We continue with our review of some of the myths coming in the way of a meeting of minds in Malankara. This series is intended not to score points, but to clarify misunderstandings and to reach out:

1.)Myth: Autocephaly is an exclusively Byzantine (Greek Orthodox) concept and is alien to the Oriental Orthodox.
Fact:After Chalcedon (451 CE), the first church to be granted autocephalous status was the Georgian Orthodox Church. This was done by Patriarch Peter the Fuller (468-488) of Antioch. Since then, the heads of this church have taken the title Catholicos. Under the influence of the Armenian Orthodox Church, this church followed the monophysite tradition (i.e. what is now known as the Oriental Orthodox faith), until it reunited with the Greek Orthodox Church in the 7th Century. (source: britannica encyclopaedia entries on Georgian and Armenian Orthodox Churches). In other words, from the fifth to the seventh century CE, there existed an autocephalous church within the OO communion.

Within the Armenian Orthodox Church, as a result of the vicissitudes of history, the Catholicate at Cilicia (since 1293; autocephalous), and the Patriarchates of Constantinople (autonomous, since 1461) and Jerusalem (autonomous, since the 13th century) are all entities with temporal control and separate synod having spiritual association with the mother see of Ejmiadzin. The Catholicate at Cilicia, it should be noted, enjoys all the rights and privileges of Ejmiadzin and confers only spiritual primacy to the latter.

In modern times, both the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (since 1959) and the Eritrean Orthodox Church (since 1994) are examples of autocephalous churches within the Oriental Orthodox commune. I am deliberately refraining from citing the Persian Church formerly based in Tikrit* as an example because it's a contentious subject for our Jacobite brothers.

Conclusion:The concept of autocephalous churches in spiritual association with the mother sees of antiquity (Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Ejmiadzin**) is traditionally associated with the Byzantine Church. But the Georgian, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean examples, even without mentioning the case of the Persian Catholicate, are enough evidence to prove that the Oriental Orthodox too are comfortable with this concept. Our Jacobite brothers should be willing to give autocephaly a chance before making up their minds. We can create a system that would allow us to be at peace with ourselves, even as we maintain a harmonious and close relationship with the Syriac Church.

Notes:
* Remember Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti?
**Ejmiadzin can be considered a mother see only in the OO tradition.

Next: Coming to terms with the 'first among equals' concept