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Re: Spyridon’s statement on the controversy
between
Vartholomaios-Christodoulos
από Anonymous στις 13-May-2004 @ 09:03:22 UTC
The statement of His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon,at one time and
for a short period Archbishop of America, that is in fact of the U.S.A.,
is on the face of it, a call to the Orthodox Church (es) in Europe to
close ranks, especially as he puts it, in the face of Europe’s Roman
Catholic majority - he strangely omits the assorted Protestant
denominations including the Anglican Church.
He professes profound sorrow at the decision taken by the Enlarged
Synod of the Oecumenical Patriarchate - more precisely it was a
Greater and Enlarged Temporarily Resident Synod according to
traditional ecclesiastical terminology, in late March.He was obviously
referring to the controversy or feud or dispute, call it what you like,
between the Orthodox Church of Greece and that of Constantinople, its
Mother Church, the Oecumenical Patriarchate over the latter’s
canonical rights regarding the dioceses in the North of Greece and
certain Greek Aegean Islands which Constantinople transferred as a Vicariate to the Autocephalous
Church of Greece though retaining residual canonical rights over them,
through the Patriarchal Praxis of 1928, enshrined in the current
Constitution of the Hellenic Republic.
His concern is shared by many - public brawls are not welcome in the
courtyard of Europe and that of the whole world, though the
controversy has not descended to that level, despite the attempts by
various sensationalising journalists, assorted politicians in the Greek
arena, some of whom are professed non-believers or practice religion
as a matter of convenience and the odd correspondent on the internet
who is a water-carrier for vested ecclesiastical interests.
Having said that, may I respectfully point out to His Eminence that he
seems to have been ignoring -both in his most recent statement and a
previous one regarding the reconstruction of the Holy Standing Synod
of the Oecumenical Patriarchate some of his own calls in the past to
revive the institution of a "representative" synod, as he put it, by the
Phanar.
The issue of "representation" apart - he knows that the "Resident"
Synod over the centuries, including Byzantine days, 1700 odd years, in
Constantinople assumed many shapes and forms and that Canon Law
in fact, he would know better than humble laymen, whatever their
qualifications and research, never enshrined the concept of a representative synod other that the "eparchial" or metropolitical synod
and the occasional Oecumenical Council. The concept of the Synod of
the Hierarchy, as is known nowadays in Greece or the other Balkan
churches is a relatively recent development and cannot be equated to
either a provincial synod (as are the Cretan, or U.S.A. ones) or much
less an Oecumenical Council. The other type of synod, the Local, in
Church history was an occasional phenomenon. Those churches like
the Cypriot one, simply converted a provincial synod into a de facto
national one, some canonists would argue.
Archbishop Spyridon’s own requests for a reconstructed "Continuing"
Synod and a Synod of the Hierarchy of the Oecumenical Patriarchate,
nevertheless seem to have been answered in part, though with respect
to His Eminence not because he asked for them, by the reconstructed
Standing Synod at the Phanar from March 1st last and by the recently
convened Greater Enlarged Synod, "Temporarily Resident" in
Constantinople, at the end of March.
True, the Standing Synod, contains only six of its twelve members
from outside Turkey (five if the Senior Metropolitan of Nicaea is to be
put in a special category, though it would appear that the Finnish
Church, under Constantinople, was cognisant - and probably consulted
about - of the inclusion of its former and most venerable primate.
Those five, however, include some formidable episcopal entities: (i)
the Primus (in fact,not in name only) of the Church in the U.S.A.who
presides over his own provincial synod of eight metropolitans, (ii) the
Primus , again in fact, of the Church of Crete which has its own Synod
with another eight metropolitans, the Metropolitan of Rhodes, senior
bishop among the four (now five) metropolitans of the Dodecanese
Islands, the Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain, shepherd of a
large chunk of the diaspora and traditionally viewed as the senior
bishop in Western Europe, not to mention the Senior Metropolitan of
Proussa with no actual flock but a vast experience in the diaspora,
having been not only an auxiliary in Australia but Metropolitan in New
Zealand and Exarch for Japanand. what is more important, Korea
which is one of the missionary vineyards, a fruitful one at that, of the
Oecumenical Throne. Of the other six, within Turkey, four are the
archpastors of actual dioceses, with a dwindling flock but nevertheless,
faithful citizens of the Kingdom.
As for the Enlarged and Greater Synod,called at very short notice it
contained much of the cream of the Hierarchy. Had there been time
there would have been, with much doubt an even larger attendance
than became possible at a few days notice, similar to the numbers
which flock at the Biennial Convocations of the Hierarchy which was
the only form the Phanar could negotiate with the ubiquitous Turkish
authorities which have been breathing down the neck of the
Patriarchate for so long. This last factor has been consistently ignored
by commentators and the all-knowing pundits who have failed to
recognise the tremendous achievement of the authorities at the Phanar
in their extracting concessions from Ankara which may amount, in God’s good time, to the beginning of the end of the Babylonian
Captivity of the Oecumenical Patriarchate, commenced in 1923, in the
Kemalist era, and which provbed to be much worse than the Ottoman
one.
To Archbishop Spyridon with respect I submit this "Fair go, Your
Eminence, formerly of America, give credit where it is due otherwise
you run the risk, indeed morfe than the risk to be accused of crying
sour grapes. With respect, aqcknowledge the progress, pray for its
continuation and stand above personal considerations"
Platon Pilousiotis
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[ Re: Previous comment ]
από Anonymous στις 15-May-2004 @ 10:23:18 UTC
Editor,
I offer two comments on Mr. "Pilousitios"' theories posted on your site.
1. With regard to the appointment of Bishop Josef to the Metropolis (diocese) of New Zealand, I must remind your readers that Josef at the time of his new appointment by the Patriarchate was a suspended auxiliary bishop to the Archbishop of Australia, under investigation for rebellious and other activities. No "superior authority", whether a synod or a patriarch, have the canonical right to take a priest or an auxiliary bishop and appoint him in another diocese without the consent of the Hierarch under whom he is serving.
2. Metropolitan Damaskinos of Switzerland never gave his consent to be transfered to another diocese. Ever since when are bishops elected or transfered without knowing of their new appointment and -what is worse- against their own will? It's like making somebody the King of England while this somebody never wanted nor accepts to be the King of England. This type of action is totally ANTI-CANONICAL and papist. Such dubious elections, coercive transfers and appointments are the product of church dictatorship and not Orthodox synodal procedures.
Best regards,
John Carris