#autocephaly

[orthodoxydaily]

50th Anniversary of the Signing of the Tomos of Autocephaly

On this day fifty years ago, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, under the Presidency of His Holiness Patriarch Alexis I, granted autocephaly to the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OCA!

[entanglingbriars]

When people talk about the thousands of denominations in Christianity, it’s important to remember that not all these denominations consider all other denominations wrong, errant, or hellbound. While some certainly do, it isn’t universal. Most of the mainline Protestant denominations, even when not in full communion with each other, wouldn’t be seeking converts from other Protestant churches even if they were to start evangelizing again. Similarly, many Baptist churches don’t treat their denomination as a denomination as such; that’s what the Southern Baptist Convention is a convention, a group of affiliated churches that, until recently, the SBC as an organization didn’t have that much control over.

But all of this is even more  pronounced in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox tradition of autocephaly. Protestant sects, even those that are now mostly reconciled, didn’t schism off from each other amicably. Even the Southern Baptist Convention formed not out of a recognition of distance, but from a schism among American Baptists over slavery. Autocephaly, on the other hand, is amicable. Under autocephaly, the Church grants the bishops of a region autonomy from its patriarch. The churches remain in full communion with each other, but the principle of subsidiarity is held to mean that it no longer makes sense for the Patriarch of, say, Constantinople/Istanbul/Byzantuim to have ecclesiastic authority over Russia.

In this regard, autocephaly has similarities to the minhaggim of Judaism. Sephardic and Ashkenazi Judaism are separated not by a formal schism over theology, but by the slow drifting apart of custom. Sephardim and Ashkenazim do not, as a rule, regard the others as practicing invalidly, but instead recognize that time and distance require new customs and traditions.

[orthodoxydaily]

ORTHODOX CHURCH OF AMERICA: preparing to celebrate 50 years of autocephaly

.OCA_news: On October 24, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon welcomed His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, to the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America for a working meeting. His Beatitude received Metropolitan Hilarion in the Chancery’s Saint Sergius of Radonezh Chapel, together with Igumen Nicodemus Balyasnikov and Priest Mark Rashkov, clergy of Saint Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York City...continue reading  

[euromaidanpress]

Moscow worried about possible moves to Orthodox autocephaly in Belarus and Moldova

Moscow worried about possible moves to Orthodox autocephaly in Belarus and Moldova

Religious affairs specialist Milena Faustova says that “the closer the August 24 date of the visit of Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the Universal Patriarch, to Ukraine approaches, “the more often in the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian diplomatic corps frighten themselves and others with the idea that a church split will spread across the entire post-Soviet space. Indeed, these concerns…

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[mystlnewsonline]

United States | Declaration of Ukrainian Autocephaly

United States | Declaration of Ukrainian Autocephaly

United States – The January 6th announcement of autocephaly for an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine marks a historic achievement as Ukraine seeks to chart its own future. On this momentous occasion, the United States reiterates its unwavering support for a sovereign, independent Ukraine.

The United States maintains its strong support for religious freedom, including the freedom for members…

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