Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The Antiochian Orthodox Church 'Masked'

The Self-Ruled Antiochian Archdiocese of North America is under the rule of Metropolitan Philip (shown left) who resides in Damascus. The church is showing symptoms of unhealth. This from AntiochianInfo.org.

On Anonymity

“Man is least in himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” ~ Oscar Wilde


Orthodox Christians who disagree with Metropolitan Philip’s interpretation of the February 24 decision by nine members of the Holy Synod are regularly accused of cowardice and hiding behind masks by retaining anonymity. Although pleasant and charismatic, Metropolitan Philip has a track record of retaliating vindictively — sometimes directly and sometimes passively — against those who oppose his will. Clergy have parishes and families to provide for; laity have good clergy that they don’t want subjected to transfer. Call it cowardice or hiding or whatever else you like, but those of us who are concerned for the truth will simply call 'anonymity' the expression of wisdom.

There is also a good amount of discussion about Metropolitan Philip's leadership at various blogs. Go here to read more. Pray for this Christian body.

2 comments:

Anonymous Coward said...

Just two slight corrections to your article.

The Antiochian Archdiocese of North America is indeed led by Metropolitan Philip. However, he resides in Englewood NJ.

As a bishop in charge of an archdiocese, Metropolitan Philip is a member of the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Antioch. The chief bishop of the Synod (and spiritual head of the Church of Antioch worldwide) is Patriarch Ignatius IV, who resides in Damascus.

For more information about this Church, please consult this article.

Alice C. Linsley said...

Thank you, Anonymous Coward and God bless you!