Banned cleric of the Church of Greece "ordained bishop" by Filaret

Chrysostomos Kallis (on the right, in white vestments). Photo: cerkva.info

On December 15, 2021, the head of the UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko ordained Archimandrite Chrysostomos Kallis, the banned cleric of the Church of Greece, as a “bishop”, according to the website of the Filaret structure.

In the main temple of the Kyiv Patriarchate (St. Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv), the former cleric of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archimandrite Chrysostomos Kallis, was ordained “bishop” of Mariupol and Dervenochoria of the UOC-KP.

Two days before the “consecration”, the website of the Kyiv Patriarchate reported that the “synod” of this structure decided to receive “Metropolitan Chrysostomos (Kallis) with parishes and clergy belonging to his diocese of the Greek Church of the Old Calendarists.”

It should be noted that Demetrios (the secular name of Chrysostomos) Kallis was appointed reader in 1997 by the then Bishop of Thebes and Levadia, and currently Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens.

He served in the office of Bishop Ieronymos of Thebes (the current primate of the GOC) and then accompanied the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece on various trips as an assistant. In 2013 he became a priest and served in the Metropolis of Chalcis and the Metropolis of Thebes.

In 2020, he was accused of canonical crimes, which he refused to admit them.

On July 13, 2020, in a letter to the Bishop of Thebes, Archimandrite Chrysostomos announced his resignation from the post of rector of the parish where he served, at the same time requesting to be dismissed from the Metropolis of Thebes. On July 17, 2020, he submitted a second application, which was not satisfied. The reason is Archimandrite Chrysostom's failure to appear at the diocesan court, where his case was heard.

Having received no answer, he arbitrarily ceased his ministry and left the Greek Orthodox Church, simultaneously accusing its leadership of the heresy of "Western humanism".

He joined the "Greek True Orthodox Church" of the Old Calendarists and on March 26, 2021, by "canonical vote" was elected the first "bishop" of our Dervenochoria Metropolis. Facts to testify to his "episcopal consecration" among the Old Calendarists could not be found.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Filaret "ordained" a "bishop" of Philadelphia.

Read also