OCA's Metropolitan Jonah Resigns

Fierce Badger · Jul 9, 2012

I'm sad to hear about this. I really like Metropolitan Jonah.

gzt · Jul 9, 2012

It is unfortunate and sad, but we haven't gotten any real details yet and don't know what will happen to him. He will almost certainly be a voice in the OCA still, and a good voice at that. He may not be cut out for the top slot, but I personally with no evidence at all to support it think that he would be an excellent diocesan bishop and the Synod might agree. I can think of at least one diocese that would probably be quite happy to have him. Of course, that depends on the Synod, you know.

Knee V · Jul 9, 2012

When I read his resignation letter, I tend to see the reason for his resignation as being "as per your unanimous request", with the rest being an act of humility on his part.

Macarius · Jul 9, 2012

Nickolai said:
Eh, I wouldn't read too much into it. It could be as simple as "hey guys, I'm not cut out for this, so I want to resign" "Ok, we all agree, please write us a formal letter". That's the way things work in Church governance.

Dn. Nikolai

Normally I'd agree, and one could see how the job weighed on him, but he didn't write that the synod had unanimously approved his request, but that it had unanimously requested his resignation. That makes it sound like the synod's, not Jonah's, idea - if they were doing him a favor, he'd have zero reason to include that line written in that way.

GTAsoldier · Jul 9, 2012

Lord have mercy

-Kyriaki- · Jul 9, 2012

Macarius, That's what I thought when I read it too.

This is so strange - I've only been Orthodox five years and I'll have seen three OCA Metropolitans by the time it's been six. That's just...wow...I hope that the OCA finds some stability soon, and that Bp. Jonah is given a diocese where he is at peace.

truholyorthodoxy · Jul 9, 2012

The reality is that Met. Jonah resigned due to the fact that he - in essence - was forced out by his own Synod cf. his letter! His brother Bishops obviously recognized Jonah was unfit for his pastoral leadership of the OCA according to his performance (and their standards as a Synod) since his consecration as a Bishop and election as their Metropolitan.

The OCA continues to be in a mess and this will bring even more upheaval and instability to a Church plagued by all kinds of scandal and blatant incompetency.

One can only wonder at where the mind of the OCA Synod was when it collectively decided to consecrate Jonah a Bishop and then elect him to head the OCA when he obviously had no skills as an administrator, limited pastoral experience and was - by his own admission - ill-disposed to it all. On the other hand where was Jonahs mind in accepting the position in the first place.

I do not think the Synod of Bishops of the OCA really wanted a truly holy and spiritual man as the head of their church. They wanted someone to continue to carry their party line and clean up the disaster they were all responsible for allowing to happen in the first place! When Jonah did not meet their expectations - as one blog commentator suggests - he was ousted! In the least, a small amount of credit is due to Jonah for acknowledging he could no longer work with his brother Bishops in the OCA and it was time to step down. Better not to go down as the captain of a sinking ship that has already hit more than one iceberg in its voyage so far.

Gxg (G²) · Jul 9, 2012

Ortho_Cat said:
I wonder what led to this "unamimous request"??

Mabye others saw passion in his eyes missing that was there from the beginning..

Nickolai · Jul 9, 2012

truholyorthodoxy said:
The reality is that Met. Jonah resigned due to the fact that he - in essence - was forced out by his own Synod cf. his letter! His brother Bishops obviously recognized Jonah was unfit for his pastoral leadership of the OCA according to his performance (and their standards as a Synod) since his consecration as a Bishop and election as their Metropolitan.

The OCA continues to be in a mess and this will bring even more upheaval and instability to a Church plagued by all kinds of scandal and blatant incompetency.

One can only wonder at where the mind of the OCA Synod was when it collectively decided to consecrate Jonah a Bishop and then elect him to head the OCA when he obviously had no skills as an administrator, limited pastoral experience and was - by his own admission - ill-disposed to it all. On the other hand where was Jonahs mind in accepting the position in the first place.

I do not think the Synod of Bishops of the OCA really wanted a truly holy and spiritual man as the head of their church. They wanted someone to continue to carry their party line and clean up the disaster they were all responsible for allowing to happen in the first place! When Jonah did not meet their expectations - as one blog commentator suggests - he was ousted! In the least, a small amount of credit is due to Jonah for acknowledging he could no longer work with his brother Bishops in the OCA and it was time to step down. Better not to go down as the captain of a sinking ship that has already hit more than one iceberg in its voyage so far.

There is so much conjecture here. Do you know any members of the Synod? How could you know their intentions? Almost half of the current synod were not even Bishops when Jonah was consecrated. How could they have had any expectations at all, if they were not even in that position yet? Your comment also implies that the other members are not holy, spiritual men. I know personally that they are.

Jonah is a good man for the episcopacy, but perhaps not for the position of Primate. I was at his election, the overwhelming support was surprising to everyone, but was felt to be hand of the Holy Spirit, so his inexperience was overlooked. Perhaps he was the best for the job at that time, but maybe the Holy Spirit is working to make a better situation for both His Beatitude and the OCA as a whole. Perhaps getting a new see will help Jonah, and perhaps a new Metropolitan will help us all.

If we cannot trust the Holy Spirit, then the enemy has already won.

Dn. Nikolai

gracefullamb · Jul 9, 2012

Perhaps it is just me but I think the posts speculating on what Met. Jonah did wrong for this to happen are bordering on, if not qualifying already as idle talk. He resigned after it was asked for and it might be a little more productive for us to pray for him and the OCA instead of throwing out specualations of various sins/ passions he may have committed or others may have seen in him or committed themselves for this to have happened.

Lord have mercy!

gzt · Jul 9, 2012

Nickolai said:
There is so much conjecture here. Do you know any members of the Synod? How could you know their intentions? Almost half of the current synod were not even Bishops when Jonah was consecrated. How could they have had any expectations at all, if they were not even in that position yet? Your comment also implies that the other members are not holy, spiritual men. I know personally that they are.

Jonah is a good man for the episcopacy, but perhaps not for the position of Primate. I was at his election, the overwhelming support was surprising to everyone, but was felt to be hand of the Holy Spirit, so his inexperience was overlooked. Perhaps he was the best for the job at that time, but maybe the Holy Spirit is working to make a better situation for both His Beatitude and the OCA as a whole. Perhaps getting a new see will help Jonah, and perhaps a new Metropolitan will help us all.

If we cannot trust the Holy Spirit, then the enemy has already won.

Dn. Nikolai

Word. I don't know what to think, but I do know my bishop and I do trust him (even if he's getting a bit of a drubbing on the internets these days for how he's running the diocese (not from me, I think things are going fine)). I do know that my bishop is, at the very least, a decent man, fairly honest, and interested in what's best for the OCA. If he's working with what's going on, I'm willing to work with it, too. I trust that he wouldn't let himself get steamrolled into doing something personally unacceptable.

Knee V · Jul 9, 2012

Quite frankly, I would never want a bishop who says, "I'd be really good at this job and I really want it." A man who says "I don't want this position and I am vastly underqualified for it" is exactly the man I would want, and I would say that that attitude is precisely why that person should hold such a position. The truly holy men won't want to be a bishop/metropolitan. The really good ones would likely need to be forcibly ordained/appointed.

gurneyhalleck1 · Jul 9, 2012

It's almost like those politicians who reluctantly accept the role because the party, the people, and the situation call them to it versus those Mitt Romney, Dennis Kucinich, and Ralph Nader types who run for president over and over LOL...

knee-v said:
Quite frankly, I would never want a bishop who says, "I'd be really good at this job and I really want it." A man who says "I don't want this position and I am vastly underqualified for it" is exactly the man I would want, and I would say that that attitude is precisely why that person should hold such a position. The truly holy men won't want to be a bishop/metropolitan. The really good ones would likely need to be forcibly ordained/appointed.

snowpumpkin · Jul 9, 2012

That makes me so sad.

rusmeister · Jul 9, 2012

knee-v said:
Quite frankly, I would never want a bishop who says, "I'd be really good at this job and I really want it." A man who says "I don't want this position and I am vastly underqualified for it" is exactly the man I would want, and I would say that that attitude is precisely why that person should hold such a position. The truly holy men won't want to be a bishop/metropolitan. The really good ones would likely need to be forcibly ordained/appointed.

Historically, when we read the lives of the saints, we see that they were.

I think the Holy Spirit can work in anything. But I do not think He does the things for us. People in the Church can do harmful things, intentionally or with the best of intentions, both primates and synods.

This is simply not good. I don't believe there IS such a thing as "being cut out for this job". Maybe there is a good reason they are refusing to tell us about, but that can't be a good thing, either.

I do know that in his public speaking and what he was working towards - particularly the unity of the Church in America - he was saying and doing everything I thought, and think, we need the leader of the Church to say and do. Obviously, we can't comment on what goes on behind the curtains. But I think public apologies and repentance much better than secrecy. Patriarch Kirill's watch has done so much damage over here. It would have been better, whatever he did with the watch, to say that the photoshopper(s) had been fired - and on a personal level, I do think in our time our leaders should avoid ostentation. The film "The Island", the boot scene comes to mind.

Secrecy is harmful.

gurneyhalleck1 · Jul 9, 2012

I'm not really in the loop about Patriarch Kirill and his "issues," Rus. What's the damage he has done?

rusmeister said:
Historically, when we read the lives of the saints, we see that they were.

I think the Holy Spirit can work in anything. But I do not think He does the things for us. People in the Church can do harmful things, intentionally or with the best of intentions, both primates and synods.

This is simply not good. I don't believe there IS such a thing as "being cut out for this job". Maybe there is a good reason they are refusing to tell us about, but that can't be a good thing, either.

I do know that in his public speaking and what he was working towards - particularly the unity of the Church in America - he was saying and doing everything I thought, and think, we need the leader of the Church to say and do. Obviously, we can't comment on what goes on behind the curtains. But I think public apologies and repentance much better than secrecy. Patriarch Kirill's watch has done so much damage over here. It would have been better, whatever he did with the watch, to say that the photoshopper(s) had been fired - and on a personal level, I do think in our time our leaders should avoid ostentation. The film "The Island", the boot scene comes to mind.

Secrecy is harmful.

rusmeister · Jul 10, 2012

gurneyhalleck1 said:
I'm not really in the loop about Patriarch Kirill and his "issues," Rus. What's the damage he has done?

Again, words.
I do not say the Patriarch has done damage. I said his watch has done damage. Just google patriarch, watch and photoshop.

Damaris · Jul 10, 2012

rusmeister said:
Again, words.
I do not say the Patriarch has done damage. I said his watch has done damage. Just google patriarch, watch and photoshop.

It might have been clearer what you meant if you had indicated you meant an actual wristwatch, instead of just saying Patriarch Kirill's "watch", which could have been mistaken to mean "while Patriarch Kirill has been in charge."

RobNJ · Jul 10, 2012

Damaris said:
It might have been clearer what you meant if you had indicated you meant an actual wristwatch, instead of just saying Patriarch Kirill's "watch", which could have been mistaken to mean "while Patriarch Kirill has been in charge."

Which IS, what I thought he meant, too.

Protoevangel · Jul 10, 2012

Damaris said:
It might have been clearer what you meant if you had indicated you meant an actual wristwatch, instead of just saying Patriarch Kirill's "watch", which could have been mistaken to mean "while Patriarch Kirill has been in charge."

Without knowing exactly what Rus was talking about beforehand, that's exactly what it looked like was being said.

OCA's Metropolitan Jonah Resigns

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Smash the Patriarchy!

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