Author: Fr. Cornel Todeasa
January 14, 2010
Unity of the Romanian Orthodox Churches into an American Metropolitanate
Unofficial translation of an article from the Nov. 11, 2009 issue of the Romanian Journal, New York
It has been always known that strength lies in unity! Those opposed to the reunification of both Romanian Episcopates in North America are either illiterate or … malevolent. My first instinct is that they are malevolent since they write a lot and with venom. Lord knows how much venom they spill against their brothers of the same nation and faith!
But where does my feeling that they are illiterate come from? It is because they either do not know how to read or, if they can read, their understanding is deficient. In the “Common Agreement” that was drafted on the occasion of Archbishop Nathaniel’s February 2008 visit to Bucharest it says: “in that the errors of the past have been acknowledged, and we have asked for reciprocal forgiveness, the representatives of the Romanian Patriarchate and those of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America express their sincere desire for the realization of a Romanian Orthodox unity on the American continent and having canonical ties with the Romanian Orthodox Church”.
These presumed illiterates read or understand “ties” to be “sub” [under]. They understand the canonical ties to be sub-jugation or political subordination. I say political because in their understanding of things there is no depth or religious illumination, only existentialist convulsion; nothing churchly or pious exists in their thinking, only the political shakes. They are convulsive, or better said, politically shaken.
Why is this canonical tie needed? Simply because there cannot exist an Orthodox Church, even an autocephalous one, that is not in a relationship with the Ecumenical Patriarchate or historically with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and thus with all Patriarchates in the world. This canonical tie keeps the “unity” of Orthodox Churches which, as St. Paul says: “[a Church] … is one body, and one Spirit, … One Lord, one faith, one baptism…” (Ephesians 4: 4-6). Our true canonical tie should be through the Romanian Patriarchate, the Romanian Orthodox Church being our Mother Church. I do not believe it is right that our canonical tie should be through the Moscow Patriarchate, as is sustained by those malevolent supporters of our remaining under the OCA, which in fact is the Russian Metropolia of America.
The literary disorder presented by these politically shaken people is certainly intentional. Their intention is to promote and provoke discord; some do it for personal reasons or out of indebtedness, others for material benefit, others still out of pride, and for many directly because of … the devil. And this, because the good Lord wants brothers to be together. Not one of these politically shaken people is motivated by religious or Romanian sentiments, and not even out of American ones.
When I think of this curse in the life of the Romanian to always be in a state of discord and lead by other peoples, even here in a free country, I begin to think of the following prayer: “Again we pray for the protection of this Church… from pandemics, hunger, earthquakes, floods, fire, the sword, being overrun by other nations and from fighting among ourselves; Lord, be compassionate, gentle, forgiving, o lover of mankind and our God, and turn away all hatred against us, spare us from your rightful indignation that hangs over us, and instead have mercy on us.” When you will meet the illiterates read to them from Mathew 25: 31: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left…” You see, the Lord says not only individuals but nations will be brought together and will be judged. Romanian brethren, it is time to act like one nation, like one church, “united in spirit and sentiment” so that we and our nation be at the right hand of the Lord at the second coming. Let us be counted among the sheep and not the goats.