www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Antiochian Bishops Reduced to Auxiliary Status

Sorry - I meant the AOA!

This is a different sort of "innovation" though. The converts to the AOA are largely extremely politically and socially conservative; even if not "traditionalists" in the Orthodox sense. You could draw a parallel to the Protestant converts in the US RCC of the Novus Ordo neocon variety; who by listening to you would think the church started at Vatican II. They're not "liberals" though.


It's not a healthy development in my opinion.

Sometimes, when converts are received en masse, concessions and exceptions are made for the salvation of souls and the greater, long-term good of the Church. This is one way of looking at "oikonomia."

When they received the Evangelical Orthodox, the Antiochians allowed certain liturgical adaptations in order to help the transition to fuller Orthodox worship. Perhaps allowing this group in the Philippines to use the NO Mass is a way to receive them into the Church and gradually build upon their present liturgical experience. Within time, maybe they will adopt the Byzantine rite, or even a more traditional Roman rite like the US Western Rite parishes.

Dave

Not only is this quite strange, and not only does it smack of certain hierarchs seeking to gain "power" at the expense of other hierarchs (how often have I not been told that Orthodoxy insists that all the bishops are equal?), but there is a living, breathing witness to lack of authenticity of this in the Church of Antioch - I refer to the Greek-Catholic Patriarchate, which in principle has no auxiliary bishops, and will reluctantly make an exception only in cases of sheer necessity.

Fr. Serge

LC,

If you read Articles 75 and 76

Article 75

The Patriarch is the reference point of all bishops in Damascus, Patriarchal Monasteries and Vicariates; and they are under his authority.

Article 76

The Metropolitan is the point of reference of all bishops in his Archdiocese and they are under his authority.

It becomes clear that "their" in Article 77 refers to the Patriarch and the Metropolitans in their respective capacities.

Many years,

Neil

So, do Articles 76 and 77 mean that the metropolitans are the only "true" bishops in the Antiochian jurisdiction?

And, by extension, does Article 75 mean that the metropolitans are merely auxiliaries of the patriarch?

And, are the freshly demoted bishops going to accept this?

Thank you for clarifying this. As for my remaining points, I think they are still valid.

Like everyone else, I'm completely perplexed by this action. I have read a number of Orthodox writings which criticize the very concept of an "auxiliary" bishop; one bishop is the head of one particular church (diocese), period. Yet this seems to create auxiliaries on a scale unheard of even in the Catholic Church.

Perhaps they mean something different by their use of the term "auxiliary"?

That myth is certainly crashing down.

I think the word used (معاون) is the usual Arabic word for "auxiliary."

If you read the Archpastoral directive of March 3, 2009 [antiochian.org] from Metropolitan PHILIP, he repeats that only the Metropolitan is to be commemorated in all liturgies, while the auxiliary bishop is to be commemorated only when actually present at the liturgy.

This is confusing because the Archdiocesan website lists nine dioceses [antiochian.org], each with its own bishop or locum tenens:

• Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic (Bishop THOMAS)
• Diocese of Eagle River and the Northwest (Bishop JOSEPH, locum tenens)
• Diocese of Los Angeles and the West (Bishop JOSEPH)
• Diocese of Miami and the Southeast (Bishop ANTOUN)
• Diocese of New York and Washington, D.C. (Metropolitan PHILIP)
• Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York (Bishop ALEXANDER)
• Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest (Bishop MARK)
• Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America (Bishop BASIL)
• Diocese of Worcester and New England (Metropolitan PHILIP)

Normally, I would assume that the diocesan bishop would be commemorated in all liturgies within his own diocese.

But now it is said that these "dioceses" are not in fact dioceses, and the bishops are not diocesan bishops at all.

I wonder how long it will take before the archdiocesan website is changed to reflect this new reality, and how the change will be explained.

This is all deeply depressing. Frankly, I'm reconsidering my own vocation. I do know that numerous clergy did not read this letter on Sunday and that many are VERY unhappy about this. I would hate to do this but if things really start going in the wrong direction, I might just jump over to the OCA or ROCOR. Anyway, I pray for all of our leaders.

Joe

Chrsit is in our midst!! He is and always will be!!

Let's get back to Great Lent's self-examination. This action is something that has to do with internal Church administration and directly affects few of us. Second-guessing what this means and how it affects the Church only diverts our attention from what it is we are to be doing in this season of penance. Teh Enemy is into diverting our attention and ruining our Great Lent movement toward Christ.

These actions are far over my head. My question to those who are upset is whether this changes the reality of the Divine Liturgy being able to take place in the parishes each Sunday and Holy Day; whether this directly affects the ability of the believers to have the Lord of All touch us directly and intimately in the Liturgy; and whether this makes it impossible for me to respond to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in His reaching out to me. Does this mean I won't rise on the Last Day? If not, let's let it play out and get back to our ascetic efforts.

Remember Great Lent is our chance to get back to the roots of what it means to be a Christian and our response to God's reaching out to us first.

In Christ,

BOB

Joe,

If I were you I would be worried too, but I would not jump to any conclusions before learning all the facts. Also, as Christians we are called to be obedient to our Pastors, even (and especially!) when we don't agree with them.

Yes, very true. Okay, I'm calming down now. Blessings,

Joe