Pat. Bartholomew in 1995: “Orthodoxy means Decentralization”. Now He Supports “Primacy”…

EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis): Many thanks to Matthew Namee of orthodoxhistory.org for bringing to the forefront this 1995 speech by Pat. Bartholomew in Switzerland – intending to honor him… The Patriarch devotes much of his speech to the concept of “synodical” decision making and “decentralization” of Orthodoxy.  About 25 years later, a few days ago, as you will see in this recent interview with the Cypriot newspaper “Politis”, he is an ardent supporter of “Primacy”: He talks and talks about Primacy but he never refers to the complete Orthodox concept of “primacy among equals”. Instead he sounds the heretic concept, proposed by AB Elpidoktonos of “Primus Sine Paribus” or “First Without Equals”…

Which of the two faces of Pat. Bartholonew should we believe?  The early face of the proponent of traditional Orthodox faith or the late, heretic one? Please, if any one of his supporters is ready to respond, they better be well versed to present a solid argument – this website has no patience for half-educated Turkish citizens who were brought over to East 79th street to “centrally govern” the Church of America. They should get their luggage and go back to the Turkish holes where they came from…

If the Patriarch believes seriously many of the ideas he presented himself both in 1995 and today, he has no choice but to proceed to give “Autocephaly” – or at least a solid form of “Self-Governing Autonomy” – to our Church of America.  Again, any responses need to avoid duplicitous “Phanariot talk”. We need not hear cheap legalistic or ecclesiological arguments. On the basis of the scriptures – starting from St. Paul, on the basis of Orthodox ecclesiology, and on the basis of modern reality along with countless practical reasons, the Church of America cannot be governed by a bunch of (blackmailed by the “neo-Ottomans”) senile Turkish citizens 6,000 miles away and needs to be independent – period.

Helleniscope calls on each and every one of you, clergy and laity, to follow this link to change.org and sign the declaration of Independence of our Church from the Patriarchate 

BELOW ARE BOTH POSITIONS WITH THE LINKS TO THE FULL ARTICLES – ENJOY PAT. BARTHOLOMEW ARGUING AGAINST HIMSELF!!

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Pat Bartholomew in 1995 (Excerpt from the 1995 speech below): “This system of administration of the Church’s affairs, based on the joint responsibility and decentralization that our Orthodox Church applies, fundamentally explains the fact that as much as is humanly possible, she preserves the ancient tradition intact. Because, in the absence of centralized administration and responsibility, in order to introduce an innovation in teaching or praxis, this must be agreed upon by all the bishops or by a very large number of them, which is difficult. Otherwise, the aberration has no reach beyond the territory of the one who is in error and typically does not outlive him, whereas, in a centralized system where there exists the possibility of the preponderant voice, it is enough for the one who enjoys such a voice to accept the innovation and impose it on the others for the entire teaching or ethos of the Church under his jurisdiction to be changed. Moreover, it is much easier for one innovator rather than several to put himself at the head of the Church; it is easier for only one, rather than several, to be mistaken.” 

My Friends, this one “who is mistaken” happens to be the Patriarch himself, certainly not the first heretic Patriarch of Orthodoxy!!

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ARTICLE FROM ORTHODOXHISTORY.ORG

The Ecclesiological Vision of Patriarch Bartholomew

Τhirty years ago, October 22, 1991, the 51-year-old Metropolitan Bartholomew of Chalcedon was elected Ecumenical Patriarch, inaugurating a new era in not only the Patriarchate of Constantinople but the Orthodox Church globally. One of the first major acts of the new Patriarch was to convene a Synaxis of the primates of the world’s autocephalous churches, creating a vibrant new venue for inter-Orthodox cooperation and communication. Four years into his Patriarchate, on December 14, 1995, Patriarch Bartholomew delivered a remarkable address in Zurich, Switzerland, before a largely Roman Catholic audience. In this speech, he set forth his vision of Orthodox ecclesiology — a vision founded upon two millennia of Orthodox tradition. Patriarch Bartholomew presented this vision with boldness, unafraid to speak the truth to a Roman Catholic audience. The full text of this important address is below, both in English translation and, at the end, in the original French. I’ve decided to publish it today in honor of Patriarch Bartholomew’s unprecedented thirty years as Ecumenical Patriarch, and in commemoration of his current visit to the United States.

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I salute you from the bottom of my heart: all the brothers present here, representatives of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference and, in your persons, I address my salutations of love and honor to all the bishops and people of the Roman Catholic Church in this country.

By the will of God and the close attention of the blessed primates who preceded in the sees of our two Churches — that is, the Orthodox Church, of which my humble person is today the first bishop in service and honor, and the Roman Catholic Church, whose see is currently held by my brother, His Holiness Pope John Paul II — it is a joyous and promising occasion that such meetings have become possible and normal. It is true that confrontations and behaviors of more than nine hundred years do not disappear all at once, all the more so since today certain members of one of them still intervene in the religious life of those of the other who reject these intrusions. Each, however, is responsible for his own actions and for those whom he pushes to similar actions. But the best way to do away with the confrontations consists in confessing the wrongs committed, searching for points of contact and understanding in order to establish a correct path, and knowing how to discuss before God all the problems that worry us, especially those which cause the most pain and trouble or prevent establishing belief in the sincerity of such contacts.

The Orthodox Church does not give credence to mistrust, does not accept the possibility of insincere communication, desires that all be friends of the truth, and would like that it be this way. She always speaks plainly and in all sincerity, convinced that such an attitude on her part is appreciated and that it invalidates reluctance. Moreover, the Lord Himself expressly commands us to speak frankly; that when we say “yes” it be “yes” and when we say “no” it be “no”.

Although this injunction of the Lord, like all His injunctions, is addressed to people individually, it does not permit human groups to act otherwise in this regard, for each one of us is responsible for his actions, whether personally or as representative of a group. In no case is he exempt from personal responsibility, and it would be blasphemous to think that the omniscient Lord will have difficulty discerning the extent of this responsibility, with a view to the external influences acting upon the individual’s free will.

The personal responsibility of bishops especially (of which I am one) is great and non-transmissible to fashion the course of the history of the Church for which they are personally responsible and that to which they belong organically and spiritually.

The Lord’s command, given to all the apostles and by them to all bishops, to make disciples of all nations by teaching them to keep all that He prescribed them, as well as the command given to the Apostle Peter, “be the shepherd of my sheep” and “feed my sheep” is, with regard to the responsibility of the bishop, a personal and nontransferable injunction. When the bishop is not able to accomplish the tasks incumbent upon him, he can choose for himself collaborators — deacons, priests and even others. In doing this, he must nevertheless keep watch over them because he is responsible for his choice, for his control over them and, indirectly, for all the actions taken by them in the exercise of their functions, which nonetheless does not not remove each collaborator’s personal responsibility for his own actions.

It would be unacceptable for the primate of the Church to be considered each time as the only one responsible for the Church’s path through history. Nor does the responsibility of the other members of the Church disappear just because they are acting according to the instructions of the primate or of the body of bishops.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK TO ORTHODOX HISTORY.ORG TO ENJOY PAT. BARTHOLOMEW ARGUING AGAINST HIMSELF

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Helleniscope calls on each and every one of you, clergy and laity, to follow this link to change.org and sign the declaration of Independence of our Church from the Patriarchate 

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BELOW THE INTERVIEW FROM “POLITIS” OF CYPRUS – HERE IS A LINK TO THE FULL INTERVIEW – We translated a critical excerpt regarding “Primacy”

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Question: Do you think there is an intention to undermine the Primacy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate? Did the invitation of the Patriarch of Jerusalem for a pan-Orthodox meeting upset you?

Pat. Bartholomew: The so-called “Primus” (or First) of Constantinople is a new invention, as it is used with a negative connotation and characterized as “papal”, obviously wanting to irritate and scandalize some of our brothers. I want to ask: Doesn’t every Diocese have a First? Doesn’t every Church have a First? Then why don’t the local Churches have them? Since from the smallest structure that is the parish, to the local Church as an entity, they have First, then how is it possible that the local Churches do not have their First? If we do not have a First then we are a federation of local administrative ecclesiastical groups and not the society, as our ecclesiology wants, of local Churches headed by the First. This federation, the new ecclesiology, shows that some brothers do not follow in the footsteps of our fathers.

Read the ecclesiastical texts. Which local Church the Holy and Martyrical Ecumenical Throne did not support, with its responsibilities over time? They see the responsibilities of the First from the outside as privileges for this and they are consciously jealous of this position. But the position of the First is Martyrdom, it is a responsibility, it is sacrifice.

I will explain further. While theologically Constantinople has the same priesthood, the same Grace, performs the same Mysteries with the same “value”, nevertheless, Constantinople has unique responsibilities in the Church. Accepting appeals. There is a version of the Kykkos Monastery, and Brother Nikiforos will know it very well, which describes in innumerable cases of appeals of Cypriots to the Ecumenical Throne. Do you know how many opportunities the world has had overtime for Constantinople to expand its ecclesiastical jurisdiction? Quite a few. An example from the hundreds: The Diocese of Amidis, which is located within the borders of the Turkish Republic and belongs to the brother Patriarchate of Antioch. How many times did Fanar take it on during difficult years? And yet. We always returned it when the difficulties were passing in Antioch. Nothing was ever usurped. How many elections of Patriarchs in all the Patriarchates of the East were held in the City and with the assistance of the City! Which Patriarchate lost the vital help of Constantinople?

Today we see the opposite. Brothers enter the normal boundaries of local Churches and patriarchal Patriarchates and threaten schisms and riots and divisions under the guise of their “schismatic” society. But the real cause is again beyond the orthodox notion that the Church operates on the basis of the national conscience of its children and not on the basis of geographical boundaries.

In short, the true First only helps, only sacrifices, bees and is not spent, empties, loses in order for the world to win, is crucified, but until then! He does not fall into the trap of “coming down from the Cross” precisely because he lives in the place where the Risen Lord placed him in His Church.

From this point of view, we were certainly upset by the initiative for the “fraternal meeting” in Amman here in Phanar. These are all new demons for the teaching of our Church and its tradition. This is what concerns us most and concerns us and on this basis we reflect on our own mistakes of the past, when for the sake of a supposedly better communication we gave up either out of excessive courtesy or for the sake of economy as we say many of our responsibilities. This was not appreciated at all and in fact the situation was turned into parameters that are useless and dangerous for our healthy ecclesiology. But we are here to return slowly and with the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to the orbit and to the example of our blessed Fathers.

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Helleniscope calls on each and every one of you, clergy and laity, to follow this link to change.org and sign the declaration of Independence of our Church from the Patriarchate 

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Εφεύρεση το «Πρωτείο»

Θεωρείτε πως υπάρχει πρόθεση υπονόμευσης του Πρωτείου του Οικουμενικού Πατριαρχείου; Η πρόσκληση του Πατριάρχου Ιεροσολύμων για πανορθόδοξη σύναξη σας στενοχώρησε;

Είναι καινούργια εφεύρεση το λεγόμενο «Πρωτείο» του Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, όπως αυτό χρησιμοποιείται με αρνητική χροιά και χαρακτηριζόμενο ως «παπικό», θέλοντας προφανώς να ερεθίσει και να σκανδαλίσει μερικούς αδελφούς μας. Θέλω να ρωτήσω: Κάθε Επισκοπή δεν έχει Πρώτο; Κάθε Εκκλησία δεν έχει Πρώτο; Τότε οι κατά τόπους Εκκλησίες γιατί δεν έχουν; Αφού από τη μικρότερη δομή που είναι η ενορία, μέχρι την τοπική Εκκλησία ως οντότητα, έχουν Πρώτο, τότε πώς είναι δυνατόν να μην έχουν τον Πρώτο τους οι τοπικές Εκκλησίες; Αν δεν έχουμε Πρώτο τότε είμαστε μια ομοσπονδία τοπικών διοικητικών εκκλησιαστικών σχημάτων και όχι η κοινωνία, κατά το πώς θέλει η εκκλησιολογία μας, τοπικών Εκκλησιών με επί κεφαλής τον Πρώτο. Αυτή η ομοσπονδιοποίηση, η νέα εκκλησιολογία, δείχνει ότι δεν πορεύονται ορισμένοι αδελφοί στα βήματα των πατέρων μας.

Διαβάστε τα εκκλησιαστικά κείμενα. Ποια τοπική Εκκλησία δεν συνέδραμε ο Πάνσεπτος και Μαρτυρικός Οικουμενικός Θρόνος, με τις ευθύνες του διαχρονικά; Τις ευθύνες του Πρώτου τις βλέπουν έξωθεν ως προνόμια γι’ αυτό και ζηλεύουν ου κατ’ επίγνωση τη θέση αυτή. Όμως η θέση του Πρώτου είναι Μαρτύριο, είναι ευθύνη, είναι θυσία.

Θα σας εξηγήσω και το άλλο. Ενώ θεολογικά ο Κωνσταντινουπόλεως έχει την ίδια αρχιερωσύνη, την ίδια Χάρη, επιτελεί τα ίδια Μυστήρια με την ίδια «αξία», εντούτοις ιεροκανονικώς ο Κωνσταντινουπόλεως έχει μοναδικές ευθύνες στην Εκκλησία. Το να δέχεται έκκλητες προσφυγές. Υπάρχει μια έκδοση της Μονής Κύκκου, και θα το γνωρίζει πολύ καλά ο αδελφός Νικηφόρος, η οποία περιγράφει μέσα δυσαρίθμητες περιπτώσεις εκκλήτων προσφυγών Κυπρίων στον Οικουμενικό Θρόνο. Ξέρετε πόσες, κατά κόσμον, ευκαιρίες είχε διαχρονικά ο Κωνσταντινουπόλεως να διευρύνει την εκκλησιαστική δικαιοδοσία του; Ουκ ολίγες. Ένα παράδειγμα από τα εκατοντάδες. Η επισκοπή Αμίδης, η οποία βρίσκεται εντός των ορίων της Τουρκικής Δημοκρατίας και ανήκει στο αδελφό Πατριαρχείο της Αντιοχείας. Πόσες φορές την ανέλαβε σε χρόνια δύσκολα το Φανάρι; Κι όμως. Πάντοτε την επέστρεφε όταν περνούσαν οι δυσκολίες στην Αντιόχεια. Δεν σφετερίστηκε ποτέ τίποτε. Πόσες εκλογές Πατριαρχών σε όλα τα Πατριαρχεία της Ανατολής διενεργήθηκαν στην Πόλη και με τη συνδρομή της Πόλης! Ποιο Πατριαρχείο έχασε από τη ζωτικής σημασίας βοήθεια του Κωνσταντινουπόλεως;

Σήμερα βλέπουμε το αντίθετο. Αδελφοί εισέρχονται στα κανονικά όρια τοπικών Εκκλησιών και παλαιφάτων Πατριαρχείων και απειλούν με σχίσματα και ταραχές και διχοστασίες υπό το πρόσχημα της κοινωνίας τους με… «σχισματικούς». Όμως η πραγματική αιτία είναι και πάλι το πέραν πάσης ορθόδοξης αντίληψης ότι η Εκκλησία λειτουργεί βάσει της εθνικής συνείδησης των τέκνων της και όχι βάσει γεωγραφικών ορίων.

Με λίγες λέξεις, ο γνήσιος Πρώτος μόνο βοηθά, μόνο θυσιάζεται, μελίζεται και δεν δαπανάται, κενώνεται, χάνει για να κερδίζει ο κόσμος, σταυρώνεται, όμως έως εκεί! Δεν πέφτει στην παγίδα του «κατάβα από του Σταυρού» ακριβώς διότι μένει στη θέση όπου τον έταξε ο Αναστημένος Κύριος εν τη Εκκλησία Του.

Από την άποψη αυτή, ασφαλώς και μας στενοχώρησε εδώ στο Φανάρι η πρωτοβουλία για την «αδελφική συνάντηση» στο Αμμάν. Είναι καινά δαιμόνια όλα αυτά για τη διδασκαλία της Εκκλησίας μας και την παράδοσή της. Αυτό είναι που μας απασχολεί και μας προβληματίζει περισσότερο και επί τη βάσει αυτού αναλογιζόμαστε και τα δικά μας σφάλματα του παρελθόντος, όταν για χάρη μιας δήθεν καλύτερης επικοινωνίας παραμερίσαμε είτε από υπερβάλλουσα ευγένεια είτε χάρη οικονομίας όπως λέμε πολλές από τις ευθύνες μας. Αυτό καθόλου δεν εκτιμήθηκε και μάλιστα εξετράπη η κατάσταση σε παραμέτρους ανωφελείς και επικίνδυνες για την υγιή εκκλησιολογία μας. Όμως εδώ είμαστε ώστε να επανέλθουμε σιγά-σιγά και με τον φωτισμό του Αγίου Πνεύματος στην τροχιά και στο παράδειγμα των μακαρίων Πατέρων μας.

Helleniscope calls on each and every one of you, clergy and laity, to follow this link to change.org and sign the declaration of Independence of our Church from the Patriarchate