Three priests leave Constantinople Patriarchate for ROCOR

ROCOR Synodal Cathedral of the Sign Icon. Photo: ROCOR New York Deanery

On July 15, 2019, Orthodox Christianity reported that three Greek Orthodox priests from England and the United States –Fr. Spyridon Bailey, Fr. Emmanuel Hatzidakis and Fr. Ioannis Maridakis left the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to join the ROCOR.

Fr. Spyridon Bailey, formely of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, is now a priest of the ROCOR Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe, assigned to St. Elisabeth’s in Wallesey, England.

He is known as the author of several books, including “Orthodoxy and the Kingdom of Satan”, “The Ancient Path” and “Journey to Mount Athos”, and runs a popular page on YouTube.

“My decision to move to ROCOR was due to a number of factors. For some time I have been concerned about the growing modernist and ecumenical trends in Constantinople. However, the actions in Ukraine convinced me that I had to leave,” commented Fr. Spyridon.

On July 13, 2019, the monastery of St. Anthony the Great (ROCOR) in Phoenix, Arizona, announced on his Facebook page that Fr. Emmanuel Hatzidakis, formerly of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of America, and Fr. Ioannis Maridakis, originally from Crete, also joined the ROCOR.

Fr. Emmanuel is also known as the author of several popular books, including "The Heavenly Banquet and Jesus: Fallen? The Human Nature of Christ Examined From an Eastern Orthodox Perspective". The monastery’s post says that Fr. Emmanuel has been assigned to a church in Texas.

Father Ioannis moved from the island of Crete to America in order to leave Constantinople and join ROCOR, although he does not know English. On July 8, he was assigned to serve as assistant priest to the abbot of the Monastery of St. Anthony the Great, Schema-Igumen Anthony and will handle house visits, sick calls, and some confessions.

Reportedly, he is also the caretaker of a traveling portion of the True Cross and has visited America with the precious and wonderworking relic many times, and will continue to travel with the relic as a blessing to the faithful.

Recall that last November, Fr. Mark Tyson left the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese (ACROD), a jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in America, and joined the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) opposing to the Patriarchate’s invasion of Ukrainian Church territory.

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