Only Ireneu looks to be of foreign citizenry, if one counts Mexican and Canadian as ‘native’, which I do in this case since that’s where they serve.

Isa, my point exactly. If I remember correctly, +Iakovos was a citizen of the United States. The picture you reference shows exactly what I’m talking about, he wasn’t some colonialist living in the compound who only rarely ventured out into the bush while on safari. He loved this land and its people, something that I don’t necessarily get everytime I read The Orthodox Disburber.

If I may, the difference in that publication since the time of +Iakovos’ heyday is striking. I remember as a teenager reading articles that dealt with moral issues. Now it’s mostly sloppily written essays on abstruse canons that prove that the Phanar is the fons et origo of Orthodoxy and happy-talk intervies on parishes and their building programs.

Joseph, as these men live in Canada, and +Alejo lives in Mexico, I believe this proves my point. As I have pointed out on several occasions, I believe that an autocephalous American church should not subjugate the churches of other sovereign nations. Canada and Mexico are both sovereign nations and in the interests of consistency I would hope that their bishops be not only citizens of these nations but natives as well (and better yet from the dominant racial stock of these nations).

I’m not sure that is necessary: St. Tikhon became a citizen but St. Raphael I do not think did. I believe he planned to eventually to return to Syria, and St. Tikhon did end up back in Russia. I think Archb. Iakovos, although retiring abroad, did the honorable thing by America, as seen by the picture of him in the civil rights march.

S., that statement makes no sense. Just curious, which four of the OCA bishops are not American citizens? the first Apostolic Canon said it best: “let the ecclesial model follow the municipal one.”

On another note, it has always been the rule of gentlemen that if you live in a country, you uphold its institutions. This means paying taxes, serving in its armed forces (if called to do so), honor its magistrates, and so on. One could make a reasonable case that the quest for citizenship by a resident alien would be the honorable thing to do.

The Times Square Bomber was an American citizen too. What was the point?

Why is no one asking the GOA directly “Which Metropolitans are now Turkish citizens?”

I think that would be an excellent prelude to this Assembly, don’t you?