Does the Charter of the Archdiocese of America need to be amended?

Dr. Anastasios Vavouskos, Doctor of Ecclesiastical Law of the School of Law of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and of Archon Asikrites of M.t.CHE, with his article “intervention” in the “National Herald”, analyzes the issue of the amendment of the Statute of the Archdiocese of America .

Mr. Vavouskos’ article reads as follows:

For some time now, the issue of revising the Charter of the Archdiocese of America has been pending. Much has been written and even more has been heard about the probable tendencies and opinions of either the Ecumenical Patriarch and the members of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate or the Archbishop of America, the Metropolitans of the Archdiocese and the laity who participate in the mixed bodies of this administration.

I will not hesitate to tell you that in my letter to His Holiness I placed myself at the disposal of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, wishing to contribute to the successful handling of the issue. And this, because I had – and still have – a clear opinion both about whether or not the Charter of the Archdiocese of America needs revision and about the procedure that should be followed anyway for this specific issue.

This point of view, therefore, I will present immediately below, since I have the privilege of not being actively involved in the process of discussions on the issue under consideration.

Well, for those familiar with the Common Law settings:

a) on the functioning of the synodal system

b) on the authority of the bishop

c) on the rights and obligations of the President of the Synod

d) on principles of normal jurisdiction

e) on ecclesiastical justice

f) on the subordination of monasteries to the local bishop

g) on ​​regional bishops (compared to the institution of the Assistant Bishop)

h) about Exarchus

i) on witnessing

the answer to the question, if the Charter of the Archdiocese of America needs to be amended, would be categorically negative.

The aforementioned Charter is complete and despite its twenty-year validity, it has not lost its relevance, i.e. it has not been overtaken by social, technological and other developments.

The only change, which must definitely be made in the Charter, is the abolition of the – apparently by mistake – incorrect term “person of legal law” (see for example article 3), which does not exist in the science of Law, and its replacement with the correct term “legal entity”.

Further, the legal categorization of the entities of the Archdiocese of America (Holy Metropolitans, Holy Monasteries, etc.) could perhaps be re-examined in relation to the legal, tax and accounting regime in the United States of America, so that it is certain, that the above entities actually enjoy all the rights of Non-Profit Corporations. And in the event that it is established that there is full coverage, it is fine. In case, however, there were legislative developments on the part of the State (USA) after the new Charter of 2003, then the corresponding modernization of the latter should also take place. In short, because in terms of Common Law there is in my view no problem, the only issue, which – always in my opinion – should be examined, is whether the Charter Charter of the Archdiocese of America is in line with the State (by State) and also the federal legislation of the state of the USA. on the status of Non-Profit Legal Entities, a status which implies tax reliefs and different – ​​to the benefit of these legal entities – treatment.

All of the above, of course, on the condition that the current statutory status of the Archdiocese of America’s affiliation to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as described in the Charter, is not disputed by any side. And of course, when I say “it is not disputed by any side”, I am not referring either to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, because its position on the matter is self-evident and unwavering, nor certainly to the Archpriests of the Archdiocese of America, who already have an expressed opinion.

In conclusion, the whole issue, in my opinion, was created without reason and without reason still remains pending. And not only that, but also the entire procedural method of resolving it is based on a wrong foundation.

However, at the point where things have reached, even after the formation of a special bilateral Committee, the only way out – and in accordance with article 25 of the Charter of the Archdiocese of America – for the solution and termination of the matter, is the following:

First of all, it should be based on article 5 prgp. a’ of the Charter, to convene the Holy Synod of the Archdiocese of America on the subject of “Amendment of the Charter of the Archdiocese of America”. The extraordinary convocation takes place:

a) or upon the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in which case the convocation is mandatory.

b) either at the initiative of the Archbishop of America

c) either upon the initiative of the majority of the members of the Holy Synod.

Afterwards, the Holy Synod of the Archdiocese of America will discuss the issue and decide in the first phase, whether it wishes to amend its Charter or not.

If the Holy Synod opposes the amendment, then the matter stops there. In this case, there is no need to ask the Archbishop’s Council and the Archbishop’s Clergy Lay Assembly according to article 25 of the Charter, because the application of this article requires a positive suggestion for amendment and not a lack of suggestion due to rejection of the idea of ​​amendment.

If, however, it decides in favor of the amendment, then a special Committee is set up, which will submit to the Holy Synod of the Archdiocese of America a Plan for amending the Charter. This Plan, after a relevant decision of the Holy Synod of the Archdiocese of America, will take the form of the Recommendation, which will include the provisions that must be amended, the texts of the new – amended provisions and a statement of reasons for each amended provision.

When this process is completed, the prepared Proposal will be submitted in accordance with article 25 of the Charter to the Archdiocesan Council and the Archdiocesan Clergy Assembly in order, and then the final Proposal will be submitted to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which will approve, reject or will modify the submitted proposal.

With the issuance of the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the amendment process is completed, lawfully and normally.