The history of western-rite Orthodoxy clearly is not a seamless one if we look at the history of ROCOR - the falling away of the independent French Western-rite Church after it's bishop allegedly married and a decision by the Synod of Bishops in a ukaze of September/October 1978 to prohibit the western-rite:
SEE
http://roacusa.org/1.DoFRotSoBotROCoRNewsletter/1979/DoFR19790221.PDF
Can anyone provide more detail on the background of this decision and why it was then rescinded? What were the theological and practical reasons for prohibiting the western-rite within ROCOR that weighed on the minds of our Synod of Bishops?
Was this ukaze rescinded before the conversion of the members of St. Petroc Monastery into Orthodoxy and ROCOR in the mid 90's by Archbishop (now Metropolitan) Hilarion? ROCOR now has a number of WR endeavours. The Petrochian Paruchia now has missions in Australia, UK and Philippines and a new monastery in the making in the US of A. Other WR endeavours plus Christminster and others in the US including the reception of a formerly non-canonical group with 18 clergy have extended the scope of the WR. Have these successes influenced change?
To the future now. Is the future of ROCOR WR ultimately a return to national WR Churches, such as the French (WR) Orthodox Church? Will the WR get its own bishops or will the WR remain a direct dependency on the First Hierarch? There are so many questions, from the past and for the future.
