:: Dear Father John, I totally agree with you. Truly, any canonical claims cannot merely rest on the "a few families from some place arrived here first" argument. Sadly, it is a well known fact that those who deny the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the diaspora are mostly those who belong from the uncanonical group of eastern orthodoxy. Again, thank you very much for your valuable insight. Marcus, can you tell us more about the "Orthodox Church in the Philippines" which is registered at the Philippine SEC as the "'''Iglesia Orthodoxa ng Pilipinas'''". Its website does not indicate any address in the Philippines and abroad. Is it under the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch? In the year 2007 Antiochian Archbishop's Report Fr. Deacon Chris Gain's name is listed as one of the Deacons under the Antiochian Archdiocese of Australia (pls. see [http://www.antiochian.org.au/content/view/615/22/ Archbishop's Report.])His name is also listed at number 14 under "Clergy no longer with the Archdiocese". You wrote that "Chris Gain is not a deacon within the Antiochian Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand '''or any Orthdox Church'''" but the February 06, 2007 ([http://www.antiochian.org.au/content/view/602/0/ Antiochian Archdiocese News.])wrote: "With the written blessing of Metropolitan Archbishop Paul, Father Deacon Christopher was released from the Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand this day '''to assist the Patriarchate located in Damascus, Syria'''." But you said Chris Gain is not a deacon in "any other Orthodox Church". And why did you refer to Fr. Deacon Chris Gain simply as "Chris Gain"? I hope you can shed more light on this. Thank you. [[User:Filipino|Filipino]] 04:09, June 9, 2007 (PDT)
==Deleted Reference to Fr. Deacon Chris Gain and his church==
Marcus, could you please justify the reason why edited your previous post and deleted reference to Fr. Deacon Chris Gain? Let me quote here the deleted portion (emphasis and italics mine):
"Also if you would have taken the time to examine the SEC registration since you specifically mention it, you would have noticed that '''the registration of the Orthodox Church in the Philippines was a gift from Chris Gain to Patriarch Ignatius IV of (the City of God of) Antioch and All the East'''. That is why '''Chris Gain''' is mentioned in the paperwork. The Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese has nothing to do with gifts to the patriarchate and they would appreciate it if you would stop mentioning them in the article without their authorization. ''I would like to repeat that the Antiochian Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand, and All Oceania '''has had nothing to do with Chris Gain nor with his Iglesia Ortodoxa ng Pilipinas'''.'' The Antiochian Archdiocese was as '''uninformed''' as was the Greek Metropolitanate of Hong Kong about this gift and the Archdiocese only found out about this recently." -Marcus -(Pls see: [http://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Talk:Orthodoxy_in_the_Philippines&diff=52668&oldid=52663 Talk Page Revisions])
I guess the reason for your deletion is that you just made this all up (except of course for the fact that the the Metropolitan in Hong Kong and the local Orthodox Clergy in the Philippines were '''not informed''' by Fr. Deacon Chris Gain when he "clandestinely" registered his ''"Iglesia Orthodoxa ng Pilipinas"'' or Orthodox Church of the Philippines at the Philippine SEC in Manila last December 2006. I used the strong word "clandestinely registered" because of the fact that Fr. Deacon Chris Gain did not inform anyone at the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong including the local Filipino Orthodox clergy in the Philippines as you yourself affirmed. You also alleged that the Antiochian Archdiocese in Australia was also "'''uninformed'''" and worse, the Antiochian Archbishop "only found out about this recently", hence, if this allegation of yours is true, this only serves to confirm without any reason of a doubt the '''clandestine''' manner by which Fr. Deacon Chris Gain registered and established this ''"Iglesia Orthodoxa ng Pilipinas".'' As for the questionable canonicity of this clandestinely established church, the ''"Iglesia Orthodoxa ng Pilipinas",'' this is clearly demonstrated based on your revelations.
Everyone should also know Fr. Deacon Chris and his Filipino contacts in the Philippines also clandestinely registered the "'''GREEK ORTHODOX PATRIARCHATE OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST, INC'''. " in the Philippine SEC last December 2006 (pls. see [http://iregister.sec.gov.ph/MainServlet Philippine Securities and Echange Commission.]). Now my question Marcus, was His Beatitude Ignatius IV Patriarch of Antioch informed beforehand by Fr. Deacon Chris Gain and by the Antiochian Archbishop of Australia of the registration of the '''GREEK ORTHODOX PATRIARCHATE OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST, INC ''' or was he also '''"uninformed"'''? If the Patriarch of Antioch himself was '''uninformed''' so who gave Fr. Deacon Chris Gain authorization and blessing to register and establish the "'''GREEK ORTHODOX PATRIARCHATE OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST, INC'''. " and the "Iglesia Orthodoxa ng Pilipinas"? Now the doubtful and questionable canonicity of both entities becomes more apparent because of your revelations here at Wikipedia Talk Page. Our readers should thank you for these information.
Surprisingly, you even strongly declared that the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese in Australia has nothing to do, not only with these questionable entities but also with its founder when you wrote: '''I would like to repeat that the Antiochian Archdiocese of
Australia, New Zealand, and All Oceania has had nothing to do with Chris Gain nor with his Iglesia Ortodoxa ng Pilipinas'''. - Marcus
You have a lot of explaining to do Marcus. So why did you deleted all these information in your previous post? Was it because they are merely allegations based on speculations? Or you just made it all up? I have reasons to believe that it could be both. Please answer also my questions about the ''Iglesia Orthodoxa sa Pilipinas'' in my previous post. I would also advice you to be extra careful with what you post here in Wikepedia. I observed that many of them are purely speculations and mostly allegations or totally unsupported claims (please review my first edits in the Orthodoxy in the Philippines article you wrote). Thank you. --[[User:Filipino|Filipino]] 03:34, June 10, 2007 (PDT)
Dear Filipino,
As stated before by Father John, you should refrain from personal attacks. This Orthodox wikipedia is not the forum to discuss matters that you raised. Furthermore, I also would remind you that Antioch and Istanbul are two separate independent churches and you are under the spiritual jurisdiction of Constantinople. Therefore, you as a layman and as someone from outside of the Antiochian jurisdiction, should also refrain from commenting on internal matters and problems with the Antiochian church and making such lamentable comments on Orthodox wikipedia because that is not the proper forum to do so. If Constantinople is concerned about this matter with "Iglesia Orthodoxa..." then its canonical hierarchs should write to the canonical hierarchs of Antioch. This is not a lay concern and I stand by what I have already stated. I do not need to elaborate anything more because we are not even in the same jurisdiction and for me to state anything further would be gossip. I will not engage in gossip and once again I am not the spokesperson for the Archdiocese.
It is very unbecoming of Orthodox Christians to attack other Orthodox Christians in this type of forum.
--Marcus
