wfn.org | SCOBA Encyclical: The Feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Now to Him Who by the power at work within us is able
to do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think,
to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to  all generations,
for ever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21).

> February 21, 2010

> The Feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy

> The Hierarchs of the Standing Conference

of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas

To all the Clergy and the Laity of the Holy Orthodox Churches in the  Americas

> Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We, the Hierarchs of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox
Bishops in the Americas, greet you on the Feast of the Sunday of
Orthodoxy with words of the Holy Apostle Paul that were selected by
the Primates of the worldwide Orthodox Church to close their Message
proclaimed on October 12, 2008. Indeed, we glory in our God whose love
for us exceeds every thought or imagining that could enter our minds
or hearts. As the Apostle Paul says in another place: Eye has not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love Him (I Cor. 2:9).

In the historic Synaxis and in the Message that was declared by it,
the Primates of worldwide Orthodox Christianity proclaimed the
following with one voice and one heart:

As the Primates and the Representatives of the Most Holy Orthodox
Churches, fully aware of the gravity of the aforementioned problems,
and laboring to confront them directly as ?servants of Christ and
stewards of God?s mysteries? (1 Cor. 4:1), we proclaim from this See
of the First-throne among the Churches and we re-affirm: ? our desire
for the swift healing of every canonical anomaly that has arisen from
historical circumstances and pastoral requirements, such as in the
so-called Orthodox Diaspora, with a view to overcoming every possible
influence that is foreign to Orthodox ecclesiology. In this respect we
welcome the proposal by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to convene
Pan-Orthodox Consultations within the coming year 2009 on this
subject, as well as for the continuation of preparations for the Holy
and Great Council. In accordance with the standing order and practice
of the Pan-Orthodox Consultations in Rhodes (beginning in 1960), all
Autocephalous Churches will be invited.

With this common declaration, and the subsequent consensus achieved at
the Pan-Orthodox Consultations that took place last year in June and
December in Chambésy, Switzerland, the way forward to Orthodox
canonical order and unity in the Western Hemisphere has been mapped
out in a substantive way. This should be a cause for joy among all the
faithful, as it demonstrates the kind of progress that SCOBA has
always looked for, but by itself, never could achieve. SCOBA has had
great accomplishments in its fifty-year history, and the growth of
Pan-Orthodox Agencies and ministries shows the willingness and the
need to work together. Nevertheless, SCOBA has always been an
organization without the mechanism and authority to forge a
comprehensive way forward.

Now we have arrived at a truly watershed moment in the life of the
Church in the Western Hemisphere. In the week in which we celebrate
the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the glorious Feast of Pentecost, the
canonical Orthodox Bishops who live in North and Central America will
gather in order to proceed with the roadmap that has been agreed to by
world-wide Orthodox Christianity (see material at
http://www.scoba.us/chambesy.html). The issues are many and complex,
but SCOBA is fully committed to the process that will form a successor
body, an Assembly of Bishops of the Holy Orthodox Church in the
Americas that will have both the authority and methodology to
effectuate real progress in the establishment of canonical Church
order in the Americas.

This Sunday of Orthodoxy, as we gather throughout our communities and
parishes, let us with fervent prayer entreat the Lord of all to grant
us His grace and His wisdom. Let us pray for this coming Assembly of
Orthodox Christian Bishops, that it will bring forth the fruits of
unity and Orthodox faithfulness. Let us pray for the pious and
Orthodox Christians everywhere, and for our unity in Christ, power at
work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we can
ask or think, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all
generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

> With paternal blessings and love in Christ,

> ?Archbishop DEMETRIOS
> Chairman
> Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

> ? Metropolitan PHILIP
> Vice Chairman
> Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
> Of North America

> ? Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER
> Secretary
> Serbian Orthodox Church in North
> And South America

> ? Metropolitan NICHOLAS of Amissos
> Treasurer
> American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox
> Diocese in the USA

> ? Archbishop NICOLAE
> Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese
> In the Americas

> ? Metropolitan JOSEPH
> Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church

> ? Metropolitan JONAH
> Orthodox Church in America

> ? Metropolitan CONSTANTINE
> Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA

> ? Archpriest Alexander Abramov
> Acting Representative of the Moscow
> Patriarchate in the USA

> ? Bishop ILIA of Philomelion
> Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America