Metropolitan Ambrosius of Helsinki Sparks Controversy by Inviting Female Lutheran bishop Irja Askola to Altar during Clergy Ordination
Metropolitan Ambrosius of Helsinki (L) Archbishop Leo of Karelia & All Finland (R)
Lutheran Bishop Irja Askola
OCP News Service
Courtesy- Pepa Nova – 4/3/15
Read Statement from Archbishop Leo here in Finnish
Helsinki News Report here:
Helsinki: Orthodox Metropolitan Ambrosius of Helsinki of the Finnish Orthodox Church invited Female Evangelical Lutheran bishop Irja Askola to Altar with him during Clergy ordination at the Sunday Divine Liturgy. This has sparked much controversy.
He also ordered the Deacons to pray for the Lutheran woman bishop during litany. This has angered several Orthodox faithful.
Archbishop Leo- Primate of the Finnish Orthodox Church has condemned the incident and has asked Metropolitan to clarify the issue before considering any measures against him.
Major Finnish newspapers have reported the incident. Archbishop Leo have released an official statement on the controversial incident which is available at the official website of the Finnish Church.
Source:
OCP News Service
As a deacon, I would obey the bishop and pray for the individual by name, but not by title.
Hmm, the Finns also follow the calendar of the Protestants and Roman-Catholics. That’s the price they had to pay for being officially recognized as a faith community in Finland – with a lot of benefits tied to that. In other words: They are the only Orthodox church that doesn’t follow the same Paschal pattern as anyone else.
I hope this “bishop” is slammed so hard against the wall that it’s audible throughout the world.
Hold. A clergyman is obliged to obey his superior EXCEPT when the superior tells him to do something illegal or immoral. Asking a woman pseudo-bishop to the altar is against canon law but not civil law, so the clergyman is caught between a rock and hard place.
Ok, so I may sound naive, but please hear me out, I don’t want to sound rude, I am really asking. First,.. did the bishop KNOW she was a woman when he asked her to the altar? She is not very feminine, so maybe he didn’t know until it was too late? Was she actually behind the altar or just standing next to him near the royal doors? Why is it wrong that we pray for people who believe a different way as us?
Dear Jason
I’m sure the bishop knew who she was. She certainly wasn’t there by chance. Anyway, male or female, no protestant is invited TO the alter (as it states in the article). Why? Because protestantism is completely impossible to reconcile with Orthodoxy; we’re ontologically different even though were able to perfectly able to speak together about … whatever is relevant for us to speak about. And we do pray for protestants – and everyone else – during the Litany of Peace that sets off the Liturgy and is part of several other services. Therein we pray for the whole world.
I would recommend a Google Translate of the statement from the finnish archbishop. It will give you an idea of what’s going on.
In Christ
Robert Johannes
896420 549970Fantastic humans speeches and toasts, possibly toasts. are hands down transferred at some time by way of party and expected to turn into really funny, amusing not to mention educational inside the mean time. finest man wedding speeches 599079