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mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} span.SpellE {mso-style-name:""; mso-spl-e:yes;} span.GramE {mso-style-name:""; mso-gram-e:yes;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='tab-interval:.5in'> <div class=Section1> <h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:26.0pt'>1917 Council and <span class=SpellE>Tomos</span><span class=GramE>:</span><br> St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon s</span> Vision Then And Now<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>By His Beatitude Jonah of the Orthodox Church in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></h1> <h2 align=center style='text-align:center'>Address of His Beatitude at the Conference on the Future of Orthodoxy in <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:date Year="2009" Day="20" Month="6">June 20, 2009</st1:date></h2> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Great Council of 1917, and the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church that it began, are aspects of the de-<span class=SpellE>imperialization</span> of the Orthodox Church and its canonical structures.&nbsp; This began a process of the transcendence of the imperial domination of Orthodox ecclesiology, which reigned from </span><st1:City><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Constantine</span></st1:place></st1:City><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> and Theodosius to Nicholas II, and the beginning of the adaptation to a new era in which the Church is independent of the state.&nbsp; This was the beginning of a new <span class=SpellE>conciliar</span> vision, which has developed significantly over the past century.&nbsp; What it did is to set up a new set of structural and canonical interpretations, demanding a worldwide rethinking of Orthodox ecclesiology.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The fruit of this vision, partially, is the Orthodox Church in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, and her autocephaly.&nbsp; The conflict with the old ecclesiological and canonical interpretations forms the context for the issues surrounding the acceptance or rejection of the autocephaly.&nbsp; This conflict is, however, also the fruitful ground for a creative resolution to the issues confronting the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, and the Orthodox Church throughout the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Orthodox Church in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> began preparing for a great Council over a hundred years ago, particularly in 1905.&nbsp; In the final decades of the Russian Empire there was a tremendous intellectual ferment among the clergy and intelligentsia of the Russian Church that not only sought a way out of the morass of the <span class=SpellE>Oberprokurator</span> system suppressing the Patriarchate, established by Peter the First, but that was also very much in dialog with the social, political and cultural developments of the time.&nbsp; The Russian Empire not only had tens of thousands of churches, and over a thousand monasteries, in its own territory, using Slavonic and a  standard practice also taught in the seminaries and academies; there were dozens of missions to tribes of many languages, as well as extensive foreign missions, including that to North America.&nbsp; Each of these served in the local language, generated liturgical and catechetical material in these languages, and recruited and trained local indigenous clergy.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>While most of the other local Orthodox Churches remained under Islamic domination and persecution, which virtually eliminated Orthodox theological education and suppressed intellectual life in the </span><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Middle East</span></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, the </span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russian</span></st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span><st1:PlaceType><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> on the other hand had tremendous freedom to begin to confront the new era. There were the issues of corruption in the schools and monasteries, and the role of the State in interfering with ecclesiastical appointments.&nbsp; There was the confrontation with Western ideas: nihilism, atheism, Marxism and communism, as well as Roman Catholicism.&nbsp; On the other hand, other ideas and trends such as <span class=SpellE>Slavophile</span> idealism (or should one say, romanticism) played a significant role in the development of Russian ecclesiological thought, with the concept of <span class=SpellE><em>sobornost</em></span>. A fundamental underlying issue was how the Church would live and structure itself without an overwhelming imperial context, particularly in the American Mission. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>At the beginning of preparation for the council in 1905, there were few who expected the complete collapse of the imperial system, much less the persecution of the Church which followed.&nbsp; As the imperial system weakened, the theologians became more focused on the Church as the community of the faithful, as opposed to a strict hierarchical structure of authority paralleling and operating in symphony with the secular authorities. The bishops were asked to provide their ideas for the restructuring of the Russian Orthodox Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>At the core of this process was St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span>, both as a young bishop in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> between 1898 and 1907, and later as Patriarch of Moscow.&nbsp; He espoused this vision of a transformation of the Church into a number of new <span class=SpellE>metropolitanates</span>.&nbsp; He also endorsed the idea of the transformation of the American diocese into an Exarchate<span class=GramE>, &nbsp;with</span> a level of <span class=SpellE>conciliar</span> participation of the clergy and laity, and reflecting the diversity of the national churches present in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span> writes:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>As to the see of </span><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>North America</span></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> it ought to be made into an exarchate of the </span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russian</span></st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span><st1:PlaceType><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; The fact is that this see is composed not only of different nationalities, but also of different Orthodox Churches, which though one in faith each have their peculiarities in the canonical order, the office ritual and the parish life.&nbsp; These peculiarities are dear to them and altogether tolerable from the general orthodox point of view.&nbsp; This is why we do not consider we have the right to interfere with the national character of the churches in this country and, on the contrary, try to preserve it, giving each a chance to be governed directly by chiefs of the same nationality& .In short, it is possible that there will be formed in America an entire exarchate of national Orthodox Churches with their own bishops, whose <span class=SpellE>exarch</span> is to be to the Russian archbishop.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>In his own field of work each of these bishops is to be independent, but the affairs which concern the American church in general are to be decided by a general council, presided over by the Russian archbishop.&nbsp; <span class=GramE>Through him will be preserved the connection of the orthodox church of </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class=GramE><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class=GramE><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> with the church of all the </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class=SpellE><span class=GramE><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russias</span></span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class=GramE><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> and a degree of dependence of the former on the latter.</span></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>&nbsp; We also must keep in view that, compared with the life in the old country, life in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> has its peculiarities, with which the local <span class=GramE>orthodox church</span> is obliged to count, and that consequently that it ought to be allowed to be more autonomous than other metropolitan districts of </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>& &nbsp; <span class=GramE>(Archbishop <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span>, in the Russian American Messenger, pp.68-70, 1905.)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>These paragraphs form the basic vision statement for the development of the Church over the next century. In his answer to the Synod regarding his vision for restructuring the Russian Church, St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span> further delineates how the North American see would be composed of dioceses, with both a local see and title, and a specific mission to particular ethnic groups: New York for the Russian churches; Alaska for the natives and resident Russians; Brooklyn for the Syrians; Chicago for the Serbians; and an undecided future see for the Greeks.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Equally important in this document are St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon s</span> words in relation to <span class=SpellE>conciliarity</span>, lay participation:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>If laymen take part in the see assemblies they will be something like church conventions customary in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, amongst the Episcopalians for instance.&nbsp; These conventions have general sessions, in which both the laymen and the clergy take part, and also private sessions reserved for the discussion of purely ecclesiastical affairs by the clergy alone.&nbsp; This participation of the lay element would give to the function of church life the character of a council, and also would tend to enliven it. (</span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>RAM</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size: 14.0pt'>, p. 75)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The councils and life of the Russian Missionary Diocese in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, and its successors, would embody the themes sketched out in this statement, with full lay and priestly participation on all levels of church life.&nbsp; This is the incarnation of <span class=SpellE><em>sobornost</em></span>, <span class=SpellE>conciliarity</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>It is in this context, then, that the concept of <span class=SpellE><em>sobornost</em></span>, which means both catholicity and <span class=SpellE>conciliarity</span>, became a dominant theme in the rethinking of Orthodox ecclesiology.&nbsp; The unity of vision and life are focused in the whole community of the faithful, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and structured around the Eucharist.&nbsp; From this developed, later in the 20<sup>th</sup> Century, Eucharistic ecclesiology and the ecclesiology of the </span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Local</span></st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size: 14.0pt'> </span><st1:PlaceType><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>. This theological movement was fueled by a patristic revival, which began in the mid-19<sup>th</sup> century with the translation of many texts of the Fathers into Slavonic and Russian, and a Eucharistic revival championed by such figures as St John of <span class=SpellE>Kronstadt</span>.&nbsp; No longer were the lay faithful simply passive subjects to be ministered to, but active participants in the life of the Church.&nbsp; Thus, the stage was set for the inclusion of the clergy and laity in the decision-making processes of the Church, which are of the essence of <span class=SpellE>sobornost</span>, a true <span class=SpellE>conciliar</span> process.&nbsp; This became the foundation for the Great Council of 1917, and the development of new institutions incorporating lay and clerical participation, previously reserved to bishops and imperial officials. While some of these institutional reforms were not able to be implemented in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> due to the Revolution, they were implemented in the Russian mission in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> which later became the autocephalous Orthodox Church in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <h3><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Missionary Vision<o:p></o:p></span></h3> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The missionary vision of the Church grew at the same time as the development of the ideas of <span class=SpellE>sobornost</span> and the ecclesial integrity of the local Church. While some of the internal missions in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> retained a political component to integrate people into the empire by forming them in an Orthodox identity some of the missions had no political content, or lost it along the way.&nbsp; Of course, there were political implications.&nbsp; The stated reason for sending Fr <span class=SpellE>Junipero</span> <span class=SpellE>Serra</span>, in 1775, to establish the Spanish missions in </span><st1:State><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>California</span></st1:place></st1:State><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> was to keep the Russians from taking </span><st1:State><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>California</span></st1:place></st1:State><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; When the Russians established their farthest outpost in what is now </span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size: 14.0pt'>Sonoma</span></st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span><st1:PlaceType><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>County</span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, </span><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Northern California</span></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> in 1812, and began their mission work among the native peoples there, they did not so much seek to integrate the natives into a Russian political identity, as simply to convey the Orthodox Faith. St Innocent later visited the colony in 1842, and subsequently the Spanish missions in the Bay Area.&nbsp; Soon after this, any political content was lost.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The missionary vision was simply to incarnate the Gospel of Jesus Christ by bringing people into the Orthodox Church. Such was the mission to </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, especially after the sale of </span><st1:State><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Alaska</span></st1:place></st1:State><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>. The vision of St Innocent for the establishment of the diocesan headquarters in San Francisco at the time of the sale of Alaska focused on converting Anglo-Americans to Orthodoxy through serving and teaching in English. The initial <span class=SpellE>Valaam</span> Mission in Kodiak had the same task: to make Americans (this time Native Alaskans with their respective languages) Orthodox Christians, and establish the Orthodox Church in this land with a native clergy.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <h3><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Growth of the American </span><st1:City><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Mission</span></st1:place></st1:City><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></h3> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Thirty years later, the new bishop assigned to </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span>, was faced with a different situation.&nbsp; The Church had begun to grow decisively in the continental US and </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Canada</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.<a name="_ftnref"></a><a href="http://www.oca.org/news/1864#_ftn1"><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span class=MsoFootnoteReference>[1]</span></span><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'></span></a><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'> It continued to change dramatically over the course of the next decades. The number of the parishes and their affiliations grew and multiplied with each successive wave of immigration.&nbsp; The effects of the collapse of Russian imperial support (and that of the Russian Missionary Society), following the Revolution, were financially devastating.&nbsp; With this period came a very different mission for the Church in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>: to deal with the immigrant communities and their particular needs.&nbsp; The </span></span><st1:City><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Mission</span></span></st1:place></st1:City><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> lost its missionary focus, and instead was engulfed with immigrants, the churches acting as reference points for the maintenance of cultural identity and solidarity.&nbsp; Each group had its own particular needs, its own language, its own customs and traditions.&nbsp; St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span> wrote of the need to have particular ministries to each group, respecting their cultures, within the unified archdiocese.&nbsp; While this remained possible, the political and economic realities ended up with each group withdrawing into itself, and the vision of unity which had been realized to a large degree was lost with the missionary imperative.&nbsp; Even the Russian Mission itself lost contact with its </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Mother</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, which was descending into the abyss of grievous persecution and martyrdom.&nbsp; In 1924, the American Mission proclaimed itself temporarily autonomous, and in canonical contact with the Synod of Russian Orthodox Bishops Abroad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>We won t go over the sordid details of the intervening decades: schisms, the </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Living</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, lawsuits, fights, and all manner of division.&nbsp; It was not until the end of the 1950 s that the <span class=SpellE>Metropolia</span> began to regain its missionary vision, and to move beyond the needs of reinforcing immigrant identity.&nbsp; It began to come to maturity as a local church, no longer looking outside of itself for its identity.&nbsp; It began a new phase in its existence, as it developed into an authentically local Church, embodying many of the elements of the reforms of the Council of 1917, and yet incarnating them in a uniquely American way.&nbsp; It began to fulfill the vision of St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span>, as a foundation for the unity of multiple ethnic churches within a single synod of bishops, in the context of the mission to bring Americans to Orthodoxy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Beginning in the 1950 s, with the renewed contacts with the Russian Mother Church, the <span class=SpellE>Metropolia</span> began to come to a new self-consciousness, under the influence of Fr Georges <span class=SpellE>Florovsky</span>, Fr Alexander <span class=SpellE>Schmemann</span> and Fr John <span class=SpellE>Meyendorff</span>, and others, from St Serge in Paris transplanted to St Vladimir s in New York. They were the main fathers of the patristic revival, and the proponents of Eucharistic ecclesiology, and the ecclesiology of the </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Local</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, which came to dominate Orthodox dialog and ecumenical discourse.&nbsp; The latter two were also among the main architects of the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>. &nbsp;Beginning their contacts with the </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russian</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> at ecumenical gatherings, they worked for years to prepare for a <span class=SpellE>rapproachment</span> with the </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark: _ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Mother</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; This culminated in 1970 with the granting of autocephaly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The new </span></span><st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></span></st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> represented the maturation of the </span></span><st1:City><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark: _ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Mission</span></span></st1:place></st1:City><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> into a </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Local</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>. In the newly created Orthodox Church in America, all the themes of the past came together: a united multi-ethnic church with a single synod of bishops; a church focused on being the local Church for North America, without a formal reliance on any Mother Church; a missionary church, dedicated to becoming the Presence of the One Holy Catholic Church in America, for all people, races and nationalities; it had no national identity save American, while not repressing any ethnic identities. The new </span></span><st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark: _ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></span></st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> existed outside any imperial context, free from government interference and support, <span class=GramE>More</span> than this, the </span></span><st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></span></st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> embodied the principle of <span class=SpellE><em>conciliarity</em></span>, of clerical and lay participation in decision making, with the institutions of the All American Council and Metropolitan and Diocesan Councils, outlined in the new Statute.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Several different motivations are stated by the Russian hierarchy in the <span class=SpellE>Tomos</span> for granting the autocephaly: for the welfare of the <u>whole</u> Orthodox Church; to try to help remedy the situation of ecclesiastical pluralism that existed, and to further ecclesiastical unity; and to bring the former Russian Mission, then the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic <span class=SpellE>Metropolia</span>, into normal relations with itself as Mother Church. The <span class=SpellE>Tomos</span> recognized  as good for Orthodoxy in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> the independent and self-sustaining existence of said Metropolitanate, which now represents a mature ecclesiastical organism possessing all that is necessary for successful further growth. &nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>It can be asserted that the <span class=SpellE>Tomos</span> also recognized that the autocephaly was not  final, but in some way relative.&nbsp; I quote:  The newly established local </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Orthodox</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Autocephalous</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> should abide in brotherly relations with all the </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Orthodox</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Churches</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> and their Primates as well as with their bishops, clergy and pious flock who are in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, and who for the time being preserve their de facto existing canonical and jurisdictional dependence on their national Churches and their Primates. &nbsp;The <span class=SpellE>Tomos</span> does not allow for the full consequences of autocephaly to be proclaimed, that all other churches on the territory of the </span></span><st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></span></st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> are thereby uncanonical.&nbsp; Rather, it allows for the preservation of their ties to their mother churches until such time as all can be brought into a new unity, a single Church for </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Thus, the </span></span><st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></span></span></st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> s</span></span></span><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> charter and vocation is for it to disappear: it is kenotic.&nbsp; Either it is to become the basis for the unity of the rest of the Churches in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>; or it must enter into a new organization that will be fully autocephalous.&nbsp; We <span class=GramE>await</span> this day, eagerly, so that the mission of the Orthodox Church and the proclamation of the Gospel are no longer compromised by the scandal of disunity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <h3><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Analysis and a Vision for the Future<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>I stand before you, gathered here, in great humility, as the  least among equals , the youngest head of the smallest and youngest autocephalous Orthodox Church in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>No bishop of the Orthodox Church works alone; each is sustained and aided by a structure, developed over centuries, and implemented in any given place in accordance with the realities of the life which God gives us. This structure has to be capable of existing in a very wide range of different circumstances, as evidenced by the history of the Church. There have been times of plenty and times of famine, times during which political systems have been friendly and supportive, and others when they have been downright hostile and injurious to everything for which the Light of the Gospel eternally shines. As these changes have occurred, the Church has found the need to make laws and rulings, to protect the integrity of the life of Church under all circumstances. These rulings, or Canons, are a treasure-house of experience, which enlivens and enlightens each new situation which the Church, in <span class=GramE>Her</span> life, faces in every age. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Like every Orthodox bishop, I accept all the Holy Canons, traditions and practices of the Holy Orthodox Church, without reservation, since they are the expression of the life of the Church in any given place. They are not so much THE life of the Church (which is the Proclamation of the Gospel Itself), but rather they create the sacred space within which the life of the Church can flourish. Far from being rigid, legalistic and restricting, the application of the rulings of Holy Canons has, over the centuries, shown them to be capable of allowing for change, and adapting to new situations, whether political, philosophical or geographical. This they do since the Church, constantly and naturally, <span class=GramE>interprets</span> their meaning and significance to reflect the reality of each age. To restrict their meaning to the reality of long-dead political systems, and lost empires, even those during which the Body of Christ flourished and grew, is to do a great disservice to the power of the Holy Spirit to  effect the change which is the very essence of our Life in God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Canon is embodied in a vast amount of writing ranging from the Holy Scriptures themselves down to the decisions of local councils in our own day. Different Canons reflect the different eras which led to their creation, and together they outline the Church s experience of the working of God in Her life, throughout the generations. Individual Canons, specific in detail and seen and understood within <span class=GramE>the of</span> the entire Corpus of Canon Law, lend themselves to the formation of  canonical principles , more general in detail, which in turn govern our life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>One canonical principle in particular is plainly and singularly vital in the life of the Church and can be stated as follows: the fullness of the Church is present, in its completeness, where a rightfully-appointed Bishop celebrates the Divine Liturgy together with his presbyters, deacons and the rest of the People of God. It is this divinely-given  <span class=SpellE>pleroma</span> , the actual presence of God among His people, which embodies the fullness of the Gospel, and expresses itself, in each nation, as  One ,  Holy and  Catholic . To accept anything less is to betray our calling, to ignore the words of Christ, and to rationalize our human weaknesses. This is the principle of the </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Local</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Local</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> has many implications, in different contexts.&nbsp; Some use it in relation to a diocese, some in relation to a national church; it can also be used in relation to any Eucharistic community such as a parish. &nbsp;What is important for us is that the  local church is not understood as deriving its legitimacy by reference to a remote point, patriarchate or <span class=GramE>church, that</span> is the criterion of catholicity.&nbsp; It is the integrity of the </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Local</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, itself, the bishop and the people of a particular place celebrating the Liturgy-- and its communion with the whole body of surrounding local churches that forms the ultimate criterion of catholicity.&nbsp; The canons protect and help these local churches relate to one another.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>In </span></span><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>North America</span></span></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> there are at least three distinct systems of ecclesiology and canonical interpretation that are incarnate as ecclesiastical bodies.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The first of these is the Russian canonical and ecclesiological tradition, which has led to the basic vision of the <span class=SpellE>conciliar</span> </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Local</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; This was the context of the foundation of the Russian Mission to </span></span><st1:State><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Alaska</span></span></st1:place></st1:State><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> of 1794 and its missionary imperative.&nbsp; The </span></span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russian</span></span></st1:PlaceName><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span></span><st1:PlaceType><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, especially under Bishop <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span> in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, developed a working model of multi-ethnic cooperation and vision of unity, which was renewed and reformed by the Council of 1917.&nbsp; While the Russian Mission in </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> struggled with the influx of immigrants, and the temptation to remain an ethnic sect, it overcame these and began to realize its identity as an indigenous Orthodox Church for all North Americans, thus coming to actualize the fullness of catholicity. This maturity bore fruit as the autocephaly of the </span></span><st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></span></st1:stockticker><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; The mission had become a local church, with all the resources to perpetuate itself and the mission of Orthodoxy, free of any imperial or government entanglements or interference.&nbsp; It embodied and incarnated the <span class=SpellE>conciliar</span> vision of the Church, incorporating laity and clergy into the process of decision making, and thus became a living experiment in the Orthodox world of <span class=SpellE>conciliarity</span> and the de-<span class=SpellE>imperialization</span> of the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Ecumenical Patriarchate espouses another system of canonicity and an ecclesiological vision, which it extended to </span></span><st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>North America</span></span></st1:place><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> in the 1920 s with the establishment of the Greek Archdiocese. <span class=GramE>(There were various parishes here under its jurisdiction, and/or that of Athens, before; but there was no organized Greek hierarchy in the US until the early 1921.)</span></span></span><a href="http://www.oca.org/news/1864#_ftn2"><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>[2]</span></span></span><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'></span></a><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftnref'></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>I will not venture to define their system, other than their conclusions in relation to the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size: 14.0pt'>.&nbsp; It does not accept the status of the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size: 14.0pt'> as an autocephalous church, in regards to how they define autocephaly.&nbsp; This is by no means universal, contrary to their claims; nor is their interpretation of the canons universally accepted.&nbsp; The basic argument is that they do not recognize the right of the </span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russian</span></st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span><st1:PlaceType><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> to grant autocephaly to its mission; and they claim universal jurisdiction over the  <span class=SpellE>diaspora</span>. In fact there are some who would claim that the initial Russian mission was uncanonical in the first place, as it did not come with the authorization and under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. While some accept their claim of jurisdiction over the  <span class=SpellE>diaspora</span>, other Orthodox Churches do not. Whether right or wrong, it is contended.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Orthodox Church in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> has never been under the jurisdiction of </span><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Constantinople</span></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, or any other Church but the </span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russian</span></st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span><st1:PlaceType><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, for the past 215 years, and operates as a fully canonical </span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>autocephalous</span></st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span><st1:PlaceType><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> under the canonical tradition of her Mother Russian Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> is not a church of the  <span class=SpellE>diaspora</span>, but a local indigenous territorial Church.&nbsp; It is not an ethnic Church; it is not the </span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russian</span></st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span><st1:PlaceType><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, but the mature outgrowth of 175 years of Russian missionary work in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; The Orthodox Church in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> fully affirms the primacy of the Patriarch of <span class=SpellE>Constatinople</span>.&nbsp; We reject, however, the canonical interpretations that compromise our canonical tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Through the 1920 s the Russian Mission formed the basis of a united canonical Orthodox Church in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>. The <span class=SpellE>Antiochians</span>, Serbs and Albanians, were all originally a part of this united Church, though we certainly admit that many Greek churches were not.&nbsp; Though these groups eventually developed their own hierarchies sent from their mother churches, they did not subordinate themselves to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in this continent.&nbsp; Neither did the Romanians and Bulgarians, most of whom joined the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> with most of the Albanians.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The groups that split from the Russian Mission, mainly in the  20 s and  30 s, the Serbians and <span class=SpellE>Antiochians</span>, and the other churches that then established jurisdiction here, can be seen as operating on yet a third model of canonical interpretation and ecclesiology in which each patriarchate has the right to care for the people of its own nation wherever they may be  in <span class=SpellE>diaspora</span> regardless of the existence of a territorial canonical church.&nbsp; This nationalist or ethnic model <span class=GramE>presumably &nbsp;works</span> until the people have been indigenized, in the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>US</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> usually by the second or third generation, by which time they have lost their  ethnicity. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>With the Russian and EP models, at least the integrity of the local territorial church has some meaning.&nbsp; The third model does not seem to respect that.&nbsp; This is perhaps the greatest canonical problem.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>We could debate the merits of the renewed <span class=SpellE>conciliar</span> ecclesiology of the local church, and the system of canonical interpretation of the Russian Tradition, compared to the interpretation of Canon 28 of Chalcedon by </span><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Constantinople</span></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, but this would miss the fundamental point: they are two very different systems, operating on different sets of presuppositions. &nbsp;Both of these systems evolved in an imperial context.&nbsp; The situation of the 21<sup>st</sup> Century, with all empires long gone, presents a new context for the life of the Church and new canonical interpretations regarding its organization. This is neither an historical issue, nor ultimately an issue of interpretation, but of<span class=GramE>&nbsp; presuppositions</span>. We, all Orthodox in </span><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>North America</span></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, seem to be caught between </span><st1:City><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Moscow</span></st1:place></st1:City><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> and </span><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Constantinople</span></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; And as is often the case when there is an impasse, the resolution resides in a new, third way.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>And so what is required, I believe, is for our best theologians to sit down and work out a system that is universally acceptable.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>I, as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, and again please bear in mind the kenotic vocation of the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size: 14.0pt'>, as well as of my own role<span class=GramE>, &nbsp;have</span> the unique privilege of leading a Church which is not only thoroughly and indelibly Orthodox, but one which is also thoroughly and indelibly American, a fact that allows us to feel blessed, since America is not one tribe or race, but the voluntary union of all the peoples who have come to live here. In this miracle of symbiosis, there is much to be improved, but there is also much which is right, wholesome and of good report. The spirit of our nation proclaims that there is no such thing as a second-class citizen, that each citizen has the right to participate in government, and that each citizen deserves the right to exercise his or her choices freely, according to law. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>It is the task of the Church in this country not only to offer the life of the Orthodox Church to the American people, but also to bring to the practice of Orthodoxy all that is best, all that is valiant, all that is most noble, in our American life.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>We are very willing to work with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other churches to resolve the issue of Orthodox unity in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, and earnestly desire to resolve any obstacles.&nbsp; But we will not surrender our integrity as a local territorial indigenous church.&nbsp; We have a kenotic vocation; but that only opens out into a more fully catholic expression of an indigenous local Church. I earnestly hope that we will all, eventually, come together to fully incarnate the one Body of Christ here in this land.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>It is the prerogative and responsibility of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to convene the churches to resolve this issue of unity in the Diaspora, so called. &nbsp;This needs to be done both on the international pan-Orthodox level, as well as within </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> and each region of the so-called  <span class=SpellE>diaspora</span>. &nbsp; As long as the mother churches agree to let their extra-territorial dioceses go, then the EP can convene them in each locale, so they can determine their own future, and the structure of their new local churches. Eventually these new churches must be universally recognized as fully autocephalous.&nbsp; But the <span class=SpellE>conciliar</span> principle must be followed: every community must have a voice in its own destiny.&nbsp; Otherwise, the result will be illegitimate, and be rejected.&nbsp; This will lead to only greater division.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Ultimately, but hopefully not <span class=SpellE>eschatologically</span>, the only acceptable resolution is a fully autocephalous united Church in </span><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>North America</span></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, embracing all Orthodox, and freely electing its own hierarchy and, in time, its own patriarch. We stand for <span class=SpellE>conciliarity</span>, the participation of the whole body of the Church in the life and decision making process of the Church.&nbsp; This is very American, but it also resonates with the ideal of <span class=SpellE>sobornost</span> that inspired St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span> and the renewal of the </span><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Russian</span></st1:PlaceName><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> </span><st1:PlaceType><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Church</span></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> by the Council of 1917. &nbsp;This is the vision of the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>, and of many other Orthodox in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>. Only for this vision would the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size: 14.0pt'> surrender its own autocephaly, to joyfully meld into the fulfillment of that vision which was given with the <span class=SpellE>Tomos</span> in 1970.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Many in this continent are not ready to give up their ties to their mother churches.&nbsp; Many of the mother churches are not ready to give up their ties to their American missions.&nbsp; Episcopal assemblies are fine, though we believe their president should be freely elected.&nbsp; But they are not synods, much less autocephalous churches.&nbsp; Perhaps the time has not come to move beyond this point.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <h3><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Patriarch St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon s</span> Vision Renewed<o:p></o:p></span></h3> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>If as the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size: 14.0pt'> we are to renew Patriarch <span class=SpellE>Tikhon s</span> vision, there is a way to build a provisional unity between all the churches in this country that are ready for it, and yet to maintain a real link with their mother churches.&nbsp; Our canonical situation is unique in history.&nbsp; It demands a creative solution.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>One possibility might be to  open Synod of the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> to include canonical bishops who preside over American archdioceses of foreign churches, and thus to begin to create a united Synod of Bishops in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.&nbsp; These bishops would be members of the Synod here; they would represent us to their mother churches, and their mother churches to us.&nbsp; A council of Metropolitans of the various archdioceses would be formed, as well as a general synod of all bishops, with the possibility of organic growth. Once all Orthodox come into agreement, it could be restructured as an American Patriarchate, and territorial lines drawn.&nbsp; The presiding bishop would be freely elected, and perhaps rotate. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Whether this is possible or not remains to be seen.&nbsp; But let us explore all possible avenues, with the best minds working at the task together in free and open discussion.&nbsp; Only in this will we be able to move forward in the mission to which God has called us.&nbsp; Let us build a community of love and mutual respect, because the Church can only be incarnated in a spirit of love.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>In the meantime, let us strengthen the bonds between ourselves.&nbsp; Local clergy associations are an excellent way to overcome the division of jurisdictions.&nbsp; They provide a context of common activity and build the communion between the churches on a grass roots level.&nbsp; So also it is very valuable for the bishops of each region to come together to serve the Liturgy and discuss common issues.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>If certain of our jurisdictions should wish to join together, before all can come into unity, it is a good and wonderful thing that contributes to the unity of the whole.&nbsp; For example, if the </span><st1:stockticker><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>OCA</span></st1:stockticker><span style='font-size: 14.0pt'> and Antiochian Archdiocese were to <span class=SpellE>joing</span> together, or rather to come back to their previous unity, who could dare object?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Most of all, let us keep Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen, before our eyes, in our minds and our hearts, as we seek not to build up institutions and organizations, but the very Body of Christ, to the glory of God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit</span>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=1 width="100%" align=center> </div> <p><a name="_ftn1"></a><a href="http://www.oca.org/news/1864#_ftnref"><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftn1'><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>[1]</b></span></span><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftn1'></span></a><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftn1'></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> </b><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The records of the Russian </span></b><st1:City><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Mission</span></b></st1:place></st1:City><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>, in the </span></b><st1:stockticker><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>OCA</span></b></st1:stockticker><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> archives, testify to the transformation that was occurring. The Church had grown and expanded significantly from the Alaskan mission, which in 1850 had 9 churches, 37 chapels, 9 priests, 2 deacons and about 15,000 members.&nbsp; By 1905, according to the report of St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span>, in his diocese there were 72 churches and 83  houses of prayer, 80 church schools with 2000 students, 8 orphanages with 120 children, and 79 brotherhoods.&nbsp; By the time St <span class=SpellE>Tikhon</span> became bishop in </span></b><st1:City><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>San Francisco</span></b></st1:place></st1:City><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight: normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>, in 1898, emigration had set in from multiple quarters, and the movement of the <span class=SpellE>Uniates</span> into Orthodoxy, guided by St Alexis <span class=SpellE>Toth</span>, was in full force. This was in addition to other Orthodox communities, Greek and otherwise, that formed parishes independently.&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>By 1917, in the Missionary Diocese of </span></b><st1:State><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>New York</span></b></st1:place></st1:State><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> itself there were 272 parishes: in the </span></b><st1:country-region><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>USA</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>, 191; in </span></b><st1:State><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Alaska</span></b></st1:place></st1:State><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>, 15; in </span></b><st1:country-region><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Canada</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>, 65.&nbsp; On the eve of the Revolution there were five bishops: Archbishop <span class=SpellE>Evdokim</span>, Bishop Alexander, Bishop Stephan, Bishop Philip, <span class=GramE>Bishop</span> <span class=SpellE>Evfimi</span>.&nbsp; The Diocese was divided into five districts and 27 deaneries, in which there were 306 churches and chapels, with 242 priests. Registered membership was approximately 300,000.&nbsp; In addition to the Russian Missionary Diocese itself, there were several missions: the <span class=SpellE>Syro</span>-Arabic mission consisting of 32 churches and up to 30,000 parishioners; the Albanian Mission, consisting of three parishes and 30,000 parishioners; the Serbian Mission, consisting of 36 churches and up to 15,000 parishioners.&nbsp; In all, within the Diocese, were 461 churches and chapels, 309 priests and up to 500,000 parishioners.&nbsp; Beyond this were over 100 independent churches, some aligned with the Churches of </span></b><st1:country-region><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Greece</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> or </span></b><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Constantinople</span></b></st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>. <span class=GramE>(Statistics from the </span></span></b><st1:stockticker><span class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size: 10.0pt'>OCA</span></b></span></st1:stockticker><span class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> Archivist, A. <span class=SpellE>Liberovsky</span>).</span></b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight: normal'><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class=cm48 style='text-align:justify'><a name="_ftn2"></a><a href="http://www.oca.org/news/1864#_ftnref"><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftn2'><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>[2]</b></span></span><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftn2'></span></a><span style='mso-bookmark:_ftn2'></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> </b><em><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight: normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'>Unity of Orthodoxy in </span></b></em><st1:country-region><st1:place><em><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'>America</span></b></em></st1:place></st1:country-region><em><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'> before 1921 </span></b></em><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class=cm47 style='text-align:justify;line-height:9.15pt'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:black'>17. And we assert that the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America has fulfilled all these requirements and conditions in full, in connection with which, her Mother-Church, the Patriarchate of Moscow, granted this Holy Church Autocephaly, which act was expressed in the Patriarchal and <span class=SpellE>Synodal</span> <span class=SpellE>Tomos</span> of 10 April, 1970. The right of the Holy Council of the Patriarchate of Moscow to perform the above-mentioned act, rests on the undisputed fact that the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of North America is the Child and Branch of the Moscow Patriarchate. And, though the missionary and enlightening work of the Holy Russian Church in North America is strangely evaluated in Your Holiness' Letter (in particular, to our amazement, it is considered as propaganda and proselytism, in reference to the pastoral care for the Slavs, former <span class=SpellE>Uniates</span>, who returned to Orthodoxy), the unalterable fact remains that, until the arbitrary establishment by the throne of Constantinople of its own archdiocese in North America in 1921, an act which we have already mentioned in our last letter to Your Holiness, and which was in absolute violation of the Sacred Canons (<span class=SpellE>Ap</span>. 34, <span class=SpellE>Carth</span>. 131, Fourth Ecumenical Council 17, Sixth Ecumenical Council 25), strict canonical order was followed on this continent under the hierarchical leadership of the Church of Russia. This order was challenged by no one, and was recognized by all the Local Orthodox Churches. <span class=GramE>including</span> the </span></b><st1:place><st1:PlaceType><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:black'>Church</span></b></st1:PlaceType><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:black'> of </span></b><st1:PlaceName><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:black'>Constantinople</span></b></st1:PlaceName></st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:black'>.&nbsp; <span class=GramE>(<span style='font-size:8.5pt'>LETTER OF METROPOLITAN PIMEN to PATRIARCH ATHENAGORAS August 11, 1970 No. 1505).</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Source:<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.oca.org/news/1864">http://www.oca.org/news/1864</a></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p> </td> </tr> </table> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --></td> </tr> </table> </body> <!-- InstanceEnd --></html>