Posted by Leo
on 9/14/2009, 10:04 am
Message modified by user Leo 9/14/2009, 10:06 am
Fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers in Christ,
Poking around the Web leads me to believe that a new(?) fight about "who was here first" is about ready to draw blood, so to speak. I can't speculate about the origin or cause of it without joining it myself, which I no longer wish to do.
Instead, let's remember the Church didn't always require "one bishop/one city" strictly. Yes, it was before the 1st Ecumenical Synod (Nicea). The way I've previously read it, it was the mess of gnostic sects and other competing "Christianities" that 1B1C was intended to fix. However, I just read in The Rudder an alternative and potentially more freeing perspective than this. It's in what I believe is St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite's traditional interpretation of Canon 2 of the 2nd Ecu. Synod (Constantinople).
This is his translation of Canon 2:
Bishops must not leave their own diocese and go over to churches beyond its boundaries; but, on the contrary, in accordance with the Canons, let the Bishop of Alexandria administer the affairs of Egypt only, let the Bishops of the East govern the Eastern Church only, the priorities granted to the church of the Antiochians in the Nicene Canons being kept inviolate, and let the Bishops of the Asian diocese (or administrative domain) administer only the affairs of the Asian church, and let those of the Pontic diocese look after the affairs of the diocese of Pontus only, and let those of the Thracian diocese manage the affairs of the Thracian diocese only. Let Bishops not go beyond their own province to carry out an ordination or any other ecclesiastical services unless (officially) summoned thither. When the Canon prescribed in regard to dioceses (or administrative provinces) is duly kept, it is evident that the synod of each province will confine itself to the affairs of that particular province, in accordance with the regulations decreed in Nicaea. But the churches of God that are situated in territories belonging to barbarian nations must be administered in accordance with the customary practice of the Fathers.
IOW, normally clergy can't officiate in someone else's canonical boundaries without his permission, except we can still establish the Church in new places where there's no bishop to give permission (logically!).
However, the Interpretation following says:
Since, as is attested by Socrates (Book 5, ch. 8), officiation beyond the boundaries of one’s own diocese was formerly a matter of indifference on account of persecutions, and, as Theodoret says, blessed Eusebius of Samosata did it as a matter of extraordinary zeal. On this account, when peace reappeared in the Church as a whole, the present Canon was adopted and promulgated.
As we can see in the bio of St. Eusebius I've linked above, the persecutions at his time came from Emperor Julian the Apostate, and from the Arians (including an Arian Emperor). Before that, of course, they were more general, prior to Toleration under St. Constantine. What are the causes of "jurisdictional" overlap in many countries today?: "scattering" ("diaspora") due to persecution, oppression, forced ethnic dilution or demographic compromise (Ottoman Empire; Soviet Union), economic privation, war, disaster, hostile civil politics; scattering 'in-place' with shifting national borders; overlapping evangelizing mission efforts, etc. (As well as, of course, conflicting jurisdictional claims de jure or de facto.) Persecutions from Latins, Uniates, Zionists, Muslims, atheists, purported secularists (modern Turkey). Oppression by opposing ethnic groups and authoritarian governments. International wars and internal civil strife and revolution. Also seeking of greater economic opportunities, mega-urbanization, and probably other reasons I can't think of. A very mixed picture, but without doubt one of tumult for millions of Orthodox (and converts from other Eastern Churches) since the mid-1800s.
What we know is that the 1st and 2nd Ecu. Synods confirmed and furthered efforts to consolidate Church structures once that era's problems had more-or-less settled down ... without apparent recriminations.
Is it possible for us in our time to do likewise? Scoring "canonical" points instead may further poison the atmosphere, imperiling or exasperating weaker souls, and making cooperation and eventual consolidation more difficult.
Sincerely,
Leo
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