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on 5/22/2009, 3:17 pm
The More the Merrier: Georgian Metropolitan Appointed for US & Canada
Minutes of Holy Synod Session (2009-05-10)
On 30th of April 2009 there was held the Holy Synod session at the Patriarchate of Georgia. The session was chaired by His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II....
The Holy Synod decided to:...
b) Appoint Metropolitan Dimitri (Shiolashvili) as a ruler of the Georgian parish in North America and Canada, and name him Metropolitan of Batumi and Lazeti Eparchy and ruler of Georgian parish in North America and Canada...
To be fair, there is also the possibility that this is a part of a plan to develop the sort of 'super Synod' of all ruling Orthodox hierarchs in America that Met. Jonah mentioned in Dallas. That Synod - especially if it had representatives of all of the local Orthodox churches including those previously absent from North America, e.g., Georgia, etc. - could then become a de facto standing synod such as was had in Constantinople of old, and which would allow the EP to truly lead as first among equals (cf. Met. Jonah's comments about such a Synod). Such a tactic would actually be quite an olive branch to the EP: we will help to develop a forum within which you can better exert your rightful primacy among the Orthodox churches while also unifying the Orthodox in North America via this Synod of all Orthodox hierarchs already in America; it would also allow for closer ties between the EP and the bulk of its flock (i.e., its American eparchies) and perhaps setting the stage for relocation should its position become yet more untenable in Turkey (especially since they are running out of eligible men for the Patriarchal see since Turkey requires the candidate to be Turkish and the Church doesn't have any seminaries for candidates to study in). Such relocated primacy would have added power if the standing Synod being presided over included representatives from all Orthodox nations - including Russia and numerous members of the EU and NATO - rather than just the 'Greek' Patriarch of Istanbul. Such a new, multinational entity intertwined with the EU and NATO would also likely be a more 'acceptable' holder of historic real estate in Constantinople and environs (cf. Bartholomew's Appeal to the European Court of Human Rights).
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