The Patriarchate of Constantinople Does Not Recognize the Election of the New Head of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia
The main reason is canonical violations during elections.
April 2, 2014. PRAVMIR. The Patriarchate of Constantinople has issued an official statement on the election of the new head of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia
The communiqué, in part, states:
1. The Patriarchate of Constantinople does not recognize the election of the new head of the Czechoslovakian Church, Archbishop Rostislav, following the resignation of Archbishop Christopher, “in connection with canonical violations during the election.”
2. Accordingly, any action of the Czech Church hierarchy is anti-canonical and will not be recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
3. The Orthodox Church of Constantinople “as the Mother Church, is ready to take an active part in resolving the problem, calling on both parties to continue negotiations and to avoid any actions that may aggravate the current sad situation in the Czech Church.”
In early March 2014 negotiations were held at the Patriarchal residence in Phanar between Metropolitan Simeon and representatives of Archbishop Rostislav, Bishops George and Joachim, yet the dialogue was unsuccessful.
It doesn’t matter what + Bart thinks; recognizes or doesn’t recognize. The Czech Lands are an autocephalous territory and church. + Bart is acting as if he is an “Eastern Pope” and the Orthodox Church doesn’t have an “Eastern Pope.” Yet again, + Bart shows why he is becoming irrelevant by trying to usurp authority that isn’t his. The Orthodox world is made up of independent (autocephalous) churches in different territories. Bishops or Patriarchs in one territory have no authority over another territory; including + Bart. + Bart’s hissy fit makes him more of a relic of ancient Byzantium and not a real representative of the Orthodox Church in 2014.
Diogenes, my friend, you should step back and take a breather. All the Patriarch has said is he does not recognize an action because it is anti-canonical. He did not say “I am in charge of you and you must do as I say.” Patriarchates voicing their recognition or rejection of ordinations in other jurisdictions has happened frequently.
38502 607217Good day! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading your articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same topics? Thank you! 373156
642874 491554Why didnt I take into consideration this? I hear exactly what youre saying and Im so pleased that I came across your blog. You actually know what youre talking about, and you produced me feel like I should learn more about this. Thanks for this; Im officially a huge fan of your weblog 774860