“Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them,

and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

But it shall not be so among you:

but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,

but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28, KJV)


The word the Athenians used for their Assembly was Ekklesia, the same word used in the New Testament for Church
(and it is the greatest philological irony in all of Western history that this word,
which connoted equal participation in all deliberation by all members,
came to designate a kind of self-perpetuating, self-protective Spartan gerousia -
which would have seemed patent nonsense to Greek-speaking Christians of New Testament times,
who believed themselves to be equal members of their Assembly.)

- Thomas Cahill, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter




ΦΙΛΟΤΙΜΟ: THE GREEK SECRET


Thursday, July 22, 2010

A Follow-Up Regarding "Twisted Logic"

After conducting a bit of our own research into ecclesiastical law, we would like to offer a bit of follow-up to our previous blog article regarding "Ongoing Threats and Twisted Logic".

Not to attempt to argue, nor correct Metropolitan Isaiah about the use of the term “titular” Bishop, it is noteworthy that the 1964 Articles and Uniform Parish Bylaws, contain on page 3 the following references to “Bishop.”

On page 3 in the English version the term “Bishop,” “Archdiocesan District Bishop” “Bishop of the Archdiocesan District,” and “District Bishop” appear; the designations are used interchangeably.

In the Greek language there is only one designation that of “Βοηθού Επισκόπου”.

Except for the Archbishop, ALL Bishops in the United States of America WERE AND STILL ARE “Auxiliary Bishops” or “Βοηθοί Επίσκοποι” administratively, and “titular” Bishops ecclesiastically. The designation of a Metropolitan does not elevate an auxiliary Bishop to an Archbishop, unless he is a fully titled “Bishop;” not an auxiliary, nor a titular. When an Auxiliary Bishop is designated as a Metropolitan, he no longer uses the name of the City he had represented, and the position is deemed “widowed.”

Metropolitan Isaiah should not try to hoodwink his flock with his eloquence.

2 comments:

Sakis Sakellaariou said...

I wonder, what is the position of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate regarding this matter or issue. Will someone with the highest ecclesiastical authority from Constantinople care to answer? We shall wait patiently until we hear. Sakis Sakellariou

Barbara Colessides said...

Saki:
With all due respect, who do you think set up this nightmare we face? Our Ecumenical Patriarch subdivided the Archdiocese of North and South America. Our Ecumenical Patriarch further subdivided the Archdiocese of America into Metropolises. Our Ecumenical Patriarch said the Church in the U.S. was too "spiritually immature" to be either autocephalous or autonomous, yet Albania, emerging from decades of Maoist rule, was not spiritually immature and IS autocephalous. Thus, he still maintains control of us, his Eparchy and his cash cow.

Our Ecumenical Patriarch gave us the "gift" of a new Charter. Our Ecumenical Patriarch engineered the 2004 Clergy-Laity Congress that gave the laity NO voice in the affairs of the Church. Our Ecumenical Patriarch gave us this "pay, pray and obey" governance that has marginalized the laity and that is now causing such disharmony. The Ecumenical Patriarch is not the answer to our problems; he is at the root of them!