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Talk:Prerogatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

120 bytes added, 16:46, August 10, 2008
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== Going outside one's diocese ==
Constantinople I, Canon 2 reads: "The bishops are not to go beyond their dioceses to churches lying outside of their bounds, nor bring confusion on the churches; but let the Bishop of Alexandria, according to the canons, alone administer the affairs of Egypt; and let the bishops of the East manage the East alone, the privileges of the Church in Antioch, which are mentioned in the canons of Nice, being preserved; and let the bishops of the Asian Diocese administer the Asian affairs only; and the Pontic bishops only Pontic matters; and the Thracian bishops only Thracian affairs. And let not bishops go beyond their dioceses for ordination or any other ecclesiastical ministrations, unless they be invited. And the aforesaid canon concerning dioceses being observed, it is evident that the 177synod of every province will administer the affairs of that particular province as was decreed at Nice. But the Churches of God in heathen nations must be governed according to the custom which has prevailed from the times of the Fathers."[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.ix.viii.iii.html]
Antioch, Canon 22 reads: "Let not a bishop go to a strange city, which is not subject to himself, nor into a district which does not belong to him, either to ordain any one, or to appoint presbyters or deacons to places within the jurisdiction of another bishop, unless with the consent of the proper bishop of the place. And if any one shall presume to do any such thing, the ordination shall be void, and he himself shall be punished by the synod."[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.viii.vi.iv.xxii.html]
This is certainly a matter of interpretation, but based on the above, I have to disagree with Fr. John Whiteford's [http://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Prerogatives_of_the_Ecumenical_Patriarchate&diff=74244&oldid=66424 recent removals]. It would at least seem that a bishop's authority is limited to his diocese. There is no clear prescription in the canons for acting outside one's geographic boundaries (which includes ordination). Indeed, the only thing one finds is prohibition of acting outside one's diocese.
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