WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic
Online): I have followed with great interest and Christian hope
the work of Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in
America. His passionate stance for the rights of our first
neighbors in the womb and efforts to promote alliances between
faithful Christians - Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant - have
set him apart. His compelling personal faith journey from an
Anglican background into the Orthodox Church, by way of the
fathers of the Church, is personally inspiring. I am a revert to
the Catholic Church and walked a similar road through the
apostolic Fathers home to Rome many years ago.
Last month the Primate gave
an address to the leaders of the Anglican Church in North
America, who gathered in Ridgecrest, North Carolina. He showed
his prophetic insights into the common struggle which faithful
Christians must engage. Here are a few excerpts:
"There is another element in this which is of
immediate importance, and directly follows on the above. As was
written about by Robert Terwilliger, a great Anglican divine of
the 20th century, there is a coming realignment within
Christianity, one which we can already see the strains of.
Whenever schisms happen within the Church, they are generally
because certain individuals lead a group out of the Church,
being disobedient to the Faith and Doctrine, and refusing to
submit to the authority of the hierarchy, which is trying to
discipline them and call them to repentance."
"What is happening now is somewhat different: a
split between those who hold to traditional, biblical faith as
interpreted by the Fathers of the Church and the ecumenical
councils; and those who espouse a secularized belief, subject to
the rationalizations of the scholars according to contemporary
philosophy, who dismiss the Fathers and the Councils as no
longer relevant, who dismiss the moral teachings of the
Scriptures and Fathers as culturally relative. This could be
called, by one side, a break between traditional Christianity
and post-modern worldly philosophy. Or it might be labeled as
the freeing of people from fundamentalist oppression to the
light of their own reason."
"This is not the protestant/catholic divide; it
is not the evangelical-charismatic vs. mainline divide. It cuts
across all communities in the West, even affecting the Orthodox
and Roman Churches in some degree. As Anglicans, you are no
strangers to this: it is the reason you are here, and not in
TEC. It is creating a massive realignment within Christianity;
those who hold to the traditional Scriptural and patristic Faith
and discipline of Orthodox Catholicism; and those who reject it,
criticize it, and I will add, as you well know, persecute it.
You and the ACNA are part of that realignment."
"There is a radical cultural shift away from
traditional Christianity, toward something unrecognizable. The
"Secularists" (for lack of a better, non-pejorative term) reject
the virgin birth of Christ, the resurrection, even His Divinity;
that His words are recorded in the Scriptures and that the
Scriptures are even relevant to our days; rather they are
oppressive and keep humans in darkness. Another Episcopalian
bishop, a certain Mr. Spong, wrote that "Christianity must
change or die," referring to traditional orthodoxy, espousing
the radical secularization of the Episcopal Church and all
Christianity. It is my prediction that it is not the Orthodox
Churches that will die."
"Solzhenitsyn said that "what the Soviet death
camps could not do, Western secularism is doing more
effectively. In Russia, 20 million died in the last century as
martyrs for the Orthodox Faith, and countless millions of others
were thrown in the gulag, for standing up against militant
secularism. Many perished because they resisted the
Renovationists whose schism distorted the Orthodox Faith.
Whether you call it Soviet atheism, or Western secularism, it is
the same enemy."
"Our
battle is against secularism. His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI,
has called for us to stand together against this enemy. This is
the realignment: to stand together for the faith once delivered
by Christ to the Apostles, and thence to the Bishops, without
alteration, without change, without revisions; against those who
would submit their faith to the current of the age, the wisdom
of this world. We must stand together, and we cannot stand
alone. Even the immense Roman Church is buffeted by the militant
secularists, who defy authority and criticize that which they
know not, and we can see in this country how increasingly
fragile their unity is.
"Brothers and sisters, we must embrace the Cross
of Jesus Christ, the foolishness of the Gospel, the wisdom that
is not of this world. We must rejoice in the salvation that God
has given us in His Son Jesus Christ, who was crucified for us
and rose from the dead. We glory in His Resurrection, and await
His Coming Again. We must overcome the divisions that separate
us, so that we can stand united in one mind and one heart,
confessing that God has come in the flesh to raise us to heaven.
We must live according to the moral and ethical commandments of
our Lord Jesus Christ enshrined in the Gospel, and reject sin
and recognize its corruption.
"This is the orthodox faith of the Fathers, the
Ecumenical Councils and the undivided Church. We will have to
accept the scorn and derision of those who are of this world,
even those who call themselves brethren, being cast out of their
synagogues and ridiculed, sued in civil courts, and count all
things as worthless that we have lost for the sake of Christ.
This, my friends, is our cross. We have to support one another
in bearing it. The closer we come, the greater our mutual
support will be, and we will not lose heart, or forget that
Christ has already won the victory: He has overcome the world.
By accepting to go by way of His Cross, we too will share in His
Victory."
Readers of my
articles will quickly see why I took such hope in the work of
this young Orthodox Metropolitan. You will also see why I am
saddened to report that he has resigned his office. Here is the
official statement
Metropolitan Jonah tenders
resignation
SYOSSET, NY [OCA]
In a
letter addressed to the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops
dated Friday, July 6, 2012, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah
tendered his resignation as Primate of the Orthodox Church in
America. His Beatitude composed and signed the letter at his
residence in Washington, DC, in the presence of Archpriest John
Jillions, OCA Chancellor. On Saturday, July 7, the letter was
presented to the Holy Synod in the course of a conference call
in which all of the hierarchs participated, except His Eminence,
Archbishop Alejo of Mexico City. The text of His Beatitude's
letter reads as follows.
"To the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in
America,
"Brothers,
"As per your unanimous request, as conveyed to me
by Chancellor Fr. John Jillions, I hereby tender my resignation
as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, and humbly request
another Episcopal assignment. I had come to the realization long
ago that that I have neither the personality nor the temperament
for the position of Primate, a position I never sought nor
desired.
"It is my hope
that due consideration will be made for my financial situation,
both in any interim and in consideration for any future
position. I am the main financial support for both my parents
and my sister, beyond my own needs.
"I will appreciate your consideration in this,
and beg forgiveness for however I have offended you, and for
whatever difficulties have arisen from my own inadequacies and
mistakes in judgment. Asking your prayers, I remain faithfully
yours,
Metropolitan
Jonah, Archbishop of Washington"
*****
I
invite our readers around the globe to pray for Metropolitan
Jonah and for the Orthodox Church in America. His letter seems
to depict a sadness of spirit. It also raises a number of
questions and concerns. I would welcome any further information
and insight into this story and what prompted his resignation. I
haver reached out to friends in the orthodox Church whom I
deeply respect. Sadly, the reports emerging in the blogosphere
indicate there may be more behind the former Metropolitan's
decision. For example, former Catholic become Orthodox Christian
Rod Dreher opined
"They finally got him. What
they don't understand is that they probably signed the OCA's
death warrant in so doing - not because Jonah was necessarily an
exceptional metropolitan (he had his problems as an
administrator, and though a very good man, was temperamentally
ill-suited for the job), but because the sleazy, corrupt way the
Synod has handled this from the beginning shows them to be a
pack of ravening wolves."
Those are very harsh words. Pray for authentic
peace for the Orthodox Church in America and pray for
Metropolitan Jonah. Finally, pray that his successor continues
to stand propehtically and courageously in this age which cries
out for authentic collaboration between those who bear the name
Christian.
