There is a lot to chew on here. Antioch is being quite clear that they don't like where the Assembly is going or how it is being administered currently. As a result, they are stepping back and putting the breaks on any forward movement. While I may not agree with their response to the impediments, I can see how their perception is matched with the voices of other jurisdictions and how issues like Qatar might be cause for discontent.
(AFR) - In this special edition of Ancient Faith Today, the Very Rev. Fr. Patrick O'Grady of St. Peter the Apostle Antiochian Orthodox Church in Pomona, California, represents the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America in explaining the reasons behind its recent statement at the 6th Assembly of Bishops and why it appeared to many that its long-held support of Orthodox administrative unity has changed.
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It's unfortunate but understandable. I think it's also important to view this as a temporary move governed by political maneuvering (as Fr. O'Grady himself admits in the interview). When the other jurisdictions step up and get Jerusalem to stop prolonging this Qatar issue, we'll see that this was a minor hiccup in a long process with an inevitable conclusion.
ReplyDeleteThere is much much more than the Qatar issue. The EP is trying to be a type of Eastern Pope with universal jurisdiction. That will never happen.
ReplyDeleteBravo Fr. Patrick!!!
This.
DeleteWe aren't having administrative unity any time soon and everybody knows it.
ReplyDeleteIt would be easy to see the situation in Qatar to be one of the causes of the change, if you listen closely, you would understand it as a symptom of the cause. The real cause is the lack of egalitarianism and the cultural hegemony seen in some corners of the church.
ReplyDeleteReading the book by the young St Raphael Hawaweeny of Brooklyn that was part of the reason for his exile to Russia shows it has been going on for a long time.
Until the church in America can meet in equality, confraternity and mutual respect the process of forced unity will feel like more of the same.
In every city the local parishes of various jurisdictions need to meet and work together on a regular basis throughout the year until real local unity develops. And if this is repeated at the state, regional and national level, unity will develop organically. This is what we need to do.
kind of like MEOCCA: http://www.meocca.org/
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