Posted by Dean Calvert (dcalvert) on 4/12/2008, 3:09 pm, in reply to "Re: OCA Primatial Elections"
Hi Leo,
My role in this discussion (in the past) was generally to underline the contrast between the OCA, with the statutes as you and Al provided, vs the GOA where no election really took place here at all. Articles 13 and 14 of the GOA charter which deal with the election of the archbishop and metropolitans, begin with the statement: "The election of the Archbishop is the exclusive privilege and canonical right of the Holy Synod."
Tom's point was always, "Who cares? they take the name we give them anyway."
As true or false as that may be, the fact remains: No election of any sort occurs on this continent in the GOA.
As we have witnessed in the OCA scandal, the ability to elect does not guarantee a level of quality or incorruptibility that is acceptable to us. On the other hand, the Church Fathers realized that this is a Fallen World, and to expect perfection from mere mortals is unreasonable.
So they gave us a process, a system of church governance - locally elected bishops, sitting in synod - by which we can fix the problem, make adjustments as needed.
Slowly - much too slowly - the OCA will "clean out the barns." As bad as things are (and they are pretty bad), Metropolitan Herman is not even close to being the worst leader of an autocephalous church we have ever experienced. Go look at the list during the Byzantine, and particularly the Ottoman times - he's got lots of company.
However, in the end, it will be recognized that in the long run - the Church Fathers were exactly correct - locally elected bishops, sitting in synod, is our best protection - both for our theology and our continued existence.
By the way, the GOA charter is available online at http://www.goarch.org/en/archdiocese/documents/en_2003_charter.pdf. See pages 9 & 10 for the paragraphs referenced above.
Best Regards,
Dean
PS Glad you have people looking at the statutes - I have a feeling we are going to be using them shortly.
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