Fight Like a Patriarch!

One major flaw in Orthodoxy is the nationalism. It has been said of many parishes that well-intentioned converts will approach, only to be turned away when they don't speak the right language, have the right last name, or meet some other standard. This impacts not only individuals alone, but also has a huge impact on the churches themselves. Take, for instance, the Churches of Montenegro and Macedonia. No one would argue that the Russian Church, the Bulgarian Church, etc. have a right to independence. However, Churches that form in newly-created (or recreated) nations often do not have the same right to existence... Somehow.

Another major flaw is the importance given to "territory." The Patriarchate of Constantinople, for instance, truly needs the American Church. There are very few Christians within Turkey, let alone money and influence enough to sustain the church. For this reason, many of the ancient patriarchates depend on new territories to support themselves. This happened with the Church of Estonia (which switched from Russian to Constantinople's influence) and has more recently happened in Qatar between Antioch and Jerusalem (see http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/65186.htm).

This is not a new phenomenon. In fact, one might argue that it is just a macro-level example of what happens in most inner cities. The inner city becomes less populated and people move out to the suburbs. A core group of 20-30 people want to hold onto the Church, but aren't interested in/don't want to reach out to the new locals. And so, massive edifices are erected in the suburbs to serve the people who have moved. The same thing happens with these traditional churches, which are forced to adapt to new areas as their native populations move around the world.

In this model, it is hard to rule things on a strictly territorial model. If one is limited by geography, it is hard to grow. Equally unacceptable is the Columbus model which proclaims "I was here first!" What is the answer? I really don't know. What I do know is that prelates cannot continue to censure each other because of some unrealistic geographical expectations.