HieromonkIrineos wrote:NCY,
Having come from the OCA myself, I am certain all this sounds like a non-issue to you. But it is not a non-issue. You say a few bishops. How do you know this? Can you state the position of each? These are things that time and dialogue will sort out. The
If you want to demand perfect canonical order of a group that has been persecuted for almost 100 years now, I reject that as being a reasonable expectation. You didn't see it in Russia under communism. You don't even see it among your world orthodox here in North America where there has been no persecution. Though I find the division among Old Calendar jurisdictions sad, I do pray for and respect all the bishops within and without my particular synod, for persevering in the struggle to maintain the faith. God will order His Church in His time.
And the GOC-A did not leave the GOC-K over the union with the Synod in Resistance. I don't know where you got that idea, but it is incorrect.
I only say a few bishops because that was what I was told here on this forum: That some of the former Synod in Resistance bishops who joined GOC-K were still espousing "Cyprianite" beliefs, at least on their website(s), and that some of you were unwilling to be a part of GOC-K as a result. I simply don't understand why you see what some of the GOC-K bishops are saying as being unorthodox because it seems to me to be in line with what ROCOR (used) to say. If you could help me understand why you guys see it as unorthodox, that'd be rather helpful. In other words, I'm not trying to argue that it is Orthodox at this point, but rather that I don't understand why you don't view it as Orthodox. Does that clarify what I'm saying at all? Sorry, I try to do better at phrasing things online.
No, I don't think it is reasonable to demand perfect to demand perfect canonical order among the Old Calendar jurisdictions ("World Orthodoxy" doesn't have perfect canonical order either if we're being honest, so that would be hypocritical). I'm trying to find where within Old Calendarism there's a balance between the "correctness disease" (as Fr. Seraphim Rose put it) and the "royal way" of resistance with sobriety (or holding to the spirit of true Orthodoxy, rather than the mere externals, if that makes any sense), or if there even is such an understanding in Old Calendarism anymore. Forgive me, as you said, I am very much on the outside looking in here.
Lastly, I apologize for not being more clear. I meant people personally leaving GOC-K for GOC-A over this issue. I was not meaning that GOC-A split from GOC-K as a group, though I had asked if that was case earlier. Thankfully, you just answered that question.