Greek Old Calendarists

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Greek Old Calendarists
Παλαιοημερολογίτες

Timeline of the main Greek Old Calendarist and True Orthodox Churches
Total population
Estimated 2-3 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Greece	500-800,000[2]
USA	at least 2,000[3]
Religions
Christianity (Eastern Orthodoxy)
Languages
Greek

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Greek Old Calendarists (Greek: Έλληνες Ορθόδοξοι Παλαιοημερολογίτες, romanized: Éllines Orthódoxoi Paleoimerologites), also known as "Genuine Orthodox Christians" (GOC; Γνήσιοι Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί), are groups of Old Calendarist Eastern Orthodox Christians who separated from mainstream Eastern Orthodoxy mainly because they remained committed to the traditional Eastern Orthodox calendar; they are not in communion with any mainstream Eastern Orthodox churches.^[4]

The split began with a disagreement over the abandonment of the traditional church calendar (also called the Julian calendar) in preference to the adoption of the Revised Julian calendar. This calendar is similar to the Gregorian calendar but will pull ahead by one day in the year 2800.

History[]

1923 Congress[]

Until 1923 the Eastern Orthodox Church universally used the Julian calendar, whereas the Roman Catholic Church, under Pope Gregory XIII, conducted a calendar reform and adopted the mediaeval Gregorian calendar in 1582. The difference between the two calendars is 13 days between 1900 and 2100.^[5]

For civil and governmental uses, the Julian calendar remained the official calendar in most Eastern Orthodox nations until the early 20th century. The Gregorian calendar was adopted for civil uses by Bulgaria in 1916, the Ottoman Empire in 1917, Soviet Russia in 1918 and Romania and Yugoslavia in 1919. Greece officially adopted the Gregorian calendar in February/March 1923.

In May 1923, the  [fr], called by Patriarch Meletius IV of Constantinople, adopted this calendar under the name of Revised Julian calendar, incorporating a modification of Serbian astronomer Milutin Milanković which ensured it would not diverge from the Gregorian for a further 800 years. This replaced the tabular date of Easter of the Julian calendar with an astronomical date of Easter. Not all Eastern Orthodox churches were represented at the congress or adopted its decisions, and the Russian Orthodox Church and other Eastern Orthodox churches, governing a majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians, have continued to use the Julian calendar liturgically to this day. In 1924, the Synod of Bishops of the Church of Greece voted to accept the Revised Julian calendar for fixed feasts, maintaining the traditional Julian calendar Paschalion for calculating the date of Easter and all of the moveable feasts dependent on it.

First dissident church[]

Apparition of the Holy Cross over the Greek Old Calendarist Monastery of St. John the Theologian in Hymettus, in 1925,^[6] as drawn in a newspaper at the time.

The calendar change was not without controversy. Dissent arose from among both clergy and laity, encouraged by countless priests and monks from all over Greece and Mount Athos who traveled throughout Greece preaching in churches and serving as confessors, or spiritual guides, to thousands of Christians. On Mount Athos, the Julian calendar is still used to this day.

In 1935, three bishops from the Church of Greece returned their dioceses to the Julian calendar, consecrated (ordained) four like-minded clergy to episcopal dignity, created the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians (Greek: Εκκλησία των Γνησίων Ορθοδόξων Χριστιανών), and declared that the official Orthodox Church of Greece had fallen into schism. By 1937, the movement split within itself over the question of whether or not Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions that had adopted the Revised Julian calendar were still Eastern Orthodox.

The Greek Old Calendarists went their own way without further official recognition from the broader Orthodox communion until 1960, when certain bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) consecrated new bishops for one of the two major Old Calendarist jurisdictions. In 1971 other ROCOR bishops "re-consecrated" some of the other major jurisdiction's bishops to give them (arguably) canonical apostolic succession, which they had previously claimed through consecration by a single bishop (Matthew), although three bishops are required by the Eastern Orthodox Church for an episcopal consecration. However, excepting for groups split-off from ROCOR, no official inter-communion exists between the Greek Old Calendarists and ROCOR at the present day, due to the reunification of ROCOR and the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).

Today[]

In the present day, there are six major Old Calendarist divisions present in Greece, three Florinite and three Matthewite, all of which have parishes in many other countries.

Among the Florinites, the largest is the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece (GOC) under Archbishop Kallinikos (Sarantopoulos). Another is the Holy Metropolitan Synod of Genuine Orthodox Christians of the Patristic Calendar (GOC-Avlona) under Metropolitan Angelos (Anastasiou). The third Florinite synod is the Makarian (or Lamian) Synod under Metropolitan Makarios (Kavakides).

Among the Matthewites are the synod of Archbishop Nicholas of Athens, the Gregorian synod, and the synod of Metropolitan Kirykos.

Doctrine[]

Greek Old Calendarists adhere to traditional Greek Orthodox practices. While they are called (and might informally call themselves) "Old Calendarist," many maintain that they have not separated over a mere calendar. Instead, the calendar is a symptom of what has been called "the pan-heresy of ecumenism" (that is, the branch theory) by Old Calendarists and True Orthodox. Old Calendarist Orthodox Christians hold that the participation of many local Eastern Orthodox Churches in the modern ecumenistic movement is theologically problematic. Some have argued that even the calendar is a matter of dogma.

The split began with a disagreement over the abandonment of the traditional church calendar (also called the Julian calendar) in preference to the adoption of the Revised Julian calendar.^[7]

See also[]

• Orthodox Church of Greece (Holy Synod in Resistance)
• Grace in Christianity

References[]

Sources[]

Further readings[]

• Speake, Graham (2021-01-31). "Old Calendarists". Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition. Routledge. pp. 1169–70. ISBN 978-1-135-94206-9.