Athonite monk explains how ecumenism leads to secularization of Church

Meeting of delegations of the RCC and the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Photo: open sources

Ecumenism was the subject of a detailed analysis at a theological seminar in Athens on May 5, 2026, where Athonite monk Paisios Karyotis presented a report on how the ecumenical movement is used to secularize church consciousness, UOJ in Greece reports.

The monk explained that the ideologists of ecumenism propose “dogmatic minimalism” – a departure from Orthodox dogmas for the sake of an artificial unity of confessions. According to him, this approach effectively nullifies the Creed’s confession of “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,” since it equates the sacraments of heretical communities with Orthodox ones.

Paisios Karyotis cited the example of a World Council of Churches (WCC) document adopted in Porto Alegre in 2006. It states that the catholicity of each Church is realized only through communion with other WCC participants, which, in the monk’s view, contradicts the decisions of the Council of Constantinople of 1672 and repeats the Protestant theory of the “undivided church.”

The monk stressed that the practical consequences of ecumenism are seen in attempts to legalize second marriages for clergy, introduce women’s ordination, and alter liturgical texts. He added that the concepts of “tolerance” and “pluralism” are used in ecumenist rhetoric to weaken the meaning of the Church’s sacred Tradition.

As the UOJ reported, a conference on the threat of ecumenism to the Church is taking place in Athens.

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