ROCA, Royal Path & Cyprianism: A Warning

[Maria]

On July 2, 2015, Bishop Auxentios published a very strong statement trying to silence those who oppose Cyprianism.

http://www.dep.church/downloads/Statement.pdf
An Unpleasant But Necessary Statement About Certain Misrepresentations of Historical Fact
by Bishop Auxentios of Etna and Portland
with the editorial collaboration of Bishop Chrysostomos, Metropolitan emeritus of Etna

Two important threads below discuss the writings of Father Steven Allen, who was formerly with ROCOR. Even though these threads have been inactive since 2010, (the threads being locked), the debate on SiR, Cyprianism, and The Royal Path still continues. Father Steven hints that this SiR teaching of the Royal Path may have been a KGB ploy to destroy ROCOR and bring it into the MP.

Whether this was an KGB conspiracy or not, the result is the same. Those who remained in ROCOR eventually joined the MP in 2007, and a number of those in ROCA today have stated that they would like to join the MP. In fact I know some ROCA choir members who sing in the OCA and ROCOR-MP choirs whenever a hierarchical pontifical liturgy is celebrated. Isn't this a form of ecumenism?

Does the GOC under Kallinikos realize what their sister church, ROCA, is doing right here in the USA?

In Russia, ROCA and MP priests have been pictured together fully vested as they pass miraculous icons from the MP church to the ROCA church and vice versa. Pictures posted of these events on Facebook were removed after a few weeks. Nevertheless, this thawing of relations or détente continues without fanfare, so it appears that ROCA under Met. Agafangel will join the MP. It is just a matter of when. And now that Cyprianism is unashamedly and firmly entrenched in the GOC-K, the GOC under Kallinikos might soon find itself a sister church to the MP.

Part 1: http://www.euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/vi ... f=2&t=9046

• Father Steven Allen: Part I: The Demise of ROCOR, the Synod of Metropolitan Agathangel, and the Ecclesiology of the Cyprianite “Synod in Resistance”

Part II: http://www.euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/vi ... f=2&t=9082

• Father Steven Allen: Part II: The Demise of ROCOR, the Synod of Metropolitan Agathangel, and the Ecclesiology of the Cyprianite “Synod in Resistance”

[Dcn.Ephrem]

Just for the sake of accuracy and context, I would like to point out that Fr. Steven was never part of ROCOR-A. He was ordained in ROCOR many years ago by Bishop Gregory (Grabbe), but he left in the early 2000's and joined the GOC under Archbishop Chrysostomos, now known as the GOC-K.

It is also relevant to note that he is a supporter of the recent absorption of the SiR, and believes that the former SiR groups have sufficiently repented of Cyprianism.

[Maria]

Just for the sake of accuracy and context, I would like to point out that Fr. Steven was never part of ROCOR-A. He was ordained in ROCOR many years ago by Bishop Gregory (Grabbe), but he left in the early 2000's and joined the GOC under Archbishop Chrysostomos, now known as the GOC-K.

It is also relevant to note that he is a supporter of the recent absorption of the SiR, and believes that the former SiR groups have sufficiently repented of Cyprianism.

Thank you for noticing my mistake. I have edited my post.

Did Father Steven have to denounce his own writings in order to stay in the GOC-K?

Is his paper still online at another website? It is posted here in the two threads linked in the OP above.

[Dcn.Ephrem]

Did Father Steven have to denounce his own writings in order to stay in the GOC-K?

Is his paper still online at another website? It is posted here in the two threads linked in the OP above.

I hesitate to speak for him. Of course, I doubt that he would denounce these writings, as he still considers Cyprianism to be false. I think that nothing in the article really contradicts the current GOC-K view.

It is interesting to note that, at least in this article, Fr. Steven does not attempt to understand Cyprianism as a heresy, per se. He focuses on the idea that Cyprianism is an "argument crafted after the fact in order to justify a schism." In my opinion, this is very typical of the "Greek view" of this issue. According to this view, the main problem was the schism of the SiR, for which the Cyprianite teaching was merely an excuse. Consequently, the real priority was to overcome the schism, thereby making the Cyprianite teachings no longer necessary. I think that it is important to understand this point of view when we think about the GOC-K's recent decisions.

His paper can also be found on the ROAC USA website: http://roacusa.org/htdocs/DemiseROCOR.pdf

[Cyprian]

For the majority of your post Maria, when I saw ROCA, I was thinking you were referring to the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and I was struggling to make sense of it. I've always understood the acronyms ROCA and ROCOR to be synonymous. Only toward the end of your post did I realize that you were using ROCA to refer to Agafangel's synod. I think it would be better if there was at least a hyphen or parentheses employed. If you had used ROCOR-A or ROC-A, I would have immediately known you were referring to Agafangel's group.

[Barbara]

It's a fair observation that Cyprian made. If one does not keep up with their materials, one forgets completely how Met Agafangel's group pointedly call themselves "The Continuation of ROCOR". They refer to their jurisdiction casually as " ROCOR ".
That has confused ME ! They tend to throw out "In Rocor, we have always done such and such", when talking about
something pre-2007. One has to make that same mental adjustment to understand what precisely Agafangel's parishioners mean.

So I understand how you got confused here, the other direction !

That was a very important post, Maria ! Thanks for this insight and tips about the choir members casually participating in even OCA liturgical occasions of import. One can see better why they might assimilate in with a Rocor-MP choir. But OCA ?
Still the fact that they are amenable to this idea at all is revealing.

Also, you hit the nail on the head by saying the statement, which I had read, too, but not able to make much sense of, had such a deliberate aim. Your interpretation resonates with me.

We must be alert, acutely noticing the signs pointing to how the cards will be reshuffled dealt out in a different hand in the not too distant future. That way, we can all be prepared for the consequences of such a major event which has been warned about off and on in the past. It sounds like the negative prognostications are becoming more likely to become reality.

The question is : when ? When do you think that such an amalgamation of Roca-A and MP could occur ? That is to say
Roca-A blending back in with Rocor-MP ?

Ha ha, sad joke it will be that then there will exist NO more confusion for readers about whom is spoken when Rocor-A representatives say, "Rocor this< Rocor that" or report, "Our Roca consecrated a new Church today"....

[Maria]

For the majority of your post Maria, when I saw ROCA, I was thinking you were referring to the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and I was struggling to make sense of it. I've always understood the acronyms ROCA and ROCOR to be synonymous. Only toward the end of your post did I realize that you were using ROCA to refer to Agafangel's synod. I think it would be better if there was at least a hyphen or parentheses employed. If you had used ROCOR-A or ROC-A, I would have immediately known you were referring to Agafangel's group.

Even though the ROCOR-MP people have historically always been known as ROCA, Agafangel's ROCA is insisting that everyone address them as ROCA, especially with the March 2014 union between GOC-K and SiR. So the confusion shall reign for a few more years. When either of two situations occurs:

(1) The inevitable union occurs between ROCA and the ROCOR-MP, and both become ROCA once again.
(2) The EP and MP unite in a one-world religion with the Pope of Rome, and the remnant ROCOR-MP joins ROCA.