Looking for anyone with some personal insights into what is going on here and any background on previous decisions Abp. Sotirios has been making in these coronal times.
(Orthodox Reflections) - On August 24th 2021 during the feast day of St. Kosmas the Aetolian, Archbishop Sotirios of Canada BANNED the laity from receiving Holy Communion at the monastery of St. Kosmas – established by the late Elder Ephraim of blessed memory just outside of Toronto in 1993.
The Archbishop announced during the service: “ONLY THE NUNS WILL COMMUNE – NO ONE ELSE!” After the sisters communed, the laity were NOT allowed to approach the Holy Chalice as can be seen in the video. Among the hundreds of faithful in attendance were also a very large number of children (of all ages) who remained “uncommuned”. As a result, the faithful respecting the mystery of Holy Communion taking place, waited patiently until after dismissal and began confronting the Archbishop with serious objections during the giving of antidoron, most of which can be heard in the recording.
The issue of Holy Communion in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada has been an ever-evolving subject since June of 2020, which interestingly – has not been a concern for most of the other Orthodox jurisdictions in the province of Ontario. Archbishop Sotirios is constantly applying immense pressure on the sisterhood to adopt the use of multiple spoons for the distribution of communion – we applaud the monastery’s uncompromising stance & stand by their side in defense of our Holy Tradition!
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Arch Sotirios has a controversial management style that some would say is overbearing, many of his own priests have a personal dislike of his style and prefer to have him at a distance. However he has one group accusing him of being a heretic for any restrictions (ie the multiple spoons) and very vehemently against him and he has another group calling the health department on their own churches for practices they feel don't go far enough. His church is also structured as individual very secular Greek community associations that contract a priest from the archdiocese which gives Sotirios very little pastoral control. Often these communities have internal cultural clashes with the Ephramite Monastary focused bible study associations that have formed. Finally, laity and priests have left to the old calendarists or ROCOR. So I feel for his difficult position, but he doesn't seem to being winning this pastoral challenge.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that this decision at the monastery is his attempt to pastorally balance his diocese wide restriction, with the objection of the monastery. (ie they are one family so can partake of a single spoon [and the monastery potentially not wanting to rock the boat with many of its supporters or against it theologically, im not sure] ). Not to the like of this group in attendance.
Thanks for these details Michael L, as they point to the underlying ontological problem (i.e. how to "be" Orthodox in a secular culture, and the fallen world) for which spoons and bible studies are symbolical pawns on the board so to speak between integrationists and pietistic traditionalists.
DeletePrecisely, as BasilCan said in another comment ") The big "Elephant in the Nave" really is the divisions within the Canadian Greek Church. At one end the secular Hellenists that see the GOC has the protector of Greek culture and at the other end the fundamentalist Ephraimite Greeks who see the GOC as too compromising to the Canadian secular culture. In between is the torn majority. To add to this is the fact that Met Soterios is a divisive and strong leader and few people don't have a passionate opinion about him (pro or against). Met Soterios by calling some of his people "pagans" has just added to this division."
DeleteYou have me thinking Michael, I wonder (just thinking out loud) if there is any action at all that a hiearch could take that would not "add to this division"? He has to make some decision(s) regarding ordo (in relation to the pandemic or anything else). Given that the division is on one level "dogmatic" and fundamental, the status quo of two different dogma's sharing the same liturgy/beliefs/praxis, I see any leadership as a no win. This is why IMO so often clergy/heiarchs often don't lead, just letting the status quo and momentum of a conservative tradition/praxis carry the day, and it often does. However the cracks are really starting to appear, and the symptoms of this de facto non-leadership such as jurisdictioinalism, the Integrationalist/Traditionalist divide, the poor record of passing the faith on through the generations, all this and more is revealing how Orthodoxy is not "taking" in western civ.
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Delete"For the healing of soul and body".Humm.... some really believe that this is not "TRULY"the Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour JesusChrist??? That this is not "TRULY" for the healing of soul and BODY.Useing one spoon from mouth to mouth the Lord transfers the virus to each of us. REALLY???
ReplyDeleteAll good points Jake. I think the one thing that could be done differently is fostering trust and listening to detractors, I think OCA bishops that mandated restrictions as a "pastoral decision" had less push-back than Sotirios.
ReplyDeleteAnaxios!
ReplyDeleteEven one spoon was an innovation once. Honestly, these spoon-wielding modernists with the Lamb taking a swim in the chalice!
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