Written correspondence with Mr. Ioannis Kotzampasis, author of the book “From Tibet to the Holy Mountain to Elder Paisios”

Response from Mr Ioannis Kotzampasis

VERIA, 29/06/2025

LETTER TO THE VERY REVEREND FATHER MATTHEW VULCANESCU
Parish Priest of the Orthodox Church
of Saint Edward the Martyr
and Saint Paraskevi of Rome
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland

Most Reverend Father Matthew, greetings in the Lord.

I am writing this letter in order to contribute to the effort to inform the faithful Orthodox Christians regarding the “baptism” of heretics.

In recent times, an opinion has been wrongly imposed, an opinion that represents the position of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, namely, that Papists should be received into the Eastern Orthodox Church only through Chrismation. The Patriarchate considers that Papists are baptised and that it is not necessary for them to be baptised again. But is it possible that Papists, who are heretics, possess priesthood? And since they do not have priesthood, is it possible for the “baptism” of heretics to be valid? Following the same logic, if we accept the “baptism” of heretics, we should also accept the other “sacraments”: Holy Communion, priesthood, etc.

The Sacrament through which a person is introduced into the Church and their path to salvation is opened is Holy Baptism, as confessed in Holy Scripture. In the Gospel according to Mark it is clearly stated: “And He said to them: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15–16).

It must be emphasised, however, that according to the words of Christ the Saviour, salvific Baptism is indissolubly linked to authentic Orthodox Faith, preached by the Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers of the Church.

Heretics contradict in many ways the Holy Spirit Himself, who inspired Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. Some claim that the “baptism” of the Papists is valid because it is performed “in the name of the Holy Trinity.” But in what kind of Holy Trinity do they believe? Papists, for example, believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son as well, and not only from the Father, as Christ Himself says: “But when the Comforter comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26).

Papists, as well as Protestants, do not believe in the work of God in the world through His uncreated energies, and on this basis they do not believe in the work of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Baptism either. Therefore, the “baptism” of heretics is false, just like their entire faith. They blaspheme the Holy Trinity, teach many falsehoods about God and about His relationship with man.

As the “baptism” of heretics is considered a pseudo-baptism and is not valid according to Orthodox tradition and teaching, the Holy Canons prescribe the defrocking of clergy who regard their “baptism” as valid and who recognise any “sacrament” performed by them (Apostolic Canons 46, 47 and 68; Second Ecumenical Council, Canon 7; Council in Trullo, Canon 84; Sixth Ecumenical Council, Canon 95; Council of Carthage 1; St Basil the Great, Canons 1, 2, 20 and 47; Council of Carthage, Canons 6 and 15).

Only those Orthodox Christians who have rejected the True Faith by going over to the heretics should be chrismated, if they repent and return from heresy to Orthodoxy. These were members of the Orthodox Church, baptised with Orthodox Baptism, but because they embraced heretical teachings, they have cut themselves off from the Body of the Church. They return to the Church through the confession of the sin of heresy and apostasy. Such Orthodox Christians who return from heresy are received by our Holy Church into Her bosom through the Sacrament of Chrismation, through which man is renewed by the Holy Spirit and through Holy Communion. In this way, they are fully reunited to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.

The practice of chrismating those who have cut themselves off and later return to Orthodoxy demonstrates how serious the sin of heresy is. For no other sin the renewal of the work of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Chrismation is considered necessary. Despite the evidence found in Holy Scripture and Tradition, some clergy today do not baptise heretics but only chrismate them. It is clear, however, that in this case there is no question of renewal through the Sacrament of Chrismation, because the Holy Spirit did not act through their “sacraments” and because they were never members of the Church.

Some invoke the Apostolic Canon that forbids the repetition of baptism (Apostolic Canon 47) to justify receiving Papists by chrismation without baptism, “forgetting” that the same Canon prescribes defrocking for the clergyman who does not baptise the one “baptised” by heretics. In other words, interpreting this canon, it forbids the repetition of the valid baptism of an Orthodox believer who confesses the Holy Trinity as it is proclaimed in the Orthodox Symbol of Faith.

Furthermore, in the Orthodox Church, Baptism is performed by triple immersion of the baptised person in the name of the Holy Trinity. As shown above, heretics do not hold an Orthodox belief in the Holy Trinity but a false one. Moreover, they do not even preserve the form of baptism, “baptising” by sprinkling rather than by triple immersion. The word baptise itself (in Greek) means to immerse, to submerge into water.

Some Local Churches baptise certain groups of heretics whom other local Churches receive only through Chrismation. Nevertheless, it must be made clear that the reception of heretics through Chrismation alone is absurd and that every heretic must be baptised. Some claim that this lack of uniformity in the Church shows that it is unclear who should be baptised and who should only be chrismated, and they use this as an argument for maintaining the current practice, where some baptise and others chrismate. However, even this false argument is overturned by Holy Tradition. The canons state that “when it is not clear whether a person has been baptised, he must be baptised, so that he may not be deprived of salvation” (Sixth Ecumenical Council, Canon 84). This is a logical choice based on the greatest precaution, which, although not explicitly defined by the canons, is nevertheless indicated by common sense and concern for the salvation of our neighbours.

Others argue that receiving into Orthodoxy those “baptised” by heretics through Chrismation alone has now become a widespread practice and should therefore be accepted. However, there were times when certain heresies became widespread within the Church, yet this was never an argument for replacing the True Faith with heresy. On the contrary, God appointed certain people with the struggle against heresy and they prevailed, because the Holy Spirit Himself supported the few while the many were led astray. Likewise, pagans are more numerous than Orthodox Christians; should we become pagans by yielding to the argument of the majority?

The Holy Trinity is not self-contradictory and has not left us with insufficient means of salvation that would need to be revised, so that people in different eras may have more or less of an “opportunity” to be saved. The salvation of man depends on the Holy Sacraments, and the Church’s teaching concerning the Sacraments is clear and will not be revised or adapted. Such attempts reveal the ignorance and unbelief of those who propose such “revisions” and “adaptations.”

With respect and esteem, 

Ioannis Kotzampasis

Author of the book “From Tibet to the Holy Mountain to Elder Paisios”

[email protected] 

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Letter to Mr Ioannis Kotzampasis

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

To Mr. Ioannis Kotzampasis
Postal Code 591 00
Veria
Greece

Liverpool, 11 June 2025

Dear Mr. Ioannis Kotzampasis,

We acknowledge your steadfast Orthodox conscience, your burning love for Christ and your tireless apostolic effort for the salvation of souls, which constitute a source of inspiration and an example for us all. For these reasons, we have taken the decision to address this letter to you, requesting your valuable opinion regarding a dogmatic problem of great importance with which the Church is confronted in our day.

More specifically, with deep sorrow and pain in our hearts, we witness the recognition of the so-called “baptism” of the heterodox in many Local Churches—an idea rooted in the 1950 Toronto Statement of the “World Council of Churches”, which was adopted by the so-called Council of Crete in 2016. This is contrary to the Holy Canons and the teachings of the Holy Fathers, and has led to the practice of receiving the heterodox without the One, Holy, and Unique Orthodox Baptism.

According to the teachings of the Holy Fathers, there is only one Baptism, the Baptism of the One and Unique Orthodox Church, as we confess in the Creed. Referring to the “baptism” of heretics, Apostolic Canons 46 and 47 state that it is a pollution and stipulates the defrocking of any clergyman who accepts it. In addition, Canon 1 of the Third Council of Carthage held during the time of Saint Cyprian (258) states that: “we declare that no one can be baptised outside of the [Orthodox] Church, there being but one baptism, and this being existent only in the [Orthodox] Church.” This canon gained ecumenical authority through Canon 2 of the Trullan (Quinisext) Council, which means that it is applicable for the entire Church.

In the case where baptised Orthodox Christians have fallen into heresy or become heretically-minded, they are received back into communion by Chrismation, after abandoning their heretical doctrines and confessing the Orthodox Faith.

Unfortunately, the practice of Chrismation has been misused by applying it also to heretics who have never been baptised into the Orthodox Church. This is based on the misinterpretation of certain canons of oikonomia (such as Canon 7 of the Second Ecumenical Council and Canon 95 of the Council in Trullo), but these canons cannot be used to make them dogmas, as Professor Father Georgios Metallinos of blessed memory, explains in his book “I Confess One Baptism.” By wrongly receiving through Chrismation only, a stumbling block is placed to the salvation of many souls and deprives them of the Grace of Holy Baptism. Moreover, Canon 80 of the Council of Carthage (419) states that if there are any doubts about someone’s Orthodox Baptism, such a person should nevertheless be baptised so that they are “not deprived of holiness.” How much more so should this be applied to those who are known to have never received Orthodox Baptism.

Many people who have been received by Chrismation continue to feel oppressed by demonic influences and remain unhealed (see also the testimony of Seraphim Larsen on YouTube: Journey to Life: Baptized into Christ in the Orthodox Church). For this reason, some have sought out priests or bishops who baptised them, such as well-known elders from Mount Athos (e.g. Elder Ephraim of Arizona, Elder Parthenios of Saint Paul’s, etc.), finding deliverance from the evil one. On account of this, in some jurisdictions, those who were baptised after being “received by Chrismation” are excommunicated and clergymen threatened with defrocking.

During the controversy in his time about the reception of Roman Catholics and Greek Catholics, Saint Paisius Velichkovsky clearly stated to baptise without fear and without hesitation all those who were wrongly received by Chrismation. He emphasised that Christ did not command His disciples to “chrismate them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, but to “baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Furthermore, the 1755 Synod of the Eastern Patriarchs in Constantinople, under the chairmanship of the Kollyvades Patriarch Cyril V of Constantinople and the spiritual guidance of Saint Auxentios the New Wonderworker, requires that all heretics be received by Holy Baptism. This is the last official ecumenical statement on the reception of heretics and is still valid to this day.

Metropolitan Gavriil of Lovech of the Church of Bulgaria, in his epistle to His Beatitude Neophyte, Patriarch of Bulgaria (which I read as a representative of His Eminence at the Theological and Scientific Conference “The Holy and Great Council: Great Preparation, No Expectation” on 23 March 2016, in Piraeus, Athens), warned about receiving the heterodox only by Chrismation as enshrined in the texts of the so-called Council of Crete (2016): “Your Beatitude, if these texts are not corrected, we will be legalizing a heretical teaching of the reception of heretics and schismatics without them truly becoming members of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” Also, in his analysis of the texts of the so-called Council of Crete, Professor Dimitrios Tselengidis, Emeritus Professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki stated that to accept that there is baptism outside the Orthodox Church is a baptismal heresy.

According to the testimony of Prof. Dimitrios Tselengidis given to me, Elder Ephraim of Arizona had a divine revelation about a priest who came to concelebrate with him who was not baptised into the Orthodox Church. The Elder saw in the Spirit that the priest was deprived of the robe of Baptism and therefore the Elder told him that he cannot serve as a priest and needs to be baptised, which the priest obeyed and was later baptised.

As Holy Baptism is a dogma of the Church and it concerns the entirety of the Orthodox Church, we humbly ask that if you are willing, to express your stance regarding the recognition of “baptism” outside the Orthodox Church, the reception of heterodox through Chrismation only as well as the persecution of those who received or performed Orthodox Baptism after “reception by Chrismation” into the Orthodox Church.

With all my love in Christ,

Protopresbyter Matthew (Ion-Valentin) Vulcănescu

Parish of Saint Edward the Martyr and Saint Paraskevi of Rome
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland