Is This a Legitimate Orthodox Church?

Fr. Matthew Thurman has an excellent post: "The Western Rite -- Accept No Substitutes!" Sadly, one of the factors giving the Western Rite a bad name is the large number of vagantes who have decided it is easier to mislead, con, sucker the unwary, conduct their missions to the unconverted if they slap the words "Western Orthodox" on their church (especially if they get to call themselves "Priest," "Bishop," or "Archbishop" in the process).

This is more than a case of the self-aggrandizing claims of the pretentious: it is also a case of whether one is genuinely becoming a communicant of the Holy, Apostolic, and Catholic Church or...something else.

...which is why I carry a link to Non-Canonical "Orthodox" Churches on the sidebar (although the page has some anti-Western comments). Surprise! The group that put together the website to which Fr. Matthew refers is listed thereon.

Those who convert, or covetously solicit the spiritual and liturgical advice of such individuals ought not be blamed. Even some of the priests and prelates themselves may not fully understand the gravity of what they are doing, which is leading those longing for Holy Orthodoxy away from the Church. But everyone interested in the Church, rather than playing Church, must know there are officially but two jurisdictions with a Western Rite at this time: Antioch and ROCOR. (In N. America, Antioch is currently most amenable, although there is one ROCOR WRITE monastery, led by the very holy Dom James Deschene.)

This spurs an interesting discussion, with rules I drafted years ago...stay tuned for that post.

(Biretta tip: Subdn. Benjamin.)