"Do not fall prey to the deceptions of Nikola Xhufka"/ Father Mihal Sanellar's call: Outside the Episcopal Authority, nothing ecclesiastical exists

2023-07-09 13:21:00, Aktualitet CNA

Nikola Xhufka

Father Mihal Sanellari has called on all Albanians not to fall prey to the deceptions and lies of Nikollë Xhufka, who calls himself a priest.

In the long reaction on social networks, it is clearly underlined that the organization of the Church is a hierarchical organization, where everyone exercises their competences without overcoming them.

The bishop is the head of a concrete local community, which within a territory represents the completeness and totality of the Church at the local and global level.

Father Mihal Sanellari emphasizes that every other ecclesiastical authority in this territory is placed and serves under the blessing and approval of the bishop.

It is further underlined that the priests who serve in this local territorial unit serve under the name of their bishop. The bishop is the one who gives birth to the Church, because only he can hand over ecclesiastical or clerical authorities. The service of priests in the Church does not originate from them, but from the pastoral powers delegated to them by the bishop, otherwise the activity of a clergyman is invalid.

In the reaction of Father Mihal Sanellar, it is clarified that, no Bishop can exercise his episcopal attributes outside his episcopate that he covers and cannot deliver (make) clergy for another church territory. Even so, a priest cannot have authority outside the territory of the episcopate to which he belongs.

In conclusion of the response it is said that any person who tries to acquire one of these titles by self-will is a rebel of the religion and commits sacrilege, desecrating the sanctity of the Church and her mysteries.

The call is not to trust people who have such a spirit of deception as in the case of Nikollë Xhufka who calls himself a priest.

Outside the Episcopal Authority there is nothing ecclesiastical, neither church, nor clergy, nor monk nor monastery, anyone who claims such a thing is a liar and a deceiver.

Father Mihal Sanellar's reaction

"DO NOT FALL A PREY TO FRAUD!

The Church is a divine-human body, where heaven joins the earth continuously and where the communion of this organism is created in a common reality. Thus the Church is the worshiping community, which constitutes the mystical body of Christ and where Christ himself is the head of this body. As a 2,000-year-old structure, the Church has encountered various and painful phenomena throughout history, which have created the canonical framework for how this organism can protect and develop its activity in the world. The organization of the Church is a hierarchical organization, where everyone exercises their competences without transcending them.

Episkopi është kreu i një komuniteti lokal konkret, i cili brenda një territori përfaqëson plotësinë dhe tërësinë e Kishës në nivel vendor dhe global. Çdo autoritet tjetër kishtar në këtë territor, vendoset dhe shërben nën bekimin dhe aprovimin e episkopit. Priftërinjtë që shërbejnë në këtë njësi lokale territoriale, shërbejnë nën emrin e episkopit të tyre. Episkopi është ai që lind Kishën, sepse vetëm ai mund të dorëzojë autoritete kishtare apo klerikë. Shërbesa e priftërinjve në Kishë nuk buron nga ata, por nga kompetencat baritore që iu ka deleguar atyre episkopi, në të kundërt aktiviteti i një kleriku është i pa vlefshëm. Episkopi ka të drejtë që në territorin që ai mbulon të themelojë manastire, të gradojë igumenë (kreu i një manastiri). Kështu çdo manastir dhe anëtarët e tij (murgj janë pjesë e autoritetit episkopal të Episkopatës apo Mitropolisë përkatëse.

Asnjë Episkop nuk mund të ushtrojë atributet e tij episkopala jashtë episkopatës së tij që ai mbulon dhe nuk mund të dorëzojë (bëjë) klerikë për një territor tjetër kishtar. Po këshu edhe një prift nuk mundet të ketë autoritet jashtë territorit të episkopatës që i përket. Asnjë episkop, apo prift i një episkopate, nuk mund të kryej aktivitet në territorin e një episkopate tjetër, vetëm nëse është marrë më përpara bekimi dhe aprovimi i episkopit të zonës.

Any person who tries to acquire one of these titles by his own will is a rebel of the religion and commits sacrilege, desecrating the sanctity of the Church and her mysteries. We all believe and know that the first rebel who rebelled against God was Satan. Also in the Holy Scripture the devil is also called the father of deception and lies. Do not trust people who have such a spirit of rebellion and deception. The tree is known by its fruits, and rebellion and deceit are fruits that do not come from God.

To perhaps summarize in one sentence, all that is said above, I would say that: Outside the Episcopal Authority there is nothing ecclesiastical, neither church, nor clergy, nor monk nor monastery, anyone who claims something like this is a liar and a deceiver.

From: Father Mihal Sanellari".