The letter below was sent to the Ecumenical Patriarch concerning the very troubling incident, covered in this post, in which Archbishop Sotirios of Canada denied communion to all the laity at a Divine Liturgy to punish nuns for not surrendering to multiple spoons. The problems between Archbishop Sotirios and the Greek Faithful in Canada have been ongoing, exacerbated by the COVID situation. Visit our page concerning Archbishop Sotirios for more information.
To the Ecumenical Patriachate:
I’m writing you this letter in great sadness, and in order to express to you my deep disappointment with Archbishop Sotirios of Toronto, Canada.
Since the time COVID entered into our lives, we the faithful servants of God have been deprived of the precious body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Archbishop Sotirios forcefully demanded that our priests serve Holy Communion with multiply spoons instead of the one holy common lavida for fear of disease And if they refused, then he cut off Holy Communion completely. Holy Communion is the center of the Divine Liturgy, without which there is no liturgy! By doing this, he is expressing doubt on the method being used here to serve / distribute Christ. The Archbishop is effectively saying that Christ our God can transmit diseases when using the same spoon.
This is blasphemous and crazy!!! For hundreds of years Orthodoxy has been giving and receiving communion with the one holy common lavida, including in times of severe sickness and disease.
No one ever got sick from it!
We, the faithful, have tried numerous times on many occasions to speak with the Archbishop on this matter concerning Holy Communion, and all we get in response from him is complete silence or avoidance . And usually shortly afterwards that he criticizes us and labels us as fanatics‘.
We are all tired of this. We have prayed and hoped that this will turn around but it seems that all of our efforts are in vain. What deeply saddens us the most is the fact that he is blaspheming the Holy Spirit and is causing others to sin as well.
We want our Holy Communion to be in line with Christ’s words that nothing will be removed or changed from that which has been handed down to us from the Holy Apostles. Sadly, we had to leave the Greek Churches to attend other ones that practice Orthodoxy in truth. We are running around like lost sheep.
[Editorial Note From OR: The other Orthodox Churches in Canada are using a single spoon with no issues. Archbishop Sotirios is doing this voluntarily and alone. This situation has hurt many in the laity, and we think it is import to call attention to that fact.]
This move has pained us a great deal but it is our only option because we truly love Christ with all of our heart and so we are obedient to Him alone and only Him – His commandments and His laws.
We pray and hope that Archbishop Sotirios will come to his senses soon and that he leaves everything as it was before. Bring back our Holy Communion with the one holy common lavida! We will be more than happy to return to our Greek Orthodox Churches if things get back to the way they were.
We pray and hope that you can help us. Please speak with Archbishop Sotirios about this very serious matter which has devastated all of us here in Toronto for so long. The time is now to stop this heresy and bring our Holy Communion back to normal again. Help him realize and understand that what he has done is wrong. We as true Orthodox Christians can never accept any heresy, blasphemy, or sin. Ever!
Thank you so much!
May God bless you.
With love in Christ…. Christina , a servant of God from Toronto Canada.
I fully support this letter, and God willing, it will convince the Patriarch about the Archbishop’s mismanagement of the Archdiocese in general, highlighted by his provocative stance on Holy Communion. To deny the faithful, including children, the body and blood of Jesus Christ is grounds for dismissal. AB Sotirios should be held accountable for essentially holding the sacrament of sacraments at ransom, and withholding the Holy Gifts as a means of exacting punishment on the laity for opposing the multiple spoons. Period.
May God enlighten our Holy Patriarch Bartholomew to heed our pleas and respond to us as the good shephard in the Holy Bible.
Good Luck!