Hegomen Bishoy Andrawes’ in ‘letter to spiritual children‘:
“Now, regarding Dr. Atef Aziz (now Fr. Seraphim) and his group:
Fr. Seraphim is currently a respected monk in the Eastern Orthodox Church who started off as a consecrated deacon in the Coptic church. After many years in the ascetic life, Fr. Seraphim began to pass down the way he received. He taught mainly from the early fathers about the deep treasures of the Coptic Church and about restoring the image of God in us (taking off the old man and putting on the new one). Within his teachings, he at times mentioned the poor spiritual state of the Church. For this reason, he was asked to stop his teachings, and when his teachings still spread through his actual practice and the practice of those who received the way, he was excommunicated. Now I know that this will resound in a negative way with many of you. But, before you allow the logic of your mind take over, please take this information in prayer, considering the following:
- Fr. Mattew the poor, who is now considered a reliable source of spiritual light, was also criticized for speaking about the condition of the church.
- St. John Chrysostom was excommunicated according to Palladius (4-5th century church historian) by 36 bishops (29 of them were Coptic)
- Pope Tawadros himself attempted to restore this excommunication of Dr. Atef Aziz, but some of the bishops stood in his way
” end quote.