Dear All,
Peace be with you…
Before I begin, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Anthony, one of the sub-deacons who is within the diocese of H.G. Mar Bawai Soro, and one of the people in the original signing of the declaration of intent. I don’t represent in any ways the official voice of the diocese, but wanted to clear up some questions I ran into… opinions from my personal experience and knowledge of these matters.
1 – First, in regards to the size of the group, we have about 3 dozen priests and deacons as someone pointed out. Estimates of the number of people who support this movement will only lead to banter about numbers and people are always prone to over exaggerate anyways, so I don’t want to even take a guess at it, suffice it to say, it is a sizeable number of families. The declaration of intent is supported by the whole diocese that has chosen to support Mar Bawai, seeing that he is walking according to the path of our Lord. Most of the deacons are men with family, while there is a good number of subdeacons and readers who are also involved.
2 – In regards to the Institution Narrative: Although the Anaphora of Mar Addai and Mar Mari was found to be valid without the explicit recital of the words, the insertion of the Narrative was allowed for by the ACOE {Assyrian Church of the East} and we have indeed recited it in our Liturgy services. It was especially a sign of our desire for unity with the other Apostolic traditions, and specifically with our Chaldean brothers.
3 – One person asked about the the new Chaldean liturgy, and indeed it has been brought back more in line with its traditional roots.
4 – Someone asked about English Congregations. There are two parishes within the Diocese that are comprised of mostly English speaking members. They are the parishes of St. Barnabas the Apostle and St. Thomas. The priests of those two congregations are extremely knowledgeable in the Syriac tradition and especially the Church of the East. Both have been a wealth of information and a source of spiritual enlightenment to me.
Now, I will address the situation. Others have remarked on the history of what has happened, and they have talked about the reason of dispute and why our bishop was treated thus badly. It will be a long posting if I try to talk about it, and it is not the reason of my posting.
Instead, I will address it from the standpoint of someone who is within the parish which is the cathedral of our diocese. Our parish has always been close to our brothers within the Chaldean Catholic Church in San Jose. From long before I was a regular attendee, the two parishes had always had a strong bond between them, especially as signified by the co-celebration of the “Rogation of the Ninevites” and the Feast of Thanksgiving the day after the 3 day rogation. To me personally, the priest of St. Mary’s {Catholic Church} has been a personal spiritual father to me just as the priests within my own parish and my diocese.
The CCD which was signed helped foster that situation, and it was with great sadness that many of us saw that people were trying to break the relationship between us, especially in light of the other bishops’ refusal to put into effect what would have been the natural conclusions of the talks with Rome.
If Christological differences are resolved, and Sacraments are respected, and even if somehow a step further was taken in regards to our respective patristics, and if our Church tradition, and fathers too, quite clearly state the primacy of Rome, since it is the blessed city in whom are laid two preachers, Peter and Paul {paraphrase from our liturgical books in the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, for more information, see“In Defense of Our Faith” in
zindamagazine.com/html/archives/2005/12.7.05/index_wed.php } then what is to keep us from unity with the Chaldean church? It is the branch of our Church that is in communion with Rome. Why would we not pursue unity? Is it a matter of profane vanity and pride in trying to preserve our own positions? A lack of desire for accountability to our own traditions, and to the Apostolic faith? Why?
This split had long ago stopped being an internal dispute. I agree with ASimpleSinner who stated that this thing not being solved internally might in the long run be beneficial to all Assyrian Christians. This is not a petty material dispute. We do not follow Mar Bawai just because of some personal preference. We have taken a stand based upon our faith and our desire to be Orthodox and ever faithful to the traditions of our Church!
In response to Isa Almisry’s question {“how is submitted to Rome going to solve the scandal?”}, our desire join in communion with Rome and to enter the Chaldean Church is not an attempt to resolve scandal. It is that we must be in communion with fellow Christians. We cannot just be on our own, standing “contra mundum,” nor was that ever our intention. We did not want splintering, but rather unity. We did not look to hate, but only to be established in love. And we definitely did not want to start another splinter within the Church of the East. So that is not an option… having a fourth, then maybe fifth, then sixth, etc,etc, branch. No, we remain faithful to our tradition as put forward by our Saints, Doctors, and Fathers. The Church of the East is the “Catholic Church in the East,” meaning it is NOT supposed to be standing alone outside of communion with all, just for whatever reason it feels like, but rather it is to seek to fulfill our Lord’s Prayer and words… “That they all may be one”. (John 17:21)
In conclusion, I ask, please pray that the Lord guide our humble diocese in this journey as we seek the Lord, following His light. And rejoice my brothers in Christ, remembering our Lord Jesus Christ’s declaration, “I have other sheep … they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock …” (John 10:16)
In Christ,
Anthony
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