy who served faithfully and not in communion with papal calendarists or with ecumenist heretics. Since, however, while in actuality remaining to ourselves, I did have recognition of the Patricarchates. Therefore, having sought, and by God’s Grace, found a confessing Hierarch in the person of His Eminence, Archbishop Gregory, I was received into communion, in humility, following profession of Faith, repentance for any association, knowing or unintentionally, with ecumenists. Having received the anointing with Holy Chrism and the laying on of hands of Archbishop Gregory, with the approval of Archbishop Makarios of Athens and all Greece, I ask for your prayers that I may remain a faithful monk in this grace filled monastery for the rest of my days and that I may serve all of you as a confessing hierarch no matter what the cost with God’s Assistance and your prayers. I am unworthy to have such a faithful brother hierarch and such faithful Orthodox Christians. Archbishop Gregory and I are one in mind and heart. I have never been happier or more peaceful than I am now in your midst. I thank you all for your prayers and best wishes. I look forward to hearing from you and to visiting with you in the future, God willing. I pray that we all may remain faithful to Holy Orthodoxy.
I, the least of all monastics, am so unworthy to be numbered among you and to take up residence in this holy grace filled monastery. As Jesus tells us, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” But as St. Paul tells us, “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” Pray for me Fathers that this unworthy hierarch in communion with all of you will be able to say with St. Paul, “I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.”
With Archpastoral blessings, I remain,
+Archbishop Ambrose
of New York City and New York State
His Eminence, Bishop John (Egan)
of Colorado Springs
Bishop John was born in 1971 in Concord, New Hampshire. A rudimentary introduction to the teachings of the New Testament finally found their fulfillment in his life when his family discovered the Orthodox Church when Bishop John was fifteen years of age. After two years of catechetical instruction in the ecumenical “Orthodox Church of America”, the entire family of nine persons realized that the true teachings of Orthodoxy lay elsewhere, which they found at that time in the Russian Church Abroad.
Very early on in his exposure to Orthodoxy, Bishop John took an interest in the monastic way of life. When his family was received into the Russian Church Abroad, the parish priest provided the young man with literature about the monastic life, and even gave him an opportunity to visit a monastery of the Russian Church Abroad. After a second visit to this skete, Bishop John was moved by divine mercy to promise his life to the Virgin Mary through the monastic path.
After graduating from William J. Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, Bishop John received the blessing of his spiritual father, now Archbishop Gregory, to attend Holy Trinity Seminary, Jordanville, New York. Bishop John completed one and a half years of study at the Seminary, participating actively in the monastery’s daily life in every aspect. However, when the time came to fulfill his promise of monasticism, he choose to settle at Dormition Skete in Colorado, with the blessing of the then Archbishop Laurus.
Bishop John fulfilled the canonical requirement of maintaining monastic obedience for three years at Dormition Skete before being tonsured into the Great Schema on January 8th, 1995, the Synaxis of the Theotokos, at age 24. Four years later he was ordained to the diaconate by kyr Metropolitan Kallinikos of Thavmakou and Lamia, President of the Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece. Two years later in 2001, on the Feast of the Protection of the Virgin Mary, he was ordained to the holy priesthood by Metropolitan Valentine, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church. At that time he was also nominated as a candidate for the episcopacy.
Bishop John has spent fifteen years at Dormition Skete and is an accomplished iconographer.
In 2008, he was again nominated to the episcopacy and elected and consecrated as Vicar Bishop to Archbishop Gregory for the city of Colorado Springs.
The Episcopal Acceptance Speech of Bishop John of Colorado Springs
With Whom is the Genuine Orthodox Church of America in Communion?
The Genuine Orthodox Church of America, (GOCA) is the only legitimate continuation of the Russian Church Abroad, (ROCOR). The legacy of the ROCOR has always been the sound confession of Faith in the face of the onslaught of the heresy of Ecumenism. ROCOR was in communion with all Orthodox Churches up until the moment of betrayal, which put the rest of World Orthodoxy in the pit destruction, by the espousing of Ecumenism. This all destructive heresy, this invention of the devil, seeks to destroy the Church of Christ. It found its foothold in the Church through bishops who were portraying themselves as Orthodox hierarchs outwardly, but inwardly were secret members of Masonic Lodges. Masonry is the father of Ecumenism, for Masonry accepts all religions and all gods into its membership; Ecumenism accepts the idea that all religions and all gods lead to salvation. The uniqueness of Orthodoxy is denied by this heresy, and therefore it is called the heresy of all heresies, because it seeks to unite all heresies into one, and thereby pollute the Church of Christ with all manner of false beliefs.
In 1965, the Masonic patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras, in agreement with all the Orthodox Patriarchates, participated in the mutual lifting of anathema with the pope of Rome. On December 7th of that year, the Patriarch lifted the anathema against the Latins, and the Pope lifted the anathema against the Orthodox. This was the first open, bearheaded proclamation which was signed, sealed and disseminated, that the Orthodox Church was now, for the first time in its history, going to embark upon a new road of "love", which is called Ecumenism. The espousal of the heresy of Ecumenism was the infamous moment of betrayal not only by all Orthodox bishops who professed it, but also by those who maintained communion with the Ecumenists.
In 1965, the ROCOR broke all communion with Ecumenists and eventually acknowledged that they were only in communion with the Catacomb Church in Russia and the Greek Old Calendarists, who received their episcopacy from the Russian Church Abroad. In 1983, the ROCOR under Saint Metropolitan Philaret issued its anathema against Ecumenism. In 1994 the ROCOR under the lamentable Metropolitan Vitaly committed a catastrophic error by espousing the heretical theology of, and going into communion with, the Ecumenist heretic Cyprian of Fili (Greece) and his Synod of Resistors. This renegade group was deposed by the Greek Old Calendarists precisely for their espousal of ecumenical ideas which put them under the 1983 ROCOR Anathema against Ecumenism. When ROCOR committed this act of betrayal, the Greek Old Calendar Church broke communion with ROCOR. The bishops in Russia who were ordained by the ROCOR also at this time broke communion with ROCOR. Also, many other priests and laypeople around the world broke communion with ROCOR, among whom was Archbishop Gregory (then Fr. Gregory) of Dormition Skete and those with him.
Archbishop Gregory was consecrated a bishop in Russia by those bishops who had separated from the ROCOR,some of which were from the Catacomb Church. After his consecration, he visited Greece and was received as a true hierarch and participated in the services of the Greek Old Calendar Church, presently the Church under Archbishop Makarios. Archbishop Gregory has always maintained communion with this Church, because it is the only true confessing and canonical Church in Greece.
Clarification of the recent news of the GOC of America and the Reception of Archbishop Ambrose
The GOC of America, as we said above, recognizes the GOC of Greece under
Archbishop Makarios and his Synod, and we have the deepest respect and love
for them. However, since they have no official representation on the
internet, and their exposure there is only through the unofficial
"Omologitis" website, run by a team of young laymen, which has printed many
inaccurate statements about Archbishop Gregory, a clarification is
necessary.
1. In its news section, this website has repeatedly misrepresented Archbishop
Gregory, stating that he traveled to Greece and petitioned the Synod to be
received as part of their Church. This is inaccurate. Archbishop Gregory
never petitioned to be received as a bishop of the Greek Church.
2. Since Archbishop Gregory was consecrated a bishop, he traveled to Greece
on many occasions. He was welcomed as a true bishop by the GOC and
concelebrated with their hierarchs in the divine services, received holy
communion and even given a large vial of holy chrism from one of their
bishops, which was consecrated in 2004 (it is this chrism, along with
chrism from the Russian Church Abroad from before Met. Philaret, that
Archbishop Gregory distributed to the clergy of the Congo and Uganda).
Archbishop Gregory has always maintained communion with the GOC of Greece
since the 1960's, when the Russian Church Abroad gave them their hierarchy.
When that Greek Church broke communion with the Russian Church Abroad in
1994 because of the latter's Cyprianite union, it broke communion only with
those who were in communion and accepted the heretic Cyprian of Fili. Since
Archbishop Gregory, (then Fr. Gregory) himself broke communion with the
Russian Church Abroad and did not accept this union with heresy, therefore
logically, the GOC did not consider him as separated from the Church. Thus
according to logical Church procedure, when Fr. Gregory joined the GOC as a
priest, he was received as part of their Church without any formal reception
rite, because they were never separated with regard to the Faith.
Our understanding is that the same
existence of communion has lasted until now, because the GOC of Greece and
the GOC of America have no canonical reason to be separated from each other.
One is the continuation of the Greek Church and the
other is the continuation of the Russian Church, and their Faith has
never changed. Thus we maintain the unity of the Faith and sin not against
our Savior's commandment.
Unfortunately in the past, the GOC of Greece ordained certain bishops (who
have now fallen away from the Church) Niphon of Piraeos and his disciple
Arethas of Crete, who have caused much dissension within the Synod with
regard to Archbishop Gregory. Niphon added the United States and Canada as
his 3rd and 4th dioceses to give him more territory than the Byzantine
Empire which he then gave to be administered by one of his ill priestmonks!
The confusion which he has caused, especially in this country within the
lower clergy and lay people still exists.
3. The Agreement of the Reception of Archbishop Ambrose was only between
Archbishop Gregory and Archbishop Makarios. Archbishop Gregory did not ask
for a synodal decision, deeming it unnecessary, because no one was asking to
be received into the Synod of the GOC of Greece. According to the tradition
of the Church, two bishops have the authority to receive another bishop in
his rank. Needless to say, all the pertinent documents concerning Archbishop
Ambrose were mailed/faxed and received by Archbishop Makarios before any decision
was made. His consent via the telephone with a translator, witnesses and
the recording itself are proof enough to silence any detractors. Archbishop
Gregory and Archbishop Makarios are not responsible in any way to the
adverse reaction of any laypeople who wish to criticize the good order of
the Church.
Although we have the omologitis web site as a recommended link on our websites,
yet it is solely because this is the only internet exposure of the GOC of Greece.
In Buena Vista, Dec. 15/28 2007
Press Office of the Chancellery of the GOC of America
