Difference between revisions of "Diaspora"
(The ROCOR has no defined "canonical territory," and so cannot be "in" the diaspora. Rather, its presence constitutes part of the MP's diaspora parishes.) |
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==Jurisdictions with parishes in the "diaspora"== | ==Jurisdictions with parishes in the "diaspora"== | ||
The following Orthodox [[jurisdiction]]s currently have "diaspora" [[parish]]es, i.e., parishes outside their traditionally defined [[canonical territory]]: | The following Orthodox [[jurisdiction]]s currently have "diaspora" [[parish]]es, i.e., parishes outside their traditionally defined [[canonical territory]]: | ||
| − | *[[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] | + | *[[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] (comprising the majority of all diaspora parishes) |
*[[Church of Antioch|Patriarchate of Antioch]] | *[[Church of Antioch|Patriarchate of Antioch]] | ||
*[[Church of Jerusalem|Patriarchate of Jerusalem]] | *[[Church of Jerusalem|Patriarchate of Jerusalem]] | ||
Revision as of 15:58, August 23, 2007
A diaspora is a scattering of a people from their original homeland or the new community formed by such a people. Diaspora can also refer geographically to those areas of the world where Orthodox Christians live, but are outside the canonically defined territories agreed upon as belonging to an autocephalous or autonomous Orthodox church.
Some Orthodox peoples living in the West believe that they are living as dispersed peoples, as specific national and ecclesiastical "diasporas." The Church teaches that Christians, in full communion in faith, love, and sacramental life, should be at home in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in the new land in which they find themselves. The notion of a diaspora of Orthodox Christians is seen by many as an obstacle to jurisdictional unity throughout areas as yet canonically undefined.
One of the major challenges of Orthodoxy in the diaspora is the existence of multiple overlapping jurisdictions, a phenomenon which is against the canonical tradition of the Orthodox Church, which requires that any given piece of canonical territory should only have a single bishop.
Jurisdictions with parishes in the "diaspora"
The following Orthodox jurisdictions currently have "diaspora" parishes, i.e., parishes outside their traditionally defined canonical territory:
- Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (comprising the majority of all diaspora parishes)
- Patriarchate of Antioch
- Patriarchate of Jerusalem
- Patriarchate of Moscow (including the ROCOR)
- Patriarchate of Serbia
- Patriarchate of Romania
- Patriarchate of Bulgaria
- Church of Poland
- Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
See also
External links
- Are We Living in Diaspora?, by Archbishop Peter (L'Huillier)
- Orthodoxy in America: Diaspora or Church?, by Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky
- "In the Diaspora", by Metropolitan Maximos, published in The Word, November 2004 (Antiochian)
- UK diocesan crisis tests Church's mission to all by Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky
