A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 32 - Tuesday, August 10th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Orthodox Christian Laity Call the Congress a Sham In what is being called a sham by many delegates, the final day of the Clergy-Laity Congress saw a new set of Uniform Parish Regulations (UPR) rammed down the throats of delegates, some of who were barely aware of the contents of the 42-page document, at the final Plenary session Thursday afternoon. The Archdiocese, which did not follow its own rule that requires parishes receive proposed UPR’s a minimum of 60 days prior to the Clergy-Laity Congress, caused confusion as many delegates did not have the opportunity to carefully study the regulations and their implications. Instead of the 60-day requirement, delegates and parishes barely had two weeks to review and understand the new regulations. As a result, the appropriate committee, which was scheduled to complete its work on Tuesday, met in an extra session on Wednesday but still didn’t have enough time to complete discussion of the complicated regulations. Normally, a committee completes its work and presents a report to the Plenary session to be voted upon. In the case of the UPR’s, considered the most important part of the Congress’ work this year, inadequate lead time forced discussion at the final Plenary session. Consequently, they were discussed briefly and were essentially “pushed through,” as some delegates started leaving the meeting in disgust. In an unprecedented move, as it appeared the work might not be completed prior to the mandatory end time of the Congress’ official business, Archbishop Demetrios spoke to the delegates and, in effect, suggested how they should vote to speed the process. Frankly, we are all beside ourselves. We’ve been working extremely hard over the past six months gaining support for our cause all over the country, and what happens? The Archdiocese changes the rules at the last second, so our voice can’t be heard. Well, this is simply one battle in a larger war, and we are NOT going to give up our Church that easily. In addition to the way in which the UPR’s were handled, there were several requests to discuss the improperly imposed Charter currently being recognized by Archbishop Demetrios. All requests were overruled, as the delegates were simply ignored. We are extremely disappointed in both the way in which procedures were followed, as well as with the outcome of this Clergy-Laity Congress. But Frankly, we are more disappointed in the way the “leadership” is conducting the business of running the Greek Orthodox Church. It’s unconscionable!
Peter Haikalis,
OCL President |
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