Orthodox Unity

Greek Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the Church in the USA

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Greek Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the Church in the USA¹

V. Rev. Archimandrite Elpidophoros Lambriniadis
Chief Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Venerable Hierarchs, Rev. Dr. John Behr, Dean, Reverend Clergy, Brothers and Sisters,

It is a particular privilege and pleasure to be among you today, in the academic halls of St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary, this nursery of theological letters and priestly vocation, which has been grounded in the Russian spirituality and intellectual thought of such great theologians and ministers of the church as the fathers George Florovsky, Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the successors of these extraordinary theologians for the invitation extended to me to participate in this distinguished scholarly Symposium in order to enjoy the opportunity to convey to all of you the paternal greetings and Patriarchal blessings of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Primate of the Great Church of Christ, the Mother Church of Constantinople.

[I regret that, owing to the last session of the Holy and Sacred Synod, my arrival was delayed and consequently did not permit me to attend the two extremely interesting presentations by Dr. Timothy Clark and Dr. George Lewis Parsenios.]

The topic that I have been asked to address today: “Greek Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the Church in the USA.” Beginning with the content and historical development of the phrase “Greek Orthodoxy,” I will endeavor to explore its relationship to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in order, finally, on this basis, to interpret the perception of the Church of Constantinople with regard to the ecclesiastical situation in the United States and present its vision for the future of Orthodoxy in this land.

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The “Myth” of Unity: A Response to a 2009 Address Given at St Vladimir’s Seminary

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George Michalopulos, prolific contributor to the Orthodox blog, essayist, and keen critic of Orthodox culture and politics wrote an essay challenging some of the conclusions offered by Matthew Namee at the Symposium on Orthodox Unity held at St. Vladimir Seminary on June, 20, 2009. Read his abstract below. The full article can be found on Orthodoxy Today. Read it, then return here for discussion.

By George Michalopulos

ABSTRACT: Last year, a symposium entitled The Council and the Tomos: 20th Century Landmarks Towards a 21st Century Church, was held at St Vladimir’s Seminary (Crestwood, June 18-20, 2009). One of the speakers, Matthew Namee, presented an expanded version of a paper he delivered the previous year at the Orthodox Theological Society in America. His paper was titled, “The Myth of Unity and the Origins of Jurisdictional Pluralism in North America.” Namee expanded an earlier thesis to argue that the story of the Russian Mission and the implicit unity it fostered in the early years of the Orthodox presence in America was largely mythical. Rather, the history is one of jurisdictional rivalry and division from which we can draw little or no guidance for our present situation or the future. Namee implicitly issued a challenge: Which historical narrative that describes the Orthodoxy presence in America is correct? Is it the Russian Mission narrative which prescribes a Church guided by the Orthodox missionary imperative? Or is it the narrative of ethnic protection that has little interest in engaging American society and culture? The resolution of this question will impact the future of Orthodoxy in America. Will American Orthodoxy become a local church in the canonical tradition of mission-minded Orthodoxy, or will it remain divided by ethnic interests, essentially a Balkanized entity subject to overseas leadership and political interests? What follows is my response.

Read the entire essay on OrthodoxyToday.org.

Mattingly: The Orthodox question for 2010

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By TERRY MATTINGLY – Scripps Howard News Service | tmatt.net

Terry Mattingly

The first Orthodox missionaries to reach Alaska traveled with the early Russian explorers and, in 1794, a party of monks established the Orthodox Christian Mission to America.

[…]

“Before the 1920s, there was only one jurisdiction in North America — that of the Russian Orthodox Church, which, as we know, was open to … the widest variety of ethnic communities,” said Archbishop Justinian of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, during last week’s Episcopal Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Hierarchs in North and Central America.

“Much has changed since that time. The tumultuous events of the 20th century forced many citizens of traditionally Orthodox countries to leave their native homes and seek refuge in other countries, which led to the rise of large ethnic Orthodox communities beyond the boundaries of corresponding local churches.”

But the key to conditions today, he stressed, is the fact that an “increasing number of our faithful belong to the Orthodox Church not as the result of their ethnic background, but of a conscious choice in favor of Orthodoxy’s truth.”

[…]

Read the complete article on the Terry Mattingly website.

Terry Mattingly blogs at Get Religion.

There is No Diaspora, Metropolitan Philip Says, Questions the Purpose of the Bishops Assembly

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The warrior is back! Met. Philip cuts to the heart of some of the nonsense around the Episcopal Assembly. Some highlights:

There is no Diaspora here. We decided in 1994 with the late Archbishop Iakovos. We rejected the term Diaspora for North America.
I am going to propose the rejection of this term Diaspora
The non-recognition of the OCA by Constantinople and Antioch is hypocrisy.
(Pat. Bartholomew) cannot stand the words “Orthodox unity.”

And, the untouchable issue:

Question: How do feel about pederasty and homosexuality in the Church? Answer: It is the most disgusting, it is a horrible thing, and there is no reason in the Orthodox Church for it and I absolutely have zero tolerance for it.

This is good.

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The National Herald, Friday, May 21, 2010

By Theodore Kalmoukos

Metropolitan Philip

BOSTON – Metropolitan Philip, Primate of the Autonomous Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of America with 265 parishes, six Bishops and 350 priests, is the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical Bishops of America, known as SCOBA, and also Vice-Chairman of the upcoming Panorthodox Bishops Assembly. In an exclusive interview with The National Herald, the prominent Prelate said that, “I really do not know what the purpose of this Assembly is all about.” He proposed an idea as a solution to the issue of what would happen to the Diaspora in the United States. He said, “At one time I proposed that the Ecumenical Patriarch leave Constantinople and come to Washington D.C. or to New York and keep his title as ecumenical Patriarch.”

In the interview, he touched on other critical areas for the church, including division and dissent.

TNH: What are you thoughts about the upcoming Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in New York?

Philip: I do not see much difference between the coming Assembly and SCOBA. SCOBA is not dissolved, it is 50 years old, it has a constitution, it has not been dissolved. We had Bishop’s Assemblies with SCOBA in 1994 at the Antiochian Village in Ligonier, under Archbishop Iakovos, then we had another one in Washington D.C., and we hade another one in Chicago, so this Bishops Assemblies are not new to us at all, we had them before.
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The Bishops Are Coming To New York, As Complex Diaspora Question Looms

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Read closely. What are the greatest fears? The autocephaly of the OCA (wild card) and the Ligonier Council (precedent). The times are changing folks. The lumbering bureaucratic structures that have sublimated the nascent creativity and energy of American Orthodoxy under the weight Old World self-interest might be loosing their grip. There is more anxiety here than is being revealed.

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The National Herald, Friday, May 21, 2010

By Theodore Kalmoukos

Fr. Mark Arey

Nearly 60 hierarchs will descend on New York from May 26-28 for the first Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops from the United States, Canada and Central America, under the chairmanship of Archbishop Demetrios of America, and the stage has been set for some clashes about the direction the church should take, and the role of self-rule of some. The Assembly will convene at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel, and its expense will be assumed by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, through the Leadership 100 grant to the Office of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations and other sources. The meeting is the result of the decision of the Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference, which met in Chambesy, Switzerland in June of 2009, and it is one of 12 that will be convened around the world in regions where there is no single Orthodox presence.

The Bishops of the Diaspora, living in the Diaspora and possessing parishes in multiple regions, will be members of the Episcopal Assemblies of 12 regions. At the center of the Assembly will be the issue of the Diaspora, meaning the existence of more than one Orthodox Bishop in the same place (city.) Also participating is the former Russian Metropolia, known today as OCA, which was given autocephaly in 1970 by the Patriarchate of Moscow. The National Herald has learned that that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew had initially instructed Archbishop Demetrios not to invite the OCA, but Demetrios sent them invitations to attend. The Archbishop discussed the issue during his recent visit to the Phanar three weeks ago.
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