The open letter sent by the Parish of Saint Edward the Martyr and Saint Paraskevi of Rome, on the 6th of December 2023, to Patriarch John X and to the Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church has remained unanswered.

Since the answers to the questions raised in the open letter are intended to clarify the teaching of the Faith of the Patriarchate of Antioch, the parish decided to resend the letter on 21 August 2024, but again no response has been received.

Furthermore, Mr. Michael Goh, a member of the parish, with the blessing of Father Matei Vulcănescu, resent the letter on 29 August 2024, addressed personally to each member of the Synod, and he has neither received any response.

Below, you can read the follow-ups to the open letter, addressed to Patriarch John X and to the members of the Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF SAINT EDWARD THE MARTYRAND SAINT PARASKEVI OF ROME
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland

21 Aug 2024

Your Beatitude John X, the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East,
And Your Eminences the Metropolitans of the Holy Synod,

With reference to our open letter that was sent to Your Beatitude and to the Holy Synod, dated 6 December 2023, signed by our parish of Saint Edward the Martyr and Saint Paraskevi of Rome in Liverpool, my humbleness would like to bring to Your attention that we are still awaiting Your response to the important theological matters raised in the open letter.

As the least and smallest in our big Antiochian family, our parish and my humbleness neither have pretensions that we are “rescuers” of the Church, nor do we have an exalted image about ourselves but our Orthodox conscience compels us to raise these questions for the salvation of our souls.

We have confirmation from the postal courier that You received the letter on 13 December 2023. However, we have not yet received a response from Your Beatitude. With all humility and eagerness, we await the response of Your Beatitude.

My humbleness has enclosed copies of our open letter for Your convenience.

With all my love in Christ,

Protopresbyter Matthew (Ion-Valentin) Vulcanescu

Parish of Saint Edward the Martyr and Saint Paraskevi of Rome

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland

Enclosure: Open Letter to Patriarch John X and the Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch, dated 6 December 2023

Link to the Open Letter from the 6th of December 2023

His Beatitude Patriarch John X
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
Patriarchal Residence Balamand
Koura
Lebanon

29 August 2024

Your Beatitude John X, the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East,

My name is Michael Goh and I am one of the members of the Parish of Saint Edward the Martyr and Saint Paraskevi of Rome in Liverpool, UK, of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland. I work as a civil engineering consultant and am involved in major infrastructure projects such as the design of hydropower dams, airports and railways. I am very grateful to be baptised into the Orthodox Church in this Antiochian parish after a long journey to find the One and Unique Body of Christ.

With all my love in Christ and in all obedience, I humbly address this letter to Your Beatitude. With all pain of heart, my Orthodox conscience compels me to take the initiative, with the blessing of my spiritual father, to write directly to Your Beatitude humbly requesting Your response to questions which are crucial for the salvation of our souls.

These questions were raised in an open letter written by our parish with its shepherd, Protopresbyter Matthew Vulcanescu, to Your Beatitude Patriarch John X and to the Holy Synod on 6 December 2023. I was one of the co-signatories of the letter. To date, there still has been no response from Your Beatitude nor from the Holy Synod. In case Your Beatitude has not received the original letter, please kindly see enclosed a copy of the letter for Your convenience.

A letter with similar questions was also sent on 12 December 2023 to our Metropolitan, His Eminence Silouan, whom I deeply love and respect as one of the bishops of our Antiochian family. However, His Eminence has not responded to the questions raised in the letter addressed to Him.

In light of this, with all humility and eagerness, I look forward to the response and guidance of Your Beatitude as these questions and their answers are important for our salvation.
In all obedience and with all my love in Christ,

Michael (Wei Jin) Goh
Civil and Environmental Engineer
Chartered Geographer and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society

Enclosure: Open Letter to Patriarch John X and the Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch, dated 6 December 2023

Link to the Open Letter from the 6th of December 2023