The Antiochian issue

American clergy and laity of the Antiochian archdiocese have been eagerly awaiting the final word from Damascus on the "auxiliary" status of their bishops. Every time I ready to post an update another source gives me a conflicting report. The latest report has been repeated enough that I can paraphrase the resulting document: the earlier declaration is affirmed, the bishops are auxiliary to the metropolitan (though some are quibbling as to whether is means in the service of and not really auxiliary bishops), and none of the bishops can set up another archdiocese. It might also be worth noting that Metropolitan Jonah (OCA) spoke over the weekend about a "merging" of the Antiochian and OCA bodies in the US.