Milan Synod concelebrates with MP

[Suaidan]

That's what we are talking about.
So, the administrator has to move this topic to "World Orthodoxy"..?
Good for them! At last they (Milan) admitted openly that they do NOT belong to Traditional Orthodox Church (as if they did..) and they don't have anything in common with the Genuine Orthodox Church of Christ, from long ago..
Lord have mercy on the Milan faithful

I wish I didn't sense a tone of gloating in your words, and I hope I am wrong.

[Mark Templet]

Dear Father Joseph,

Please believe that my statement was not an attack in any way on anyone personally, and certainly not you. My point was that once your bishop makes confirmations that this indeed occurred. And mind you all they needed to do was to pray with the heretical MP to fall under anathema. Those who did so should be immediately suspended until they have a due spiritual trial by the synod. So, yes, confer with the sister churches and gather a the synod of bishops and have a trial and convict the offenders and defrock them. My point is that those bishops, clergy, and laity involved in this incident need to be suspended and/or excommunicated immediately by the synod, if not, and they continue to serve and your bishops continue to be in communion with them, then that is another issue altogether.

I realize that this is still fresh. I am just watching from the outside hoping to see decisive action very soon and swiftness of the confirmation that your synod is 100% against ecumenism and sergianism. Believe me, I know that you are Fr. Joseph. I know that there are many in your synod that are too, but clearly there are those who are not, and they need to be brought to repentance or be anathematized ASAP. Believe me, I want to see True Orthodoxy triumph here, that's all I want. That was/is my only point, and I know you want the same thing. So, I am perfectly willing to shut up, wait a minute, and let your bishops do their job.

[Suaidan]

Dear Father Joseph,

Please believe that my statement was not an attack in any way on anyone personally, and certainly not you. My point was that once your bishop makes confirmations that this indeed occurred. And mind you all they needed to do was to pray with the heretical MP to fall under anathema. Those who did so should be immediately suspended until they have a due spiritual trial by the synod. So, yes, confer with the sister churches and gather a the synod of bishops and have a trial and convict the offenders and defrock them. My point is that those bishops, clergy, and laity involved in this incident need to be suspended and/or excommunicated immediately by the synod, if not, and they continue to serve and your bishops continue to be in communion with them, then that is another issue altogether.

I realize that this is still fresh. I am just watching from the outside hoping to see decisive action very soon and swiftness of the confirmation that your synod is 100% against ecumenism and sergianism. Believe me, I know that you are Fr. Joseph. I know that there are many in your synod that are too, but clearly there are those who are not, and they need to be brought to repentance or be anathematized ASAP. Believe me, I want to see True Orthodoxy triumph here, that's all I want. That was/is my only point, and I know you want the same thing. So, I am perfectly willing to shut up, wait a minute, and let your bishops do their job.

Father Bless,

Please accept my apologies if my tone sounded testy. I never interpreted your words-- or even Ekklesiastikos'-- as an attack. Since we deal with things directly with the Metropolitan, we sort of live in our own "bubble", for lack of a better word, and so we forget that we have earned, over the years, some level of suspicion from the different TOC's, for our own Synod's actions and occasional inconsistency. Yet from our perspective, dealing with each of these issues is a lot of work and communication that is at times genuinely unpleasant.

We don't talk about it in public until we make formal decisions, which oftentimes creates the impression that we do nothing, which doesn't help regarding the track record of our Synod in general. In other words, we sort of deserve the distrust we receive, and the impression that we are all planning to join the so-called Moscow Patriarchate or World Orthodoxy is frankly also deserved, because trust and integrity are earned by our actions-- and the opposite is also true.

Have we earned that trust from those who confess True Orthodoxy? Well, from inside the "bubble", the gut reaction is to say "of course! You have no idea!" But that isn't really true from the outside. Our Synod is 30 years old, and we've made a bunch of mistakes that we've kind of kept in mind to ourselves and public actions that have not exactly been, well, prudent. The truth is that among some TOC people, we are only beginning to earn that trust. Others are very jaded in dealing with our people. And I believe, personally, there are still one or two people even in our Metropolia who are out to destroy goodwill between the True Churches, with the ultimate goal of crippling us between the Patriarchates that their hearts serve in fact. Yet these too can be stopped through a public and consistent confession of our Orthodox Faith, against whose power no man nor weapon can do harm. As the psalmist says: "Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered".

The real proof of integrity and consistency in True Orthodoxy is earned through our actions, and that is what will save us in the end. We cannot rest on positive laurels, nor can we let the sins of the past condemn us forever. We are in a constant battle, with the goal of our salvation and the confession of the True Faith to our last breath. We have work to do. We know we have not earned the trust of many True Orthodox Christians, but our goal is first and foremost the trust of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, having no faith in the sons of men, and acknowledging our own failures before Him.

[costaswright]

From the Official Website of the Milan Synod, under whose primacy the North American Metropolia is,
http://www.metropoliadimilano.it/ :

29 March 2011

Information regarding the situation puts into effect them of our Metropolia of Milan and Aquileia Its Beatidune Evloghios has celebrated the Divine Litrugia in the Parish of Como. Communicating to the faithful present that our church of Como will be granted to the Orthodox Church Moldava which sits under the Omoforion of S.E. Metropolita Vladimir di Chisinau (of the Patriarchate of Moscow). Our Metropolia is found in good fraternal relations with the Moldavian Church, but over all we are still in fraternal dialogue with the Patriarchate of Moscow, for a future union with the mother Russian Church under the Omoforion of His Holiness Kirill the Patriarch. In the name of our Metropolia of Aquileia (Italy and Europe Western) we do declare that we ARE NOT in fraternal relation with any (Russian Church of Catacomb synod of Rafail), EXCEPT the PATRIARCHATE OF MOSCOW and all Russia.

[Suaidan]

From the Official Website of the Milan Synod, under whose primacy the North American Metropolia is,
http://www.metropoliadimilano.it/

The statement was directed specifically at the GOC-PC of Metropolitan Anghelos, who entered into communion with the Russian Synod of Metropolitan Raphael (Movotilov) on Sunday.

I would avoid at this point making attributions of "primacy": the March 6 Communique reads: "Da questo momento L’Arcidiocesi Ortodossa delle Americhe è totalmente indipendente e al di fuori della nostra giurisdizione" (From this moment the Orthodox Archdioceses of America are totally independent and outside our jurisdiction). http://ihtis.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/comunicato/

I cannot confirm or deny independent reports of the Metropolia's decisions concerning the above points, and the clergy under obedience to the Metropolitan have been instructed-- for the present-- not to comment on these matters.

[costaswright]

We have a second Bishop-- Archbishop Hilarion. And now we have a third. Furthermore, we have the support of our sister Churches even if that was true. This is just dumb, Constantine. So there was never a "Matthewite" option. That said, I'd rather have a Matthewite option than go with your apostasy and heresy.

Have a good night.

Abp. Hilarion has been retired and out of the picture for quite a while now. As for Bp. Pavlos, when he was alive, ... I visited his parish one Sunday morning during the time when I was looking into joining the Milan Synod, and was surprised to find it closed. Hwe said his health was so bad that he couldn't serve and it turned out his priest was off in Greece for a visit... so no services. But we did have a nice chat, sitting in one of the pews in his parish (nice church building - reminded me of the ones we have in our own GOA), and of course he made it clear that his "diocese" consisted of just his parish and anybody else considering Milan had to go to Abp. John, which of course I did.

Yes, this certainly puts the nail in the coffin.

Now, those of you who are Milan Synod clergy and faithful, your path is clear according to the canons: If any of your bishops officially, IMMEDIATELY,

If such a thing has to be done "immediately", then it's already a moot point... Father Mark, Milan recognized the Patriarchate of Moscow and my own Patriarchate of Constantinople as sister churches for years according to official documents published on its official website. If you go there - to http://www.metropoliadimilano.it/ - and scroll to the bottom of the page you will find the following (I have highlighted the important statement):

CONSIDERAZIONI SULL’ACCETTAZIONE DEL

NOSTRO CLERO IN ALTRE CHIESE ORTODOSSE

CONSIDERAZIONI SULL’ACCETTAZIONE DEL

NOSTRO CLERO IN ALTRE CHIESE ORTODOSSE

A Proper Clarification
The apostolic succession of our Metropolia derives from the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile through two consecrations that bishops of that Church (Archbishop Serafim of Chicago and Bishop Theophil) performed to assure the Greek Orthodox Church of the Old Calendar, founder of our Metropolia, the necessary apostolic succession.
Who puts into doubt our apostolic succession goes against the official acts of the below mentioned sister Orthodox Churches that have recognized the sacraments of our Church. These are Churches which have accepted deacons, priests and bishops who had been consecrated in our Metropolia and accepted in their ecclesiastical dignity without any kind of re-ordination.
In Germany, the Exarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, now Bishop of Sabac, accepted Deacon Basil Manfred Danfeld, a resident of Berlin, ordained on the 28th of November 1989 by Metropolitan Evloghios of Milan. Upon the express request of Bishop Lavrentije of the Serbian Church, our

Primate Metropolitan Evloghios signed the official letter of canonical release on the 5th of March
1991.
In France, in 1989 two clerics, ordained by Metropolitan Gabriel of Lisbon, were accepted by the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow without re-ordination, just as in the case of Deacon Basil Danfeld. Their names are: Archpriest Gerard de la Garde and Deacon Joseph Fouilleul. The bishop who accepted them was the Exarch Viadimir, now Metropolitan of Kiev of the Autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church (of the Patriarchate of Moscow).
Two priests, once again in France, ordained by Metropolitan Gabriel of Lisbon, were incardinated without re-ordination in the Exarchate of the Romanian Orthodox Church by the Exarch, Archbishop Adrian. After his retirement the two priests were presented to the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of France, Jeremiah, who accepted the two priests as members of his clergy. Neither of them were ever re-ordained. Their names are Father Nicolas Lacaille and Father Théodore Niess

In 1989 Metropolitan Gabriel, together with his two bishops Tiago and Teodoro, requested incardination in the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Poland. They were accepted in their episcopal dignity without re-consecration, as can be proven by the document from the Polish Church and from the personal letter of Metropolitan Gabriel, which specify this fact. These were written to put an end to the rumors which were circulating according to which the Portuguese bishops had supposedly submitted to re-ordination, which was nothing but pure invention.
In May 2002 two former members of our Holy Metropolitan Synod, bishops Lazar and Varlaam of Canada, were incardinated into the “Orthodox Church in America”

Therefore, there are six official, canonical sister Orthodox Churches which have accepted deacons, priests and bishops of our Metropolia. These Churches have de facto recognized the validity and authenticity of the sacraments of the Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of Western Europe and the Americas. These facts are concrete and verifiable.

The above statement has been on the official Milan site since at least 2005... that was when I saw it, and its presence and what it said concerning the position of the Milan Synod was instrumental in my joining it.

So if you're looking for immediacy... it's way past that.

With love of Christ's Holy Orthodox Church,
Rd. DC

[costaswright]

From the Official Website of the Milan Synod, under whose primacy the North American Metropolia is,
http://www.metropoliadimilano.it/

I cannot confirm or deny independent reports of the Metropolia's decisions concerning the above points, and the clergy under obedience to the Metropolitan have been instructed-- for the present-- not to comment on these matters.

That's alright... you don't need to comment. The Milan Synod's official website says what it says:

"Our Metropolia is found in good fraternal relations with the Moldavian Church, but over all we are still in fraternal dialogue with the Patriarchate of Moscow, for a future union with the mother Russian Church under the Omoforion of His Holiness Kirill the Patriarch."

Glory to God!

With love of Christ's Holy Orthodox Church,
Rd. DC