Thursday, May 26, 2016

Ecumenical Patriarchate makes her position clear

Raise your hand if you agree on both of these rubricated points as settled matters.


(GOARCH) - For the next fourteen days, we'll be profiling the autocephalous Orthodox churches that comprise the Holy and Great Council. The first profile is of the Ecumenical Patriarchate which was established by Saint Andrew the Apostle in 37 A.D. Its primate is His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who has the status of primus inter pares (“first among equals”) among Orthodox bishops. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate includes Constantinople, Asia Minor, Mount Athos, Crete, northern Greece and the Dodecanese. According to the canons of the Church, all regions beyond the official ecclesial boundaries of each local autocephalous Church come under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, including, inter alia, North and South America, Western Europe, Asia, and Australia. It is one of the five ancient patriarchates, which also include Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Rome. The Ecumenical Patriarchate has the responsibility of being the Church of final appeal in Orthodoxy, and it is the only Church that may establish autocephalous and autonomous Churches.

12 comments:

  1. "... established by Saint Andrew the Apostle." ??? Sounds about as pompously inflated as some of the specious claims which have emanated from a certain other city located 860 air miles to the west of Istanbul. Do these guys really believe their own hustle...?

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  3. So, Pope Bart has rigged this "council" in at least two ways. First, by packing the invitation list with a majority of those whose vote he controls by "loyalty" or intimidation (actual or implied.) Second, by controlling the agenda. What kind of "ecumenical council" is that?

    Bart is 76 years old. Maybe the next guy will be less of an autocrat on a power aggrandizement trip. Surely even Athens must be getting tired of him by now. Since Athens has no money, it must be New York which is floating his boat. Maybe the Orthodox world should just wait this guy out and hope and pray for something better on the next go-round.

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  4. Reminds me of Lutheran Satire videos. They should really make one about this. Gee, this is going to go over well. NOT.

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  5. Too silly to warrant a serious reply.

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  6. I did notice the lack of a link to the council where all the other churches agreed to this.
    Of course, I don't know if it would matter, because such an agreement would be a serious alteration to tradition, if I understand things correctly.

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  7. It looks like they took it down from their facebook page...

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  8. So much for waiting for the council to discuss things.

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  9. So much for waiting for the council to discuss things.

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