From the OCA Diocese of the West: http://www.holy-trinity.org/ecclesiolog ... n-ch0.html
On the Question of the Order of Reception of Persons into the Orthodox Church, Coming to Her from Other Christian Churches
By Archimandrite Ambrosius (Pogodin)
Originally published in Russian in Vestnik Russkogo Khristianskogo Dvizheniya
(Messenger of the Russian Christian Movement)
Paris-New York-Moscow, Nos. 173 (I-1996) and 174 (II-1996/I-1997).
In contemporary times there are two distinct understandings of how to receive non-Orthodox into the Orthodox Church.
The first method, which Greeks refer to as "Russian" consists of dividing non-Orthodox into three categories for the purposes of conversion. In the first category, those who convert are baptized. In the second, they are chrismated. In the third, they are received by the rite of repentance, a repudiation of heresy and confession of the Orthodox Faith. As has been demonstrated above, this practice is based on the canons of the Ecumenical Councils, on the direct authority of St. Mark of Ephesus, the Constantinople Council of 1484, the decisions of the Moscow Councils of 1655 and especially of 1667, the decisions of the Holy Council of 1718 as well as later decisions and directives of the Holy Ruling Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is true that there was a time in the Russian Church when Roman Catholics (and Protestants) were received into Orthodoxy by means of baptism, but throughout the thousand year history of the Russian Church this was only in effect for 45 to 47 years after which that practice of receiving all non-Orthodox without distinction was condemned and repealed once and for all. As a result, three forms or rites were developed for receiving non-Orthodox into the bosom of the Orthodox Church.
In the second method, any and all non-Orthodox are received by baptism followed by chrismation. This was adopted by the Greeks at the Council of Constantinople in 1756 and is described in the Pedalion.
Not a single non-Greek Orthodox Church adopted this practice. Instead, the non-Greek Orthodox Churches firmly adhering to that practice, which is designated as "Russian."
In recent times, the Patriarchate of Constantinople rescinded the use of the second method and now receives non-Orthodox by means of the "Russian" rite.
All of the Greek Old Calendarist jursidictions (of which there are at least seven), both in the United States and in Greece, adhere to the "Greek" rite for the reception of non-Orthodox into Orthodoxy, i.e., exclusively by means of baptism as this was decreed by the 1756 Council in Constantinople. This "Greek" practice, with certain modifications, and the turning away from the "Russian" practice, recently became the rule for the Russian Church Abroad, according to the decision of the Council of Bishops on September 15/28 1971. The complete text of that decision will be given at the end of this chapter.
The Orthodox Church in America (the former "American Metropolia"), founded by Russian missionaries and later forming a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church with its center first in San Francisco and then in New York, and which for a time had as her diocesan bishop the future [Saint] Patriarch Tikhon, inherited the traditions of the Russian Church with respect to the rite for the reception of the non-Orthodox converting to the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church in America receives non-Orthodox by three rites:
Those converting from Judaism, paganism, and Islam, as well as those who distort or do not accept the dogma of the Holy Trinity, or where the baptism is performed by a single immersion, by means of baptism.
Those whose baptism was valid but who either do not have sacrament of chrismation or who lack a hierarchy with apostolic succession (or if it is questionable), by means of chrismation. This group includes Lutherans, Calvinists and Episcopalians (Anglicans).
Those whose hierarchy has apostolic succession and whose baptism and chrismation (or confirmation) was performed in their church, by means of repentance and repudiation of heresy, following instruction in Orthodoxy. This group includes persons of the Roman Catholic and Armenian confessions. If it happens that they were not chrismated or confirmed in their churches or if there is any question about this, they are anointed with the Holy Chrism.
In September 1971, the Russian Church Abroad, rejecting the "Russian" practice for the reception of non-Orthodox, adopted the "Greek" practice, i.e., the practice followed by the Greek Old Calendarists, based on the decisions of the 1765 Council in Constantinople, decreeing that all non-Orthodox Christians converting to the Orthodox Faith must be received exclusively by means of baptism permitting only "for reasons of necessity" their reception by another rite, but only with permission from the diocesan hierarch.
This decision of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad of 15/28 September 1971 reads:[105]
"On the question of the baptism of heretics who accept Orthodoxy, the following decree was adopted: The Holy Church has believed from time immemorial that there can be only one true baptism, namely that which is performed in her bosom: ‘One Lord, one faith, one baptism.’ (Eph. 4:5) In the Symbol of Faith there is also confessed ‘one baptism,’ and the 46th Canon of the Holy Apostles directs: ‘A bishop or a presbyter who has accepted (i.e., acknowledges) the baptism or the sacrifice of heretics, we command to be deposed.’
"However when the zeal of some heretics in their struggle against the Church diminished and when the question arose about a massive conversion to Orthodoxy, the Church, to facilitate their conversion, received them into her bosom by another rite. St Basil the Great in his First Canon, which was included in the canons of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, points to the existence of different practices for receiving heretics in different lands. He explains that any separation from the Church deprives one of grace and writes about the dissidents: ‘Even though the departure began through schism, however, those departing from the Church already lacked the grace of the Holy Spirit. The granting of grace has ceased because the lawful succession has been cut. Those who left first were consecrated by the Fathers and through the laying on of their hands had the spiritual gifts. But, they became laymen and had no power to baptize nor to ordain and could not transmit to others the grace of the Holy Spirit from which they themselves fell away. Therefore, the ancients ruled regarding those that were coming from schismatics to the Church as having been baptized by laymen, to be cleansed by the true baptism of the Church.’ However, ‘for the edification of many’ St. Basil does not object to other rites for receiving the dissident Cathars in Asia. About the Encratites he writes, that ‘this could be a hindrance to the general good order’ and a different rite could be used, explaining this: ‘But I am afraid of putting an impediment to the saved, while I would raise fears in them concerning their baptism.’
"Thus, St Basil the Great, and by his words the Ecumenical Council, while establishing the principle that outside the Holy Orthodox Church there is no valid baptism, allows through pastoral condescension, called economy, the reception of some heretics and dissidents without a new baptism. On the basis of this principle the Ecumenical Councils allowed the reception of heretics by different rites, in response to the weakening of their hostility against the Orthodox Church.
"The Kormchaya Kniga gives an explanation for this by Timothy of Alexandria. On the question ‘Why do we not baptize heretics converting to the Catholic Church?’ his response is: ‘If this were so, a person would not quickly turn from heresy, not wanting to be shamed by receiving baptism (i.e., second baptism). However, the Holy Spirit would come through the laying on of hands and the prayer of the presbyter, as is witnessed in the Acts of the Apostles.’
"With regard to Roman Catholics and those Protestants who claim to have preserved baptism as a sacrament (for example, the Lutherans). In Russia since the time of Peter I the practice was introduced of receiving them without baptism, through a renunciation of heresy and the chrismation of Protestants and unconfirmed Catholics. Before Peter, Catholics were baptized in Russia. In Greece, the practice has also varied, but after almost 300 years after a certain interruption, the practice of baptizing converts from Catholicism and Protestantism was reintroduced. Those received by any other way have (sometimes) not been recognized in Greece as Orthodox. In many cases such children of our Russian Church were not even admitted to Holy Communion.
"Having in view this circumstance and also the current growth of the ecumenist heresy, which attempts to completely erase any difference between Orthodoxy and any heresy — so that the Moscow Patriarchate, notwithstanding the holy canons, has even issued a decree permitting Roman Catholics to receive communion (in certain cases) — the Sobor of Bishops acknowledges the need to introduce a stricter practice, i.e., to baptize all heretics who come to the Church, and only because of special necessity and with permission of the bishop it is allowed, under the application of economy or pastoral condescension, to use a different method with respect to certain persons, i.e., the reception of Roman Catholics, and Protestants who perform baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, by means of repudiation of heresy and Chrismation." ("Church Life," July-December 1971, pp. 52-54)
As one who does not belong to the clergy of the Russian Church Abroad, I do not consider myself to have the right to comment on this decision.
