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Standing Episcopal Conference
of Orthodox Bishops
SEC - Relations with CONSTANTINOPLE and SCOBA
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Looking on are His Eminence Metropolitan +MAXIMOS of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Pittsburgh and a U.S. State Department Official.
(NOTE: The above photograph was taken by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and was sent from the New York Archdiocese to Archpriest Michael at The Chancery in Ohio.)
WHO ARE WE?
The SEC is a canonical Orthodox Christian body in the United States established with the Blessings of the American Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Eastern Church (now, the Orthodox Church of America) and formally established at New York City in 1951. Our founding bishops were ordained and consecrated at the hands of Archbishop ATHENAGORAS (Spyrou) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, who later became the Ecumenical Patriarch, Archbishop PALLADIOS (Rudenko) and Hierarchs of the Holy Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthododx Church in Exile. (SEE HISTORIC LETTER BELOW)
AND OUR UKRAINIAN HERITAGE?
The SEC is moderated by Archpriest Michael of the Ukrainian Autcephalous Orthodox Church, which is a mission-oriented Christian Church in the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church. We are theologically traditionalist, upholding the inspiration of Scripture, the teachings of the Church Fathers, the theological determinations of the Seven Ecumenical Councils (best summarized in the unadultered Nicene Creed), the spirit of the Holy Cannons as interpreted for local usage, and the pious customs of the Orthodox Christian Faithful.
Following the Tradition of the worldwide Eastern Orthodox Church. We follow as required by each Orthodox Church community to live according to the Old (church Julian) or New (Church Gregorian) Calendar, and are "Subornopravnist", "Council Ruled." Currently we have both Eastern and Western Rite ministries.
WHAT DO WE BELIEVE?
We believe in one God,the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, Very God from Very God; begotten, not made; of one Essence with the Father, through Whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary; and became man. And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried. And He arose on the third day, according to the Scriptures; And ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; And He is coming again with glory to judge the living and the dead; and His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceedes from the Father,Who with the Father and the Son is equally worshipped and glorified; Who speaketh by the prophets. And in One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. We confess one Baptism for the remission of Sins. I look for the Resurrection of the Dead; and the life of the Ages to come. Amen
We profess the Holy Orthodox Faith, as handed down to us by our Fathers in Christ in the Apostolic Sacred Tradition of the Holy Church. We promise to observe the decisions, dogmatical utterances and canons, and the degrees of the Seven Ecumenical Councils; the Canaons of the Holy Apostles; the Canons of the Regional Councils and of the Holy Fathers; and the Holy church's interperation of Scripture according to the standard of faith included in the Nicene Creed, the Symbol of Faith.
We revere symbolically, but not idolatrously, the sacred Icons of Christ,of His Holy Mother Mary the Ever-Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, and of all the Saints and Angels of Heaven, addressing to their originals the honour shown their images. We confess our Ever-Virgin Lady, Saint Mary, The Theotokos (Mother of God), having borne in the flesh one Person of the Holy Trinity, namely Christ our God.
We believe there can be no innovations in the Faith and we accept the Vincentian Canon of universality, antiquity, and consent: "In the Catholic Church we must especially take heed to hold that which we believe everywhere, at all time, and by all."
We agree with the ancient principle of the Undivided Church regarding the hierarchy of importance of matters of discipline:
" In Necessary Things, Unity; In doubtful Things, Liberty, In All things, Charity."
About Our Canonicity......
In the writings of the early Church Fathers, we see the two predominant themes regarding Apostolic Succession: historic transmission through the Twelve and the heavenly connection with the Holy Eucharist. These same principles are carried down through the centuries to define "canonical bishops" of the present age.
As His Grace Bishop KALLISTOS (Ware) has phrased it, "the Orthodox Church is a family of self-governing Churches. It is not held together by a centralized organization, not by a single prelate wielding absolute power over the whole body, but by the double bond of unity in Faith and communion in the Sacraments."
Simply put, this "common unity or belief of FAITH and APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION" is what we call Orthodoxy...it is the Church of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, "built upon the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets" (Ephesians 2:20).
"In the Orthodox teaching, 'canonical' is that which complies with the canons and the canons express the truth of the Church. In the genuine Orthodox tradition the ecclesiastical power is itself under the canons and its decisions are valid and compulsory only inasmuch as they comply with the canons. In other words, it is not the decision of a Patriarch or His Synod that creates and guarantees "canonicity," but, on the contrary, it is the canonicity of the decision that gives it its true authority and power.
We must openly reject the "romanizing" theory that something is true because some infallible authority has decreed that it is true. In the Orthodox Church truth itself is the supreme authority and criterion.
Likewise in America, the 'canonical subordinationism,' exalted by so many as the only source and guarantee of 'canonicity,' is being used to justify the most uncanonical situation one can imagine; the simultaneous jurisdiction of several bishops in the same territory. For many, 'canonicity' has been identified not with truth, but with 'security.' And nothing short of a real canonical revival can bring us back to the glorious certitude that in Orthodoxy there is no substitute for Truth.
Hierarchs are called to Unity…
The Church is unity of men with God in Christ and unity of men one with another in Christ. There can be no doubt that the unity of the Church, as expressed in her canonical structure, is expressed, first of all, in and through the unity of the Episcopate. In Orthodox ecclesiology, subordination or obedience is derived from the unity of bishops.
For the purpose and the function of the Hierarchy is precisely to keep pure and undistorted the tradition in its fulness, and if and when it sanctions or even tolerates anything contrary to the truth of the Church, it puts itself under the condemnation of canons!"
Furthermore, according to the late Father Alexander Schmemann of St. Vladimir's Seminary in New York, "no patriarch, no Synod--be it Moscow or Belgrade or any other place--has the infallible charisma to understand the needs and the truth of the American situation better than the Orthodox people who constitute the Church here. In fact, it is their lack of genuine pastoral interest in the real needs of the Church in America, it is their 'recognitions' and 'excommunications' that made the Orthodox Church here a pitiful chaos.
Obviously, as long as we believe that the Holy Spirit acts in America only via Damascus or Sofia, Bucharest, or Moscow, as long as our Bishops, forgetting the real content of the doctrine of Apostolic Succession which makes them the representatives of God and not of Patriarchs, think of themselves as caretakers of interests having nothing to do with the interests of Orthodoxy in America, as long, in other terms, as we reduce the Church, her life, her unity, her continuity to blind and legalistic subordination…the canonical chaos will continue, bearing with it the fatal deterioration of Orthodoxy."
Thoughts about SCOBA…
Our Spiritual Father, Archbishop PALLADIOS (Rudenko) of Thrice Blessed Memory, was a founding member in 1960 of the Standing Standing Conference in the Americas. Archbishop PALLADIOS and his successors, through Metropolitan JOSEPH (Klymowycz) and Metropolitan PETER (Zhurawetzky) to the present day stand firm with Father Schmemann, taking no part in this "deterioration." In actuality, according to Father Schmemann, "SCOBA is a purely consultative body, it has no canonical status, it cannot solve any of the real problems because it reflects the division of Orthodoxy here, as much as its unity." Being part of SCOBA does not make one canonical.
However, let us never forget, that even with smaller jurisdictions, the Church is not deconstituted as the Church, because she is weak and failing. What constitutes her as the Church is her union with Jesus Christ, her visible continuity with His Apostles in the same Faith and Life, and her participation in His Life in the Holy Eucharist!
This Standing Episcopal Conference of Orthodox Bishops was in theory formed in 1950 and fully established in March of 1951 (incorporated under the HOCPA name). Member Hierarchs and Jurisdictions included Metropolitan JOSEPH (Klymowycz) who served as its first Moderator, Metropolitan THEOPHANIES (Noli) of the Albanian Orthodox Church, Archbishop ARSENIOS (Saltas) Exarch in the United States and Canada for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, Bishop PETER (Zhurawetzky) of the Holy Eastern Catholic and Apostolic Diocese of America of the Alexandrian Patirarchate, Metropolitan NICHOLAS (Bohatryretz) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, Archbishop KONSTANTIN (Jaroshevich) of the Alexandrian Patriarchate and--through the Holy 'oikonomia'-- Archbishop JOSEF (Zielonka) of the Polish Old Catholic Church of America and Europe. Again, the Standing Episcopal Conference of Orthodox Bishops was canonically formed and ratified nearly ten years before the present day SCOBA!
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From Ukrainian Orthodox roots -Our Early Spiritual Father Archbishop +PALLADIOS (Rudenko) was a founding member of the present day SCOBA. He worked closely with Archbishop +ATHENAGORAS (Spyrou) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, who later became the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and brought +PETER (Zhurawetzky) to the United States to serve the spiritual needs of Ukrainians. |
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