Decisions Deferred

Like almost all readers of the appalling Report, I remain amazed that there are no formal current Canonical structures to effectively deal with this mess – yet another evil legacy from Constantine, and (this time, also) his successors!

For a few brief moments, let’s play the game of “what-if” with Constantine and Sylvester. And, for good measure, assume that the internet existed at that time. And assume that the local Roman Diocesan Synod had retained the authority to remove the manifestly unworthy Sylvester (unworthy throughout – he never did satisfactory penance for his apostasy under the persecutions of Diocletian).

Act 1: Constantine appoints Sylvester as Bishop of Rome.
Act 2: (a few hours later) – The local Roman Synod deposes Sylvester before he can be formally installed and enthroned as Bishop.
Act 3: (a few hours after Act 2): Constantine re-appoints Sylvester as Bishop of Rome
Act 4: - as per Act 2.
Act 5: - as per Act 3. etc.

Such an Appointment-Deposition game of endless ping-pong would render the whole process a farce, so Constantine had to engineer a system (perfected during the time of Theodosius) of making the Deposition of a “politically-correct” but wholly unworthy Bishop extraordinarily difficult, and a cumbersome, drawn-out and time-consuming process for good measure to hopefully intimidate the opponents of this Bishop into inertia.

St Vladimir’s Seminary may have to do some thorough “archaeology” in the Canon Law department to arrive at a time when the administrative processes of the Church could satisfactorily deal with this type of situation. It may also, sadly, have to pass a potentially damning judgment on all Canons subsequent to that time (and still current) which stymied and or inhibited the Deposition process. And allowed Arian Bishops to remain in office between the first and second Ecumenical Councils. And allowed Iconoclast Bishops to remain between 754 and 843. And which failed to be able to discipline the Western “filioque” Bishops in time to prevent the Western Schism of Rome from the Church.

The OCA may well have to read Fr Jurgens rather more deeply than it has heretofore:

FAQ- Must the Catholic Remnant Have Governing or Jurisdictional Bishops?

By Bro. Peter Dimond, O.S.B.
(edited and enlarged by your unworthy servant)

The answer to this question is No! During the Arian heresy in the 4th Century, only 1-3% of the Episcopal Chairs (i.e., the Bishops’ Sees) were occupied by Catholics, the rest were overtaken by the Arians, as the eminent patristic scholar Fr. Jurgens notes.

“At one point in the Church’s history, only a few years before Gregory’s [Nazianz] present preaching (+380 A.D.), perhaps the number of Catholic bishops in possession of sees, as opposed to Arian bishops in possession of sees, was no greater than something between 1% and 3% of the total. Had doctrine been determined by popularity, today we should all be deniers of Christ and opponents of the Spirit.” (W.A. Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 2, p. 39.)

In the 4th century the Arian heresy became so widespread that the Arians (who denied the Divinity of Christ) came to occupy almost all the Catholic churches and appeared to be the legitimate hierarchy basically everywhere.

St. Ambrose (+382): “There are not enough hours in the day for me to recite even the names of all the various sects of heretics.” (The Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 2, p. 158)

Things were so bad that St. Gregory Nazianzus felt compelled to say what the Catholic remnant today could very well say.

St. Gregory Nazianzus (+380): “Where are they who revile us for our poverty and pride themselves in their riches? They who define the Church by numbers and scorn the little flock?” (“Against the Arians,” The Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 2, p. 33)

This period of Church history, therefore, proves an important point for our time: If the Church's indefectible mission of teaching, governing and sanctifying required a system of territorial Sees with a governing (i.e., jurisdictional) bishop for the Church of Christ to be present and operative in any or all Sees or dioceses, then one would have to say that the Church of Christ would have been defectible in all those territories where there was no governing Catholic bishop during the Arian heresy.

However, it is a fact that in the 4th century, where the faithful retained the true Catholic faith, even in those Sees where the Bishop defected to Arianism, the faithful Catholic remnant constituted the true Church of Christ; and therefore, in that remnant, the Catholic Church existed and endured in her mission to teach, govern, liturgize, dispense sacraments and sanctify without a governing bishop, or Episcopal “jurisdiction” thus proving that the Church of Christ's indefectibility and mission to teach, govern, liturgize, dispense sacraments and sanctify does not require the presence of a jurisdictional bishop.

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What we now have in the OCA is an analogous situation: whereas in the fourth century, it was Arianism, in the early twenty-first in the OCA, it is compound dereliction of duty.


Bro. Peter Dimond Again: Just as it was during the Arian heresy in the 4th century, the Church of Jesus Christ exists today with the remnant of faithful Catholics who maintain the traditional Catholic faith, not with the apostate bishops who appear to occupy the positions of authority.

Fr. William Jurgens: “In the time of the Emperor Valens (4th century), Basil was virtually the only orthodox Bishop in all the East who succeeded in retaining charge of his see… If it has no other importance for modern man, a knowledge of the history of Arianism should demonstrate at least that the Catholic Church takes no account of popularity and numbers in shaping and maintaining doctrine: else, we should long since have had to abandon Basil and Hilary and Athanasius and Liberius and Ossius and call ourselves after Arius.” (The Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 2, p. 3.)

If the Arian heresy was so bad that approximately 1% of the jurisdictional bishops remained Catholic and 99% became Arian, and the Great Apostasy preceding the Second Coming of Christ is predicted to be even worse – the worst apostasy of all time – then one should not be surprised by the fact that there are barely any authentically Catholic priests in the world today and no fully Catholic jurisdictional (i.e., governing) bishops to speak of.

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Perhaps in Vladyka Job, the OCA may well have its counterpart to St Basil of the fourth century (again, Vladyka, please reconsider!)

From your unworthy servant John.

(editor's note: The threat presented to the Church by the financial scandal is hardly on the level of Arianism. In defence of many of the Bishops they made very poor administrative decisions - not theological ones. Their poor management threatens the finances and admin structures of the Church, not its Faith. Sadly, the faith of many is being challenged by their continuing poor decisions, but it hardly rises to the level of Arianism. Moreover, in their most recent actions - not stopping the SIC Report ( a change from the past) and in retiring Metropolitan Herman ( a change from the past), working with, not against the MC ( a change from the past), etc. - even their most stern critics must admit they have taken real steps in a new direction. Old habits die hard, but reality is forcing them to change. One can only hope they now feel free to embrace the changes as positive because the evidence is clear: the old way is killing us.

Here's a bit of reality from the MC meeting: The OCA census is now down to less than 25,000. Unless we seize the day, open ourselves to the invigorating breath of the Spirit, and consciously work towards the changes we need, we will continue to decline. Where will we be in 3 years? 22,000? At what point do we agree we need to make serious changes? 15,000? 10,000?

Let me offer a secular analogy. Since the 19th century newspapers dominated the flow of information in society. First radio, then television challenged, but each settled into a mix that never threatened the viability of either. The internet changed all that, and so much more. Does anybody think there will be newspapers as our parents knew them in 50 years? Reality can be ignored - but it cannot be defeated. It eventually overwhelms even the most adament denials, or sweeps them aside. That is what the newspaper industry is now experiencing for having ignored the changes of the past 20 years, and the toll is terrible in lives and profit.

So, too, with Church administration. For 20 years the OCA ignored reality, clinging to past practices, such that we lost 50% of our membership and millions of dollars, such that many are asking if the "Brand" ( if you will pardon the expression) itself is now at risk. Yes, it is - the numbers don't lie - but no it does not have to be. I do not claim to have all the answers, but I do know this: sighing in relief now that the "troubles" are thought to be over, and now going back to the same old way we have always tried to do things, is killing us.)