A word of caution from our good friend, Fr Paul, on Vassula Ryden:
The desire to celebrate Easter in common is a laudable one, whatever the solution adopted. A word of warning seems desirable, however, concerning Vassula and her followers. This lady may be sincerely convinced that she is receiving messages from Christ and that she is a “prophet”. It is necessary to point out though that she has been expelled from the communion of the Orthodox Church and that the RC Church does not recognize the supernatural origin of her “revelations”. These seem to me to be not only full of doctrinal errors which diverge from the Tradition received by both Churches, but to be based on claims outlandishly remote from the spirit of Christian prophecy. The latter, whether Biblical or ecclesiastical, always presupposes the conscious consent of the person to whom the charismatic gift is imparted; Vassula claims to have received at least her first “revelations” as the result of “automatic writing” reminiscent of spiritualist practices. I have also been personally the witness of division among communities caused by the actions of her followers, who sometimes use dishonest tactics in order to gain or to falsely claim the adherence of others to their cause. None of this seems likely to be the fruit of the action of the Holy Spirit. Even if the cause be a good one, I suggest that if the Vassula movement is at the origin of this petition, readers of this blog would be ill advised to lend credibility to their activities by signing it.
See also this notification on Ryden from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.
I have not been able to verify any formal decree suspending her from the sacraments of the Orthodox Church. However I will note that in addition to her theological pronouncements, which are not consistent with the teaching of the Orthodox Church, she has very publicly engaged in acts which are normally understood to sever ones relations with The Church. Most specifically she has on multiple occasions taken Roman Catholic sacraments. The fact that this was not a one time mistake but has been repeated strongly suggests to me that she has “self excommunicated” herself from the Orthodox Church. Obviously this is not any juridical pronouncement which I am not competent to make. But I feel comfortable saying that taking non-Orthodox “sacraments” is typically seen as a form of resigning from the Church. I certainly would question any claim that she is an Orthodox Christian in good standing withe the Church pending some clarification from competent authority.
ICXC
John
If what the wiki article said is true, she needs an exorcist. This is very sad; that a formerly Orthodox girl has become part of this evil.
O Theotokos have mercy on her. St. Michael rush to her and save her.
Maybe I just travel in all the wrong (or is it right?) circles, but I had not heard Vasula’s name in a decade…
I wasn’t sure she was still out there or that this was even much in question – I was pretty confident this was the concensus back then too.
I wanted to point out that there is indeed a decision from 2001 of the Synod’s Committee on Heresies (of the Greek Orthodox Church) on Vassula Ryden, in which they declare that Mrs Ryden has excluded herself from the Orthodox Church, even if she continues to present herself as a member of it. This information (unfortunately only in Greek) can be found in the official website of the Greek Orthodox Church: http://www.ecclesia.gr/greek/press/ekklisia/EKKLISIA_2001_Iounios/6PAPAS.PDF (see the two last pages). Other declarations from Orthodox representatives regarding Mrs Ryden can be found here: http://www.infovassula.ch/tliggreekorthodox.htm .
Finally, as an ex-follower of Mrs Ryden, I wish to stress the wisdom of Fr. Paul’s words of caution.