A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
|
|
|
| Volume 6 Number 22 - Tuesday, June 1st, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
|
• Search
Engine
•
OCN
Website
|
The Orthodox Christian News Service |
|
|
Church Conflict Nears an End
Minister of Education Marietta Yiannakou was instrumental in arbitrating the dispute and getting both sides to come to an agreement. The agreement provides for a public proclamation on behalf of the Church of Greece that the Code of 1850 that proclaimed the Autocephalous status of the Church of Greece is fully respected. The agreement also provides that the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Praxis of 1928, which gave administrative control of the New Lands to Greece, is fully and totally respected and in complete effect.
An
orgy of behind-the-scenes Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece has called the Holy Synod of the Hierarchy of Greece into a special meeting for Friday May 28, to consider Archbishop Christodoulos’ suggestion that the Church of Greece respects the Patriarchal Code, (Tomos), of 1850 and also the Praxis of 1928 in its totality. The Synod’s decision will be sent the same day to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Patriarch Bartholomaios will review the decision and he will call the Broaden Great Synod, which consists of 41 members—the same hierarchs that took part in talks on Friday, April 30. The Patriarchal Synod will validate Patriarch Bartholomaios’ decision to lift the sanctions against the Church of Greece and its Prelate, Archbishop Christodoulos. Specifically, the Synod will lift the Eucharistic suspension of Archbishop Christodoulos. It will also recognize the validity of the election and ordination of the new Metropolitans of the Metropolises of the New Lands: Anthimos of Thessalonica, Chrysostomos of Elefteroupolis and Pavlos of Kozani. Archbishop Demetrios of America will also partake in the Broaden Great Patriarchal Synod as he did on April 30, when he voiced his disagreement, but ultimately signed the sanctions, a move that was called hypocritical by many in the Greek American community. The above-mentioned three new Metropolitans were sworn in before the President of the Hellenic Republic Constantinos Stephanopoulos, which means that the legal aspect of their elections and ordinations has been completed. Their enthronements will take place after the official proclamation of the agreement between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church of Greece.
Sources told the National Herald that an orgy of behind-the-scenes maneuverings was in the works at the Phanar to prevent hierarchs of the New Lands from participating in the May 28 Synod. By denying communion with Archbishop Christodoulos, any hierarch that communicated with him would automatically be placed outside of communion. The Hierarchy of Greece consists of 80 hierarchs. According to Greek law (Law Number 590), 50 percent plus one must be present in order for the Synod to have a quorum, which means that 40 hierarchs are needed, plus the Archbishop, in order for the Synod to be proclaimed valid. Archbishop Stylianos of Australia, who belongs directly to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as does Archbishop Demetrios of America, entered the chorus of the crisis as well. In an extensive Archdiocesan newspaper article entitled, “To Vima tis Ecclesias,” Archbishop Stylianos blames both Patriarch Bartholomaios and Archbishop Christodoulos for the crisis. He said the Church has arrived at this situation because canonically the Synodal system doesn’t work. He has long been a critic of the system, and he has urged the Patriarch to open up the Synod to the entire hierarchy and not to limit it to twelve persons. The unacceptable situation we have arrived at between the Autocephalous Church of Greece and the Mother Church of Constantinople, has been due to hypocrisy, isolationism, imperiousness, and the immeasurable ambition of the ‘Primate.’
The Primate
should always have in practice on a daily basis
the collegiality and co-responsibility of the
entire Hierarchy of his throne, no matter how big
the size or number of his faithful.” |
|
Home • Archives • Search • Submissions • Support Us |
||
|
Orthodox News, PO BOX 6954 |
