• About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Friday, March 5, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Orthodox Times
  • Home
  • Orthodoxy
    • Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Mount Athos
      • Archdiocese of America
      • Archdiocese of Australia
      • Church of Crete
    • Patriarchates
      • Patriarchate of Alexandria
      • Patriarchate of Antioch
      • Patriarchate of Moscow
      • Patriarchate of Serbia
      • Patriarchate of Romania
      • Patriarchate of Jerusalem
      • Patriarchate of Bulgaria
      • Patriarchate of Georgia
    • Churches
      • Church of Greece
      • Church of Cyprus
      • Church of Poland
      • Church of Albania
      • Church of Czech and Slovakia
      • Church of Ukraine
  • Politics
    • USA
    • Europe
    • Middle East
  • Society
    • Culture
  • Spirituality
  • Christianity
  • Opinions
  • Home
  • Orthodoxy
    • Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Mount Athos
      • Archdiocese of America
      • Archdiocese of Australia
      • Church of Crete
    • Patriarchates
      • Patriarchate of Alexandria
      • Patriarchate of Antioch
      • Patriarchate of Moscow
      • Patriarchate of Serbia
      • Patriarchate of Romania
      • Patriarchate of Jerusalem
      • Patriarchate of Bulgaria
      • Patriarchate of Georgia
    • Churches
      • Church of Greece
      • Church of Cyprus
      • Church of Poland
      • Church of Albania
      • Church of Czech and Slovakia
      • Church of Ukraine
  • Politics
    • USA
    • Europe
    • Middle East
  • Society
    • Culture
  • Spirituality
  • Christianity
  • Opinions
No Result
View All Result
Orthodox Times
No Result
View All Result

Church of Cyprus and synodal recognition of Ukrainian autocephaly

Oct 31, 2020 | 17:23
in Opinions
Church of Cyprus: Blasphemy to even think that Holy Communion can transmit any disease

© Church of Cyprus

By Dimitris Keramidas*

Last Saturday, October 24, during the ordination of Bishop of Arsinoe, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus made a historic —and rather unexpected— move as he commemorated the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Epifaniy. It was an “unexpected” move because the commemoration had not been announced in advance nor was it an application of the mandate of the Holy Synod of Church of Cyprus, which had decided in favor of a line of “neutrality” regarding the Ukrainian autocephaly issue at its meeting. In any case, with this move, the Church of Cyprus became the fourth church (after the Ecumenical Patriarchate) whose primate is in full communion with his counterpart in the newly established autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The action of Archbishop Chrysostomos immediately provoked reactions, in some cases a great opposition. Four Cypriot Metropolitans (Kykkos, Limassol, Tamassos and Amathus) in a joint statement directly accused Archbishop Chrysostomos of “blatant violation of the synodal, collective and democratic polity of our Orthodox” considering that “the so-called ‘primate’ of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has never been ordained canonically because he was part of the schismatics of the Ukrainian Church.” They also mentioned: “The move of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to grant ‘autocephaly’ to the schismatic structures of the Ukrainian Church is arbitrary, non-canonical and anti-church.” Likewise, the President of the Theological School of the University of Nicosia, Christos Oikonomou, commented that the move of the Archbishop of Cyprus “was contrary to the Statutory Charter, non-canonical, arbitrary and, therefore, non-existent since there is a binding decision of 9 September that did not give him the permission for this commemoration, which took place during the ordination of the new Bishop of Arsinoe, in the absence and without the knowledge of the members of the Synod.”.

The question that arises, then, is whether the Archbishop of Cyprus should have convened the local Holy Synod to discuss this issue and asked for its approval for the recognition of Ukrainian autocephaly, or was he right to commemorate Metropolitan Epifaniy without a synodal decision. This is a matter of canonical nature which, due to limited space, we can only touch briefly. One needs to refer to the Statutory Charter of the Church of Cyprus, the Rules governing the administration of a local Church, how the Church of Cyprus reacted to the previous autocephaly granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

It is true that the 34th Apostolic Canon remains entirely valid for the operation of an eparchial Church , which provides that the head of each ecclesiastical eparchy can do nothing without the “opinion” of the other bishops (and vice versa). The above provision is considered by the Orthodox as the “golden rule” of the synodality and is even presented as the pre-eminent criterion of the Church’s administration not only at the eparchial level (Patriarchates, Autocephalous Churches) but also at the world level, the (the so-called “global”) Church. In fact, this canon is often referred to in bilateral texts with the Roman Catholic Church as an example of interdependence between the first and the many, between the Bishop of Rome and the other Churches. So, as long as the validity of the canon remains in force, then the Orthodox must apply it primarily in their own church administrations before requesting its observance by the Churches of different denomination.

On this basis and given that there was no decision to revise or modify the position of the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus on “neutrality,” it seems that the reactions of the four Metropolitans and those theologians who questioned the canonical integrity of Archbishop Chrysostomos are justified. The primate of the Church of Cyprus should not have taken any initiative without the opinion of the other members of the Holy Synod, and wrongly commemorated the Metropolitan of Kyiv.

There are, of course, those who claim that the Archbishop talked privately with the Cypriot Hierarchs and found that the majority of them, even through a discreet silence, would not be opposed to the recognition of Metropolitan Epifaniy. This view is probably confirmed at the moment, as, apart from the “four,” no other voices of dissent have been heard. Based on the same reasoning, the synodal procedures were applied on the substance, that is, the primate listened to the “opinion” of the others, although not “formally” (the Holy Synod was not convened). In a letter sent to the Ecumenical Patriarch on October 20 , 2020, Archbishop Chrysostomos himself stressed that “neutrality” was his own proposal in order to carry out the mission requested by the Ecumenical Patriarch, that is, to meet the other Orthodox Primates. He points out that he can no longer take mediation reconciliation initiatives both because of the COVID-19 pandemic and his disease. Therefore, the attitude of “neutrality” must be interpreted as a peace-building position of “good will” in order for the Church of Cyprus, a small one but with apostolic prestige, to move more easily in favor of the unity of the Orthodox, without this meaning that it rejected the canonicality of the actions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus never expressed a negative opinion on them).

The above approach is likely to be correct —in any case, Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria acted in a similar way within the framework of his own Church. However, it is an interpretation that is not measurable as it remains at the level of hypothesis or even information. This hypothesis can be confirmed (or refuted) only if the other Hierarchs openly express their position or if the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus expresses its opinion in favor of or against Ukrainian autocephaly at its next meeting.

In anticipation of any further developments, what we would like to point out is the following: in order to understand ecclesiologically and not procedurally the commemoration of the Metropolitan of Kyiv by Archbishop Chrysostomos, one must take into account that the Church of Cyprus is in full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. This communion means that the Church of Cyprus recognizes the privileges of the Ecumenical Patriarchate deriving from the Fourth Ecumenical Council (451) and especially from its 28th Canon. As Archbishop Chrysostomos explained in a letter, “the other local Orthodox Churches [editor’s note: except for the Church of Cyprus] were granted the Tomos of Autocephaly by the Holy Ecumenical Patriarchate after the 15th century delimitating their borders.

The question, therefore, is not whether a local Synod can be expressed as they see fit in favor of or against the granting of autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to a Church, but whether a local Church (especially that of Cyprus which was already autocephaly and recognized the force of the Canons of the Council of Chalcedon in 451) has the authority to put the rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in process of additional approval. In other words, can a local Council recognize the scope of the provisions of the Ecumenical Councils? Does a local Church have the authority to interpret the decisions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate? The answer can only be no because a local Synod is not superior to an Ecumenical Council, the administrative provisions of which are amended only by another Ecumenical Council.

Therefore, one could say that the canonical communion among the Orthodox Churches means that everyone recognizes the canonical and jurisdictional rights, obligations and restrictions of the others. A local Synod cannot make an anachronistic interpretation of regulations: it must either recognize them in their entirety or break free from the orthodox canonical tradition and severe communion ties with the other Churches. The status of the Autocephalous Churches could possibly be reconsidered (and updated), that is, who has the right to grant this status. Unfortunately, any pre-synodal preparation never took place in Crete and the whole discussion remained unresolved. When the Orthodox are mature enough to take a stand on the issue, then —and only then— will the local Orthodox Churches be able to express their opinion on the revision of the right of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the degree of cooperation of the other Churches.

* Professor at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (PUST), Hellenic Open University, School of Humanities, Adjunct

Tags: Opinions

Related Posts

With humility about the Romanian Orthodox Church
Opinions

With humility about the Romanian Orthodox Church

March 2, 2021
Divine Liturgy for Saints Constantine and Helen at Ecumenical Patriarchate (video) (upd)
Opinions

Why Bartholomew brought… Enceladus in Constantinople!

February 27, 2021
Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb and Ljubljana is the new Patriarch of Serbia
Opinions

Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb and Ljubljana is the new Patriarch of Serbia

February 19, 2021
A prisoner’s attitude of gratitude
Opinions

A prisoner’s attitude of gratitude

February 11, 2021
Stewardship in the Pandemic
Opinions

Stewardship in the Pandemic

January 25, 2021
Archbishop of Canada: Church services, Divine Liturgies to be conducted behind closed doors
Opinions

Are there ‘Taliban’ in the Orthodox Church? On the absence of an ecclesial consciousness

January 18, 2021
Load More
Next Post
Patriarch of Georgia calls on future govt and opposition to cooperate, listen to each other

Patriarch of Georgia calls on future govt and opposition to cooperate, listen to each other

Latest News

Georgian PM condemns “unprecedented attack” against Patriarch Ilia and the Orthodox Church

Georgian PM condemns “unprecedented attack” against Patriarch Ilia and the Orthodox Church

by NewsRoom
Mar 05, 2021 | 21:20
0

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili expressed his admiration for the Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II and disapproved of the slanders brought...

Bishop of Nis inaugurated the Library of Elder Nikanor of Chilandar

Bishop of Nis inaugurated the Library of Elder Nikanor of Chilandar

by NewsRoom
Mar 05, 2021 | 20:52
0

With the blessing of Bishop Arsenije of Nis, the library of "Elder Nikanor of Chilandar" was inaugurated at the...

Vespers for Saturday of Souls in the Phanar (VIDEO)

Vespers for Saturday of Souls in the Phanar (VIDEO)

by NewsRoom
Mar 05, 2021 | 20:13
0

On Friday, March 5, 2021, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the Vespers for Saturday of Souls and offered a...

Archdiocese of Suceava: Memorial service to mark one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Romania

Archdiocese of Suceava: Memorial service to mark one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Romania

by NewsRoom
Mar 05, 2021 | 19:42
0

The victims of the coronavirus pandemic were remembered on Wednesday, March 3, at the Chapel of Saint John at...

Bishop of Dalmatia tested positive for COVID-19 (upd)

Bishop of Dalmatia tested positive for COVID-19 (upd)

by NewsRoom
Mar 05, 2021 | 18:54
0

LAST UPDATE: 19:20 Bishop Nikodim of Dalmatia tested positive for Covid-19. Although the Bishop has mild symptoms, he remained...

Head of EU Delegation to Turkey paid a visit to Halki seminary

Head of EU Delegation to Turkey paid a visit to Halki seminary

by NewsRoom
Mar 05, 2021 | 18:50
0

The Head of the European Union Delegation to Turkey, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, paid an official visit today, March 5, 2021,...

Newsletter

Sign up for our weekly newsletter



Quick Links

  • Orthodoxy
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Spirituality
  • Christianity
  • Opinions
  • History
  • Press Releases

Get Social

About Us

Advertise

Contact

© 2021 OrthodoxTimes.com
digital world media

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Orthodoxy
    • Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Mount Athos
      • Archdiocese of America
      • Archdiocese of Australia
      • Church of Crete
    • Patriarchates
      • Patriarchate of Alexandria
      • Patriarchate of Antioch
      • Patriarchate of Moscow
      • Patriarchate of Serbia
      • Patriarchate of Romania
      • Patriarchate of Jerusalem
      • Patriarchate of Bulgaria
      • Patriarchate of Georgia
    • Churches
      • Church of Greece
      • Church of Cyprus
      • Church of Poland
      • Church of Albania
      • Church of Czech and Slovakia
      • Church of Ukraine
  • Politics
    • USA
    • Europe
    • Middle East
  • Society
    • Culture
  • Spirituality
  • Christianity
  • Opinions

© 2020 OrthodoxTimes.com - All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptReject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT