EP calls different Paschal dates a "scandal"
( Orthodox Times ) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew extended in his homily his heartfelt wishes to all the non-Orthodox Christians who celebrated the Holy Easter on Sunday, March 31, after presiding over the Sunday Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Theodore of the Community of Vlanga. “On this day, the timeless message of the Resurrection resonates more profoundly than ever, as our non-Orthodox Christian brethren and sisters commemorate the resurrection of our Lord from the dead, celebrating Holy Easter. We have already sent our representatives to all the Christian Communities of the confessions here, to extend our heartfelt wishes of the Holy Great Church of Christ and our Patriarchal congratulations. But also from this position we extend a heartfelt greeting of love to all Christians around the world who celebrate Holy Easter today. We beseech the Lord of Glory that the forthcoming Easter celebration next year will not merely be a fortuitous occurrence, but rather the beginning...
The representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was fully robed and planned to take part & then disrobed in a huff and DID NOT concelebrate. There are 2 versions of the story goinground round: 1) he refused to concelebrate with the Metr. of the OCA because the EP does not recognise the autocephaly of the OCA. This does not make sense because hierarchy of the EP I am sure have concelebrated with the OCA haven't they? 2) the reason given in this story: http://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/confessional/orthodox_relations/57391/
ReplyDeleteno that is true....the EP does not recognize the OCA because of the OCA's claim to be the first and most "universal" north american orthodox church...what bothered me is that this edtition chopped up the most beautiful part of the Divine Liturgy, the Cherubic Hymn! - it doesn't take long at all, and it amounts to a grotesgue censoring of the most heavenly part of the music in Divine Liturgy!
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