We, Servants of the holy, apostolic and Orthodox Church of Eritrea in North America:

Believing in the atoning power of the blood of Christ, the intercessory prayers of St. Mary and of all the saints,

Recognizing the martyrdom and persecution of countless number of Eritreans, as a result of which Eritrea attained its status of sovereignty and independence; also, through which the Church attained its autocephalous status, 

Confirming our great apostolic heritage through the Seat of St Mark,

Reaffirming the great responsibility that has been bestowed upon us by God and the faithful of our beloved church to uphold its sacred canon and constitution and to shepherd the flock, do hereby restate once again that Abba Sinoda has been here in North America in complete violation of the canon and constitution of our church, and with utter disregard to the instructions of his superior, H.H. Abune Antonius, Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church. Furthermore, his divisiveness and destructive activities has done nothing but wreak havoc on the work of the Diocese. In consequence, on the basis of its sworn responsibility, the Council of Clergies of the E.O.C., Diocese of North America states the following: 

1.On the basis of Article 82 of the constitution of our church, which clearly states that a bishop cannot take a leave of absence for more than two-weeks without the explicit consent of the Patriarch; furthermore, the canonical law, which states that should a bishop be away from its diocese without the knowledge and consent of the Patriarch for a period of more than six months results in the forfeiture of his bishopric; the presence of Abba Sinoda here in North America for the past year being in clear violation of these injunctions and without the blessings of Patriarch Antonius. 

It is to be recalled that the Diocese had extended its invitation to Abba Sinoda to its extraordinary session, held in Atlanta, Georgia on September 17, 2005. The purpose for this invitation was to discuss and hopefully resolve the outstanding issues which arose as a result of Abba Sinoda’s illegal presence in the USA. Abba Sinoda, however, decided to ignore the invitation and continued on his divisive and destructive activities 

2.Taking note of Abba Sinoda’s complete disregard to the actions taken by the Synod of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, which was presided over by the late Patriarch Yacob, to withhold the credentials of certain priests here in North America, and celebrating mass with them while such decisions of the Synod were still in force 3.Saddened by Abba Sinoda’s decision to ignore the plea of the Diocese of March 21, 2006 to desist from his activities that remain detrimental to the spiritual life and polity of our beloved Church – pending the lifting of all the injunctions that have been placed upon him by our Patriarch; having further observed Abba Sinoda’s ignoring with impunity the specific enjoinder of his superior Patriarch Antonius, dated January 20, 2006,  to refrain from  ordaining deacons and priests to the priestly orders pending the resolution of the problems within the Church 

Resolutions:

1.The Council of the Clergy of the Diocese of North America, after having deliberated upon Abba Sinoda’s dangerous and destructive activities, having given him plenty of time to change his ways and subordinate himself to the canon of the Church, to his superior in the church hierarchy - His Holiness Abune Antonius - and since Patriarch Antonius has stated in the above enjoinder that any bishop who violates the order is to be considered excommunicated, from this day forward we consider Abba Sinoda an apostate. We shall henceforth do not recognize any rites performed by him; nor is he to be recognized as representing the Eritrean Orthodox Church in any manner.

2.The Eritrean government has expressed through the decree of 73/95, and many times since, that it will not interfere in religious affairs. Abba Sinoda, however, in his letters and speeches has been injecting politics where it is not warranted. As one more of his irresponsible acts, he has been attempting to put a wedge between the church and the government. We call upon all the faithful to be aware of all his distortions of the facts and see to it that we are not swayed by his fabrications. Our purpose is only the protection of our faith, our church and its canon.

3.We call upon all our priests who have been anointed to fulfill their apostolic duties in serving the faithful not to sit on the fence in times like this when our church is being tested. We call upon you to teach and inform your congregations about the present dangers. This is the time when the leadership to which priests are called requires being bold in standing up for the truth.

4.We take this opportunity to express our heart-felt gratitude to all the Oriental Churches with whom we are in communion to stand by our church and continue to mention the name of Patriarch Antonius in the liturgies and prayers as you have been doing so.

5.We call upon all the abbots of our monasteries, the learned men of our beloved Church, and all the faithful followers of our church to work for the unity and growth of the Church.

6.Lastly, we call upon Abba Sinoda once again to recognize his violation of everything our Church holds sacred, accept himself as an excommunicated person, and return to his church in repentance.