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The Patriarchate of Romania<\/p><\/div>
\nThe Romanian Patriarch issued an appeal on February 11, 2010 “…to all Romanian Orthodox clerics and faithful abroad, who are, without blessing, in other sister Orthodox Churches or in non-canonical church structures, to restore their direct communion with their Mother Church, under the canonical jurisdiction of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church.” <\/p>\n

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Taking what appears to be a page from the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s book, the Romanian Patriarchate asserts the universality of the Church (the “Catholic — or katholikos<\/em> in the Nicene Creed’s “…only Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church) is derived not from the trans-cultural, trans-tribal, and trans-national character of the Gospel, but from ethnic identity and affiliation albeit without the accouterments such as the universality of Hellenism to buttress the argument.<\/p>\n

Not everyone agrees. I’ve posted the response to the appeal first, and the original appeal second. Postings on this page are truncated (signers names have been removed for space) but you can read the response to the appeal<\/a> and original appeal<\/a> on separate pages.<\/p>\n

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Appeal for Unity and Dignity of the Orthodox Church<\/strong><\/p>\n

Translated from the original French<\/em><\/p>\n

We, the descendants of various migrations of the 20th century or people of Western origin, have inherited from our forefathers an Orthodoxy that is \u201cthe Church of Christ on Earth\u201d, a reality that is greater than any form of social, cultural or national rootedness. The Orthodox Church, in all situations in which she exists, is called to be incarnated in local cultures, because, as \u201cthe new life in Christ\u201d, the Church is universal. But this universality is never abstract: it is tangible in each place, in each Eucharistic community where the faithful, gathered in a diversified unity, share the same Orthodox faith received from the Apostles and transmitted by the Fathers.<\/p>\n

In Western Europe, Orthodox Christians of different origins have lived together for four generations, and we have understood that it is our responsibility to witness together to Orthodoxy, in a fraternal dialogue with other Christians, in a world that hungers for God. For fifty years, the Orthodox Fellowship in Western Europe, among other aims, has sought to enable a gathering of all the Orthodox in a Eucharistic unity and a canonical structure that is in conformity with our ecclesiology. This ecclesiology is territorial, in which there is no form of \u201cnationalism\u201d or competition among dioceses, but which does not renounce the place of cultures, languages or peoples. In his sense, the establishment of the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops of France in 1997 was a significant step forward.
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\nIn this context, we have learned with great sadness of the \u201cAppeal to Unity and Romanian Dignity\u201d of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church on the 11 February 2010. In this message \u2013\u00a0which contains no reference to God, to Christ or to the Holy Spirit \u2013\u00a0the Holy Synod of the Romanian Church, claiming that it is following the Russian and Serbian examples, appeals to all the Romanian Orthodox clergy and faithful abroad, who may find themselves \u201cwithout blessing\u201d in other sister Orthodox churches, to restore their \u201cdirect communion\u201d with the Patriarchate of Romania. We understand the pastoral concern of the Patriarchate of Bucharest for the Romanian faithful who find themselves isolated in foreign lands. Nevertheless, is it not shocking to present this concern as a prerogative of the faithful of Romanian nationality, wherever they live, in a way that is contrary to Orthodox ecclesiology? In this way, the reference made to the Council of Nicea is not valid, as the Council Fathers reject the idea of dioceses that are defined on ethnic criteria, and refer, as do the Apostles, only to the territorial criterion.<\/p>\n

Coming at a time when, in the context of the preconciliar process, all the Orthodox churches are committed to a promising joint reflection on the future of the communities of the so-called \u201cdisapora\u201d (despite this being a concept which is largely obsolete), we are troubled by this appeal which implies that all Romanian Orthodox should, when abroad, naturally prefer \u201cdirect\u201d communion with the Orthodox Church of Romania. However, there is only One Church, the Church of Christ, and we all commune directly with His body and His blood. Do not the sister churches of the Church of Romania, in which some Romanian faithful in the West may find themselves as a result of their life circumstances and the unpredictability of relations among churches, share the same fullness of the Orthodox faith? Are they not exactly the same Church of Christ? On which criteria should the multi-ethnic Orthodox communities in the West be dismembered, sending foreigners back to his or her mother church? These initiatives destabilize our communities that seek to witness to the resurrection of Christ in a world that is fragmented and indifferent; they are a source of suffering, of tensions and of national rivalry among the faithful.<\/p>\n

We fear that this approach will not only affect the dignity of those churches that choose this direction, but will also affect the unity and Catholicity of the Church. We recall the prophetic concern of the Fathers of the Council of Constantinople of 1872: \u201cWe reject and condemn ethnophyletism as against the teaching of the Gospel and of the Holy Canons of our Fathers, that is, discrimination based on ethnic criteria, as well as the quarrels and differences of national character in the Church of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Church of Christ cannot be instrumentalized in the service of the unity and dignity of a nation. As the Ark of salvation that gives access to the Kingdom of God, the Church does not belong to any particular nation. Striving, despite our unworthiness, to witness to the reality of this Salvation, we call for the unity of all Orthodox Christians in the West and elsewhere, and to the defence of the dignity of the Orthodox Church, which starts with the respect of Apostolic ecclesiology: since Pentecost, \u201cthere is neither Greek nor Jew\u2026 Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all\u201d (Colossians 3:11).<\/p>\n

Christ is Risen!<\/p>\n

Paris, on Sunday the 11th of April 2010, Sunday of Thomas<\/p>\n

Read the response to the appeal<\/a> including signers.<\/p>\n