Another Sign for a Council
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More evidence that the mythical great and holy Council is desperately needed in the Church:
Today’s Orthodox consciousness tends to be held captive by the needs and requirements of the Orthodox diasporas. Let it be clearly understood that the large and often growing Orthodox national and cultural diasporas of today are worthy of pastoral care and missionary work. This is not only a legitimate concern of the Orthodox Church – it is an inescapable responsibility. Yet it must also be well-understood and accepted that the Orthodox Christians of Western culture and Western languages are equally worthy of pastoral care. And if the “universality†or “catholicity†of the Orthodox Church is to be evident today, the ability of Orthodoxy to be more than an “immigrant†Church is critically important.
Sadly, when faced with serious questions and challenges of contemporary life and mission the Orthodox Church is either in a state of paralysis and immobility, or in a state of crisis and confrontation. Questions are not answered and solutions are not found at either one of these extremes, but in the middle ground of reflection and thoughtful common action. Will the answers to the current painful questions found within the very small Diocese of Sourozh and within the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Moscow offer signs of impasse and stagnation, or signs of hope?
Read more: Orthodox Church in America News: UK diocesan crisis tests Church’s mission to all
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2 Responses to “Another Sign for a Council”
Copyright © 2002–2011 Kevin Robert (Basil) Fritts, all rights reserved.
June 12th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
[…] How has it taken so long for news of this to find me? Coincidentally, a comment by a long-time reader yesterday on an unrelated post led me to a website which brings the crisis in Great Britain into relief. […]
September 1st, 2006 at 5:40 am
As an external (Catholic) observer I am so saddened by the Orthodox witness to internal disunity. Western Catholicism has had just as much through the centuries,
I know, but the principle of authority and holding Christian communion (and community) together according to the prayer of Christ must surely be paramount. I know the orthodox idea of regional and cultural autonomy is fundamental, but to turn this into seperatism is to to throw the baby out with the bathwater ?
Can’t someone make the orthodox be ONE church, not a loose affiliation of churches ? I’m not suggesting papal authority, but there are times when by comparison to this, it has some virtues in terms of universal Catholic communion and cohesion.
I am also surprised by how saddened and angry this has made me, maybe because I value and care about Orthodoxy and its traditions and Christian depth so much.
Please get your act together, please. Eastern Christianity is so important to all
of us, even if not orthodox. Our stable may have it messes (and it does) but please give us news of unity, not internal divisions. Tell us the good news, please !
William Swabey
England
00 44 1225 866047