Confession of Orthodox Faith
Based on Christ’s
One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
Based on Christ’s
One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
“Thus, a Christian is wholly devoted in Christ and thinks as Christ, and cares for Christ’s interests
and mediates and lives and moves in Christ, and breaths and carries Christ
and longs only for Christ; that is his only profit, according to St. Paul..”
(St. Simeon of Thessaloniki d. 1429)
I, Vassiliki Ryden, daughter of George and Maria Pendaki, in response to the recent prohibition imposed on me by His Eminence Kyrillos, Metropolitan of Rhodes , forbidding me to receive the Holy Eucharist and participate in the Sacrament of Baptism as godmother to a relative, and in order to dissipate any misunderstandings and restore the truth about me, I hereby make this confession of my Orthodox faith and my dedication to the Holy Church of Christ.
Before God and for His own Glory and before every human being, clergy or lay-person, I confess with humility and full knowledge of the truth, that I do not believe in anything different or contrary to the teachings of the Orthodox Church and Orthodox Doctrine as formulated, expressed and safeguarded in the Holy Bible, the Sacraments and by the Holy Fathers of the Church, the Holy Tradition and the 7 Ecumenical Synods. There is no other salvation than through faith in the Resurrected Lord, Our God, Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity, founder of the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church which has been guided by the Holy Spirit throughout the centuries. It was delivered over to the Holy Apostles and supported by the Holy Fathers and the Ecumenical Councils so that the Kingdom of Heaven would be established all over the earth and the will of God the Father would be accepted in the hearts of men. I honour and venerate our Holy Virgin Mary as well as all the Saints of the Church throughout the centuries. I confess that I am a legitimate and true child of the Greek Orthodox Church and my only concern is to remind people about the Word of God, especially in this “de-christianised” society, and to work tirelessly in His vineyard in order for the faith of the lukewarm to revive, and for the hearts of those indifferent to His Word to be inflamed by love for God.
With regard to the prohibition, imposed on me by His Eminence Kyrillos, it is based on the encyclical issued by Fr. Kyriakos Tsouros, secretary to the Synodical Committee for Heresies of the Greek Orthodox Church, which says that “I have fallen away from the Orthodox faith”.
This encyclical, I believe it is an article, not thoroughly studied, as I was never interviewed in person and I was never given the opportunity to defend myself and to explain any misunderstanding. Most importantly, no evidence of erroneous belief was ever found, nor is there any theological error in my writings, which add nothing new but are only a reminder of the Scriptures. Specifically, the 18 points which were published in the magazine, “Dialogos”, by Fr. Kyriakos Tsouros, (which he borrowed from the work of a Roman Catholic priest), were answered one by one, quoting either from the Holy Bible, or from the Fathers of the Church, or from the Holy Tradition, thus proving that the writings of “True Life In God” are in accordance with Orthodox teachings and doctrine.
The only point now, on which Fr. Kyriakos Tsouros bases his position that I am in “communion” with the Roman Catholics, is firstly, on the witnessing I give in relation to “True Life In God” all over the world and, secondly, on “inter-communion”. Here, I should clarify that we are dealing with two different matters. First is the matter of “Inter-Communion” during the last three pilgrimages of the worldwide friends of “True Life In God”. These pilgrimages are organised every two years and are usually around one week in duration. They are attended by faithful of all Christian denominations who get together in order to know each other better and to grow in love for each other by uniting their prayers and their common wish to fulfil Our Lord’s desire that we may all “..be one”. The matter of “Inter-Communion” that happened spontaneously and is embraced by all the clergy and lay-people present occurred by exception and by “oikonomia”. It is only a foretaste of the full communion of the Body of Christ that will finally lead us, in the fullness of time, to the Common Cup. It is not at all in violation of the Holy Canon Laws of our Church which I honour and respect.
In regards to the other matter, that is, my participation to the Holy Eucharist with the Roman Catholics, it happened in the Island of Rhodes, where I reside, and refers to a period of time during which, some Orthodox priests, through television and from the pulpit, have accused me repetitively of being a heretic, ex-communicated by the Church, and even a Satanist, and that I supposedly offered sacrifices to Satan. These calumnies had a negative influence on people and created a hostile atmosphere against me. As a result, only my presence in the Holy Mass would provoke discomfort and even the anger of some people. On certain occasions, I was in danger of being jeered. Then, Fr. Rossi, a Catholic priest, accepted me at his church and allowed me to receive Holy Communion. And in this case, since I was not welcomed in the Greek Orthodox Church, again by exception and by “oikonomia”, I received Holy Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church.
I hope that this Confession will be acceptable and will help to establish the truth. I remain at your disposal for any further information or clarification.
With due respect,
In Christ,
Vassiliki Ryden
The statements of faith - sealed by Orthodox Archbishops will follow in the next post.
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