Could Metropolitan Ambrose have been received into the Church not as a bishop but as a priest, since the Bible states that “the lesser is blessed by the greater”? #

We believe and confess that an Orthodox priest, in relation to a heretical bishop, is by no means “lesser,” but—by virtue of his belonging to the True Church of Christ and his authority to bind and loose sins—he is “greater” than a heretical bishop who has not joined the Church of Christ. While there is indeed valid ordination outside the Orthodox Church in heretical communities of the second and third ranks (schismatic and heretical groups), passed down in apostolic succession, the sacraments outside the Church do not convey the saving grace of the Holy Spirit, being mere “outward forms.” The missing saving grace of such sacraments is fulfilled upon joining the Church, which is the treasury of grace.

Thus, a bishop not yet united with the Church is lesser in relation to a priest who remains within the Church (and even in relation to an Orthodox layperson). However, once a bishop is received into the Church from heresy, he becomes an Orthodox bishop, at which point he is “greater” than a priest, and from then on, a priest is blessed by him.

Let me remind you that the sacred canons command the reception of those coming from heresies into the Church, whether they be bishops or priests, without distinguishing them based on their rank in the heretical hierarchy. There is no canonical prohibition against a priest receiving a bishop into communion with the Church. On the contrary, the sacred canons strictly condemn a priest who refuses to accept a penitent. Let us read the 52nd Canon of the Holy Apostles:

“If any bishop or presbyter refuses to accept one who repents of sin but rejects him, let him be deposed from the sacred order. For he grieves Christ, who said: ‘There is joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents.’” (Luke 15:7)

Note that heresy is one of the gravest sins, and a priest who does not accept a repentant heretic is subject to deposition. The canon makes no distinction regarding the rank of the penitent—whether they are laypeople, priests, or bishops. Therefore, had the priest-monk Jerome refused to grant repentance and receive Metropolitan Ambrose from heresy into the Church, he would have violated this strict canon and jeopardized his own soul.

This is precisely how the Holy Fathers acted in ancient times. Priests received penitent heretical bishops into communion with the Church, and the Church not only did not condemn this practice but also held it up as an example. For instance, the priest-monks Sabbas and Theodosius received Patriarch John of Jerusalem from the Severian heresy, a case referenced at the Seventh Ecumenical Council. St. Maximus the Confessor, while imprisoned, converted and received into communion Bishop Theodosius, who had been sent by the emperor to persuade St. Maximus to abandon the true faith but was instead convinced by his teachings (see the life of St. Maximus the Confessor). The heretical bishop Agapetus (a Macedonian) was received into communion by the priests and people of the city of Synada, and this was not condemned by the Church but was deemed beneficial to the Church by Orthodox bishops (see Ecclesiastical History by Socrates Scholasticus, Book 7, Chapter 3). This is not accidental, as priests possess the full grace to perform the sacrament of repentance (which includes the rite of reception from heresy) and other sacraments, except ordination.

St. John Chrysostom, in his Apostolic Homilies, states:

“The difference between presbyters and bishops is not great. For the latter are above the former in only one thing: the right to ordain. And this alone constitutes their visible superiority over presbyters.” (Homily 11 on 1 Timothy)

The Trebnik (Book of Needs) also states:

“The same authority and grace of the Holy Spirit is given by God to patriarchs, metropolitans, bishops, and all priests to bind and loose those who fall into sins.” (Order of Burial by a Priest)

When the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate raised a similar accusation against the Old Believers—claiming that a priest unlawfully received Metropolitan Ambrose from heresy because “the lesser is blessed by the greater”—a reasonable counterquestion arose: How then can the spiritual father of your Patriarch Kirill be not a bishop but a priest—Archimandrite Elijah (Nozdrin)—who absolves a bishop of his sins?

Thus, the priest-monk Jerome received Metropolitan Ambrose into communion with the Church entirely in accordance with the rules of the Orthodox Church and historical examples from its tradition.

Archpriest Vadim Korovin.