- 20 Apr 2017 18:55
#14798859
Orthodox Church in Czech Land and Slovakia created a Commission on amending its Charter. Members of the Commission met with representatives of the Constantinople Patriarchate in Vienne on March 8-9, 2017. Proposed changes to the Charter may put the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church (CSOC) in dependence on the Phanar (Istanbul neighborhood where the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is situated).
The Primate of the CSOC, Metropolitan Rostislav, convoked the Sacred Synod to gather for an extended meeting on April 5, 2017 in Bratislava. Members of the Sacred Synod and the Commission were to consider implementation of the "Tomos of Autocephaly" provisions to the CSOC Charter. However, from the first days of April, a number of anonymous messages on this matter started to circulate in the web. The anonymous appeals that were spreading via email can be found here.
The first letter titled "ТHE END OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE CZECH AND SLOVAK ORTHODOX CHURCH" from the "Movement for the independence of the Orthodox Church in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic" was written on Monday, April 3, 2017.
Authors of this letter remind us about an attempt of Constantinople patriarchate to seizure the CSOC in 2013 by planting two bishops in its Synod. And now, according to the appeal of the "Movement for independence…", Constantinople interferes in the affairs of the autocephalous (independent) Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church, threatens to revoke the Tomos in order to change the Charter and thus get access to the assets being paid by Czech Republic to the Church under the law on restitution.
The second letter, which was clearly written as a response to the first letter and being sent from the email address pravoslavniukrajinci@seznam.cz, became known on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. It explains that amendments to the CSOC Charter, that were proposed at the meetings with Constantinople patriarchate clergy in January and May 2016, are to implement provisions of the Tomos and make sure that in case of internal crisis and confusion the CSOC will apply to the Phanar for advice and decision. And furthermore, anonymous activists claim that the CSOC has been in a prolonged crisis for a long time already. They accuse the Sacred Synod in acting "like a military junta" to the benefit of Moscow and believe that it is unable to fix the situation without help from Constantinople since CSOC hasn't even 12 bishops to form the Church Court.
The third letter was written on Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017 as a response by the "Movement for independence ..." to the second letter. It is titled "Betrayers of Our Church". This proclamation argues accusations of CSOC sovietization and weakness and points out that there are other Local Churches (such as Albanian and Polish ones) which are still firmly autocephalous in spite of suffering a similar shortage of bishops.
The fourth letter, which was written in response to the previous one, appeared on Monday, April 10, 2017. Its authors argue that actually Albanian Church flourishes only due to the support from the Phanar, and refer to the "Movement for independence ..." as a kind of "Orthodox Christian Taliban".
Well, let's see how it goes…
The Primate of the CSOC, Metropolitan Rostislav, convoked the Sacred Synod to gather for an extended meeting on April 5, 2017 in Bratislava. Members of the Sacred Synod and the Commission were to consider implementation of the "Tomos of Autocephaly" provisions to the CSOC Charter. However, from the first days of April, a number of anonymous messages on this matter started to circulate in the web. The anonymous appeals that were spreading via email can be found here.
The first letter titled "ТHE END OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE CZECH AND SLOVAK ORTHODOX CHURCH" from the "Movement for the independence of the Orthodox Church in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic" was written on Monday, April 3, 2017.
Authors of this letter remind us about an attempt of Constantinople patriarchate to seizure the CSOC in 2013 by planting two bishops in its Synod. And now, according to the appeal of the "Movement for independence…", Constantinople interferes in the affairs of the autocephalous (independent) Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church, threatens to revoke the Tomos in order to change the Charter and thus get access to the assets being paid by Czech Republic to the Church under the law on restitution.
The second letter, which was clearly written as a response to the first letter and being sent from the email address pravoslavniukrajinci@seznam.cz, became known on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. It explains that amendments to the CSOC Charter, that were proposed at the meetings with Constantinople patriarchate clergy in January and May 2016, are to implement provisions of the Tomos and make sure that in case of internal crisis and confusion the CSOC will apply to the Phanar for advice and decision. And furthermore, anonymous activists claim that the CSOC has been in a prolonged crisis for a long time already. They accuse the Sacred Synod in acting "like a military junta" to the benefit of Moscow and believe that it is unable to fix the situation without help from Constantinople since CSOC hasn't even 12 bishops to form the Church Court.
The third letter was written on Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017 as a response by the "Movement for independence ..." to the second letter. It is titled "Betrayers of Our Church". This proclamation argues accusations of CSOC sovietization and weakness and points out that there are other Local Churches (such as Albanian and Polish ones) which are still firmly autocephalous in spite of suffering a similar shortage of bishops.
The fourth letter, which was written in response to the previous one, appeared on Monday, April 10, 2017. Its authors argue that actually Albanian Church flourishes only due to the support from the Phanar, and refer to the "Movement for independence ..." as a kind of "Orthodox Christian Taliban".
Well, let's see how it goes…
- By FiveofSwords
- By Pants-of-dog
- By Negotiator
- By Deutschmania