A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 18 - Tuesday, May 4th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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A Theological Perspective An analysis by Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – It’s a sign of our times when 34 individuals who have issues (some would say a misguided relationship) with the Greek Orthodox Church reach the point where they feel they have to file a lawsuit against it, as well as their Archbishop, to settle them. This is especially absurd when you consider that many of them had in the past served in various administrative organs and bodies of the Church. Let’s see what they’re asking: By appealing to the U.S. judicial system, the plaintiffs are inviting a secular branch of government to play the role of an interpreter, analyst, and referee for a canonical, ecclesiastical, and theological text called the Charter. This document defines the relationship between the Ecumenical Patriarchate with one of its Eparchies, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. It is the common understanding of many hierarchs, priests, and laypeople of our community that the 34 plaintiffs of our Church, most of them members or sympathizers of the demurring OCL, have chosen an unorthodox way to express their marginal – if not outrageous – views on a subject of ecclesiastical and canonical nature, whose study and view presupposes some specialized knowledge of Orthodox theology and ecclesiology. By using this convoluted reasoning, one may think a lawsuit against the Patriarchate may be next. The very fact that members of the Church, which is the Body of Christ,, sue it in the secular courts demonstrates their total lack of understanding of what the Church is and what it is not. Our Church forms the Body of the Living Christ, which is composed by all of us who have been baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity. By dragging our beloved Church and its spiritual leaders into a secular court, they are scorning the love and brotherly spirit that’s an inseparable part of the Holy Trinity and replacing it with animosity. And despite their stated intentions of uniting the community, their actions are having quite the opposite effect. Let us for the sake of discussion assume that the court grants judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. Who in his right mind can ever think that a radical overturn of the existing administrative and ecclesiastical structure of our Church can be accomplished by going back to the 1977 Charter? For God’s sake, are these requests of individuals who have any understanding of Orthodox Ecclesiology and Canonicity? Don’t they understand that since 1996, South America, Central America, and Canada are separate local Orthodox Churches or Ecclesial Eparchies belonging directly to the Ecumenical Patriarchate? They seem to forget that the Archdiocese of America is one of the Eparchies of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, perhaps the biggest one in terms of space and flock, but not an Autocephalous or Autonomous church. Our Archdiocese is similar to the Archdiocese of Australia, Great Britain, and the Metropolis of Germany, and the Charter is granted by the First Authority, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Only the Patriarchate has the right to recall the Charter – or eliminate it altogether. By their misguided actions, the plaintiffs have diminished the Church’s role by associating it with a secular court that is obsessed with legalistic constraints fueled by the struggle for authority and power. This very word “power” is at the center of this lawsuit. Many of the plaintiffs were for 30 or more years appointed by former Archbishop Iakovos to committees and bodies of an authoritative nature. Unfortunately, they were given a false impression that they were co-administrators. Yes, a good number of the 34 plaintiffs were very closely associated with him for many decades, which is why their actions against our Church is also a poor reflection on him. Someone could argue that “Iakovos’ pupils” did not learn all these years near him the very basic truth that “the Church is Christ perpetuated through the centuries and it is really unthinkable for Christians to drag Christ to courts and trials. Certainly Archbishop Iakovos feels deep pain in his heart seeing the Church of America, which he served his entire life, now to be taken to the courts – and suffering all the consequences that accompany that action. Nobody disputes the integrity or intentions of the plaintiffs. What is inconceivable is their very act to sue their own Church. In essence, they actually are suing all of us who constitute the Church. Our own donations and offerings will go to pay the legal fees. What a pity! Hierarchs, priests, and laymen have voiced very strong disappointment in the actions of these 34 plaintiffs. Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh, an authority in Orthodox ecclesiology, and professor of Systematic Theology for many years at our Holy Cross Theological School told the Herald that “filing of the lawsuit is an anti-ecclesiastical, anti-Orthodox and protestant act. Those who are suing the Church must be summoned to the spiritual court and cast out from the Orthodox Church.” Also disturbing is the behavior of Archbishop Demetrios, who has remained silent instead of being the first one to come out publicly and take a position on the matter. This unacceptable act against our Church and our Archbishop sets a bad precedent. Now any group who disagrees with specific positions, teachings, and decisions of the Church will feel free to sue it. It’s not as though these 34 plaintiffs don’t have other options. After all, nothing is stopping them from joining the autocephalous Russian Metropolia (OCA) or the autonomous Antiochian Church. Then they will no longer have to concern themselves with the “undue and unfair influences” of Greek ethnicity.
A response to this editorial by Tony Petros,
entitled “OCL has a right to protest” is available
at
http://www.orthodoxnews.netfirms.com/117/OCL
has a right.htm. |
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