20071221

AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH MOR IGNATIUS ZAKA I IWAS FROM CHOREPISCOPUS JOSEPH TARZI, PH. D.





ST. JAMES SYRIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF AMERICA
P.O.Box 3254, Burbank, California 91508-3254
Tel. (818)563-1857. Fax (818) 563-1403.



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"Have no fear of them; for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hidden that shall not be known.." (Matt. 10:26)

AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH MOR IGNATIUS ZAKA I IWAS

FROM CHOREPISCOPUS JOSEPH TARZI, PH. D.

YOUR HOLINESS: WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

INTRODUCTION

As I write to you, Your Holiness, I know you do not read what people send to you. It is Bishop Elia Bahi, the Patriarchal Assistant in name, but the Patriarch in actuality, who reads your mail and verbally presents to you a distorted version according to his liking.

At the outset, I would like to thank Your Holiness for bestowing upon me the High Order
of Merit, that is, stripping me of Priesthood and excommunicating me. This is great a honor to me, indeed, because first, it is an unjust, inimical, tyrannical, and vengeful measure and not for any wrongful deed that I committed; and second, it comes from you, insistently requested by Bishop Eugene Kaplan with the support and participation of the two “much-loved” Bishops, Elia Bahi and Hazael Soumi. These three Bishops, together with you, Your Holiness, constitute a quartet that artfully exemplifies tyranny and oppression in the Church

Your Holiness: what you have done to me is nothing but a clear vengeance, and an act to
satisfy the wicked fancies of your beloved sadistic Bishop, Eugene Kaplan. This Bishop has
been burning with anger. He has lost his mind as a result of his failure, his people’s turning away from him, and the deterioration of his cathedral, especially after his scandal was uncovered. He disappeared for seven and a half months, deceived the Syriac (Syrian) people, embezzled millions of dollars from them and from the Church institutions around the world, and dealt with Nigerian crime organizations. He did all this with your knowledge, approval, and guidance, as he himself told a close friend of his, who in turn informed me. I am not going to mention his name to protect him against your strike. You and your Synod of September 11-15, 2007 acknowledged the heavy debts of the St. Ephraim Monastery in Holland, accumulated as a result of embezzlement of its moneys by Bishop Kaplan. In the minutes of the said Synod, it is written, “As for the situation of the Archdiocese of Holland, especially the Monastery of St Ephraim, which is sinking under the burden of huge financial debts… and the difficult financial reality it is passing through…” We have irrefutable documents provided to us by the late Bishop Issa Cicek that prove beyond any doubt the fact that Bishop Kaplan embezzled about 2 million Euros from the monastery resources in addition to 3 more million dollars embezzled from the Syriac people
around the world. This, Your Holiness, was and still is the basic problem in the Diocese of California. The problem is NOT Khouri Joseph Tarzi as you and Bishop Kaplan have been striving to make the simple ones among the Syriac people to believe, thinking that those people consider your words to have come down from heaven!

After the commencement of the opposition movement against Bishop Kaplan’s administration in October 2002, I kept ministering in St. Ephraim Church for the period of one whole year, that is until September 30, 2003. This means that the faithful of the Diocese did not revolt against the Bishop in defense of me, or in protestation to any injustice inflicted upon me because I had not been suspended yet. The congregation started its reformative movement because of Bishop Kaplan’s transgressions and wrongdoings. So, it is enough, Your Holiness, for misleading the people and trying to make them believe your untrue claim that I, Khoury Joseph Tarzi, am the problem in Los Angeles. For the last five years, you have been claiming that the dissenting people and I did this and that, but intentionally failing to tell the reasons for our actions. Your Holiness, it is also enough for covering up the disgraceful scandals of your Vicar, Bishop Kaplan. It is high time that you told the Syriac people the truth, which they deserve to know

And so the popularity of Bishop Kaplan has sagged, and the situation of his cathedral has deteriorated. This has resulted from inflicting injustice upon me and upon the people, and striking us with your own sword. You have supported and still are supporting him with all your weight. You have sacrificed hundreds of families, and slaughtered me on the altar of injustice and enmity so that you may reinstate and consolidate his position. You and he have spared no means to separate my people from me and isolate me from them, but you have failed. Truth about the number of people (350 families) who walked away from you has come to light. You finally realized that it was not only a few families, as you have been claiming all along. You lost the bet that they would break up and dissolve. And so, Bishop Kaplan was left with only one arrow, the arrow of excommunication, and he shot it with your hand. Ask your conscience, Your Holiness, is Bishop Kaplan, who has been wallowing in the slime of sin, and who violated the Constitution of the Church, especially Article 74; Sections (f) and (g), Article 75; Section (b), Article 72; Article 73; and Section (b), Article 70, in a position to demand that I, the innocent, be excommunicated? Is he whose house is built of glass in a position to throw stones at the house of someone whose house is built of solid stones on rocks?

Bravo, Your Holiness! You have satisfied the vengeful fancies of Bishop Kaplan and his two partners in plotting and conspiring, Bishops Elia Bahi and Hazail Soumi, and fired the last shot from your gun; all this for my refusal to submit to your will of servility and humiliation, and in disobeying the ordinances of God. Your Holiness: obedience to God comes first, and life is a stand of honor. Man’s honor is too precious to be abused no matter how severe and painful the injustices inflicted on him may be. The injustices you brought upon me and upon thousands of honest and honorable people are matchless in the history of our Church, even in the darkest ages; and thus it is right to say that the history of the Syriac Church has never known a patriarch who is more tyrannical than Patriarch Zaka Iwas. You have surpassed Patriarch Ismail of Mardin in cruelty, tyranny, and harshness. Patriarch Ismail was swift in excommunicating Bishop Sawa, the innocent, without any investigation and scrutiny. This led to the splitting of Tur Abdin from the Patriarchate of Antioch and the establishment of a second Patriarchate. This is exactly what you have been doing ever since you assumed the leadership of the Church. You listen to the rumors originating from tendentious and malicious informers, and then quickly take harsh arbitrary and disciplinary actions without careful consideration or investigation. You never hold any trial, and thus you deny the victims of your injustice their basic right of self defense.

Now that we are comparing you with some other patriarchs, we mention Patriarch Elias
III, who traveled to India to settle differences that had evolved there among the faithful at a time when travel to far-away countries was horrendous. Patriarch Elias sacrificed himself to bring peace to the Church. As for you, you turned down the request and pleas of the masses to come to Los Angeles to try and solve the crisis which erupted because of the transgression of your Vicar Bishop Kaplan. You did this despite the fact that you had involvement in the development of the crisis, and despite the ease of traveling in this modern age of flying on fast jets. Not only did you do this, but you also held more tenaciously to your guilty vicar.

You demonstrated power and strength over me, the weak priest, because I did not have a clan or a group of influential people to back me up, as is the case with most of our priests. More importantly, I did not have money to redeem myself. The strongest proof to this is the fact that you dared not punish those who planned to split from you in Europe. Those people had called for the meeting and made contacts with the independent Orthodox Syrian Church of India. Nevertheless, you could not do anything to them simply because they have tens of thousands of their clans backing them up. You were afraid they would separate from your administration or cut your source of income. In addition, you gave in to their pressure, and their threats to walk away from you, and thus you reversed your decision to divide their archdiocese in the last minutes before the conclusion of your Synod meetings. Furthermore, you put the blame on me and wrongfully claimed that I called for the meeting in Germany. The truth is the reverse, as I will show below. This has been your way always; you gather strength only when it comes to polite, well-mannered, educated, peaceful, dedicated, faithful, honest and upright priests, and strike them mercilessly making them examples for others. The Syriac people everywhere know about the Syriac priest who was convicted of raping minors in Germany and was imprisoned. You reinstated him in the same Church where he committed the shameful acts in exchange for a large sum of money, as it is said. But when it came to me, the innocent, you excommunicated me and around 350 families for upholding truth. For you, anyone who differs in opinion or goes against your will is immediately branded as a stray and misleader, and thus deserves the harshest punishment, as I said earlier.

I cannot but thank my beloved and magnanimous congregation, who stood by me in the darkest hours of my life. They embraced me and supported me in upholding the truth. May the blessing and the grace of God be with them, always and forever.


REFUTATION OF THE CHARGES LEVELED IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL
ENCYCLICAL


Your Holiness: allow me now to respond to your encyclical of excommunication, and start saying:

The reasons you gave for my excommunication in your supplemental encyclical were:

• “Violations and even transgressions against the Church Doctrine and its Traditions.”
• “Rebellion against the highest authority of the Church.”
• “Formation of a new group outside the Church.”
• “Contacting one of the bishops who broke away from our Church in India and joined those whom the Holy Synod of 1975 in Damascus had excommunicated.”

By all means, the excommunication you pronounced does not move a hair on us, let alone the fact that it is surely and totally void and null, not only for one reason, but for a host of reasons. These reasons are summarized below:

1. Thank God I and my congregation are not of your followers, and you have no jurisdiction over us whatsoever. It was not you who expelled us, although you pushed us to leave by continuously persecuting us. It was certainly your wish that we go. Despite all this, it was our people who voted by their free will to distance themselves from you and your tyrannical and destructive administration. A religious leader cannot excommunicate people who belong to another Church. Therefore, your excommunication is void and meaningless. It is an action that indicates recklessness resulting from desperation.

2. Your excommunication is baseless. It is not sanctioned or prescribed by any law, be it heavenly or earthly. You know very well that there are only few cases where excommunication could be justified in Christianity. These are unbelief, infidelity, atheism, blasphemy, doctrine distortion, and proclaiming a gospel that is contrary to what the Apostles proclaimed (Galatians 1:8). Otherwise, excommunication is a heresy in Christianity introduced by the clergy to intimidate simple people and subjugate them. All civilized Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, have abolished excommunication because it lacks any evangelical basis. My congregation and I adhere to the faith of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, to its doctrine, liturgy, and traditions more than you do, your Holiness, and we have never proclaimed a gospel that is contrary to what the Apostles proclaimed. For this very reason, we have joined the Syrian Orthodox Church of India and not other churches, to preserve these sacred principles.

We have not formed a “new group outside the Church,” as you claimed. Rather, we have formed a legitimate and legally-operated genuine Syrian Orthodox Church under the name of the great Syrian Orthodox Church father, the Malphan (The Doctor) St. James (Jacob) of Srough. This church is affiliated with a legitimate and genuine religious authority, which is the Syrian Orthodox Church of India. It gives us pleasure to introduce this church to our readers here:

3. The Autonomous Syrian Orthodox Church of India is identical to the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. You know this very well, your Holiness. You yourself ordained the Bishop who takes care of our spiritual needs, and he was very close to you. You expelled him together with 3 other Bishops because they wanted to work for the peace and unity of the Church in India under YOUR spiritual leadership. He is a messenger of peace, not a herald of division like you.



The autonomous Syrian Orthodox Church of India, that you claim has been excommunicated with its people and clergy since 1975, is a legitimate Apostolic Church recognized by all Christian Churches in the world, be it apostolic or non-apostolic. This includes the non-Chalcedonian Oriental Churches that are in full fellowship with us, such as the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Armenian Orthodox Church, and the Ethiopian Church. It has a lawful head, who is the Catholicos of the East, whose priesthood was received in succession from the fathers of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. It has 22 prelates, 1600 parishes, and over 25 million followers. It recognizes the Patriarch of Antioch as its honorary spiritual Head and mentions his name in the Holy Mass. The excommunication issued by Patriarch Jacob III in 1975 is, therefore, void and null, because administrative autonomy, with strict preservation of faith, doctrine, liturgy, and tradition, has never been a cause for excommunication. When the Orthodox Church of Sudan, which was under the Patriarchate of Alexandria, became autonomous, the Pope of Alexandria did not excommunicate it. Rather, he helped it. This also was the case with the Antiochian Orthodox Church (The Arabic branch of the Greek Orthodox Church), which was under the direct administration of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate inDamascus. This Church became independent of the administration of the Patriarch in Damascus. The Patriarch in Damascus never excommunicated them. Rather, he cooperated with them. I remember when the Autonomous Catholicos of India came to Canada, the Coptic Church received him with honor. The late Mor Athanasius Yeshou Samuel complained to the pastor of the Coptic Church that honored the Catholicos about the fact that the Catholicos and his Church were excommunicated by Patriarch Yacoub III. The Coptic pastor contacted Pope Shenouda for advice. The Pope responded saying, “Receive the Catholicos with all due respect and honor offered to a head of a church, for their separation from the Syrian Church of Antioch is administrative only and not doctrinal.”

Your Holiness: Your excommunication of us because of our relationship with the Indian
Syrian Orthodox Church is clear hypocrisy. You claim that this church is excommunicated with its people and clergy, and yet your bishops talk to them in ecumenical gatherings and attend their Holy Masses. Clergy from both sides participate in joint spiritual services such as weddings, funerals, and the like. After all this, you excommunicate me because I “dared to contact one of their seceding bishops in India…!!” Why are you not excommunicating your bishops, who continuously and up to this day dare to contact the “excommunicated Bishops” in India?

Speaking of “excommunicated” bishops of India, it is quite shameful for Bishop Kaplan to spread rumors, and laughable and deplorable falsities products of his distorted mind among people that Bishop Meletius Yuhanon re-ordained me Chorepiscopus, after he, himself, had ordained me 8 years ago. He claims that he has a video tape to prove that. Why do you not produce that alleged video, “your Grace” and show us the truth? I am sure you saw a picture of me wearing the “Shadoyo,” that is, the shoulder cloak that Bishop Meletius brought to me as a gift from India, for he knew I was already ordained as Chorepiscopus. Or else, you may have seen the picture of him attiring me with it and thus your imagination revealed to you that he reordained me as Chorepiscopus. Think about this, my dear readers, and take it as an example of how Bishop Kaplan fabricated all his accusations against me. They are all the product of his hateful and malice-loving imagination, or built on rumors, fabricated stories, talebearing, idle talk and backbiting with no investigation, or deliberation, or scrutiny

Let me ask your Holiness: Did the Patriarch of Antioch excommunicate the people and
the clergy in Tur Abdin when they split from the See of Antioch and established the Patriarchate of Tur Abdin? If he did so, all the Syriac people and clergy who lived in Tur Abdin between the years 1293 and 1839 (546 years) lived and died in excommunication! If he did not, how dare you excommunicate a church that is about ten times larger than the Church of Tur Abdin with its head, the Catholicos, and 22 prelates? Furthermore, do we not excommunicate all the Chalcedonian Churches and yet sit with them, and accept their sacramental services? Do you not see this as outrageous hypocrisy and contradiction?

Have you not been establishing cordial relationship with the churches that disagree radically with the doctrine, tradition and sacramental practices of our Church? Do you and their Eminencies, the Metropolitans of our Church, not visit their leaders, and they in turn visit you? Did you not study and later on accept to receive an honorary Ph. D. degree from the General Seminary in New York, which has homosexual students and professors? Do they not have a licensed homosexual club within the seminary? Does the Episcopalian Church not ordain homosexual priests and priestesses and permit them to serve the Holy Sacraments? Does the Episcopalian Church not allow homosexual marriages to be solemnized in their churches? Does this church not ordain women bishops, including divorced ones? Did some of our bishops not study and graduate from this very seminary? After all this, you excommunicate the genuine Syrian Orthodox Church of India, which adheres so strongly and faithfully to the doctrine, tradition, and liturgy of the mother Church of Antioch, even more than the mother church does! Furthermore, you excommunicate us because we chose to be affiliated with this church after you expelled us from our Church. Your Holiness, what would you have done had we chosen to be affiliated with one of the above-mentioned non-Syrian Orthodox Churches such as the Episcopalian Church?

4. You wrote about me in your Synod minutes: “he misled a group of the faithful of our
Church, and thus they joined the administration of the excommunicated bishop, who is one of our excommunicated opponent bishops in India.” In response to this, I have to say: I have already talked about the excommunication of these bishops earlier. As for misleading, we have 350 families with us in our Church, St. James of Srough Syrian Orthodox Church. Among these, there are physicians, engineers, professors, lawyers, scientists, scholars, educators, school principals, teachers, highly educated businessmen and people who are well-informed about the Bible. Is it conceivable that just one priest can mislead all these people? Do you really think that our people would believe you? Why are you distorting the truth, your Holiness? Why are you not saying that you pushed us to join the Syrian Church of India? After walking away from your administration, for one whole year we remained independent and unaffiliated with any religious authority. Why did you or Bishop Kaplan not do anything to solve the problem? Not only did you do nothing, but you also prevented everyone who wanted to intervene or offer help or initiatives to solve it, including the prelates of our church, from doing so. You knew very well that we were going to join the Indian Church if you did not give justice to us. Yet you did absolutely nothing to stop us. This could mean only one thing: you did not care for us, but rather, you wanted to get rid of us. Why, then, are you shedding crocodile tears over this and using it as a pretext to excommunicate us? Your Holiness, be assured that our people discussed the matter for a whole year before they put it to vote. They voted democratically to leave your administration. I did not mislead them as you claimed. Any one who thinks or says otherwise is falsifying the truth.

Your Holiness: do you not remember, how with pure hearts and good intentions, we came to see you in Ma’arrat Saydnaya by your own invitation (May 23-26, 2005,) and offered allegiance (see our attached letter)? We accepted all your conditions and gave you everything you asked for. Our people even abandoned their basic demand to remove Bishop Kaplan and accepted reconciliation. Do you not remember how Bishop Kaplan refused to meet with us, and how he and his company emphatically rejected our return to our own church? You sided with them, Your Holiness. All you did was this: you lifted my suspension and the excommunication imposed by Bishop Kaplan on our people. You did not accept our pleas to issue an order that we
could go back to our Church. You promised us in writing that you would send one or more bishops to mollify the atmosphere and bring us back to the church (A copy of your letter is
attached), but you broke your promise and resorted, once again, to stalling and procrastinating until seven months passed after our meeting with you and after your written promise was made. You did this despite the fact that in response to the request of the General Secretariat of the Holy Synod represented by His Eminence Bishop Theophilus George Saliba, we submitted to you a petition demanding my return to St. Ephraim Church to refute the claims of Bishop Kaplan and his company, although we had already submitted two earlier petitions that clearly showed that the vast majority of St. Ephraim parishioners wanted Fr. Tarzi back to his position. We, nevertheless, organized the requested petition for the third time, and collected signatures from St. Ephraim Church parishioners and submitted to you, with copies sent to the concerned members of the Synod, inviting all the readers and examiners of the said petition to check and substantiate any signature therein, if they wished so. The petition carried the signatures of 535 families the number of whose members exceeded 1800 person (A sample page taken from the 535 pages of the actual petition is attached). This represents more than 85% of St. Ephraim parishioners. Like all previous petitions, this petition, too, was disregarded. It is worth mentioning here that Bishop Kaplan, after hearing of our petition, instructed his few supporters, after his return from Damascus, to organize a counter petition demanding that Fr. Tarzi be prevented from returning to his Church. However, their efforts failed miserably despite their repeated attempts over a period of several weeks. Their previous attempts before they traveled to Damascus had likewise failed.

Finally, you promised us that you would definitely see that a final solution was reached in the Synod meeting on December 13, 2005. Nevertheless, you crossed out the Los Angeles case from the agenda of the Synod on the morning of its convening, and only after insistent pressure from some bishops you reluctantly reintroduced it. When the fathers of the Synod were about to vote on the issue, you sensed the direction of their vote. You knew that they would vote almost unanimously in favor of having us return to our St. Ephraim Church. You stopped them and told them, once again, that you would personally deal with the issue and solve it once and for all very shortly.

We contacted Your Holiness after the Synod was adjourned, and you, once again, went back to procrastinating and stalling. We asked you, “How long would it take, in your opinion, before the problem is solved?” You answered harshly that there was no definite period of time, refusing to give us any glimpse of hope for waiting for the solution in the foreseeable future (I call upon our dear readers to read the final letter of separation to His Holiness, dated January 18, 2006, posted on the suryoyoreformer.org on Feb. 2, 2006). After all this, do you not feel any twinge of conscience when you say that you gave us a chance to come back?

And so you sided with the guilty party, Bishop Kaplan. You defended his wrongdoings, you covered up his transgressions, and you even rewarded him for his iniquities, his violations of the church Constitution and for tarnishing the reputation of the holy church. Going to the extreme of your cruelty and injustice, you severely punished the honest and faithful. Therefore, your excommunication is void, null, and meaningless.

You further wrote in the minutes of your last Synod meeting: “We took our time and did not make this decision before now in order to give him the chance to repent and return, but he went further in his rebellion. He carried out secessional activities, holding suspicious meetings in Germany and some other European countries, and thus some laymen drifted in his deception…”

One cannot but feel deeply sorry for this type and magnitude of distortion of truth. Pardon me, Your Holiness! You never gave me a chance for repentance and return. You had made up your mind to excommunicate and expel me from the church ever since the crisis started in California, according to someone who is very close to you. You hoped that my people would walk away from me and go back to Bishop Kaplan’s administration. This way you could catch me alone and strike me with your final fatal blow, and thus avoid stirring up the people and provoking their anger. However, when this did not happen, you became disappointed and frustrated, so you went ahead and acted on your decision. As for repentance, I have done nothing that calls for it. You and Bishop Kaplan have done a grave injustice in punishing me without any investigation or trial, giving me absolutely no chance to defend myself.

Regarding the matter of attending a meeting in Germany, you have grossly distorted the story so that you may justify your unjust decision. You may have also listened to some tendentious people and took your decision, once again, without any substantiation or examination, or without even hearing my version of the story. This is not surprising; for most, if not all of your decisions, have been arbitrary. The following is the truth of the matter, which can be substantiated by all those who were involved. I am presenting it, not because I take notice of your excommunication, or because I seek to acquit myself from any guilt, but to present the truth. Besides, I am free to travel anywhere I choose, and you neither have authority over me nor the right to interfere in my affairs.

Shortly after you suspended Bishop Hanna Aydin, he called me twice, asking me to go to Germany immediately. They had decided to split from you and establish a separate Patriarchate, he told me. He said that they would like to make use of our experience. Following his telephone calls, tens of other clergy and laity contacted me, insisting that I go to Germany to help them deal with the current situation. I am not going to mention names here in order to protect them from your strike. Before these developments, I had no contact whatsoever with any Syriac group anywhere in the world. My answer to all these requests was, “NO”. I told them I could not go lest it be thought that I was instigating them to separate from the Patriarchate. I did not want to interfere in their affairs. I further told them that they must make their own decision without any external influence. However, they continued to contact me, and every time I gave them the same answer.




About two months later, after Bishop Aydin’s delegation returned from Saydnaya, some clergymen and laity contacted me from Europe assuring me that they had made their final decision without any external influence, to separate from you. They further told me that they had called a meeting with the representatives of their church councils, and designated the time and place for the said meeting to coordinate their planned activities. They invited me to attend their meeting with the presence of a bishop from India, for the purpose of giving them a verbal report about the crisis in California. This meeting was also attended by certain clergymen. However, you purposely failed to mention this in your Synod minutes and only mentioned laymen, obviously because of your feeling of embarrassment.

The above is the exact and accurate account of the matter of my involvement in the situation in Europe. I never instigated anyone to separate from you. I had no involvement whatsoever in their decision to separate. I never called for or held any meeting. You have made me a hero, a leader, and a Superman capable of stirring and controlling the masses of people in Europe, and holding meetings at a time when I hardly knew any one of them; all this to find an excuse or a basis for excommunication. This excuse of yours is totally rejected. You know very well, Your Holiness, that there is a large number of clergymen and laity who have lost hope in your tyrannical and corrupt leadership. They are all yearning to walk away from you, but they do not have enough courage to do so because they are afraid of you striking. Your assistant, Bishop Bahi, and your special envoy, Bishop Hazael Soumi (much trusted by you and much despised by the Syriac people), have both been threatening the clergy and laity everywhere with your known weapon: excommunication. Bishop Bahi never hesitates to speak, using the first person pronoun “I,” as if he were the Patriarch, saying to many monks and priests: “I am going to do this and that to you…” The difference between those clergymen and me, Your Holiness, is that they are frightened by you. As for me, I fear no one except God, because truth is with me.

5. Since the beginning of the crisis in Los Angeles, you and Bishop Kaplan have been accusing me of mutiny and disobeying the orders of my superiors. It is high time for both of
you, after four years of expelling me from my church, to come forth and publicly reveal to the Syriac people in the whole world and to everyone else, with proof and substantiation, what order of yours I have disobeyed besides your impossible order to silence the opposition to Bishop Kaplan and defend his wrongdoings. I had already shown you the number and quality of the people opposing the administration of Bishop Kaplan, and the impossibility of stopping or silencing them even if I wanted to. On the other hand, how could you order me to disobey God by defending the wrong? You know very well, and teach us too, that obedience to God comes before all other obedience. How could I defend the transgressions committed by Bishop Kaplan? Would the people not accuse me of being his partner in his embezzlement scheme, and put me at his class and level? With the exception of your order to defend his wrongdoings and silence the opposition, do come forth, Your Holiness, and name one order that I disobeyed. Enough distorting the truth, Your Holiness, for this does not befit your position. In addition, our people, even the naïve ones, have become conscious of these manners, and these tricks can no longer fool them.

6. Your Holiness: do you not feel embarrassed or feel a twinge in your conscience when you accuse me of transgressing the doctrine and the traditions of the Church? Is there a Syriac priest who adheres to the doctrine and the traditions of the Church more than I do? Do you really expect our people to believe you? Which doctrine or tradition have I transgressed? My doctrine is whole, sound, and pure, and my adherence to the traditions is tenacious. Up to this moment, you have found not even one fault that calls for such an extreme and severe injustice that you have inflicted on me. I have not committed any disgraceful acts such as theft, embezzlement, morality crimes, tarnishing the honor and reputation of priesthood, drunkenness, revelry, telling lies, accepting bribery, simony, and love of mammon or other abominable acts. There are clergymen who committed such acts in the Church you are heading, yet you overlooked their acts, defended some of them, and covered up for others. Some redeemed themselves by paying money. You even reinstated those who committed immoral acts (raping minors and the like), as I mentioned earlier. As for me, the innocent, you have mercilessly thrown me out into the street and even tried to destroy the life of my children by cutting off the only source of my income. You did this to me when you very well knew that I set aside my Ph. D. degree and my career position to dedicate myself to my Church. Furthermore, I loved you, I did favors to you personally, and I defended you in public and in private, but you in turn responded with the harshest punishment. Your Holiness: this is your nature; you use people, and once you get what you want from them, you dump them.

7. You are the Father General of the Church. As such, you are supposed to be wise, loving, just, and impartial, personifying the teachings of the Lord Jesus in love and upholding truth. Where is this love and wisdom in you? A Father General tries to open a dialogue with his children. He tries to find a way to bring them back to the bosom of the Church. Instead, you have been looking for excuses and pretexts, and have been fabricating accusations to torture and humiliate your children in vengeance. For the most part, you have been doing this in response to the incitements of Bishop Kaplan, who is sunken in forbidden acts, with the support and encouragement of the two Bishops who stand behind him, namely, Elia Bahi and Hazael Soumi. These two bishops hate me because of the hate that Bishop Kaplan has for me.




8. Your Holiness: the real reason of excommunicating me and my congregation is quite
clear: to separate my people from me. You have taken this measure on the assumption that most Syriacs (Syrians) are simple and naïve. You think they fear excommunication and will not accept an excommunicated priest, regardless of the reason of the excommunication. You assumed that they would leave me immediately after they heard about the excommunication. However, allow me to remind you, Your Holiness, that your assumption that the Syriac people are naive is wrong; and even if some of them were naïve in the past, they are no longer so. They no longer believe in superstition and unfounded, void, and illegitimate excommunication. They will no longer be misled by erroneous clergy. They will never blindly follow this kind of clergy anymore.

9. I am a true Syrian (Syriac). I follow Christ, Your Holiness, and my path is His path. I say humbly: I am also a truthful, straightforward, sincere, and law-abiding person, obedient to my superiors, except in matters defying the will and the ordinances of God. My light is truth, and nothing is going to force me to abandon these principles. I do not need a license or certificate from you to prove my belongingness or my Syrian Orthodox faith or doctrine; for they are the faith, confession, and conviction of my forefathers, not yours. I will never keep silent in the face of tyranny, oppression, and injustice and I will never stop fighting those who order me to disobey God; for God is the Truth, and as long as I adhere to the truth, God will be on my side because “If God is for me, who is against me?” (Romans 8:31).

Your Holiness: you tried to escape the responsibility of my unjust excommunication. You tried to lay the burden on the Holy Synod for fear of being blamed for excommunicating an innocent priest. This way, you thought, you could come up with a statement in your encyclical that starts with, “The Holy Synod has decided…” despite the fact that you had the decision of the long-planned excommunication in your hands when you entered the room where the Synod meetings were held. You knew very well that it was not the responsibility of the Synod to look into the matter of excommunicating a priest. For this reason the Synod refused to vote on the issue. Consequently, you announced a weak and meager decision based on the wishes of your “Mini and Most Holy Synod,” comprising of the triad, Kaplan-Bahi-Soumi, under your chairmanship, or perhaps under the chairmanship of Bishop Bahi. Tell us, Your Holiness, was it the Holy Spirit Who instructed you to take the decision of the excommunication, just as He guided Bishop Kaplan to embezzle the money of the people, do dealings with the outlaws, and invoke curses with the Holy Cross upon his people and their children from the Holy Altar? It seems that your mini Synod met again on Sunday afternoon, September 16, 2007, taking advantage of the absence of the members of the Holy Synod, and decided to change what was agreed upon by those members. Accordingly, you ended up issuing an addendum to your first encyclical, which did not mention me by name. This was surely to quench your thirst for revenge on me. You people love vengeance, indeed, and carry hate-laden hearts inside you. However, after pressuring you into issuing the above-mentioned addendum that mentioned my name explicitly, and included our congregation in your excommunication, Bishop Kaplan cowered and backed away in fear of the adverse reaction of the people. Consequently, he decided to forge your encyclical. He retyped it, deleting the phrase, “and his followers,” announced the forged copy in his churches, and posted it on his website. The forged encyclical was, of course, devoid of your stamp and signature. At the time of writing this letter, the forged encyclical was still posted. This is not surprising, for Bishop Kaplan is a well-known expert in forging documents. Earlier, he forged the minutes of the Synod of March 29, 2005 (Copies of the original and forged documents are attached, and also posted on suryoyoreformer.org). Even before that, Bishop Kaplan forged the financial statement of St. Thomas Church of San Jose issued by Bank of America. A copy of the forged statement is available for those interested.

CONCLUDING REMARKS


Your Holiness: Thirteen years ago, in 1994, when you were sitting on my chair in my office at St. Ephraim Church in Burbank, Los Angeles, and we were talking about the Church affairs, you said to me: “You are paying the price of your intelligence, success, integrity and honesty.” Today, I have paid for all these virtues a very high price, indeed. You kept praising me for the length of 20 years in all your circles and showering me with compliments. You commended me for my knowledge, conduct, moral values, faith, uprightness, for my love to my Church and for dedicated services to it and to you personally. I was the first priest upon whom you bestowed the holy Cross for free: that is, I did not have to purchase it by money, as some other clergy do, and before I was ordained Chorepiscopus, contrary to the observed custom. All of a sudden, I have become a stray and a misleader! Your Holiness, I am the same person whom you described as having the above-mentioned venerated qualities. I have never changed. But, it seems that anyone who does not submit to your will of disobeying the ordinances of God, and of standing with the wrong is, in your eyes, a stray and a misleader no matter how honest and wise he is. Furthermore, it seems that only hypocrites gain your acceptance and find favor with you. You always want people to throw themselves at your feet and beg for mercy, compassion, and forgiveness of sins or wrongdoings that he never committed.

The slavery and servility era of throwing oneself at Your Holiness’ feet and begging for mercy and compassion, and of repenting for uncommitted and imaginary transgressions has ended for ever. The church of Christ is built on love. It is the church of love and not the Church of hate, spite, vengeance, and invoking curses with the Holy Cross in the name of the Holy Trinity. That is your church, Your Holiness, not ours.

The era of looking at priests as insects crawling on the ground to be trodden upon and crushed mercilessly, whenever Your Holiness wishes, is also gone for ever with no return. Also Gone is the era of brandishing the weapon of excommunication, and making the clergy and laity tremble with fear. This fear from unfounded excommunication used to cause people, especially the clergy, to fall down before you and ask for mercy. No, Your Holiness, I do not belong to that group. Nevertheless, if I were at fault, I would have apologized or offered my “repentance” as you love to call it; but I will never apologize for wrongs that I have never committed, and for unfounded charges thrown left and right. Your Holiness: you denied my request to grant me my natural rights. You leveled no charges against me formally, never questioned me, assembled no jury, and held no trial. This is unheard of even in the most vicious and oppressive secular systems, let alone a religious system. Had you convened an impartial spiritual court and gave me a chance to defend myself, and the court found and proved me guilty, I would have accepted its decision and apologized or offered my “repentance,” according to your terminology.

Your Holiness: may the Lord forgive you just as He forgave His crucifiers, for, just like them, you do not know what you do.

Los Angeles, October 20, 2007


Khouroyo Joseph Tarzi, Ph.D


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The Very Rev. Joseph Tarzi’s interview in “Qolo Heero” TV satellite channel in Sweden, with Mr. Uzjohn Kaldoyo and Mr. Jakob Rohyo, Sunday November 18, 2007.Details...

20071220

Delegation of the E O C met His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of Armenia


October 29, 2007. Delegation of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Diocese of North America met His Holiness Karekin II, Patriarch and Catholicos of Armenia on October 26-27, 2007 in Minnesota, MN. At the meeting, the Diocese’s Delegation briefed H.H. Karekin II and conference participants the current situation of the Eritrean Orthodox Church.

His Holiness Karekin II articulated to the delegation of the Diocese how dismayed he is by the unlawful removal of H. H. Antonious, the legal Patriarch of Eritrea.

Furthermore, His Holiness Karekin II encouraged the delegation that the Armenian Church recognizes no other Patriarch but His Holiness Patriarch Antonious, the legal Patriarch of Eritrea. His Holiness promised that in accord to the Canon and Law of the Church, he will do his best to reverse the unlawful removal of the legal Patriarch H. H. Antonious.


His Holiness, Patriarch Karekin II reiterated that the Armenian Church remains by the Diocese’s stand and will remember H.H. Patriarch Antonious in its prayer.
Courtasy: Eritrean Orthodox Church Diocese of North America

Letter from H.H Abune Antonios, Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church


Date: January 15, 2006

To: Your Grace Arch Bishops, Bishops, Episcopes, Members of the Synod of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church


I send you my spiritual greetings. Also, I acknowledge receipt of your letter, dated 13/1/2006 ( January 13, 2006 ) (FN1/225/41/98) informing me that you have removed me from my position as the Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church .

The grave action that you have taken is illegal as it is in total contravention of the Constitution of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, the Canon of the Church, the guidelines enumerated in the Didascalia, the fit'ha negest (Law of the Kings), and the writings of St Clement. According to the above, which are the legal foundations of our church, a Patriarch, once consecrated, can be removed only under the following three specific circumstances: (1) grave moral failure, such as adultery (2) falling into heresy, or (3) physical and/or mental infirmity.

In this case, the false accusations that you have raised against me, and used for my illegal removal, are neither within the bounds of the legal framework of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church , nor substantive enough to merit the slightest consideration. The reasons for your actions can not be the result of your ignorance of the Canon of the church; it is rather because you have become a law unto yourselves. There is one thing that you need to be reminded of: No one can be above the law. Whosoever tries to trample the law underfoot will himself end up being trampled over by the law. This is a veritable truth.

Even if, in the very unlikely event, you were able to raise legitimate grievances against me, is it not proper for the accused to face his accusers, be presented with the accusations in a formal and properly constituted church tribunal, and the accused given the right to defend himself? Instead, you have appointed yourselves – the very accusers - jury and judges in order to accomplish your sordid plans. Your accusations are all baseless. For this illegal act of yours, the first in the long history of our apostolic faith and tradition, therefore, the Canon and the Constitution of our church will judge you.

This one fact remains unchallenged. What has propelled you into such a deplorable act, without regard to the life of our Church, is my longstanding belief and vehement stand that it is illegal and unacceptable for Mr. Yoftahe Dimetros, a layperson of absolutely no clerical credentials, to become the highest administrator of our Church.

Considering the grave danger into which you have put our Church, a council consisting of all the abbots of the monasteries and the learned men (liqawnti) of our Church should immediately convene, in front of whom I will respond to your accusation. Furthermore, the traditions of our sisterly Oriental Churches and the relevant articles in the fit'ha negest(Law of the Kings), and the Canon of the church clearly state that if an accusation is brought up against a patriarch of one church, another patriarch from a sisterly Oriental Orthodox church has to sit in the adjudication of the matter. A patriarch cannot be removed unless these preconditions are met. In ignoring such important procedures, you have, of course, rendered any decision you have made against me totally invalid.

Since the matter has now come to a head, I hereby appeal my case to: (1) the Council of the Monasteries of the Eritrean Orthodox Church and (2) The Egyptian Orthodox Church through which we have received our apostolic mandate.

There is no doubt that the person who is orchestrating all that has transpired behind the scene is Mr. Yoftahe Dimetros. Therefore, in consideration of all the above; pending the above mentioned appeal; and until the matter is adjudicated legally and in accordance with the Canon and traditions of our Church; and, as the duly consecrated Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, and with the consequent power that is vested in me, I hereby issue the following binding injunctions: I order you, in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit, to desist from

(1) Anointing a Patriarch

(2) Consecrating bishops, episcopes, or ordain priests and deacons.

(3) Furthermore, since the person responsible for the confusion in our Church is none other than Mr.Yoftahe Dimetros, he is hereby excommunicated, and should immediately vacate the position he holds in our church as the chief administrator.


(4) Fr. Habtom Russom, deputy secretary of the Synod, has been engaged in an illegal and malicious campaign against the person and authority of the patriarch. Hence, from 6/5/1998 (Ge'ez calendar) ( January 14, 2006 ) on he is to be considered excommunicated. Consequently, he is to desist from any clerical activities either as a deacon or as a priest.

(5) On the basis of the above, I implore Abune Dioscoros to refrain from your negative activities.

May God grant his peace to our Church

May God bless our Country, Eritrea .

Official seal and His Holiness' signature------------------


cc:

Department of Religious Affairs of the Government of Eritrea

All the monasteries of our Church

Council of the Learned Men (liqawnti) of the Orthodox Church

Department of Censorship

All the Orthodox Tewahdo Churches of Asmara

All the dioceses, including the Diocese of Asmara

All the Oriental Orthodox Churches

Fr. Habtom Russom

Debre M'ewan Abune Aregawi Church , Asmara

20071219

Consultative Committee of the Oriental Orthodox Church

The Members of the consultative committee of the Oriental Orthodox Churches met on January 28, 2019 in Rome. -- Credit: Facebook page of Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Sydney & Affiliated Regions.


The Oriental Orthodox churches are among the oldest Christian churches in existence, and the term Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the communion of Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only the three ecumenical councils — the Council of Nicaea, the Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus — and reject the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon (4th Ecumenical council of the Byzantine Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches) .

The Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451 resulted in the schism of Christendom into two groups. The Catholic (Rome) and Greek (Byzantine) Churches accepted the Council, while the Coptic (Alexandria) Antiochian Syrian and Orthodox Syrian (the East) Armenian Churches rejected it. The former group adopted the doctrine that Christ is in two natures, human and divine, while the latter adopted the doctrine that Christ has one incarnate nature from two natures.

Oriental Orthodox family

The Oriental Orthodox Church is organized as a family of several autocephalous churches, which are in full communion with one another but whose highest ranking bishops do not report to a higher authority in the church's hierarchy. The communion includes:

  1. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
  2. The Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch
  3. The Armenian Apostolic Church of All Armenians
  4. The Armenian Apostolic Church of Cilicia
  5. The Orthodox Syrian Church of the East (also known as the Indian Orthodox Church)
  6. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
  7. The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Common Declaration of H.H Shenouda III (Pope of Alexandria) , H.H Mar Ignatius Zakka I (Patriarch of Antioch ) and H.H Aram I about Consultative Committee of Oriental Orthodox Churches

  1. Representatives of our Oriental Orthodox Churches have agreed to meet on 24 January 2005, in Romeas a consultative committee of our Family of Churches. This will take place one day before the second meeting of the International Joint Commission with the Catholic Church. This consultative committee will meet on every occasion of theological dialogues or ecumenical meetings to coordinate all the operation and standpoints of our Family.
  2. The Family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches is composed of seven delegations (Coptic Orthodox Church, Syrian Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church of Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenian Apostolic Church of the Great House of Cilicia, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Indian Orthodox Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church). In all bilateral dialogues and ecumenical gatherings when we participate as one Family this structure should be kept. Therefore, we recommend that all the diocesan bishops follow the recommendations in all ecumenical gatherings.


    St. Mark Centre, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt; 21 October 2004



INDEX

20071218

Thiruvithamcode "Arapally" Declared Pilgrimmage Site


Kanyakumari (T.N-India): Catholicos of the East His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Didymus I proclaimed the Thiruvithamcode "Arapally" as an "International St. Thomas Pilgrim Centre" on December 16, 2007 as per Kalpana number 336/2007.

This church was founded by St. Thomas in AD 63 in the capital city of the kingdom and given special permission by the king to exist. His Holiness, H.E. Gabriel Mar Gregorios Metropolitan, the Honorable Kerala State Transportation Minister, Shri Mathew T. Thomas, Reverend Dr. George Allanchery of the Thakkala Diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church, Nagarcoil M.P., Shri A.V. Bellarmine, Malankara Association Secretary Shri Dr. George Joseph, the Kanyakumari District Collecter, Shri S.J. Shiru I.A.S., Thiruvithamcode Arapally Manager, Very Reverend Bar Sleebi Remban, numerous priests, and thousands of faithful participated in the public meeting



In addition to His Holiness the Catholicos' official proclamation establishing Thiruvithamcode Church as a pilgrim centre, he also laid the foundation stone for a centre for future pilgrims.

Holy Episcopal Synod of the East Holds Special Session


KOTTAYAM: The Holy Episcopal Synod of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church held a special session, which was presided over by His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Didymus I on December 6th, 2007 at Devalokam, Kottayam. The following Metropolitans participated: H.B. Paulose Mar Milithios, H.G. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios, H.G. Mathews Mar Epiphanios, H.G. Philipos Mar Eusebius, H.G. Thomas Mar Athanasios, H.G. Geevarghese Mar IVanios, H.G. Dr. Thomas Mar Athanasius, H.G. Yuhanon Mar Milithios, H.G. Kuriakose Mar Clemis, H.G. Zachariah Mar Anthonios, H.G. Dr. Mathews Mar Severios, H.G. Geevarghese Mar Coorilos, H.G. Paulos Mar Pachomius, H.G. Dr. Yakob Mar Irenaeus, H.G. Dr. Gabriel Mar Gregorios, and H.G. Dr. Yuhanon Mar Chrysostomos. The following decisions were arrived at:

1) The norms for episcopal selection were drafted.

2) The Synod addressed the recent news that surfaced in local Indian news medias regarding the episcopal consecration of a Turkish monk from Germany for the Syrian Orthodox Church in Europe. The Synod sought the necessary explanations from the concerned bishops regarding the consecrations. These explanations were then accepted by His Holiness the Catholicos and the Holy Episcopal Synod.

3) It was decided to honor H.G. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios Metropolitan by awarding His Grace with the "Sabha Ratna" title on the occassion of His Grace's 90th birthday (navathy) celebration. His Grace is bestowed with this title in recognition of His Grace's extraordinary charismatic leadership throughout his prolific ministerial life in the Church. The title will be awarded by His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Didymus I on Sunday, 9th December, 2007 in Thiruvalla at the Bethany Aramana.

4) The proposal to begin a cancer care centre in St. Gregorios Mission Hospital, Parumala was approved in principle. The details and final decisions regarding this proposal will be made in the next session of the Holy Episcopal Synod, that is scheduled for February of 2008.

Rabban Mushe Görgün Consecrated Metropolitan of The Syrian Orthodox Archdiocese of Europe

Pampakkuda (kerala - India): Rabban Mushe Görgün was consecrated metropolitan of The Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Europe (Autocephalous) by Their Eminencies Drs. Mor Milithos Yuhanon And Mor Athanasius Thomas of the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East (Malankara) at the Cathedral Church, Trichur on November 21, 2007 with the title Mor Severius Mushe Görgün.

A specially convened Episcopal Synod of the Syrian Orthodox Church of the East held at the church headquarters at Devlokam, Kottayam on December 06, 2007, recognized the consecration of the Archbishop and the newly formed Syrian Orthodox Archdiocese of Europe.


20071217

Middle Eastern Oriental Orthodox Common Declaration

  1. The First Meeting of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East Common Declaration - Egypt 1998
    Arabic (pdf file)
    English (pdf file)
  2. The 2nd Meeting of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East Common Declaration - Syria 1999
    Arabic (pdf file)
    English (pdf file)
  3. The Third Meeting of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East Common Declaration - Lebanon 2000
    Arabic (pdf file)
    English (pdf file)
  4. TheFourth Meeting of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East Common Declaration - Egypt 2001
    Arabic (pdf file)
    English (pdf file)
  5. The 5th Meeting of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East Common Declaration - Syria 2002
    Arabic (pdf file)
    English (pdf file)
  6. The Sixth Meeting of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East Common Declaration - Lebanon 2003
    Arabic (pdf file)
    English (pdf file)
  7. The Seventh Meeting of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East Common Declaration - Egypt 2004
    English (pdf file)
  8. The Eighth Meeting of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East Common Declaration - Syria 2005
    Arabic (pdf file)
    English(pdf file)
  9. THE TENTH MEETING OF THE HEADS OF THE ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES IN THE MIDDLE EAST Common Declaration - Egypt 2006
    Arabic (pdf file)
    English (pdf file)
  10. THE TENTH MEETING OF THE HEADS OF THE ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES IN THE MIDDLE EAST Common Declaration -Syria 2007
  11. MIDDLE EAST ORIENTAL ORTHODOX STANDING COMMITTEE MEETS IN CAIRO-Egypt 2008



THE TENTH MEETING OF THE HEADS OF THE ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

St. Ephrem Monastery, Ma'arat Saydnaya,
Damascus, Syria
April 19-21, 2007
C O M M O N D E C L A R A T I O N
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; Amen.

We, Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenians of the Great House of Cilicia, give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ for granting us, once again, the opportunity to pray and to reflect together on issues and challenges of common concern, at St. Ephrem Monastery, in Ma'arat Saydnaya, Damascus, Syria. This is the tenth time that we meet as Heads of Churches within the framework of the Fellowship that we have established in 1996. The Standing Committee that we have appointed has joined us.

In our meeting here in Ma'arat Saydnaya we reaffirmed our unity of faith that, for centuries, has been the basis of our common doctrinal position and theological teachings. Deeply rooted in the Holy Scriptures, the Apostolic Faith and Tradition, the three Ecumenical Councils (Nicea 325, Constantinople 381, and Ephesus 431) and the teachings of our Church Fathers, our unity has sustained the life and witness of the Churches of the Oriental Orthodox Family becoming a living source of spiritual strength and missionary engagement. For the Oriental Orthodox Churches the full communion and the visible unity of churches are based on the unity of faith which is manifested through Eucharistic communion and other Sacraments of the church.

In our unity of faith we are not confined to the family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches; we feel also responsible to strive for the unity of all churches, both in our region and in different parts of the world. We consider the visible unity of church a priority. We remain firmly committed to the ecumenical movement both through the World Council of Churches, as a global ecumenical fellowship, and the Middle East Council of Churches, as a regional ecumenical fellowship. We will continue our active role in the World Council of Churches. We express our satisfaction for the adoption of the consensus decision making by the World Council of Churches. The Ninth General Assembly of the World Council of Churches has already conducted its business in Porto Allegre, Brazil, according to this procedure. We encourage the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration to continue the mandate of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the World Council of Churches. We will also continue our active role in the Middle East Council of Churches, and we look forward with hope to the next General Assembly of the M.E.C.C. in Cyprus, November 26-30, 2007.

H.H. Pope Shenouda III and H.H. Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I extend their deep gratitude to H.H. Catholicos Aram I for his ecumenical commitment for so many years and his leadership in the World Council of Churches, especially as its moderator for the last fourteen years.

In our endeavor for the unity of the church, our Churches are engaged in a number of bilateral theological dialogues. We believe that these theological dialogues with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed Churches will further affirm the orthodoxy of the Christological teachings of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Those theologians, who used to call us monophysite (single nature), have came to realize that we are miaphysite (one united nature), following the teachings of our common father St. Cyril of Alexandria. There still exist differences of doctrinal, ecclesiological, liturgical and ethical nature, which need more dialogue and discussion with other churches. We should keep in mind that the reception of the agreements of theological dialogues by the churches needs time and patience.
Concerning the Theological Dialogue between the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Families, His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I has commissioned the new co-president of the Joint Commission of the dialogue Metropolitan Emmanuel of France to meet Catholicos Aram I asking his assistance for the reactivation of this theological dialogue. Subsequently the two co-presidents of the Joint Commission, Metropolitan Emmanuel and Metropolitan Bishoy met at the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, Antelias, Lebanon, on April 17, 2007 and discussed the future steps.

The International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches held its fourth meeting from January 28 to February 3, 2007 in Rome. The fifth meeting of the Commission will take place at St. Ephrem Syrian Orthodox monastery, Ma'arat Saydnaya, Damascus, Syria, from January 27 to February 2, 2008, by the invitation of Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I.

The Archbishop of Canterbury H.G. Rowan Williams recently sent a delegation to visit us in Lebanon, Egypt and Syria to discuss the possibility of resuming the work of the Commission of Theological Dialogue between our Churches and the Anglican Communion. In order to be able to achieve this goal, we expect that the Archbishop of Canterbury hold an official meeting with Catholicos Aram I, who is in charge of the theological dialogues of our Fellowship. The purpose of this meeting will be to clarify the current situation in the Anglican Communion, share with the Archbishop the views and concerns of our three Churches, and discuss practical steps for the resumption of the dialogue.

We received through Catholicos Aram I an invitation from the Lutheran World Federation to strengthen relations with the Oriental Orthodox Churches and to establish an instrument for regular bilateral contacts. We welcome this invitation. We will convey this invitation also to the other Churches of our Family.

We are fully aware of the events surrounding us in our region. Our churches are called to work constantly for the just peace in the Middle East. The Christian-Muslim dialogue has been integral to the history, civilizations and cultures of the Middle East. Our churches in this region have been in existential dialogue with Islam. Due to emerging new situations and new developments taking place especially in Iraq and Palestine, continuous efforts must be made to deepen mutual respect and understanding between Muslim and Christian scholars and community leaders. Everybody has the right to explain and defend his or her religion without becoming aggressive and offensive towards the other religion. The same should apply to media which became a highly sensitive agent affecting the relations between cultures, religions and nations.

We condemn all forms and expressions of violence. Religion should be a promoter of love, hope and reconciliation, peace, justice and human rights. Religion cannot be exploited for non-religious purposes. We urge all those who, for one reason or other, use violence to resolve their problems. The problems must be resolved through dialogue, mutual understanding and mutual respect.
We focused our attention on Iraq which is exposed to the destructive activities of evil forces. This prevailing critical situation obliges a great numbers of people, both Muslims and Christians, to emigrate from their homeland. We encourage the United Nations (U.N.) and all the humanitarian organizations to support the suffering people of Iraq, wherever they are, till the Lord gives their country security and stability.

We believe that the peace process must continue with new impetus, and the Palestinian people must have its independent state and the right to return home. Israel must implement all Resolutions of the U.N. Security Council by withdrawing from the occupied Arab territories, including the Farms of Shabaa in South of Lebanon, Golan Heights and Jerusalem. Only full justice will bring about comprehensive, real and permanent peace in the Middle East.

We pray and hope that the Lebanese leaders may soon reach, through frank dialogue, to mutual understanding leading Lebanon to security, peace, and unity with the participation of all communities.

We noted with satisfaction that the Christians in Iran are participating in the social, cultural and economic life of the country and enjoying the freedom of practicing their Christian faith.

We greet the President of the Republic of Syria, His Excellency Dr. Bashar Al-Assad, the heads of all religious communities and the people of Syria. We noted with joy that the Christians in Syria are engaged in a renewal process: they are experiencing religious freedom; they are organizing church activities; they are building new churches and monasteries; and they are playing an active role in society and contributing to the progress of the country.

We appeal to our faithful, in the Middle East and throughout the world, to remain firmly attached to the Gospel, its values and imperatives, and participate more actively in the church's total life and witness. We are committed to intensify and deepen further our collaboration within this Fellowship. We are also committed, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to give a renewed efficiency and vitality to the witness of our Churches particularly in educational, theological, diaconal, evangelistic and ecumenical spheres.

As we conclude our Tenth Meeting, we would like to express our thanks to His Holiness Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I for his warm hospitability.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the faithful of our Churches.



Shenouda III
Pope of Alexandria and
Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Mar Ignatius Zakka I
Patriarch of
Antioch and all the East
Aram I
Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia

The 11th meeting of the three Heads will be hosted by the Armenian Church - Holy See of Cilicia, in Antelias-Lebanon, May 8-10, 2008.



......



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Front Page

The Ninth Meeting of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East




COMMON DECLARATION
Of THE
HEADS OF THE ORTENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES
IN THE MIDDLE EAST

St. Mark Centre, Nasr City, Cairo
November 22-23, 2006


In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit


We, Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenians of the Great House of Cilicia, were planning to hold our ninth meeting in Saint Mark Centre, Nasr city, Cairo, November 22-23, 2006, but the latest developments in Lebanon prevented Catholicos Aram I to attend the meeting. Catholicos Aram I delegated Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian and Bishop Nareg Alemezian to represent him.


Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I and Catholicos Aram I, with the members of the Standing Committee, take this opportunity to warmly congratulate Pope Shenouda III on the 35th Anniversary of his enthronement and on his recovery from a recent operation.


As we meet together once again, it is necessary to express our deep concern and clear position regarding the so called ordination of the "reader" Max Michel as bishop for Egypt and the Middle East by some schismatic and non canonical bishops who claim to be orthodox.


This person, who was a "reader", left the Coptic Orthodox Church in 1976 and stalled his schismatic activities outside the Church. He got married and has two daughters. Later, in 2005, he claimed that he was ordained by the name Maximos in Nebraska, U.S.A., as bishop of Egypt and the Middle East, calling his church St. Athansius Church. In 2006 he declared himself archbishop of Egypt and the Middle East taking the name Maximos I.


We reject the false ordination of this person, because he was ordained by bishops who are not recognized by any Orthodox Church. According to the canon of Orthodox Church, the patriarch, the archbishop or the bishop of an Orthodox Church should not be married, but be celibate.


Therefore, we reject the ecclesiastical and sacramental validity of the ordination of this "reader" Max Michel. Also we reject all the ordinations conducted by him.


By establishing a separate church he separated himself and all his followers from the Coptic Orthodox Church.


The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria has also formally affirmed its position on 20 September 2006.


Once again we affirm our unity of faith that for centuries has been the basis of our common doctrinal positions and theological teachings, which are deeply rooted in the Holy Scriptures, the Apostolic Faith and Tradition, the three Ecumenical Councils (Nicea 325, Constantinople 381 and Ephesus 431) and the teachings of our Church Fathers.


We pray for the peace of the world, especially in the Middle East, and for the well being of our peoples.



Shenouda III
Pope of Alexandria and
Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Mar Ignatius Zakka I
Patriarch of
Antioch and all the East
Aram I
Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia