June 18, 2019 – Washington, DC
“One Bishop, One City”
Bishop John Michael
The Orientale Lumen conference I wrote about is well on its way. We have listened, learned, discussed, prayed, and shared meals, refreshments, and each other’s company. The topic of the conference, “One City, One Bishop: Church Boundaries Past, Present, and Future” has been explored so far by three theologians and one bishop, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, the newly installed Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia. Each presentation has cast a new light on what seems, at first, to be a rather rarified and abstract issue in the life and history of the Church.
For my part, I was thinking that “One Bishop, One City” would be really be something for me, since our Romanian Catholic Eparchy is present in two countries, nine states and two provinces. You would think that would mean a lot less travel for me! But, no: my life seems to involve more and more travel. Yet, with all that, not enough of my travel involves visiting with our parishes and faithful.
The principle of “one city, one bishop” has a fairly complex history and theological background. Originating as one of the decisions (canon 8) of the First Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), one of the main reasons behind what became a very important principle of church order is the fostering of the unity of the local church around one bishop. Ironically, it can become a means of division, if not persecution, among Christians (as well as people of diverse faiths) in our day. This can especially be true where one church or religious body insists on a privileged place within the civil society in which it resides, especially when it employs the power of the organized violence of the state to obtain and maintain its unique status.
The place of power and privilege in the life of the church is an important topic that deserves serious consideration, and it may be a topic I will write about someday, but it is not what I have been getting from the conference so far. What I have been listening to has provoked considerable reflection on another topic altogether. Once more, that topic is relationship. God willing, I will be able to share my reflections soon.