Friday, November 02, 2018

Constantinople Abolishes Ukrainian Orthodox Church

In case anyone was thinking (as briefly was I) that this business in Ukraine was a nasty tiff and maybe with some help from the other local churches this would get smoothed over...

The self governing Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) has been abolished according to one of the exarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Additionally all former hierarchs and clergy of the former UOC (MP) are to now consider themselves under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Archbishop Job of Telmessos also asserted that if necessary the Ecumenical Patriarchate could rescind the autocephalous status of the Russian Orthodox Church as it has the authority to do so with any church whose autocephaly was not granted by an Oecuemnical Council.

I don't see much hope for reconciliation after that. Moscow is not going to ever reenter into communion with a "mother church" that thinks it can revoke the independence of the Russian Church at will. How can the EP climb down from these kinds of statements?

"Sorry guys. The Turks slipped some acid into our drinking water."

I will be fascinated to see how the rest of the Orthodox world reacts to this.

Sources...
1 & 2

6 comments:

William Tighe said...

The only action of the Pope of Old Rome that approaches this is Pius VII's deposition a few obstreperous French bishops (both monarchists and constitutionalists) following the Concordat of 1801. I didn't know that the Apostle Andrew had left such a kleronomia to the obscure St. Stachys. Or was it Constantine and Constantius who made that bequest, whether to Eusebius (of Nicomedia) or Macedonius who can say? In any event, it is a perfect example of what Fr. John Hunwicke has termed "Hypersuperueberpapalism."

Fr. Yousuf said...

Like Dr Tighe, I will post this again:

Dr Tighe and many others may be interested in what an sharp Roman Catholic might do with some of these ecclesiological claims.
Here, a convert to Rome from Geneva has a tightly argued, clearly written argument:

http://www.calledtocommunion.com/2011/06/kallistos-ware-orthodox-catholic-union/#comment-70100

(That's at comment 285 if you end up scrolling).

William Tighe said...

Thank you, Fr. Yousuf, for that link. What an elegant evisceration of the primus sine paribus claims for C'ple advanced by Metropolitan Elpidophoros! It seems unanswerable.

Stephen said...

Where's the silver lining...is there a silver lining?...let's mix metaphors...can any lemonade be made from these lemons??

ah, maybe this...

I am reminded in the Godfather of Clemenza telling Michael Corleone that it was good to have an internal war every few decades or so, "to get all the bad blood out." So, although it's been a few centuries in this case, this was a long-time coming anyway, and now that it's here, might as well have it out.

I will leave it up to others to determine if the conversation from The Godfather I reference can or should be used any more, as the actual metaphor for the internal war was "going to the mattresses."

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Stephen - reality always eventually wins. The Imperial model is breaking down because there's no longer an Empire. I have no idea what replaces it, but it will be replaced.

Archimandrite Gregory said...

We have three apostolic sees left--Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem. Let them serve as a check on the least pre eminent in terms of time, Constantinople, a creation of a council and the emperor.