As a point of clarification, the Syriac Orthodox Church is in communion with the Oriental Orthodox.
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Cedar Grove, NJ (SCOOCH) – The members of the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches were informed at their April 2013 meeting by H.E. Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim that the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch has received into Holy Communion thousands of members of an independent Roman Catholic body formerly known as the “Renewed Ecumenical Catholic Church of Guatemala”.
The movement, based in Guatemala and southern Mexico with a substantial membership in the Western United States, embraces a community of between 600,000-800,000 members, the overwhelming majority of which come from indigenous ethnic groups and live in extreme poverty. It uses a modified Roman Catholic liturgy. The group’s leader, Eduardo Aguirre Oestmann, who had previously been consecrated as a bishop by a prelate of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (of the vagante Duarte Costa line), was received into the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch as Archbishop Mor Yacoub and invested with the staff of the Patriarchal Vicariate of Guatemala on March 6, 2013 at the Monastery of St. Jacob Baradeaus in Atshaneh-Bikfaya, Beirut, Lebanon.
The Standing Conference congratulates the members of this community on their reception into the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and prays for the growth of Orthodox faith and practice among their faithful.
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Is this the same group that was in discussions with Metropolitan Anthanagoros of Mexico of the Ecumenical Patriarchate?
ReplyDeleteOh my. I don't want to jump the gun, but the name alone screams liberal Protestant pretend Catholics. I just hope the Syriacs checked this guy and his "church's" beliefs out very carefully. Most Orthodox keep these groups at arms length and don't recognize their orders. Way too many of them have sketchy backgrounds and their beliefs are often more in line with the Episcopalians than Apostolic Christianity.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very very bad idea. Very very bad. And I hope the Syriacs do not learn this to their dismay and sorrow.
ReplyDeleteFrom my understanding of the way the OO church works, they will pit the clamp-down on any unorthodox behavior and doctrine once this church has been within the fold a bit. There will most likely be those who leave once that happens, but there will also be those who stay.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Bad, bad idea. I've seen vagantes received en masse continuing their stupidity or apostasizing shortly after. Mostly because they were never made to face and deal with the TRUTH:
ReplyDelete**That they were never a "church" to begin with, just a bunch of grown ups playing dress up and doing things THEIR own way. The phrase "independent catholic" is as much of an oxymoron as "chaste virgin".**
When people are allowed to cling to the idea that their past beliefs have to be validated, then they just return to them when the going gets rough. Why wouldn't they? It wasn't incorrect, just "a necessary part of their path" (to postmoderns, everything is about the narrative/life as movie).
I've seen it even in individual vagante parishes who joined the church. A recent example from Miami comes to mind. This will come back to bite the Syrians.
Sorry, that should read "unchaste virgin". Got my adjectives crossed. :)
DeleteAny association with the independent Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church is problematic. It was a prelate of that church who also consecrated Rómulo Antonio Braschi a bishop. Braschi was the person who, in 2002, ordained seven Roman Catholic women (the Danube Seven).
ReplyDeleteI believe this is the Guatemala churches web site: http://www.icergua.org/latam/english/index.html
Why is this a bad idea, when it was such a good idea for the Greek Archdiocese to receive 200k indigenous converts in Guatemala? I only heard good things about that.
ReplyDeleteWere those indigenous converts unchurched, were they former Roman Catholics who after exposure to Orthodoxy decided to be catechized and convert, or were they members of a semi-organized "independent church" with hierarchy ordained by vagantes and maintaining willful independence from any real, historical church in order to do things *their way* and pursue their own agendas?
DeleteBecause it makes a big difference.
I understand they were an independent church, but still somewhat unchurched. I think they may both have been part of the same "renewal" movement. You may read about it in a number of places if you wish. Just use google. Or read this.
Deletehttp://oodegr.com/english/ierapostoli/xwres/Guatemala/latin_america_orthodoxy.htm
The negative reactions here I found strange because it was overwhelmingly positive to the group received by the Greeks led by Fr. Andre Giron. I wondered if it was in part envy over the fact that they chose the Non-Chalcedonians over the Chalcedonians.
You are quite correct in your assessment. There will be big problems in this if a headstrong and wilful disposition underlies the actions of these bishops (or the only the desire for the "legitimacy" of apostolic succession).
In my opinion the Syrian Orthodox church of Antioch has the more difficult task in evangelizing these people. I think, not only because the "renewed ecumenical catholic church of Guatemala" is bigger but because the Syrians have so little resources for such a task.
Orthodoxy, thank God, is on the radar of Latin Americans.
Very surprised that this step was taken, as Eduardo Aguirre was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church in 2006. See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1914625/posts
ReplyDeleteImagined if the reverse occurred and the Catholic Church took in an Orthodox excommunicate... the uproar
ReplyDelete