Statement of the

Hungarian True Orthodox Mission of St. Thomas the Apostle

About Severing Communion with Russian True Orthodox Church,
under Archbishop Tikhon of Omsk and Siberia

We could no longer bear that the hierarchs of the RTOC hypocritically call other synods heretical
when the same problems were/are also present in their synod.
When we joined the RTOC and our priest was ordained by them in 2020, we were made to believe
that the Russian True Orthodox Church which was founded by Archbishop Lazar Zhurbenko had
a different, more strict, confession of Faith than that of ROCOR from whom they received their
apostolic succession, and that they entered into communion with the heretical Cyprianite “Synod
in Resistance” out of ignorance. But after we discovered an interview with Archbishop Lazar on
the internet where he stated that he considered the Moscow Patriarchate to be with Grace, and he
even wanted to join the Cyprianite synod after he broke away from ROCOR, obviously he knew
very well who they were.
Our reason for severing communion is not just based on these past events but also on the recent
behavior of their hierarchs. For example, Bishop Philaretos [Bassett] of Pallini and Western
Europe, who likes to appear as if he was a strict confessor of the Orthodox Faith, but in reality, he
doesn't mind breaking the Holy Canons when it serves his interest. One example of this is when
Fr. István was serving in Guildford, a father brought to him his children for Holy Communion but
when he asked him which Church they belonged to, he didn't want to reply; apparently, they
belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate. So, Fr. István told him that he wouldn’t give Communion
to his children if they are not True Orthodox. Their father responded “but why? Your Bishop
always does”. When Fr. István asked bishop Philaretos about this, he told him he didn't know who
they were... But how can he give Holy Communion to someone he doesn't know, especially in a
parish which doesn't have more than 10 people at a liturgy?
The second upsetting event happened in Romania at the consecration of a new monastery to some
hieromonks who left Slatioara. We were shocked by what happened there, as apart from the clergy
everyone was a new-calendarist and at the end of the consecration, they allowed these people to
enter the Holy of Holies to kiss the Holy Altar. And after that, we went to the house of a new-
calendarist woman, who gave accommodation to the visiting Bishop and clergy, they blessed her
house and allowed her to pray with them, and the bishop didn't say anything but participated.
Bishop Philaretos also likes to be very strict regarding who can be considered a saint of the
Orthodox Church, for example he doesn't accept St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain, who gave
us the Holy Rudder and the Philokalia which revived hesychasm in the Orthodox World; but again
at the same time, he doesn't mind breaking the Holy Canons and living in the same building with
a nun, for which we have several witnesses to prove our claim.
Also, him ordaining Fr. István as a priest in Greece was against the Holy Canons as he is a bishop
of the Russian True Orthodox Church which shouldn’t interfere in the territory of another local
church, in this case the True Orthodox Church of Greece.
And another thing we have been lied to about is that Bishop Philaretos Klimakitis was not
defrocked by the Chrysostomos synod because he didn't want to sign over his monastery to the
synod, but because of his explosive behavior that was always looking for arguments and even
shouting with people.
So, because of the above-mentioned reasons, after careful consideration, the Hungarian True
Orthodox Mission of St. Thomas the Apostle has decided to break eucharistic communion with
the Russian True Orthodox Church.

- Posted on Facebook on Dec 6, 2023. Typos corrected.