Voices from Russia has an interview with Metropolitan Jonah on a few topics (next Patriarch of Moscow, the OCA, Orthodoxy in the New World).
Andrei Shitov: Vladyki, how did Orthodoxy arrive in America? How many Orthodox are there in the USA? What is the general state of Orthodoxy in America, in your opinion?
Metropolitan Jonas: Orthodoxy was originally brought to America by Russian missionaries. With great care, we preserved their spiritual heritage and the influence of Russian traditions is very strong. In total, there are less than one million active Orthodox in the USA. We have about 2,500 parishes and hundreds of monasteries (sic) in the USA. Of these, the OCA has about 650 parishes and 20 monasteries. 30 parishes are directly under the Moscow Patriarchate and the ROCOR has some 100 parishes. There are some 15 different church jurisdictions operating in America. The OCA has about 100,000 active parishioners and it is the second-largest bloc after the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.
As a whole, I would say that Orthodoxy here is still very much a “carryover” from the Old World, in the OCA it is still basically Russian, and the GOA is still basically Greek. By no means has it become a completely “American” phenomenon. However, the essence of the Faith, not the specific cultural expressions of it, is what is important, that we maintain the fullness of our spiritual traditions. This is what we mean when we use the term sobornost (a word weakly translated as “catholicity” or “collegiality”, but, it is much more: editor’s note). I desire that our church should remain a part of the single Orthodox pleroma, but, that it would also acquire some distinctive American features over time.
Andrei Shitov: Please, if you would, describe the relationship of the OCA to the MP.
Metropolitan Jonas: Our church is the “daughter” of the MP. We have had very close relations with the MP, especially after our autocephaly in 1970, and these ties deepened after the fall of the Soviet régime. The OCA became a major source of financial support for the MP...
Metropolitan Jonas: Orthodoxy was originally brought to America by Russian missionaries. With great care, we preserved their spiritual heritage and the influence of Russian traditions is very strong. In total, there are less than one million active Orthodox in the USA. We have about 2,500 parishes and hundreds of monasteries (sic) in the USA. Of these, the OCA has about 650 parishes and 20 monasteries. 30 parishes are directly under the Moscow Patriarchate and the ROCOR has some 100 parishes. There are some 15 different church jurisdictions operating in America. The OCA has about 100,000 active parishioners and it is the second-largest bloc after the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.
As a whole, I would say that Orthodoxy here is still very much a “carryover” from the Old World, in the OCA it is still basically Russian, and the GOA is still basically Greek. By no means has it become a completely “American” phenomenon. However, the essence of the Faith, not the specific cultural expressions of it, is what is important, that we maintain the fullness of our spiritual traditions. This is what we mean when we use the term sobornost (a word weakly translated as “catholicity” or “collegiality”, but, it is much more: editor’s note). I desire that our church should remain a part of the single Orthodox pleroma, but, that it would also acquire some distinctive American features over time.
Andrei Shitov: Please, if you would, describe the relationship of the OCA to the MP.
Metropolitan Jonas: Our church is the “daughter” of the MP. We have had very close relations with the MP, especially after our autocephaly in 1970, and these ties deepened after the fall of the Soviet régime. The OCA became a major source of financial support for the MP...
Complete article here.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment