Americans are Infested with Freedom.

Published by Scripps Howard News Service, February 23, 2005
Excerpts from "Calling for Orthodox unity, with diversity"
By TERRY MATTINGLY
Scripps Howard News Service


...So Metropolitan Philip, the Antiochian Orthodox archbishop of North America, was not surprised to be asked to make a few remarks at the final banquet of the 2004 Clergy-Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Church in New York City.


... Then he ventured into an ecclesiastical minefield, offering greetings from the 1000 Antiochian Orthodox delegates who, days earlier, had voted unanimously to approve what many Greek lay people have long demanded - a constitution granting them control of their own church in North America. 


..."If I could sum up this new constitution, I would begin with the words, 'We the people,'... "


..."Americans are infested with freedom. We cannot ignore that our churches are in America and we are here to stay."


... But the clergy and laity must realize that their own children and grandchildren are Americans who need a faith that is stronger than old music, familiar foods, folk dancing and traces of an ancient language. 
"I believe in Orthodox unity, with diversity," he stressed. "We will not melt into the Greek archdiocese and the Greeks will not melt into our archdiocese. ... But we must have a united synod that speaks to this country. We must speak to America, not as Arabs and Greeks and Russians and Romanians and Bulgarians. We need to speak with one Orthodox voice on the issues that affect our country and our country is America*." 



So, what changed?