The Orthodox Church in America
The Bishop of San Francisco and the West
650 Micheltorena Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90026-3629
Telephone: (213) 913-3615; Facsimile (213) 913-0316
Thursday, March 13, 1997
Clean Thursday
Very Reverend and Reverend
Archimandrites, Hegumens, Hieromonks,
Archpriests and Priests
Diocese of the West
Dear
and most esteemed Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers:
The
Lord's blessing be upon you!
Recently,
I've become aware of a lot of discussion and controversy in Orthodox circles
here in America on the topic of the proper way to receive, for example,
Roman Catholics and Lutherans, into the Orthodox Church, and how Roman
Catholic and Lutheran clergy become Orthodox clergy. While it is on the
one hand inspiring to observe our clergy and people engaged in thought,
discussion, even debate on holy topics, it is also disturbing to me when
some of those engaged in these discussions and debates seem to minimize
or give only a passing, slight nod in the direction of the practices that
have been passed on to us, and seem to feel that any theological
conclusions they may reach on these topics must be reflected in practice.
It is most perplexing, too, that the labels of conservative and liberal,
so inappropriate to Christian, as opposed to political, thought, are applied
to one or other position on the topic, frequently in a way completely
contradictory to the meaning of those political labels.
The
practice of our Church, the Orthodox Church in America, and that of the
Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of North America ("The Metropolia"),
as likewise that of the Russian Mission and Missionary Diocese and Archdiocese
that preceded them, in the matter of the reception of heretics is very
clear: it is the practice that obtains and has obtained in the Russian
Church for centuries, at least since the time of Peter the Great. It may
be found and studied in the Service Books of the Church of Russia [in
both its "native" conformation (The Church of Russia)
and "foreign" (Abroad) conformation]. According, for example,
to the Book of Needs published at Vladimirova between the wars by the
Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia, that differs in no respects
from previous and subsequent Books of Needs published by The
Church of Russia, Roman Catholics are received, after undergoing the Office
for the Reception Converts printed in the same book, immediately into
Communion and are imparted the Holy Mysteries at the ensuing Liturgy without
further ado, unless they have not been Chrismated (i.e., are coming from
the Latin Rite of the Roman communion and not from the Uniates), in which
case they would be chrismated. No provision at all is provided in the
Service Books to receive Roman Catholics in the manner of receiving Jews
and Mohammedans, i.e., to baptize them.
The
prescribed practice printed in our Service Books has been in
force and active use for centuries, and it cannot be considered only a
temporary episode of Economy in the life of the Church. When
candidates for the Laying.on.of.Hands to the honorable Priesthood promise
to observe the liturgical order of the Church, they are promising (failing
a contrary directive from their Bishop) to follow the prescribed rites
printed in the Service Books. And the overturning of the prescribed practice
without a preceding directive from a Synod or council would be an example
of innovation. Oddly enough, some that would advocate this consider
themselves to be "conservative."
My
own predecessors in the see of San Francisco followed these Service Books.
They are the Service Books of the Church of Saint Innocent and of Saint
Tikhon. They are the Service Books of the Church of such luminaries as
the ever.memorable Metropolitans Antony (Khrapovitsky) and Anastassy (Gribanovski).
I know of no oral or written guidance given by any of the foregoing
luminaries altering the received practice in this matter.
Saint
Elisabeth (Elizaveta Fyodorovna), recently added to the calendar of Saints
of the Russian Church, was received into the Orthodox Church (as was likewise
her sister, the sainted Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna) from the state German
Lutheran Church where she had been baptized as a child, through the Rite
of the Reception of Heretics with ensuing Chrismation--without a new Baptism.
Recently
a book touching heavily on the topic of the baptism of converts by a Professor
of the state Church of Greece, Professor Metallinos, has enjoyed a wide
readership in American Orthodox circles. Whatever may be one's opinions
and convictions vis-ý-vis the conclusions of Professor Metallinos on the
question, one must realize that these conclusions have significance only
insofar as they might appear inter alia on the agenda of a Synod of Bishops
or a Church Council that would decide to re.examine the received practice
of our Church. One need not read Professor Metallinos's book to find support
for the peculiar position of the Greek Church(es) on the topic: in fact,
one would expect to find the practices of the state Church of Greece being
well.defended by all Her Faithful children. I have appended, as "Attachment
One" to this letter, an excerpt from the collection of the Canons
of the Orthodox Church with commentaries by a noted, authoritative canonist
outside the boundaries of the state Church of Greece, Bishop Nikodim of
the Serbian Church. This is an authoritative statement on what is, in
fact, our received practice by a Hierarch at least as widely
respected on the topic of Church canons as Professor Metallinos. I don't
present this attachment as justification or defense for a practice that
I uphold because I believe it to be my duty as a Bishop. I'm presenting
it in the interests of clarity, and I want to add to the ongoing discussion
and debate a document that should assure everyone that any Priest or Bishop
of the Orthodox Church in America that receives Roman Catholic heretics
by Chrismation or Lutheran or Anglican heretics by Chrismation is not
some kind of "loose.shotgun Liberal" motivated by ecumenism
or the heretical "branch theory" of ecclesiology, but is someone
that is following a practice totally obedient to the received practice
of our Church.
I
also feel it incumbent on me to comment on the reception of Roman Catholic
clergy and their becoming Orthodox clergy. I've attached my own translation
of the prescribed "Office of Receiving a Priest of the Roman
Church into Communion with the Orthodox Catholic Church", that is
the venerable and centuries old practice of the Church of Russia, of the
Russian Mission and Missionary Diocese in America and its successors,
the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America ("The
Metropolia") and the Orthodox Church in America.
As
I commented on the reception of two sainted German princesses into the
Orthodox Church when discussing the reception of Laity, I would like to
point to the reception of St. Alexis Toth (Tovt) of Minneapolis and Wilkes.Barre.
St. Alexis was received according to the rite outlined in the attached
document, i.e., by Confession of Faith, Penance, and vesting in the Altar
after the Cherubicon. How could it be otherwise? Can one imagine Bishop
Vladimir or Bishop Nicholas, the two Russian hierarchs of the day, contravening
the established practice of the Russian Church and insisting the St. Alexis
be ordained according to the formula for ordaining Laity? (And I may remark
that St. Alexis came to the Russian Orthodox bishop in San Francisco in
the first place because a Roman Catholic hierarch did not recognize
his Priesthood! One may only imagine how history might now differ
if the Russian Orthodox Bishop in San Francisco had also refused to recognize
his Priesthood and that of many subsequent Clergy of the Church!)
Recently
a Hierarch of our Orthodox Church In America received a Priest from the
Roman church exactly as our Tradition requires, yet this action was, scandalously,
publicly decried by a few clergy and laity of the Orthodox Church in America,
and at least one temporarily lost soul went so far as to adopt the custom
of the heretical Amish and shunned the Priest that had been received
into the community of Orthodox clergy in the prescribed fashion! Dearly
beloved and esteemed brother Priests and Shepherds! Let's always be governed
in our conduct by the Tradition of our Church and not by the temporary
passions of the day that may splash like waves of the sea of life against
the hull of the holy Ship of our salvation, Christ's One, Holy, Catholic
and Apostolic Church. Let's preserve what has been handed on to us! Neither
I nor His Beatitude, nor any of the Hierarchs of the Orthodox Church in
America are reckless opponents of Church Order or Discipline. We do not
"take our cues" from anything but what we have received. The
Orthodox practice of receiving Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Anglicans
as described by the Serbian Bishop Nikodim and the Orthodox reception
of Roman Catholic priests as outlined in Nikol'sky are not any sort of
indications that our Hierarchy is hostage to ecumenism, branch theory,
relativism, positivism, scholasticism, liberalism, indifferentism or any
other "ism" conflicting in any way with the Holy Tradition,
but a sign of their obedience.
During
the time when Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South was serving the
Church as Bishop of Berkeley, a letter was sent out to all the parishes
in the then Diocese of San Francisco that directed that "across the
board" Roman Catholics as well as Anglicans and Lutheran and Calvinists
previously baptized with water and in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, would be received by Chrismation. That policy remains in
effect.
At
our next meeting of the venerable clergy, I want the manner that we receive
converts to be on the agenda. Right now, the practice may vary too widely
from parish to parish to characterize it. Further, some questions I have
been given lead me to believe that there is some confusion on what our
practice is and should be. Therefore, in the interim, I ask all
the Rectors to receive heretics according to the format in the Service
Book translated by Hapgood. That means a life's confession, a definite,
specific and public and renunciation of specific wrong teachings formerly
held, Absolution according to the formula printed in that Office, and
ensuing Chrismation of the Convert on all the places prescribed and then
Communion of the Holy Mysteries.
Assuring
you of my constancy in prayer and sending a blessing,
With
love in Christ,
[signed]
+TIKHON
DISTRIBUTION:
His Beatitude and Members of the Holy Synod
Encls.
1.
Excerpt from Bp. Nikodim's "Pravila."
2.
Excerpt from Nikol'sky's "Ustav."
EXCERPT FROM (IN RUSSIAN
LANGUAGE)
RULES (Canons) OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH with Explanations.
Nikodim, Bishop of Dalmatia and Istria.
Volume I.
Translated from the Serbian.
Saint Petersburg. The Saint Petersburg Theological Academy.
1911
Page
282-3
[Webmaster's
Note: Quotations from the Russian, included by His Grace for clarity,
have been transliterated for online distribution by the editor.]
(Preceding
the following is a discussion of the differences of opinion of East and
West)
Therefore,
being governed, on the question of Baptism done by a non.Orthodox community
(obschestvo), by the general injunctions (predpisaniyami)
of the councils and Fathers, one may thus delineate the principle of the
Orthodox Church: Baptism as something instituted by Jesus Christ may be
accomplished only in His Church and consequently only in the Church may
it be correct and salvific; however, if other Christian communities located
outside the Orthodox Church hold the conscious intention of bringing the
newly.baptized into Christ's Church, i.e., have the intention to communicate
to him Divine Grace through Baptism in order that he would become through
the power of the Holy Spirit a true member of the Body of Christ and a
reborn child of God, then this Baptism also may be considered effective
insofar as it is done on the foundation of faith in the Holy Trinity,
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, for where
such a Baptism is given and received, there it must operate with Grace
(deistvovat¼ blagodatno) and Christ's support cannot fail to
be there. Every community that perverts the teaching about God and does
not recognize the Trinity of holy Persons in the Godhead cannot perform
a correct baptism, and a baptism done in it is not Baptism because such
a community lies outside Christianity. By virtue of this, the Orthodox
Church recognizes as effective and saving the Baptism of every Christian
community located outside Her boundaries, whether it be heretical or schismatic,
truly (istinno) done in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit."
Bishop
Nikodim adds a footnote: "According to the practice of the Greek
Church, Roman Catholics converting to the Orthodox Church must be baptized
again. We are not in a position to express our judgment relative to this
practice, since we don't know how it is that the Greek Church applies
the first rule of Saint Basil to Roman Catholics. We will only remark
that this is exclusively the practice (isklyuchitel'no praktika)
of the Greek Church and also that both in Russia and Serbia Roman
Catholics are received into the Church without a new Baptism..."
From
AN AID
TO THE STUDY OF
THE TYPIKON OF SERVICES
Of the Orthodox Church
By Konstantin Nikol'sky
Archpriest of the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos on Sennaya
Sixth Edition
Saint Petersburg. 1900
pp. 685-686
THE OFFICE OF RECEIVING A PRIEST
OF THE ROMAN CHURCH INTO COMMUNION WITH THE ORTHODOX CATHOLIC CHURCH [1]
- Such cases of uniting to the Orthodox Church are
done according to the general office as outlined here.
- The sponsor that is customary in this is chosen
from among the Clergy.
- There is no female sponsor.
- Recognition of the person thus conjoined in the
office of Priest requires a decision of the Holy Synod.
- Before his admittance to service as a Priest, his
conscience must be examined before a spiritual father, as in the case
of one preparing for Ordination.
- If examination reveals there is no canonical impediment
for a blessing to serve, then, when the Hierarch arrives at the Church
to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, the candidate comes with the rest of
the clergy dressed according to the custom of Orthodox clergy and receives
with them the Hierarch's blessing, after which he goes to the Diaconicon
and stays there, not vested, until the Cherubicon.
- After the Cherubicon and the placing of the holy
gifts on the Holy Table, he is led by Subdeacons, but not through the
Holy Doors, rather within the Altar to the Holy Throne (Altar Table)
and to the Hierarch, and he reverences him in the manner of one being
brought to Ordination. And the Priestly vestments are brought and put
on the one being received into the community of the Priesthood. The
Hierarch blesses each piece of the vestments, and the one being vested
kisses the Hierarch's hand. And the Deacon says the verses for Priestly
vestments, not as exclamations, but so that the one being vested can
hear him. After this the one received into the community of the Priesthood
receives the kiss of peace from the Hierarch and the rest, in the manner
of one just ordained, and he stands with the rest of the Priests and
takes part in the Liturgy and in the Communion of the Holy Mysteries.
And from thence he has the same power to liturgize as an Orthodox Priest.
[2] (Collection of the Opinions and Judgments of Metropolitan Philaret,
volume V, pp. 952.953.)
--------------------------------------------
1
This office was formulated by Metropolitan Philaret because of the case
of the reputed incorrect bringing into Orthodox Communion of the Abbot
Maundreli. See "Letters of Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow to A.P.M.
1832-1867.
2
In the periodical "Readings of the Imperial Society of History and
Antiquities" (1892, book 4) the basis for this is set out that clergy
coming from among the heretics being united to the Orthodox Church, about
whom there is no doubt of their having been baptized and ordained, must
be received by only presenting a written confession of faith and condemnation
of their heresy as was practiced by the Seventh Ecumenical Council with
regard to the conversion of the Iconoclastic bishops and other clergy,
etc., and they must be received, each in his priestly rank, according
to the 8th canon of the First Ecumenical Council, i.e., vested.
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