The name Kiousites signifies the recent schism from the Florinite Synod formed by Archbishop Chrysostomos II Kiousis. As Metropolitan of Thessalonika, Kiousis had separated himself from his brother hierarchs in the late 1970s by withdrawing himself from the Holy Synod under Archbishop Auxentios. When a replacement was ordained by the Holy Synod to fill the vacant Metropolitinate of Thessalonika, Kiousis continued to maintain a rivalry. Although he later rejoined the Florinite Synod to even become its president after the deposition of Auxentios (see HOCNA) he persisted even as the Archbishop in his enmity towards his old Florinite rivals and opponents. He broke the unity of the Synod into two factions, and with his own supporters set up with them a secret parallel Synod and incorporated it under the same name, in order to funnel Church funds into this shadow corporation. In this way, he attempted to appropriate all church and monastery property to himself and to run the Church in a totalitarian way. When the shadow corporation was discovered, the Synod split and Kiousis was the cause of this schism.
His faction began to stray from the Faith due to what occurred in 1998, when his “synod” endorsed and consecrated a bishop Archimandrite Paul of Astoria, N.Y. He was newly joined to the Kiousis synod from the Cyprianites (see Cyprianites). Metropolitan Paul of Astoria, now so-called ‘Metropolitan of North and South America’, held and still holds to this day, heretical beliefs and practices of giving communion to Ecumenists (see Ecumenist Pseudo-Orthodox). Consequently, the Kiousite schism also bears the taint of having endorsed Cyprianism and falling under the 1983 anathema condeming the heresy ecumenism.
After Kiousis acomplished the ordination of Paul of Astoria, he proceeded to ordain five other young bishops known as the “baby bishops”, because, they were all cononically under age; two of them were his nephews and one of these two was even in his twenties! He did this not only to fill the ranks of the bishops who were lost due to his schism but also to maintain complete control of the synod by installing those who would always vote to support him.
Then by the decree of his “synod”, he ordered that all the properties of all the churches and monasteries be legally signed over to his synod. This caused many defections, for the true character of the “archbishop” had finally been revealed. To the present day, this synod of archbishop Kiousis has the reputation of being Cyprianite in their ecclesiology by the administration of the Holy Mysteries to the ecumenist new calendrist of both Greece and the United States. Therefore, Kiousites find a place on this site with schismatics and heretics.
The Unfortunate Fall of The Athonite Monastery Of Esphigmenon
Archbishop Gregory P.O. Box 3177 Buena Vista, CO 81211-3177 USA Email: ArchbishopGregory@starband.net
Copyright 2005.
