{"id":11040,"date":"2020-05-30T21:34:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T21:34:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-07-04T08:42:33","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T08:42:33","slug":"koinonia-at-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fosfanariou.gr\/index.php\/2020\/05\/30\/koinonia-at-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"KOINONIA AT THREAT?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\nArchbishop Job of Telmessos,<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\nThe Permanent Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the World
\nCouncil of Churches<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nIt is the merit of the Encyclical of the Ecumenical
\nPatriarchate of 1920 to have introduced the concept of \u201ckoinonia (communion) of
\nChurches\u201d in the ecumenical vocabulary which ought to become a key concept in
\nthe theology of the 20th century. Subsequently, Eucharistic ecclesiology
\nhas underlined the correlation between the Church and the Eucharist. This was
\nnot a new theory, since we already find it in the New Testament. It is
\nremarkable that St. Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, speaks of Christians
\nas being members of one body, the body of Christ, (1 Co 12:12-30) right after
\nhaving spoken about the institution of the Eucharist (1 Co 11:23-26). And prior
\nto that, the Apostle pointed out that \u201cwe being many are one bread, and one
\nbody, for we are all partakers of that one bread\u201d (1 Co 10:17). The unity of
\nthe ecclesiastical body has always been manifested in partaking from one bread
\nand one cup. For this particular reason, the Orthodox Church does not share the
\nEucharist with persons who are not in communion with her for matters of faith
\n(in cases of heresy, schism or rupture of communion) and considers the
\neucharistic communion as the supreme manifestation of the unity of the Church.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\u201cA Church that does not serve the Eucharist ceases to be a
\nChurch\u201d has reminded us recently the Metropolitan of Pergamon John Zizioulas.
\nIn fact, the Church never ceased to celebrate the Eucharist since, even during
\nthe recent period of lockdown due to the pandemic of the coronavirus, the
\nEucharist continued to be served, although in a restricted way behind closed
\ndoors, either at the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, or in
\nmonasteries, and even in some parishes, with a considerably minimized number of
\npeople. The pandemic has shaken up our practice and will still do so, since
\nmany of us were not able to attend church services in the past months and our
\npractices ought to be reviewed in the months to come. Certainly, many of us
\nhave been able to follow the church services online, and this has been a consolation
\nfor us all in this period of trial. Nevertheless, it is impossible to partake
\nin communion online, not only because we cannot consecrate bread and wine
\nonline, but above all because the eucharistic communion is not an
\nindividualistic act, since it presupposed the gathering (synaxis) of all in one
\nbody.<\/div>\n
\nNow that in several countries the churches are gradually
\nallowed to reopen and to start their celebrations once again under the
\nconditions of \u201csocial distancing\u201d, several challenges are facing us in celebrating
\nthe Eucharist. Indeed, \u201csocial distancing\u201d is a paradox, or at least an
\nantinomy, in serving the Eucharist which implies sharing the same bread and
\npartaking in the common cup. While some Christian Churches, such as the
\nAnglican and the Roman Catholic, seem to avoid, at least at this point, sharing
\na common cup, and while receiving the body of Christ in the hands is raising
\nsome hygienic issues for them, the Orthodox Church is confronting debates
\nregarding the use of the common spoon used for the communion of the faithful.<\/div>\n
\nOne has to keep in mind that the communion rites have
\nevolved throughout history and that this is not the first time that the Church
\nhas confronted such debates in times of epidemic. Perhaps, experiencing such a
\npandemic may help us to understand why in some period of history communion
\nbecame not as frequent as we used to experience it in the last decades, and
\nwhy, for some practical reasons, partaking to the common cup has been forbidden
\nfor the laity in the West in the past centuries and the leavened bread has been
\nreplaced by unleavened bread, while in the East receiving the bread in the hand
\nand partaking to the common cup was replaced for the laity by receiving a piece
\nof bread soaked in the chalice through a spoon.<\/div>\n
\nTherefore, one should not be surprised nor scandalized by
\nthe discussions and the hygienic prescriptions concerning the communion rites,
\nsince the matter of discussion is not the sanctity of the body and blood of
\nChrist, \u201cthe remedy of immortality\u201d, but the instruments being used, that is to
\nsay the practical means of its distribution that can be affected by the virus.
\nMay St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, who lived on Mount Athos in the 18th century,
\ncomfort those who are appalled, since he himself gave the instruction to
\npriests giving communion to contagious ill of sterilizing the communion spoon
\nafter its use with vinegar in his commentary to canon 28 of the council in
\nTrullo in his edition of the Pedalion published in 1800. If this was admitted
\nin exceptional cases in his epoch, proper hygienic measures can be found today
\nwhen we are confronted with the coronavirus.<\/div>\n
\nAs His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
\nstressed in his message regarding Covid-19 last March, \u201cthat which is at stake
\nis not our faith, it is the faithful. It is not Christ, it is our Christians.
\nIt is not the divine-man, but human beings\u201d. We may add: it is not the
\nEucharist, but the way we receive it for the wellbeing of both our soul and
\nbody. The communion spoon has never been a matter of faith but only an
\ninstrument used for the distribution of the Eucharist. May the challenges we
\nare facing now in our participation in holy communion due to \u201csocial
\ndistancing\u201d hygienic principles be the opportunity to consider and to reflect
\non the importance of the Eucharist for our spiritual life as well as for the
\ncommunion of the Church in constituting the one body of Christ by being
\npartakers of the same bread and of the common chalice.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Archbishop Job of Telmessos, The Permanent Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches It is the merit of the Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of 1920 to have introduced the concept of \u201ckoinonia (communion) of Churches\u201d in the ecumenical vocabulary which ought to become a key concept in the theology of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[189,134],"class_list":["post-11040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","tag-arxiepiskopos-telmissou-iov","tag-thriskeutikes-koinotites-ekklisia-pandhmia"],"yoast_head":"\nKOINONIA AT THREAT? - \u03a6\u03c9\u03c2 \u03a6\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03c1\u03af\u03bf\u03c5<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fosfanariou.gr\/index.php\/2020\/05\/30\/koinonia-at-threat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"el_GR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"KOINONIA AT THREAT? 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