EXCLUSIVE: Archons Circulate Internal Email Attacking Society of St. John, Multiple Orthodox Jurisdictions

Photo: archons.org

MARCH 30, 2026 — As Orthodox Christians prepare for Holy Week and Pascha, members of the Order of St. Andrew are being urged to increase their involvement in response to what is described as an “increasing near existential threat from Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church.”

An email sent out Monday morning, which was circulated internally and signed by John Zavitsanos of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, states that, “Through threats, coercion, and money, the Russian Orthodox Church is exerting tremendous control over a number of the other Orthodox churches, including the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), and the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia (ROCOR).”

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with Metropolitan Tikhon of the OCA at Patriarch Ilia II's funeral in Georgia recently. Photo: oca.org

Alleging that the Moscow Patriarchate – which Zavitsanos consistently refers to as the “Russian Orthodox Church” – is “hiding behind these churches,” the communication says that it has set up organizations specifically designed to influence politicians in Washington.

“One of these ‘pan-orthodox’ Russian groups is known as the ‘Society of St. John’ (SSJ) which was founded in 2025,” Zavitsanos writes. “This pro-Moscow group organized a series of meetings on Capitol Hill and The White House in December 2025 to present a ‘balanced’ view about the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Notice the similarity between ‘the Society of St. John’ and ‘the Order of St. Andrew.’”

It is standard practice in Orthodox Christianity to name an organization after a saint. The Society of St. John chose St. John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco as its patron, and on top of advocating for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in December, it functions as a coalition of parish brotherhoods and sisterhoods which aims to translate and publish spiritual writings, beautify Orthodox temples, and more.

Furthermore, while on Capitol Hill, SSJ spoke about ways in which the Russian government and Moscow Patriarchate have persecuted the UOC under Metr. Onuphry.

Despite this, Zavitsanos described the organization as sympathetic to Moscow.

“The people running SSJ have pumped out dozens of Moscow friendly narratives through press releases,” the Archon email states. “It also employs AI bots to post dozens of false facts on social media daily.”

The last time the Society put out a press release was February 25, 2026, when Metr. Arseniy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was released to house arrest after nearly two years in pre-trial detention. In 2026, SSJ has only posted to its Facebook page three times, with its Instagram and X pages having similar numbers.

The email from Zavitsanos also includes statements like the following:

“It is no secret that Putin has expansionist goals. His unwarranted attack on Ukraine not only involves Russian military, but the Russian Orthodox Church as well. Patriarch Kirill is attempting to provide religious legitimacy to this illegal invasion.”

“The Russians want to assume the role of leadership of all Orthodox churches around the globe. They want Moscow to be the seat of worldwide Orthodoxy.”

SSJ has no affiliation with Moscow or the Russian government and is composed of American citizens.

Zavitsanos closes his message with a fundraising appeal, stating:

“We are working overtime to combat the ocean of misinformation being put out concerning the Mother Church. We are doing this on a shoestring budget and a small number of volunteers. We need more involvement from every Archon now. This means reaffirming our obligation of time, talent, and treasure... The Russian Orthodox Church is making moves to replace us. As Archons, we are the first and last line of defense. We will not let this happen, but we need each and every one of you to participate in this sacred mission."

This development comes soon after a letter written by Abp. Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was leaked to UOJ-USA. In the letter, His Eminence referred to SSJ as “supposedly pan-Orthodox” and called the UOJ Russian propaganda.

In the letter, Abp. Elpidophoros also said that a release from the Archons published in November following SSJ meetings on Capitol Hill was done without his pastoral oversight.

In December, Forbes removed an article from its website that contained similar talking points to the recent Archon email, which is published in full below.

The most dangerous threat now to the Mother Church

As we prepare for Holy Week and the glorious celebration that is Pascha, the Mother Church is now facing an increasing near existential threat from Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church. You—as an Archon—are being called upon to take action.

It is no secret that Putin has expansionist goals. His unwarranted attack on Ukraine not only involves Russian military, but the Russian Orthodox Church as well. Patriarch Kirill is attempting to provide religious legitimacy to this illegal invasion. Kirill has said that any Russian who dies in the line of military duty in Ukraine “washes away all of their sins.” But Russia’s expansionist goal is not limited to the political arena or to only Ukraine.

The Russians want to assume the role of leadership of all Orthodox churches around the globe. They want Moscow to be the seat of worldwide Orthodoxy. Kirill has escalated his verbal attacks on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholemew and any other Church that dares to align with us. When the Church of Alexandria expressed its support for our beloved Ecumenical Patriarch in granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Russians retaliated by engaging in a quiet invasion of Africa and took over more than 300 parishes on the African continent that belonged to Alexandria. The Russians had those communities dissolve their affiliation with the Church of Alexandria and profess allegiance to Russia in exchange for Russia building new churches, schools, and hospitals in those communities and paying substantial monies to the local priests. The Russians are now drafting young men from those African communities to fight in Ukraine alongside Russians and North Koreans.

These efforts are not limited to the other side of the world. In fact, the Russian Orthodox Church is quietly invading the United States by spending millions of dollars to spread misinformation about the Greek Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. They are doing this in a number of ways.

Through threats, coercion, and money, the Russian Orthodox Church is exerting tremendous control over a number of the other Orthodox churches, including the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), and the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia (ROCOR). Hiding behind these churches, the Russian Orthodox Church has setup organizations meant to influence our elected officials in Washington. One of these “pan-orthodox” Russian groups is known as the “Society of St. John” (SSJ) which was founded in 2025. This pro-Moscow group organized a series of meetings on Capitol Hill and The White House in December 2025 to present a “balanced” view about the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Notice the similarity between “the Society of St. John” and “the Order of St. Andrew.”

The people running SSJ have pumped out dozens of Moscow friendly narratives through press releases. It also employs AI bots to post dozens of false facts on social media daily.

The SSJ meetings on Capitol Hill and The White House were blocked at the last minute. Who was primarily responsible for exposing them and blocking these meetings? That’s right, the Archons https://archons.org/archons-question-white-house-meeting-with-russian-orthodox-clergy/. We stopped them (for now).

We are working overtime to combat the ocean of misinformation being put out concerning the Mother Church. We are doing this on a shoestring budget and a small number of volunteers. We need more involvement from every Archon now. This means reaffirming our obligation of time, talent, and treasure.

We switched over our accounting software from network for good to a system called Bloomerang. If you had been fulfilling your commitment to the Exarch Appeal monthly by credit card under the old system, your monthly payments are not being processed now (and the Order is receiving less to fund our mission). You now need to switch over to Bloomerang. You can do this by simply calling Leah at the Archon Office at (212) 774 – 0550 and providing her your credit card number or you can do this yourself on the Archon website at https://archons.org/exarchs-appeal/. Unfortunately, many of you have not switched over yet and our coffers are running dry. More than ever, we need our resources to combat what is happening and fulfill our mission to protect the Mother Church. We have no other source of funding besides us.

We again urge every single Archon to sponsor at least one day ($4,000.00) of our expenses. We ask that you fulfill this pledge by putting it on a credit card in 12 equal installments. Please do not set this aside. Do it today.

The Russian Orthodox Church is making moves to replace us. As Archons, we are the first and last line of defense. We will not let this happen, but we need each and every one of you to participate in this sacred mission.

Have a blessed rest of the Lenten season.

John Zavitsanos

Archon Ekdikos