NEW

BYZANTINE
A PUBLICATION OF THE

IMPERIAL ORDER
OF SAINT EUGENE
OF TREBIZOND
NORTH AMERICAN EXARCHATE

Imperial Order of Saint

Eugene of Trebizond
North

P. O. Box 30032,

American

San

Exarchate

Bernardino,

CA

92413 U.S.A.
www.orderofsteugene.com sainteugeneinfo@gmail.com 909~567~8038

FIRST QUARTER 2010

I greet you in the name of the

Beloved Martyred Saint Eugene. I
pray that this issue of the New
Byzantine finds each Knight and
their families in good health and
spirits. It is also my prayer that
this New Year will be better for
every Knight as the last.
For some of our knights, sadness
was in the last part of 2009.

The Count of Kyzikos, Sir Robert

Harvey Cowan, G.C.E.Tr, lost his
Father-in-Law.
Prince Kermit Poling, G.C.E.Tr,
lost his mother.
Sir Jeffrey Cook K.E.Tr. Kt.S.C, lost
his father.
The Duke De Ghadames, Prince
Delbert Starr, G.C.E.Tr, died on
January 7, 2010, at his residence in
Sparta, WI.
My wife and I just lost an adult
daughter this past week to cancer.

All of these exceptional people will

be missed by those who were left
behind. It is the Prayer of the
North American Chancellery that
Gods Spirit will give comfort to
those left with the knowledge that
their loved ones are in Eternal
Peace and Happiness.
We continue our series on Ancient
Orders and the series of Icons. We
are now at number 9 of the 14 Icons
sent to us by the Exarchate of
Greece.
May God continue to bless each of
our Knights daily.

Marykat
os
Dr. Russell R. Fritz G.Cl.E.Tr
Marquis of Marykatos
Exarch for North America
Order of Saint Eugene of Trebizond

A Special Thank You to the Baron

Dr. Tones Bridle Hadjidemetriou,
The Exarch for Greece and Cyprus
For Presenting This Holy Icon To
The North American Exarchate

In An Effort To More Fully Understand The Orthodox

Church Out Of Which The Roots Our Order Sprang,
The 2010 Quarters
Will Be Looking At Many Of The Basics
Of The Orthodox Church.

ORTHODOX CHURCH GOVERNMENT

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the
world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its
adherents to be the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus
Christ and his Apostles over 2,000 years ago. The Church is composed of numerous
self-governing Ecclesial bodies, each geographically and nationally distinct but
theologically and Sacramentally unified. Each self-governing (or autocephalous) body
is shepherded by a Synod of independent Bishops whose duty is, among other things,
to preserve and teach the Apostolic and patristic traditions and related Church
practices. All Orthodox Bishops trace their lineage back to one of the twelve Apostles
through the process of Apostolic Succession.
Members of the Eastern Orthodox Church usually refer to themselves as simply
Orthodox. Eastern is a term often applied in the Western World for the sake of clarity.
Almost from the very beginning Christians referred to the Church as the "One, Holy,
Catholic [from the Greek , or universal] and Apostolic Church." Today, in
addition to the Orthodox Church, a number of other Christian churches lay claim to
this title (The Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian
Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and others); however, the Eastern Orthodox
Church sees these other churches as break-away groups, with the Assyrians and
Orientals breaking away from the church after the first few centuries and the Roman
Catholics in the 11th century. The Eastern Orthodox Church is also called the
"Orthodox Catholic Church," but this is not in widespread international use due to
possible confusion with the Roman Catholic Church.
The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church and the
Church to be His body. Thus, despite widely held popular belief outside the Orthodox
cultures, there is no one Bishop at the head of the Orthodox Church; references to the
Patriarch of Constantinople, as a leader equivalent or comparable to a pope in the
Roman Catholic Church are mistaken. It is believed that authority and the grace of
God is directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and clergy through the laying on of

handsa practice started by the apostles, and that this unbroken historical and physical
link is an essential element of the true church (Acts 8:17, 1 Tim 4:14, Heb 6:2). Each
Bishop has a territory (see) over which he governs. His main duty is to make sure the
traditions and practices of the Church are preserved. Bishops are equal in authority
and cannot interfere in the jurisdiction of another Bishop. Administratively, these
Bishops and their territories are organized into various Autocephalous groups or
Synods of Bishops who gather together at least twice a year to discuss the state of
affairs within their respective sees. While Bishops and their Autocephalous Synods
have the ability to administer guidance in individual cases, their actions do not usually
set precedents that affect the entire Church.
The Bishop of Rome, the Pope, though not present at the ecumenical councils after the
East-West Schism, was considered to be president of such gatherings and thus called
First Among Equals. One of the decisions made by the First Council of
Constantinople (the second ecumenical council, meeting in 381) and supported by later
such councils was that the Patriarch of Constantinople should be given the honor of
second in rank, since Constantinople was considered to be the "New Rome." In the
11th century, because of the split from Rome, the honor of presiding over General
Councils was transferred to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and he was
given the title primus inter pares (First Among Equals), reflecting his administrative
leadership. He is not, however, considered to be the head or leader of the Church.
However, contacts between the two sides continue: every year a delegation from each
joins in the other's celebration of its Patronal feast, Saints Peter and Paul (29 June) for
Rome and Saint Andrew (30 November) for Constantinople, and there have been a
number of visits by the head of each to the other.
The Church in Egypt (Patriarchate of Alexandria) split into two groups following the
Council of Chalcedon (451), over a dispute about the relation between the divine and
human natures of Jesus. Eventually this led to each group anathematizing the other.
Those that remained in communion with the other Patriarchs (those who accepted the
Council of Chalcedon) were called "Melkites" (the king's men, because Constantinople
was the city of the emperors) not to be confused with the Melkite Catholics of Antioch.
Those who disagreed with the findings of the Council of Chalcedon are today known
as the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, currently led by Pope Shenouda III.
There was a similar split in Syria (Patriarchate of Antioch) resulting in the Syriac
Orthodox Church.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of 14 autocephalous (that is,
administratively completely independent) local churches plus the Orthodox Church in
America which is recognized as autocephalous only by the Russian, Bulgarian,
Georgian, Polish, and Czech-Slovak Churches. Each has defined geographical
boundaries of its jurisdiction and is ruled by its Council of Bishops or Synod presided

by a senior bishop - its Primate (or, First Hierarch). The Primate may carry the
honorary title of Patriarch, Metropolitan (in the Slavic tradition) or Archbishop (in the
Greek tradition). Each local church consists of constituent eparchies (or, dioceses)
ruled by a Bishop. Some churches have given an eparchy or group of eparchies
varying degrees of autonomy (self-government). Such autonomous churches maintain
varying levels of dependence on their mother church, usually defined in a Tomos or
other document of autonomy.

The Relic of Saint Eugene being held in trust by the

North American Exarchate

The 2009 Year End fundraiser for the Jamaican Blind

School resulted in $445.00 raised.

Please remember that we will be conducting another

fundraiser at the end of 2010, so as your mother used to say,
save your money!!!

The Imperial Order of Saint

Eugene of Trebizond

Informational Guide
FOR THOSE KNIGHTS WHO DO NOT HAVE A
COMPUTER TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE, THE
COUNT OF KYZIKOS, SIR ROBERT HARVEY
COWAN, G.C.E.TR. HAS DEVELOPED A GUIDE
FOR OUR ORDER BASED UPON INFORMATION
FOUND ON THE WEBSITE. IF ANY KNIGHT OF
THE ORDER WOULD LIKE A COPY, PLEASE
SEND
YOUR REQUEST TO THE
NORTH AMERICAN CHANCELLERY
P.O. BOX 30032
SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92413

North Americans Amromas Knights