Orthodox Christianity's top Archbishop has written to the head of the Greece's Orthodox state church, calling on him to reject anti-ecumenical statements by its leaders.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople wrote the letter in late march to Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All-Greece, according to Ecumenical News International

"Critical voices about ecumenism, long heard in the bosom of the church of Greece, have hitherto been limited in scope - but what has occurred recently has reached unacceptable levels," wrote Bartholomew.

"Such opinions evoke anguish and sorrow by running counter to the Orthodox ethos. They risk unforeseen consequences for church unity in general, and the unity of our holy Orthodox church in particular," he wrote.

Bartholomew I said he was especially concerned about statements by Metropolitan Seraphim (Mentzelopoulos) of Piraeus last month, who invoked an "anathema" against the pope, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and ecumenists, according to Ecumenical News International.

Bartholomew I said the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which is based in Istanbul, and the Greek Church had traditionally supported each other as "ecumenical witnesses to Orthodoxy" in the World Council of Churches and other inter-denominational bodies, the report stated.

"I urge you to reject and act against these unjustified and dangerous statements," Bartholomew wrote. "They contradict the decisions taken jointly by Orthodox churches to participate in bilateral and multilateral theological dialogue with the heterodox," he said.

Seraphim said in a March 4 statement he was anathematizing the "fallen arch-heretic" Pope Benedict XVI, "and those in communion with him," as well as "all heretical offshoots of the Reformation," "rabbis of Judaism and Islamists," and "those who preach and teach the pan-heresy of inter-Christian and inter-religious syncretistic ecumenism."