Question 9

Does not one need to be in communion with one of the ancient Patriarchates in order to be a part of the Eastern Orthodox Church?

While being in communion with one of the ancient Patriarchates is ideal, it certainly is not a requirement for being part of the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is especially true at present, when the majority of the Churches of World Orthodoxy maintain active membership in the World Council of Churches, the chief embodiment of the heresy of Ecumenism.

Saint Maximus the Confessor is the prime example of one not being in communion with any of the Patriarchates, and this was on account of all of the Patriarchs of his time having been infected with the heresy of Monothelitism. When the envoys of the Œcumenical Patriarch visited Saint Maximus during his first imprisonment, they interrogated the Saint…