The IOTA 2019 conference was opened by a keynote address by Kallistos Ware, an Orthodox Archbishop and theologian. It begins after an eight-minute introduction which you should skip. It lasts about 50 minutes, delivered in excellent Oxford English. Ware was educated in England and remained there for some time. His talk covers the material which I tried to outline below. Betty found it easy to follow even though she is unfamiliar with Orthodoxy. She said every time she had question, Ware answered it a few paragraphs later. Ware unfortunately died last year.
Nearly 400 Orthodox Christian theologians from 44 countries convened in the largest international conference of its kind in Greece on Thursday (Jan. 12) to discuss “Nicaea-sized” questions facing the Eastern Orthodox Church amid war and bitter division.
A historic meeting of Orthodox Christian scholars convenes to confront divisions and war
The conference’s keynote speaker, Metropolitan Ambrosios (Zografos) of Korea and Exarch of Japan, a bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, told the assembly Wednesday evening that the various branches of Orthodox Christianity had fomented a heresy by taking sides in the war, calling it “an unspeakable travesty” that as a result, “most Orthodox leaders have failed to condemn this diabolical war unequivocally.
“We cannot even say, ‘Well this is a war driven by politicians. Our churches are against it,'” Ambrosios said, “because so few of our church leaders have actually taken a public anti-war stance.”
At the root of the Russia-Ukraine split is a theological heresy called ethno-phyletism that conflates church and nation, Ambrosios argued. The practice of applying church governance based on ethnicity, nationality or culture rather than geography, the metropolitan said, is “nothing less than the greatest danger to the Orthodox unity of the church.”
The effects of ethno-phyletism often lead to church members excluding Christians who don’t match their particular ethnic identity, however subtly, or to elevating nationality over faith.
My Comments
The heresy of ethno-phyletism (literally ethnic tribalism) is about much more than the war in Ukraine, it is about how the Orthodox churches are governed in the modern world.
As Orthodox have migrated around the world they have kept their relationships to their native lands. Therefore, in America we have Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, etc. churches and bishops often in the same cities. All with relationships to churches in their native lands but not to the Orthodox churches next door!
In an Orthodox country it would be a huge offense for a bishop from another country to send in a priest to establish a parish to serve ethnic minorities from his country who have immigrated. It would be up to the native bishop to decide whether or not immigrants need the liturgy in their own language.
Orthodox theology says that ideally there should be one bishop for all the Orthodox in a given city. This is sometimes expressed in the liturgy. On great feasts such as Easter, the antiphon of the day, e.g. Christ is risen... is sung in as many languages as possible, an image of an enduring Pentecost. Historically it has also been expressed by having liturgies of the word in different locations in different language followed by a joint Eucharist.
In the USA during the cold war the Russian Orthodox attempted to found an Orthodox Church in America. They got a lot of the Slavic churches to come together and had the Patriarch of Moscow recognize them as a self-governing church that can elect and consecrate is own bishops. The Patriarch of Constantinople refused to recognize them as a self-governing church independent of Moscow. Constantinople continued to govern Greek Orthodox churches in America. Similarly, Constantinople recently recognized the Ukraine as a self- governing church, Moscow refused to recognize the autonomy. That is behind the invasion of Ukraine.
Currently the fourteen self-governing Orthodox Churches in their native lands have established 12 regions of the diaspora where conferences of Orthodox bishops function much like the American bishops functioned before Vatican II, they coordinate educational, social and political activity but do not act as a self governing synod of bishops for that area of the world.
Essentially these theologians are saying that Orthodoxy through the diaspora has to move toward the self-governing model used in Orthodox countries and become true synods of bishops and cease to have their ties to churches in their native lands.
That would be really big change, far bigger that what we are doing with our synod of bishops. Would all the Orthodox churches in Ohio be reorganized into new Orthodox Cleveland Diocese? Who would be its bishop? Big changes for bishops. Big changes for parishes. Big changes for people within parishes who depend upon parishes to support their ethnic culture.
Will this theological conference have any clout to get things done? In Orthodox traditional cultures, everyone speaks for the culture, not just bishops, or politicians. So when Orthodox come together for a theological conference, everyone (bishops, priests, laity) are expressing their understanding of Orthodoxy. It is really more like what we are trying to do with consultative synods. Yes, it will ultimately be up to the Orthodox bishops conferences to decide whether or not to become self- governing, and up to other self-governing Orthodox churches to recognize them as equals. However, all the Orthodox bishops know that this conference is an expression of synodality in the Orthodox church, and they cannot ignore it. That is why even Moscow sent representatives.
Everyone knows that the Patriarch of Moscow and the Patriarch of Constantinople are not Popes. They do not have the final say. The final say is by the totality of self-governing Orthodox Churches. If the various diaspora churches become self-governing and are recognized as self- governing by other self-governing churches, eventually Moscow will have to give in or be judged to be not only a schismatic church outside the communion of self-governing churches but a heretical church which has its own opinion of what constitutes Orthodox Christianity! Moscow has often touted itself as the Third Rome after Constantinople and Old Rome. It could become a New Rome in a pejorative sense, another Rome which has lost its way through excessive Patriarchal authority!
Jack, within 5 miles of our house in the suburbs there are Greek, Russian, Serbian, and Antiochian Orthodox churches. Go out 5 more miles and there are also Ukrainian and Coptic Orthodox churches. Downtown DC has a similar group of different ethnic Orthodox churches. DC is a small city too. Having been very close friends for more than 40 years with a Greek Orthodox woman, I am a bit put off by the tribalism that is apparent in her church. But the Catholics did the same - Polish, Italian, Irish, German, Mexican, etc parishes - and neighborhoods. That started to go away with the moves out to the suburbs. But it doesn't seem to have happened with the Orthodox in our suburb. Still linguistically and cultural tribal.
ReplyDeleteChristianity has a whole lot of problems these days. The divisions seem to be growing in every main group of christian churches, even the evangelical, which is now seeing mass departures of young adults also.
Orthodox churches very greatly in their hospitality.
DeleteMy local Orthodox is very welcoming. It is small so newcomers are recognized and greeted. At vespers of feasts when people come forward to be anointed and given bread soaked in oil and wine, the priest gives newcomers a loud “welcome” at the end of their anointing. That is also a signal to parish members that they have a newcomer among them.
Although Orthodox do not admit non-Orthodox to communion they do give them the blessed bread and wine at the end of the Divine Liturgy. The blessed bread and wine are used by Orthodox as a kind of cleansing after receiving communion. They go over to two “handmaidens” one of which has a bowl of broken bread and the other which has little cups of wine. They take a piece of bread followed by a cup of wine.
Non-Orthodox are welcome to come forward at communion time bypass the priest with the cup of consecrated elements and take some of the blessed bread and wine. In my case since I have a walking stick I often have more than one Orthodox friend who bring back blessed bread and wine for me.
Yes, I have been offered bread and wine after services at my friend’s Greek Orthodox Church. It is a fairly big parish though and there haven’t ever been any particular efforts to notice and welcome strangers. A lot of the conversations after services and at events that I have attended over the years have been in Greek. I’ve never been to any of the other Orthodox churches in my community so I don’t know what they do. I prefer a few selected points of theology of the Orthodox to the Catholic, but feel that women are treated even worse in some ways than in the RCC. But the real deal killer for me is having to stand most of the time during the very long services!
DeleteThe big problem for me is the alliance of Christianity with government and nation. The severity varies from church to church but it is very ingrained with the Orthodox, almost foundational. Hopefully, with this stupid Ukraine war, they may come up with their version of the Confessing Church. Currently, there IS an official religion in OUR country and Mammon is its god.
DeleteMy late brother'-in-law's extended family was Syrian Orthodox, though he had been raised Roman Catholic. My sister occasionally attended services with the relatives. She said the service was quite long, and a lot of people came in just for the second half. Said they were quite accepting of her. Unfortunately there was some antisemitism in the culture, but I don't think the church itself was antisemitic.
DeleteThanks for the post, Jack. Very interesting. I hope they can achieve some detachment from toxic nationalism. I was not even aware that there were Korean and Japanese Orthodox communities.
ReplyDeleteJack, why haven’t you converted to the Orthodox Church? I know that they also think of themselves as “ the one, true church” just as the RCC claims. You accept the validity of their sacraments (even the RCC does). You seem more interested in going to their liturgies than to RCC liturgies. And you seem very at home in the Orthodox Church that you attend. Why not change? I’m just curious. You don’t have to explain yourself if you don’t want to.
ReplyDeleteMy whole lifelong relationships and experiences are mostly with Roman Catholics, not just with parishes but with religious orders and educational institutions, Saint John’s Collegeville and Notre Dame.
DeleteThe Byzantine (both Catholic and Orthodox) experiences are only a small part of my whole life. You might say I am bi-ritual in that I sometimes celebrate in the Byzantine tradition as well as the Roman tradition. The Byzantine Jesuit liturgy professor that influenced me most about liturgy was one of the world’s outstanding authorities on the Liturgy of the Hours. I had two courses from him at ND.
I think that the reformed Roman Rite when done well is better than the Byzantine Rite. Unfortunately, most of the time most parishes do not do it as well as the Orthodox do it every Sunday.
The ecclesial reality is that Roman Catholics authorities allow intercommunion with the Orthodox. They can receive the sacraments in our churches, and we can ask for the sacraments in their churches. However Orthodox authorities do not allow intercommunion. They are not allowed to give us the sacraments in their churches, and they are not supposed to receive the sacraments in our churches.
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Why would I give up a whole life-long communion with Catholics for communion with a small local Orthodox community even if it happens to be a very good community?
Religion is a lifestyle for me; it is something that I am. Foremost I am a person for whom the Hours have been the foundational element of my life since adolescence. I am not dependent upon the clergy nor parishes for the Hours. Also, Catholicism is the home of spiritualities that have shaped my life: Merton, the Benedictines, the Jesuits. Again, these have shaped my whole life since adolescence.
Of course, I do live in modern times where religious institutions function as businesses providing products. Like you I evaluate these products in deciding where I might spend my time, talent and treasure. But those decisions are very secondary to shape of my life.
The pandemic has made that very clear to me. I have abundant resources on the internet not just to sustain but also develop my lifestyle of multi-faceted spiritualities. I don’t miss the parishes (both Catholic and Orthodox) that used to support some of that lifestyle. It helps very much that Betty has come to share a lifestyle of spirituality, intellectual, and avocational interests. We have become a house church.
I think it's good to pay attention to what is going on with the Orthodox branches, since they are on the same family tree.
ReplyDeleteJack, thanks. You have provided an excellent example for those who are figuring out how to create their own spiritual paths outside of the walls of churches.
ReplyDeleteYou have provided an excellent example for those who are figuring out how to create their own spiritual paths outside of the walls of churches.
DeleteMy spiritual paths outside the walls of organized religion could not have come to exist without walking inside the walls of organized religion, in my case Catholicism, both parish life and religious orders.
While I have had deep positive experiences of parish and religious life, I am not very parochial nor a third order type. Rather I have found that solitary (Merton), communal (Benedictine) and missionary (Jesuit) spirituality are all useful at some times and some places in some ways because like most people I am sometimes solitary, a member of various communities, and a servant of others.
Spirituality involves one’s whole life not just the part of one’s life that occurs in church buildings or monasteries. But I don’t think that one could be very successful in developing one’s own spirituality by ignoring what goes on in religious organizations. One should begin there but not end there.
Similarly in regard to the Divine Office, I am both profoundly inside the Church (I say the same prayers as the Pope, bishops, priests, deacons, and religious) but outside their institutional structures since I pray at home. I add psalms and hymns from a variety of Christian sources and musical traditions to connect myself with the world about me, especially other Christians. I am a Catholic Christian with them not separate from or against them. By enculturing the Hours within our broader religious culture, I think that I am being more Catholic rather than less Catholic.
A spirituality outside of Catholicism that has influenced me is Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership. I accept his critique that most large institutions in our society (religious, educational, political, business) function more poorly than they should. I agree that all people are called to be both leaders and followers. That we should point the way for others, when necessary, at least with our deeds if not our words, and that we should only follow servant leaders.
I also agree with him about the importance of reforming social institutions from within, i.e., making them servant institutions.
Greenleaf thought that trustees, since they have legal authority for an institution, and were separate from management, and were both inside and outside the institution, had great potential for changing the institution. Unfortunately, those ideas have not born fruit. In my opinion everyone who is associated with an institution whether as employee, member, citizen or consumer should feel the call to function as a trustee, to articulate how that institution could do its job better.
Your formation was in the institutional church. And I do think that it is much harder for someone to discover their own spiritual path without having been initiated into religious and spiritual ideas via a religious institution. But I believe that the spiritual life is a journey. Some never need more than the conventional Sunday experience. Others do. You did. I do. I know many people whose journey went outside church buildings eventually. The confining aspects of doctrine and ritual became obstacles in the journey, for some ( not you), even though those things provided the foundation to begin the journey. My foundation, like yours, was Catholic Christian. Catholic spiritual writers are still the majority of those who influence my journey. But they are mavericks in the RCC, even looked upon by many in the the mainstream institution as possible heretics. Yet they saved me as far as Christianity goes. I also find much spiritual wisdom outside of Christianity. I tend to be a loner, but find that the best for me is to be part of a small meditation group for Centering Prayer, something that I have not had for several years and miss. I found a couple of small groups (CP and Social Justice) at the parish level that provided spiritual support, but in general, unlike you, my parish experiences were definitely not spiritually positive. However I still maintain that you provide a good example of how people can follow their own spiritual path outside of the conventional path of parish and Sunday mass. You discovered the prayers that feed your soul - the Divine Office, as I found that wordless prayer feeds mine. Sunday mass - with dozens or hundreds of people - in a church building feeds the souls of people like Jim, Katherine and Stanley. Unfortunately it’s usually presented as the only way. Parishes don’t encourage spiritual exploration nor do they provide support for individual spiritual journeys.
ReplyDeleteReligious organizations provide more than institutions and culture they provide people as models.
DeleteWhen I was in public high school one of the math teachers introduced me to Merton, and became a life-long friend and model of being a Catholic intellectual. In college one of the English professors, a layman, introduced me to the Catholic Worker movement. They were both people who integrated their spiritual and intellectual lives, becoming models for me.
It is interesting that Merton and Day were the two Catholics (along with Lincoln and MLK) that Pope Francis proposed as models when he spoke to Congress. My introduction to these spiritual leaders came from Catholic laity not from priests or religious., most of whom were caught up in their own ministries and agenda.
Certainly, I have experienced a lot of disappointment with religious professionals (men and women, clergy and laity). Many of them are in business for themselves; they have fallen prey to spiritual worldliness, the pursuit of religion for the sake of status, power and money.
But that should not cause us to neglect the good things that religious professionals do, and the many examples of Catholics who live out their lives creatively and productively in the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty.
Non-Catholics and not-Christians can do that too; it is just a little more difficult to find them, get to know them, and access the resources that made their lives possible.
I prefer to use the resources (human, social networks, cultures) provided by Catholic organizations to help myself and others rather than wasting a lot of time criticizing where those organizations have failed.
Of course, when they do ask me for time, talent and treasure to accomplish their agenda, I feel free to give them my vision and advice about what they should be doing.