You might wonder how this prohibition on communing the Greek faithful came to be. Orthochristian.com seems to point squarely at their own Greek community. Shocking but not without precedent. Many people attempted to put their fingers on the scales of justice at the parish and diocesan level in many jurisdictions. This is unique in that it worked with 100% effectiveness. May God have mercy on their souls.
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Here's my question...
ReplyDeleteHow do they have a liturgy now without the Eucharist? I know people can voluntarily refrain from receiving the Eucharist but the entire purpose of the liturgy is to consecrate the bread and wine as holy sacrifice of God's body. No Eucharist=no liturgy.
I agree, if this happened to me I would switch to typika or matins
DeleteI was taking with a priest who how hard it is with people from both sides ("it's a persecution" and "your going to kill people") and how he just wished the bishop would direct to restore taxis. This really shows the folly of the system where the community organisations "hire a priest" from the diocese.
ReplyDeleteI would point out that Toronto Ukrainian Catholics (a dozen parishes in the city) gave gotten explicit permission to do communion with a face shield. Other ortodox churches are communing, across Canada they are communing. In my experience public health has been reasonable when approached by church authorities to try to find a balance. This isn't some government persecution thing.
I doubt that inspectors came to the church without a complaint. I suspect the diocese suspended while they get something in writing like the Catholics.
DeleteOTOH, the other Orthodox and Eastern Catholic communities aren't cancelling the liturgy...
DeleteNE7 I think the fact that the diocese is facing a fine in the tens of thousands of dollars, has caused them to be so heavy handed.
DeleteHere's the real reason there's no Eucharist in Toronto. Lord, have mercy!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/978e-COVID-19-Guidance-for-Places-of-Worship.pdf?fbclid=IwAR16mkLfOGloHYbMVbQI3H-m4Lw96wP3KKpZhLseqOJ9yWTAmAJf4-2T3ZM
During past visits to the stavropegial Serbian convent in northern Indiana, no one communed except for the priest. On rare occassions when visiting a very small child would be communed and a small number of nuns (and I believe that was only at the very end of the Nativity or Dormition fasts). That's was the tradition for most Orthodox for much/most of its history.
ReplyDeleteOr, as a religiously restless (promiscuous?) internet wag has said of the Catholic church: "Frequent communion was mistake."
Are there no examples of Orthodox churches being closed during past pandemics of plague, cholera, etc.? If so, how can the current situation be determined "persecution"?
ReplyDeleteThe only persecution suffered in Toronto is that brought by laypeople who ‘own’ four parishes there and apparently want clergy to feel their power. I hope the Metropolitan there can exert some of his own authority. Metr. Isaiah interdicted one of his parishes when the laity ‘went rogue’. Things like this happen when unchurched people are in control of churches.
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