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What Does Autonomy Actually Mean?
:: So, what difference do you find between the autonomies of the Church of Finland and the Archbishopric of Ohrid?
:: [[User:K.panteleimon|K.panteleimon]] 12:07, June 3, 2009 (UTC)
::: To Whom It May Concern,
::: I believe that [[User:K.panteleimon|K.panteleimon]] is correct.
::: Father Andrew said, "Clearly, the [http://www.poa-info.org/history/schism/archbishop|decisions|tomos.html tomos] given to the Ohbrid archdiocese by the Church of Serbia regards it as "in full liturgical and canonical unity with our Patriarchate of Pec, i.e., with the Serbian Orthodox Church," meaning that it is not autonomous in the same sense as other autonomous churches, which really are fully independent, excepting only the confirmation of their primate."
::: The reasoning behind his claim is erroneous. The Autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), the one whose primate is Metropolitan Onufryi, is also an "integral" part of the Russsian Orthodox Church. Refer to the Statutes of the Russian Orthodox Church: https://mospat.ru/en/documents/ustav/. Particularly article X which deals with the Ukrainian Church. Quote: "The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is self-governing with rights of broad autonomy. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall enjoy independence and self-determination in its governance..." "The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church shall be elected by the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and blessed by His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia." Likewise article XI deals with the Chinese and Japanese Churches. How do we know this? Because the Ukrainian Church is composed of multiple diocese organized into a Metropolitan Province and the aforementioned Statutes also have an article covering the supra-diocesan structures equivalent to a Metropolitan Province but not Autonomous. So the Statutes clearly distinguish between "Metropolia" that are autonomous and Metropolia that are dependent.
:::I believe this confusion arises from a misunderstanding of what Autonomy really is. If, as Father Andrew claims, the Orthodox Church of Ohrid is not Autonomous because it is still *part* of the Orthodox Church of Serbia, and therefore no different from from any other ordinary dependent Metropolia, then that means that Autonomy is being defined as Autocephely, making no real difference between Autonomy and Autocephely. But there is a difference. The terminology and translation is a bit muddled, but Autocephely is something like "Full Autonomy" while Autonomy is something like "Semi-Autonomy." Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Chinese Orthodox Church, the Japanese Orthodox Church, and the Orthodox Church of Ohrid are all Autonomous Churches, distinguishable from other ordinary Metropolia that are not Autonomous. It doesn't mean they are "fully independent" as this would mean Autocephely. It means they are mostly independent or largely self-governed, under the ultimate oversight of their mother churches.
:::Furthermore, this indicates that there are three distinct kinds of Metropolitan Provinces or Metropolia. 1. dependent metropolia, 2. autonomous metropolia (ex. Ukrainian Orthodox Church), and 3 autocephalous metropolia (ex. OCA).
:::If this is correct then the Church of Finland and the Church of Estonia are autonomous under the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the same way that the Ukrainian, Chinese, and Japanese Churches are autonomous under the Russian Orthodox Church. Furthermore, the "Self-governing Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America" is autonomous under the Antiochian Patriarchate" and the "Self-governing Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR)" is autonomous under the Moscow Patriarchate.
:::I believe that this is a fuller, if not complete, list of all the canonical Orthodox Churches that are Autonomous:
::::* Orthodox Church of Finland / The Autonomous Church of Finland / Finnish Orthodox Church – Ecumenical Patriarchate
::::* Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church – Ecumenical Patriarchate.
::::* Self-governing Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America – Antiochian Patriarchate
::::* Orthodox Church of Japan – Moscow Patriarchate
::::* Orthodox Church of China / Chinese Orthodox Autonomous Church – Moscow Patriarchate
::::* Orthodox Church of Ukraine / Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate
::::* Orthodox Church of Estonia – Moscow Patriarchate
::::* Orthodox Church of Latvia – Moscow Patriarchate
::::* Orthodox Church of Chisinau and all Moldova – Moscow Patriarchate
::::* Self-governing Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) – Moscow Patriarchate
::::* Orthodox Church of Belarus / Belarusian Exarchate – Moscow Patriarchate
::::* Orthodox Church of Ohrid / Autonomous Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric – Serbian Patriarchate
::::* Orthodox Church of Bessarabia / Metropolis of Bessarabia – Romanian Patriarchate. (Autonomy is objected by the Russian Orthodox Church.)
:::--[[User:Ryan Close|Ryan Close]] ([[User talk:Ryan Close|talk]]) 21:19, January 14, 2019 (UTC)
