Thank you for the thoughtful discussion. Looking forward to the American Orthodox film project based on the book, American Orthodox: Finding the Ancient Faith in the Modern World.
The real definition of autocephaly is "I have the power necessary to rule, and God hasn't stopped me". Lawyers will always concoct reasons to squeal for or against, but powerbrokers are the ones who make the real decisions. Our Lord is simply the greatest powerbroker, the perfect one in fact.
From "St. Philaret of New York, His Collected Works" page 142 "...when this very poor confused metropolia received autocephaly, before receiving it, it was freed by the Soviet heirarchy from the prohibition that lay on it... It means that from 1947 to 1970 they were under the ban of the church authority, which they recognized as authorized, because they accepted autocephaly from it... Thats the truth of the matter, theyre avoiding it and trying to keep it quiet. But this is a fact. If the granting of autocephaly is legal and the removal of the ban is legal, then the imposition was legal, legitimate."
As a Catholic I find the structure of the Orthodox church in America really confusing. In my home town in Georgia, we have two small Orthodox churches. One is under the Moscow Patriarch the other the Greek Patriarch. For these two small parishes to be under two different bishops seems to be dysfunctional. I have met and spoke with both parish priest and there is definitely a difference in how our conversations go. One is very welcoming and wants to have good relations with the local Catholic parishes the other puts on a good face, but has no interest in building fraternal relations. It only makes sense for the OCA to be Autocephaly under it's own governance. I am curious that since Orthodox recognize that the Bishop of Rome is the Patriarch of the west, how would this work in a unified church. There are a lot of Orthodox talking heads on UA-cam and many of them don't all sing from the same hymnal, I believe giving the OCA total independence would go a long way in overcoming the ethnic divides and structures that hinders the orthodox church in America. History has a long memory, the old world is still hindered by those memories, leave those memories in the past, and do not drag them into the OCA. America could be the seed bed for a new flowering of relationships between east and west. Let us be obedient to our Lords prayer "May they all be one" Pax domini sit semper vobiscum.
The so-called “Orthodox Church in America” is nothing more than a Moscow project designed to eventually swallow up the other Orthodox churches in America and put them to work for Putin and his ilk.
This is an honest discussion and I am thankful this being posted publicly
Thank you for the thoughtful discussion. Looking forward to the American Orthodox film project based on the book, American Orthodox: Finding the Ancient Faith in the Modern World.
The real definition of autocephaly is "I have the power necessary to rule, and God hasn't stopped me". Lawyers will always concoct reasons to squeal for or against, but powerbrokers are the ones who make the real decisions. Our Lord is simply the greatest powerbroker, the perfect one in fact.
From "St. Philaret of New York, His Collected Works" page 142
"...when this very poor confused metropolia received autocephaly, before receiving it, it was freed by the Soviet heirarchy from the prohibition that lay on it... It means that from 1947 to 1970 they were under the ban of the church authority, which they recognized as authorized, because they accepted autocephaly from it... Thats the truth of the matter, theyre avoiding it and trying to keep it quiet. But this is a fact. If the granting of autocephaly is legal and the removal of the ban is legal, then the imposition was legal, legitimate."
Ok. Well, that’s the past. Next.
In the end pragmatic reality wins over legal reality.
@@KnoxEmDown pretty materialistic & narrow view, to my mind. Nothing of the Spirit?
As a Catholic I find the structure of the Orthodox church in America really confusing. In my home town in Georgia, we have two small Orthodox churches. One is under the Moscow Patriarch the other the Greek Patriarch. For these two small parishes to be under two different bishops seems to be dysfunctional. I have met and spoke with both parish priest and there is definitely a difference in how our conversations go. One is very welcoming and wants to have good relations with the local Catholic parishes the other puts on a good face, but has no interest in building fraternal relations. It only makes sense for the OCA to be Autocephaly under it's own governance. I am curious that since Orthodox recognize that the Bishop of Rome is the Patriarch of the west, how would this work in a unified church. There are a lot of Orthodox talking heads on UA-cam and many of them don't all sing from the same hymnal, I believe giving the OCA total independence would go a long way in overcoming the ethnic divides and structures that hinders the orthodox church in America. History has a long memory, the old world is still hindered by those memories, leave those memories in the past, and do not drag them into the OCA. America could be the seed bed for a new flowering of relationships between east and west. Let us be obedient to our Lords prayer "May they all be one" Pax domini sit semper vobiscum.
The so-called “Orthodox Church in America” is nothing more than a Moscow project designed to eventually swallow up the other Orthodox churches in America and put them to work for Putin and his ilk.
Yet another confirmation ROCOR-MP has fallen away from the legacy of "old ROCOR" by accepting the 2007 union.