Fr. Nikolaos Savvopoulos: A synodal coup occurred at the Council
Greek priest Nikolaos Savvopoulos said that the recognition of the OCU could take place at the Council of Bishops of the Greek Church.
Protopresbyter Nikolaos Savvopoulos, a former representative of the Greek Orthodox Church in the European Union, said that a synodal overturn took place at the Council of Bishops on October 12, 2019. Father Nikolaos told in his interview to the Greek edition Romfea about the developments during the Council.
According to him, there was no vote at the Council: its organizers simply announced the decision "to recognize pseudo-autocephaly without a vote, which was absolutely necessary to have on such a serious issue."
Moreover, Father Nikolaos claims that “they falsely announced they had allegedly decided to recognize ‘autocephaly’” for “they were all ready to send Epiphany a congratulatory letter at rapid-fire pace, and a thankful telegram from the Patriarch of Constantinople had already arrived regarding the ‘historical decision’.”
The priest believes that “even the very last Greek who had been keeping track of the Ukrainian issue understood that this was a synodal overturn. There is no doubt that the Church will pay dearly for this great ‘historical decision’ with the destruction of its unity.”
According to Father Nikolai, “they (a group of hierarchs, supporters of the OCU – Ed.) are crying out in all tones they have decided on the privilege of the Patriarch to grant autocephaly. They also say that the Permanent Holy Synod supposedly gave the Archbishop the right to independently resolve such important ecclesiastic issues. In turn, the Archbishop very sensibly responded that he could not assume such responsibility. But they insist on their own point not taking into account the Statute and going on the same tune at the Council. This situation led to the fact that the Primate admitted yesterday he did not know whether he would go to Thessaloniki, and that they had seriously involved him in all this matter.”
Father Nikolaos claims that “some hierarchs fell into the trap because they were persuaded. And when this group (supporters of the OCU – Ed.) discovered that the majority were reluctant to make a decision and when they realized there was only a small minority of the Council of Bishops, they cancelled any vote and made all these decisions public. Just like that.”
Therefore, says the priest, “We believe that at the Council of Bishops a small group of hierarchs carried out a synodal coup at the expense of the Archbishop.”
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Protopresbyter Nikolaos Savvopoulos, the Council of Bishops of the Greek Church tried to trap the hierarchs, preventing them from studying the conclusions of the synodal committees.
