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| St. Seraphim, Archbishop of Uglich |
(The text below has been kindly translated by Seraphim Larin.)
A series of exhortations by the Bishops, spiritually wise faithful and Orthodox elders of the Russian Church, didn’t bring Met. Sergius to his senses, who continued his pernicious activity of shaking all of the foundations of Orthodoxy.
The Yaroslav Church in the persons of her Archpastors and Metropolitan Joseph, twice protested on the 24th of Jan/6th of Feb. 1928, as well as by sending an elucidation on the 28th of April of the same year, and included several of my personal remonstrances during 1927, which called for Met. Sergius to abandon that type of activity, which brought so much grief to the Russian Orthodox Church.
In his activity it was felt, one by one [by individual bishops of the Catacomb Church], that these actions of Met. Sergius showed: firstly – his usurpation (seizure) of authority, which resulted in the schism; according to others – heresy, and according to others - apostasy. Personally, I regard that Met. Sergius usurped authority, inflicted the schism, fell into heresy and deviated from the Confession of Orthodoxy.
We recognize the usurpation of authority: in the organization of the unlawful Synod of the 5th of May 1927, Protocol No. 1, as a co-governor to the Patriarchal Deputy of the Locum Tenens and promulgation of the Declaration of 16/29 July 1927 - which occurred without the blessing of Metropolitan Peter, the Locum Tenens – which resulted in, by means of the unlawful Council, the determination of the form of Church government, and of course the replacement of the Patriarchal College.
In violation of the 34th Apostolic Canon and the 9th Canon of the Council of Antioch, Met. Sergius knew that not everyone will accept his Declaration and recognize his Synod, for fear of being participants in sin, and would reject him in accordance with the 15th Canon of the 1st-2nd Council. Despite this, he stubbornly maintained his opinion and created the schism.
Many Bishops of whole provinces and priests of individual parishes thus departed from Met. Sergius. By his actions, Met. Sergius distorted the Church’s doctrine on Salvation by finding salvation purely in the visible organization of the Church, thereby rejecting the inner power of God’s Grace, by which the Church can exist in the wilderness.
Apostasy flows from the heretical teachings of Met. Sergius about salvation, and about the Church as an earthly institution, with which it is permissible to yield to any compromise, which distorts the very call of Christ to confess the Christian Faith, so He rebuked Peter, saying: “Get behind me satan…”
In refusing Christ’s call to confess the Faith, Met. Sergius, blasphemed against the Church, and in Her person - against the Confessors, as well dissipating the Church and blaspheming against the Holy Spirit (Mat. 12:30-32).
Blasphemy against the Church and Her Confessors is condemned by the 6th Canon of the Second Ecumenical Council, and by the 63rd Canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
By his decree of October 8/21, 1927, together with his so-called Synod, Metropolitan Serius introduced a new formula of commemoration and thereby distorted the very rite of worship and violated its inner spirit, mixing the sons of men with the sons of God.
By his interdictions, prohibition of clergy to serve without a Church trial, and as a result, the loss of their cathedra, Met. Sergius violated the 14th Apostolic Canon and 17th Canon of the Council of Serdica.
In view of the violation of the 30th Apostolic Canon and 3rd Canon of the 7th Ecumenical Council, all ordinations performed in the period from the signing of the protocol concerning the organization of the Synod dated 5/18 May, are subject to scrutiny by a Bishops Council.
Without going into further examination of the rest of Met. Sergius’ acts during this period, We, by the grace of God given to us from our Lord Jesus Christ, declare that Met. Sergius violated the purity of the Orthodox Faith: corrupted the dogma on salvation and of the Church, perpetrated the schism and pronounced blasphemy on Christ’s Church and Her Confessors. As for fragmenting the Church and blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, we declare that Met. Sergius is deprived of prayerful communion with us and all Orthodox Bishops of the Russian Church: we commit him to a Church trial with a prohibition to conduct Church Services. Bishops of like thought with Met. Sergius are accepted by us into prayerful and canonical communion, according to the rite used to reconcile "Renovationists" and occupying forsaken cathedras, remain in their places.
The current acts we perform are done in the strictest consciousness of our hierarchal duty and standing in obedience to Christ’s Church: subordination to the Rules of Ecumenical and Local Councils and the Council of the Russian Church 1917-1918, [currently] headed by our Patriarchal Locum Tenens Peter of Krutitsk.
Because of the impossibility of turning to the First Hierarch, the Locum Tenens, Peter of Krutitsk, the governance of the Russian Church, until his return, passes to the Eldest Hierarch of the Russian Church to administer in this situation according to the directives of the Council of the Russian Church 1917-1918, and the Acts of the holy Patriarch Tikhon and Metropolitan Agathangel concerning the autonomous administration of Bishops in their individual dioceses.
Humble Seraphim, Archbishop of Uglich
1933 4/17 December, Archangelsk.
[Around 1934, to confirm this encyclical, a “little catacomb Sobor [council of bishops]” was convened; it was intended that the decisions of that Sobor were to constitute a foundation for all exiled bishops and clergy. There are reports that Metropolitan Peter (Polyansky), Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, wrote from exile that the Russian Bishops must themselves impose sanctions upon Metropolitan Sergius for his anti-canonical actions.]