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    (Continue from  here ) From the left: Archbishop Leonty of Chile, Bishop Peter of Astoria and Bishop Seraphim of Venezuela (November 29, 1962) New ordinations, consolidation of the Greek Orthodox in America, and new slanders The fact that the majority of the Russian bishops sided with Archbishop Leonty and the Old Calendarists [1] was not the only reason the confessor Hierarch had the courage to proceed with new ordinations of the Genuine Orthodox. He was absolutely convinced that true Orthodoxy needed to be strengthened throughout the world and that centers of resistance had to be created in view of the impending general apostasy. Thus on Wednesday, November 29, 1962 (Julian calendar), the day commemorating the Holy Martyrs Paramon and Philoumenos, Archbishop Leonty, along with Bishop Seraphim of Caracas and Venezuela, ordained Archimandrite Petros Astyfides as the Bishop of the Greek Old Calendarists in the U.S., with the title "of Astoria." The ordination was initi...

  (Continue from  here ) The Synod of ROCOR of 1962. Archbishop Leonty: second from the left, seated (marked with the cross above) . Photo from the official magazine of the True Orthodox of Greece "The Voice of Orthodoxy" (issue 407 / December 3, 1962)  The Examination of the Consecrations of Archbishop Leonty at the Synod of 1962 In August 1962, the First Hierarch of ROCOR, Metropolitan Anastasy, sent a critical note to Archbishop Leonty regarding the consecrations conducted without his knowledge. On the contrary, Archbishop Averky of Syracuse sent Archbishop Leontios a brief but very significant letter (dated August 16/29, 1962), in which he praised the Old Calendarists for remaining in true Orthodoxy, as they did not accept the [calendar] innovation, and wondered why (as ROCOR) they were not in communion with them. Regarding the consecrations, he is clear: he considers them not only canonical, but certainly fully justified.  During the same period, Archbishop Leon...

(Continue from  here ) From the cover of issue 402 of the official magazine of the True Orthodox of Greece "The Voice of Orthodoxy". Contains letters of Archbishop Leonty in which he defends himself against many slanders.  Defense of Archbishop Leonty and new maniacal attacks against him The accusations against Archbishop Leonty continued by the obsessed Fr. Kalliopios, who in his periodical slandered the Archbishop as supposedly "Latin-minded" and an "ecumenist". The occasion was an earlier (in 1959) visit of Archbishop Leonty, as a representative of the Russian community in Venezuela, to the funeral of some high-ranking state official, who also happened to be a high-ranking Roman Catholic cleric (as was their custom to hold political offices as well), in order to convey the condolences of the Russian community. A photograph depicting Archbishop Leonty reading the leaflet about the life and activity of the deceased, which was distributed at the funeral, w...

(Continue from  here ) One more photo from the new Synod of the Genuine [True] Orthodox of Greece in 1962. From left: (seated) Bishop Chrysostomos of Magnesia, Bishop Parthenios of Cyclades, Bishop Akakios of Talantion, Bishop Auxentios of Gardikion, (standing) Bishop Akakios of Diavleias, Bishop Gerontios of Salamis.  The Initial Reactions to Archbishop Leonty and his Consecrations The news of the re-establishment of the Hierarchy of the Genuine Orthodox of Greece with the consecrations performed by Archbishop Leonty spread rapidly and was enthusiastically welcomed by the Orthodox to whom it became known. In a letter from Komnios on July 25th to the Heraklion branch [of the P.T.E.O.K.] in Crete, we read: “ The past period was consumed with efforts to constitute our leadership. God was well pleased, and after many efforts, an Orthodox Russian Archbishop from South America came, who, together with our own shepherd Akakios, consecrated five other bishops, and thus we now have a ...