To summarize a key point from rakovsky:
In April he seems to say he is just giving his personal view and says only the EP can make such a decision (youtube transcript below).
But in March he is directing priests not to exclude them.
rakovsky said:
in Q&A in April, he said... he had just been giving his own view on the topic, not setting the Church's rule...
...in the text from the March publication in Greek News Online ...he is saying that he gives instructions to the priests
"They already have received the sacrament of matrimony, so my direction to the priest is that we cannot exclude one Orthodox member from the Holy Communion. You know I follow always the directions and the principles that our Lord Jesus Christ Gave us: ‘Ο άνθρωπος δεν έγινε για το Σάββατο. Το Σάββατο έγινε για τον άνθρωπο.’[ie. Mark 2:27: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
So he is saying that he gives instructions to the priests that we cannot exclude an "Orthodox member" from Communion, and by "Orthodox member", he apparently means the heterodox spouse, not the Orthodox spouse
Whatever the archbishop meant or intended his remarks taken together aren't clarifying in the least .
The opinion expressed at Monarchos blog is still a bit hard for me to swallow:
"traditionally minded Orthodox are already reeling from his suggestion that non-Orthodox spouses should receive Communion. ...it is beginning to dawn on folks that this is really an end-run around the whole gay-marriage issue. Have a same sex marriage performed outside the Church and then receive communion with your same sex spouse."
http://www.monomakhos.com/looks-like-the-natives-are-getting-restless/
The archbishop is referring to marriages performed in the Orthodox Church, not outside. Until or unless gay marriages are performed in the Orthodox Church or the archbishop expresses the opinion that marriages performed outside of the Orthodox Church are sacramental the conclusion expressed at Monarchos does not immediately follow of itself from any of the archbishop's specific remarks that I have seen.
Here is youtube transcript of the brief relevant section from April, which begins 34 minutes and 47 seconds into the video:[1]
"Zoe Anagnos asks "I'd like to know when priests will receive directives to permit communion to non-orthodox spouses
married in the Orthodox Church can you explain this?"
[Archbishop Elpidophoros]
"You know that these kind of decisions generall are made by the Ecumenical Patriarch, by the head of our Church. I understand that you are referring to a question that I answered during our webinar in a meeting we had last February with the leadership 100 meeting
in Florida where somebody asked me what my opinion was about this issue and then I said I asked myself how can I offer the sacrament of marriage to a Christian who is not member of my church you know do we do this with the mixed marriages we accept to the sacrament of marriage and non-orthodox faithful from other churches and we they get married in the Orthodox Church and then they get separated when they have to attend the service and the Eucharist so can you imagine two people married and blessed in the Orthodox Church and and you remember the prayers that we say in the church that these two now become one and they become one with the blessing of the Orthodox Church and after becoming one we force them to separate when the Eucharist comes and I asked myself in public before all the members of the leadership 100 say how can we do that and that I said that personally I do not agree personally I would offer the other sacrament the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist to those couples who are married and they received the sacrament of marriage in the Orthodox Church and in this way I saved the whole family because otherwise I lose the children and I lose the whole family and I remind you that the mixed marriages in the United States in our archdiocese is over 65% over 65% so if we do not if we are not inclusive of these families in our archdiocese every year every year we will lose 65% of our members of our families who can afford us can a pastor take that responsibility and lose our people because of that only?"
The last word "only" almost seems to treat the matter as if it is a mere trifle. Who could object to a mere trifle?
Archbishop Elpidophoros said:
“Is there a categorizing? Can we distinguish between Sacraments?
Is there a category of Sacraments we can attend, and a category we cannot? If we are accepted in one sacrament, we cannot exclude another sacrament. That’s my principle."
New York.- By Vicki James Yiannias Photos: Dimitrios Panagos The Leadership 100 29th Annual Conference, titled, “Leadership 100 Moves Forward” held at The Breakers in Palm Beach from February 20-23 Florida, centering on renewed support for the ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in the...
www.greeknewsonline.com
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, echoing as I understand it the likes of St. Maximos the Confessor, has remarked that "...the contemplation of nature means that we see all things, persons, and moments as signs and sacraments of God... In earlier chapters we have indicated the theological basis for this contemplation of nature. All things are permeated and maintained in being by the uncreated energies of God, and all things are a theophany that mediates his presence (pp. 22-23). At the heart of each thing is its inner principle, or logos, implanted within it by the Creator Logos; and so through the logos we enter into communion with the Logos (p.33)." (Met. Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way, p119).
The latter I take it is the Tradition; sacraments are as infinite as Christ who the book of Ephesians tells us is with all, in all, and through all things.
Archbishop Elpidophoros personal belief so far as I can tell, not so much Perhaps he will clarify his remarks.
Meanwhile, for me, the archbishop's various remarks on Holy Communion taken as a whole remain apparently incoherent and extremely disappointing.
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[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veR4kioP920)
