A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 20 - Tuesday, May 18th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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U.S. Greek Orthodox Faithful Urge Ecumenical Patriarch to Heal Rift with Church of Greece Appeal to American Archbishop Demetrios and Lay Leaders to Intervene In Grave Crisis New York (OCL, May 13, 2004) – In an attempt to halt a bitter jurisdictional dispute between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the independent Church of Greece, a group of concerned Greek Orthodox in America called upon Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to rescind his recent action severing relations with the Greek Church. The appeal was contained in a letter sent to the Patriarch by Dr. Peter Haikalis, President of the Orthodox Christian Laity, who also sent similar letters to Archbishop Demetrios, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and Dr. Anthony Limberakis, National Commander of the Archons, a group closely affiliated with the Istanbul-based Patriarch. Dr. Haikalis wrote in his letter that, “For nearly a year, the people of Greece and Greek Orthodox throughout the world have witnessed with great pain the escalating and bitter controversy which has engulfed the Patriarch and the Greek Church.” He added that this dispute has undermined confidence and respect for the Patriarchate, “caused confusion and bewilderment among the faithful” and “thrust Orthodoxy into a cauldron of dissension and disunity. In his letter to Archbishop Demetrios, Haikalis noted that despite the Hierarch’s support for the Patriarchate’s decision, he registered strong opposition to the action. “Because of your principled dissent, we ask that you make every effort to reverse this disproportionate and ill-advised severance with the Church of Greece.” A similar plea was directed to Dr. Limberakis and his fellow Archons. The controversy was provoked when the Patriarchate attempted to nullify a 1928 agreement, which transferred a number of dioceses in Northern Greece from Istanbul to Athens. From that date until Bartholomew’s tenure, every Patriarch and Archbishop of Greece respected the agreement. The issue came to a head last week when, Greek Archbishop Christodoulos filled three Episcopal vacancies in those dioceses prompting Patriarch Bartholomew to invoke such an unprecedented and drastic measure. Earlier this week the Greek Government, in accordance with its laws, approved the appointments made by the synod of the Church of Greece. The action has caused an uproar, and created a political crisis in Greece, prompting some observers to impute “Papist” tendencies to the Patriarchate through similar divisive intrusions in local church affairs in America, Australia and in Europe. In this respect, Haikalis stated that “Orthodox believers world wide rightfully revere the Ecumenical Patriarchate as the spiritual center of our faith, not as a continuing source of jurisdictional controversy and fiction.”
Orthodox Christian Laity, an independent group of
concerned Orthodox communicants, is devoted to
preserving the laity’s historic role in the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and ensuring that
proper and canonical church order is followed. A
major part of this effort was support for the
legal action filed earlier this year asking the
courts to instruct the Archdiocese in New York and
the Patriarchate in Istanbul to rescind an
improperly imposed church charter and abide by its
own rules. |
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