Just this week a letter from Bishop Gabriel has appeared suspending Abbot Joachim (Parr) of Mercy House for expressing opinions contrary to the traditional position of the ROCA. However, as the letter to the Serbian Patriach, signed by all the bishops shows, the real, secret intention of the bishops is unification with the Serbs, Moscow, and “Global Orthodoxy.” Metropolitan Vitaly, Archbishop Lazar, Bishops Varnava, Venyamin and Agathangel have all subsequently denounced certain decisions of the October Synod. In Western Europe and America more than twenty clergymen have walled themselves off from the Synod of Bishops of the ROCA. They commemorate only Metropolitan Vitaly, not acknowledging the last Synod meeting as legal.

Why? Since July, the Synod of Bishops has stated that "no bishop at this time is seeking Union with the Moscow Patriarchate.” Have the bishops, of whom Bishop Varnava was the first, (he would not sign the Sobor Epistle or serve with the other bishops) been reconciled, now that the Synod is saying the opposite of the Epistle to Patriarch Pavle? Not at all!, and many more priests will leave at the first opportunity. Either the Synod of Bishops is lying to Patriarch Pavle, or to us, but either way they are lying... Once you know someone is a shameless liar, you can never trust him again.

The Synod of Bishops is now issuing an Orthodox Confession of Faith, not because they believe it, but because they are losing bishops,priests, deacons, parishes and whole dioceses. They are desperately seeking damage control. But the bishops and clergy are not being reconciled because they know that it is a totally insincere pose, a temporary deception for damage control.

Bishop Varnava was there at the October Synod. He had his eyes and ears, and his wits about him, and he perceived exactly what was going on, so he refused to sign, refused to serve with them, walked out and has been denouncing the October Sobor ever since, and has awakened many bishops , clergy and people to what is really going on.

Neither Metropolitan Vitaly, Archbishop Lazar, Bishops Varnava, Venjamin or Agathangel believe the present protestations of loyalty to the traditional position of the Russian Synod is at all sincere, but a mere imposture to stem the flow of clergy and people from leaving. Those five bishops and their multitude of clergy have seen the dishonest behaviour, hidden Epistles, signatures obtained by trickery, suspension and expulsion of honest priests, and the actions that speak louder than words.

There can be no excuse for the shameful manner in which our venerable Metropolitan has been treated, his cell phone taken away, his stipend delayed, and cut in half, his Official Epistles to his flock, hidden so they could not be delivered, a false declaration that his June Epistle was not genuine, the most junior bishop shouting at the Venerable Primate “How dare you issue a letter without my seeing it!!!”...and most of all, the fact that none of the Metropolitan's Epistles were ever posted on Synod's Official Website.

The Metropolitan has been little more than an elderly prisoner at Synod, and he had to escape to Canada to meet with Bishop Varnava who helped him compose his June Epistle and Confession of Faith and for that Epistle the Bishops harassed and hounded him liked a hunted animal for a week, until finally, exhausted and seeing so poorly that he could not see what he was signing, they rung from him a letter of resignation after they wearied him sufficiently. Such a document would not stand up in any court of Justice.

The present Confession of Faith is the True Faith, and exactly why the Metropolitan was forced to sign a Letter of Resignation, neither the Metropolitan, nor Bishop Varnava nor the other bishops and the many clergy with them are reconciled at all, rather infuriated by this perfidious posture, professing the opposite of the Letter to Patriarch Pavle (which is what they privately believe), merely mouthing the words of Orthodoxy hoping to gull their customers, in the Religion Business.

I am forced to speak out, well aware on my own sins, for which I can never sufficiently atone. But perhaps this Denunciation of FRAUD by the Synod, will win me God's Mercy. I do not expect that it will win me any friends or followers... though I am not the only one who needs to repent...

I will believe the Synod of Bishops, when Vladikas Lazar, Varnava,Venyamin and Agathangel, and Fr. Konstantine Federoff and all the suspended clergy in Europe and America believe in the sincerity (rather than cynicism) of the Synod.

The Chief of Sinners, Hieromonk Elia
Sacred Penitentiary of the Burning Bush