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To the devout Clergy and People

of the Greek Orthodox Diocese

of North and South America:

From God we convey to you grace and peace; we ourselves offer for you our prayers and bestow on you our blessings. With the utmost gratification we have observed the manifestation of your undivided loyalty to the canon laws of our Orthodox Church. We offer to you our sincere congratulations, and we publicly confer upon you due praise for your blessed and godly firmness of will, by grace of which the ungodly attempt to establish an independent schismatic Church has failed.

By grace of your godly resolution we are relieved from all anxiety over this effort to place the Greek-Orthodox communities in America under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and are organized in a diocese of their 2own.

We confidently believe that the result will be the same of the latest attempt of those who wish to split the church and who now proclaim that every Greek Orthodox church in America should become independent, directed only by its rector and its board of trustees and not acknowledging any episcopal authority or control. This latest scheme is more ungodly than all the rest. According to the canon laws and the teaching of Orthodoxy, the Church, the clergy, the liturgy, and the Christian cannot exist without their bishop.

Therefore, my beloved, an independent Church not subject to a bishop is not a Church according to Orthodox teachings. A clergyman not subject to episcopal authority is not an Orthodox clergyman and is unfit to conduct services, and Christians who do not recognize the authority of a bishop cannot be and cannot call themsleves Orthodox Christians. We believe that this attempt also will fail.

It is our duty to call the attention of our blessed Orthodox Christians to the following point: Namely, that according to our belief a wedding is null when it is performed without episcopical permission. When no bishop can be reached, the clergyman applies to the Holy Synod under the jurisdiction of which he 3serves for permission to perform the marriage ceremony.

But with an establishment of the Greek Orthodox Diocese the episcopical permission is indispensable, and a marriage ceremony performed without such license is null and void. By the Greek authorities also and by the Ecumenical Patriarchate those marriages are considered void which are performed by clergymen who do not acknowledge the episcopal authority and do not receive episcopal permission.

On account of these serious consequences for husband, wife, we believe that it is our duty to keep you all well informed.

And now the second time we call upon those clergymen and those boards of trustees who heretofore have not adhered to our principles to acknowledge to us in writing that they recognize the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal authority. Those of the clergy who do not within twenty-one days obey this, our second command, will be regarded by us as strangers in our Episcopal Diocese, officiating without our permission, and we shall also accuse them before the authorities of those places from which they came hither and request these authorities to recall them from America and punish them according to the canons of the church.

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The Greek Orthodox Diocese of North and South America, authorized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, is a self-governing independent body. No bishop outside his jurisdiction may hold office of bishop within it.

May the grace of our Lord be with you all and remain with you.

Your Servant in Christ,

Alexandros.