IS THIS WHERE
UOC-USA IS HEADING…..UNDER A GREEK EXARCH ?????
Excerpts from The Hellenic
Times, published June 30, 2000
Our faith and sacred tradition: The Pan-Orthodox
understanding of the term, Diaspora
By Rev. Dr. George D.
Dragas
June 30, 2000 (THT) -- The
occasion of the 35th Clergy-Laity Conference of the Sacred Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of America, a great event in the life of the Church, invites all
Greek Orthodox American Christians to pause and consider who we really are in
the context of America, especially within the wider context of world Orthodoxy.
(The Greek Orthodox
Archdioces of America) is really a minority Church…… Even if we were to form a
unified ecclesiastical jurisdiction with the other ethnic Orthodox Churches
here, the Orthodox would still be a very small minority in America.
In 1995 the Inter-Orthodox
Preparatory Commission (IOPC)….. has proposed a plan for solving the so-called
canonical problem which exists in the Orthodox Diaspora (i.e., the parallel
existence of separate ethnic Orthodox jurisdictions in the same regions which
arguably undermines their Orthodox unity and weakens their Orthodox witness).
This plan envisages the formation
of "Regional Episcopal Assemblies" with all the existing Orthodox
Bishops in each Diaspora Region.
The regulations
stipulate that these Assemblies will be presided by the Exarchs of the
Autocephalous Churches which are present and active in these regions, according
to the established order of seniority of these Churches. Other executive
officials of these Assemblies will be appointed on the same basis.
This means
that our Archbishop, as Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United
States of America, will preside over all other Metropolitans and Bishops of all
jurisdictions operating in America.
The plan draws
from, and builds upon, the existing SCOBA (i.e., Standing Conference of
Orthodox Bishops in America) and reveals the worldwide concern and wisdom of
the Orthodox Church.
It appears that, as far
as world Orthodoxy is concerned, this plan is on the move, and America may be
the first country to really put it to the test, inasmuch as pioneering work has
been already done in America through SCOBA, which has been used as an actual
model for developing this provisional scheme.
Various groups of the
Orthodox Diaspora have organized themselves into various jurisdictions
according to their ethnic ecclesiastical background. To some extent, this was
inevitable, but it created a problem which concerns worldwide Orthodoxy.
This problem has many sides
to it, many of which have been spelled out and are well known. The most obvious
among them is the existence of separate Orthodox Episcopal Jurisdictions in the
same place or region.
This arrangement is rightly
seeing as a direct contradiction to the Orthodox Tradition because the unity of
the local Church under one local Bishop is the core of Orthodox ecclesiology.
The American Diaspora is
indeed the one which exhibits the whole spectrum of Diaspora problems……. it is
also here in America where the solution to the entire problem can and should be
worked out. It seems that the eyes of the whole Orthodox world are on us. They
all talk about us and expect us to set the example.
Our Archdiocese, being the
largest and most vibrant Church of the Orthodox Diaspora, will definitely play
the leading role for which it has been prepared by its distinguished leaders,
under the guidance of the Mother Church.