U.S. Orthodox on quest for autonomy

Christian Century, July 17, 2002 by John Dart

JUST WEEKS before the biennial Clergy-Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese met in Los Angeles around the Fourth of July, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America announced it had been granted autonomous status by its mother church--a degree of independence long sought by many Greek Orthodox leaders in the New World.

About 750 Congress delegates, after hours of discussion, approved by voice vote on July 3 an amended charter that includes provisions for appointing local bishops and nominating three candidates for the U.S.-based archbishopric when that position is vacant. About 70 percent approved the final document, according to one estimate.

But the Greek Orthodox bid for self-governance, sent to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos in Istanbul, faces difficult odds. A similar request by the archdiocese two years ago was rejected by the patriarchate.

Coincidentally, the Antiochian archdiocese also had met in Los Angeles in July, one year ago, when it passed overwhelmingly a petition to Antiochian Patriarch Ignatius IV in Damascus, Syria, asking for administrative autonomy. It was the Antiochian church's first such request, and a spokesman said U.S. leaders were rather confident it would be approved.

The relatively small Romanian Orthodox Church in America, based in the Detroit area, received autonomous status in 1951. "Autonomy" means that a North American church keeps its doctrinal and ecclesiastical ties to the worldwide see, whereas the Russian-heritage Orthodox Church in America, for instance, won complete independence (autocephaly) in 1970.

Antiochian Metropolitan Philip, returning from Damascus last month, announced that autonomy for the archdiocese--based in Englewood, New Jersey--was accepted on June 13. "This will render their witness more powerful and more effective, as they identify with the civilization of North America," said the Synod of Antioch decision.

"We have very good news," Metropolitan Philip wrote in a June 27 letter to be read in the 238 Antiochian parishes and missions. "The Holy Synod of Antioch has blessed and recognized the autonomy of our God-protected Archdiocese, not `in theory' as it was wrongly reported, but in reality." The archdiocese also has chancery offices in Toledo, Ohio; Wichita, Kansas, and Los Angeles. A committee jointly appointed by Patriarch Ignatius and Metropolitan Philip will write a constitution for the newly autonomous archdiocese.

By contrast, the New York-based Greek Orthodox Archdiocese's relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate have been filled with conflict. In 1994, former Archbishop Iakovos convened a meeting in Pennsylvania where U.S. bishops from most Orthodox jurisdictions decided that their churches should move toward "organically becoming an administratively united Church."But Patriarch Bartholomeos disliked the suggestion of a united American Orthodox church, much less autonomy for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America.

A 15-year-old lay-led group, Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL), has advocated a more conciliar approach to governance. OCL was a leader in a U.S. revolt against the ecumenical patriarch's appointment in the mid-1990s of Archbishop Spyridon to head the archdiocese. Though born in the U.S., Spyridon reflected Old World leadership styles, and in 1999 he was ousted under great pressure from OCL and others.

OCL leaders lately criticized a revised charter received from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, saying it curtailed the freedom and health of U.S. churches. During the charter debate, four "concerns" were added as amendments subject to the patriarch's approval. The debate chairman ruled out of order a motion to ask Bartholomeos to grant autonomy to the North American church, but several of the "concerns" included electing bishops locally, nominating three names for archbishop and making sure that such candidates "have a minimum of five years in the church in America."

George Kacazas, a delegate from Glenview, Illinois, was frustrated at the outcome. "This was a railroad job," Kacazas told Religion News Service. Another delegate, Dean Calvert of Detroit, said it did not seem that "the chair has any respect at all for the Congress."

Delegates were cautioned by Archbishop Demetrios, head of the current New York headquarters: "We are not a parliament here, nor shareholders. We are the church."

Demetrios was praised, however, by the managing editor of Orthodox Christian News Service, which is OCL-linked, for "the wisdom and courage to let [delegates] do what they went to Los Angeles to do--to discuss and vote on the charter--despite the threats and intimidation he suffered" in an Orthodox setting abroad during Holy Week.

The debate and vote in Los Angeles, added Stephen P. Angelides, was "remarkable in the face of the [ecumenical patriarch's] efforts to prevent its proposal from even being discussed by the Congress." The patriarch "now faces one of the most difficult choices of his reign" of more than ten years, said Angelides.