tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post5191411064260161142..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: How did I miss this?Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-87046471768636403662016-12-20T21:21:29.292-06:002016-12-20T21:21:29.292-06:00As Chris has already said, this is not the undoing...As Chris has already said, this is not the undoing of the Orthodox Church but probably the undoing of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The EP has no authority over the Church in Greece because it is autocephalous. The EP can make all the demands he wants, but he is not an Eastern version of the Pope of Rome. He has no authority. And considering that the Churches of Antioch, Bulgaria, Georgia and Russia all did not attend and the Serbs who did attend have major reservations about what took place, these Churches are considerably larger than the EP and its "allies" and wield much more influence. The EP is becoming irrelevant and the EP knows it. This is just a last ditch effort for people to pay attention to him. So, the EP can squawk all he wants, but it doesn't mean people are going to listen. Maybe his buddy, Pope Frank, will care but that's not really important.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07737698278079495810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-14674693142014184882016-12-18T16:34:20.693-06:002016-12-18T16:34:20.693-06:00There are of course other possibilities suggested ...There are of course other possibilities suggested by history. Anastasios of Constantinople (730-754) is an interesting idea. He comes in as second on the list of victims that I link to. I'm disappointed at not finding a good example of rhynotomy for patriarchs. I was sure I would find one. Sigh!<br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_mutilation_in_Byzantine_cultureJoannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09777514643611989502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-45052995257593347642016-12-18T16:25:57.255-06:002016-12-18T16:25:57.255-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Joannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09777514643611989502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-76790661739160885622016-12-17T15:08:48.428-06:002016-12-17T15:08:48.428-06:00For a little depth and perhaps some historical anc...For a little depth and perhaps some historical anchoring, may I suggest approaching this jurisdictional flap to a previous one, i.e. The council of Ferrara (1438) - Florence (1439). Follow two personalities in particular, Plethon of Mystra, and his pupil Metropolitan/Cardinal/Latin Primate of Constantinople Bessarion. The council took place within ear shot historically of the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Emperor John was desperate to do whatever had to be done to get military aid, the Turks by this time had long overrun the Balkans, only a few islands remained of the Eastern Roman Empire, i.e. Tribizond, Constantinople, the Morea (Peloponissos), etc.<br /><br />The nub is that the Emperor gave the Latins every point they broached, and he forced his Greek party to vote with him. When they returned to the Empire, John died within weeks. The forced agreement made in Italy was denounced and never received the "axios" of the full church. Plethon returned to the Morea, and Bessarion accepted a cardinal's hat and after a brief visit home, lived out his life with great honor as a Greek scholar in Italy, leaving his renowned library, know as the Marciana, to the Venetian Republic.<br /><br />This council and these two lives will give you ideas about how this, as I term it, jurisdictional flap is likely to play out. Simply, more division. The more the church seeks unity, the more division it gets. Sad, but there must be some wisdom beneath this.Joannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09777514643611989502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-77889875927561480612016-12-16T07:48:47.166-06:002016-12-16T07:48:47.166-06:00The average Christian hates it when church politi...The average Christian hates it when church politics causes divisions. This has happened since the days of the Apostles, and it is detrimental to the plain truth of the Gospel, which gets lost in the struggle.John Joseph Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06596324816480709495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-74707494050551749442016-12-16T07:46:08.043-06:002016-12-16T07:46:08.043-06:00Could this be the undoing of the Orthodox Church?
...<i>Could this be the undoing of the Orthodox Church?</i><br /><br />No, but it could be the undoing of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. If Constantinople is so foolish as to attempt to enforce the authority of its rump council by breaking communion, it runs the risk of being isolated from the rest of the Orthodox world. Few, if any, local Churches would likely follow Constantinople's lead and break communion with Greece.<br /><br />Bartholomew is trying to throw his weight around, but he will probably discover that he doesn't have all that much weight to throw.Chris Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220498656377282715noreply@blogger.com