[ditty_news_ticker id="27897"] January, 2014 - Orthodox Christian Laity - Page 2
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Monthly Archives: January, 2014

Source: Reuters BY ASTRID WENDLANDT Paris (Reuters) – Russia has begun building what is likely to be one of its most high-profile Orthodox churches abroad on the banks of the River Seine in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower. The church, to be built in limestone and glass, topped off by traditional Russian golden domes, reflects the resurgence of Russian Orthodoxy – the world’s second-largest Christian church – since the fall of Soviet communism in 1991 and the emergence of new leaders keen to extend its presence at home and abroad. The grounds will include a cultural centre and a primary school for 150 pupils. The…

Center designed to be affordable for the poor and middle class Source: Independent Mail (Anderson, South Carolina) Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church’s pastor is a certified counselor through the Antiochian House of Studies. Upon successful completion of a two-year course that was designed to facilitate a need for greater competency and more skills in dealing with marriage and family needs on a pastoral basis, the V. Rev. David Randolph, pastor of Christ the Saviour Orthodox, was certified as a therapist. Randolph said the course provided a solid academic foundation for professional of pastoral counseling and therapy. Upon graduating and receiving…

Source: Orthodox Church in America BETHLEHEM, PA [OCA] – His Grace, Bishop Mark of Baltimore, was nominated to fill the vacant Episcopal See of the Diocese of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania at a special Diocesan Assembly at Saint Nicholas Church here on Friday evening, January 17, 2014. Bishop Mark has served as the Diocese’s Administrator since 2012. His name will be forwarded to the Holy Synod of Bishops for canonical election. His Grace, Bishop Melchisedek, Bishop of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania and Locum Tenens of the Diocese, called the Assembly to order, after which Archpriest John Jillions, Chancellor of the…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – For the third time in as many years, the chancellors and treasurers of the Orthodox Church in America’s dioceses gathered at the Chancery here on January 14, 2014 for a meeting with His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon and the Church’s officers. The day began with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy by Metropolitan Tikhon and Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, after which the chancellors and treasurers were welcomed. In his opening remarks, Metropolitan Tikhon noted that the “challenge” for the Church today is “to live who we are as the Orthodox Church in America.”  This,…

Source: Order of St. Andrew the Apostle – Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Istanbul, Turkey – [Source: Ecumenical Patriarchate] His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and His Grace the Most Revd and Rt Honorable Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury met at the Phanar, Istanbul from 13th-14th January, 2014, for their first meeting since the Most Revd Justin Welby was enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury about one year ago. The meeting took place in an atmosphere of friendship and warmth. Both leaders agreed to focus on the continuation of close relations, the importance of the ongoing theological dialogue, and the commitment of…

Source: International Orthodox Christian Charities Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — Joumana will never forget the day she, her husband and two children abandoned their home in the war-torn Syrian city of Homs. “The situation was getting worse and worse each day, but we didn’t want to leave our neighborhood,” Joumana recalled. The need to flee came suddenly when they witnessed her mother-in-law killed right before them. After a hasty burial, they left for Damascus with few possessions. The horrifying memories of war and personal loss continue to haunt Joumana and her family more than a year after they were uprooted from their…

Source: Acton Institute GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (January 14, 2014) – Rooted in the Tradition of the Orthodox Church and its teaching on the relationship between God, humanity, and all creation, Fr. Michael Butler and Prof. Andrew Morriss offer a new contribution to Orthodox environmental theology. Creation and the Heart of Man is the first monograph in a new series of Orthodox Christian Social Thought from the Acton Institute. Too often policy recommendations from theologians and Church authorities have taken the form of pontifications, obscuring many important economic and public policy realities. The authors establish a framework for responsible engagement with environmental issues…

Source: ABC News By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press In a regretful letter penned a few months before his death, Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of the AK-47 assault rifle, asked the head of the Russian Orthodox Church if he was to blame for the deaths of those killed by his weapon. The Russian daily Izvestia on Monday published the letter, in which Kalashnikov, who died last month at 94, told Patriarch Kirill that he kept asking himself if he was responsible. The AK-47 is the world’s most popular firearm, with an estimated 100 million spread around the world. “The pain in…

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity (West Palm Beach, FL)  His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios – Atlanta, GA (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese – GOA) and His Grace Bishop Antoun – Miami, FL (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese – AOCA) celebrated the Feast of Theophany in an Inter-Orthodox Service ON January 11 at Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church, West Palm Beach, FL. Clergy and Laity from South East Florida gathered together with the Hierarchs for the celebration.  This is the first time a hierarch from a jurisdiction other than the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese was invited to serve. The invitation and the concelebration are symbolic of efforts…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – In response to a letter from the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia, dated January 13, 2014, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, sent a congratulatory message to Sister Church’s newly elected Primate, Metropolitan-elect Rastislav, Archbishop of Presov and Slovakia. Metropolitan-elect Rastislav was elected at the 13th General Assembly of the Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia on January 11, 2014. “I accept this result of the elections as my service to our Orthodox community which, after the abdication of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Christopher, found itself in a challenging ecclesial…

Source: Press Republican By Terry Mattingly, On Religion  This elderly patriarch’s image is striking, with his stern face and a gray beard that flows over his chest, contrasting with the colorful clothing typical of his flock and his unique line of work. Just before Christmas, he created a stir with a blunt statement on a very controversial issue. No, this wasn’t the Duck Commander in Louisiana. This patriarch resides in the city his followers formally refer to as Constantinople-New Rome. “The Lord appointed the marriage of male and female in the blessed family,” proclaimed Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, while discussing Mary,…

Source: Asia News by NAT da Polis (January 7, 2014) Meeting to set guidelines and time frame for Preparatory Commission of the Pan-Orthodox Synod . But also to highlight the need to go beyond “localisms” and undertake joint initiatives . Zizioulas: self-marginalization the greatest danger of the Christian world today. Istanbul (AsiaNews ) – The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has convoked the patriarchs and archbishops of all the Orthodox Churches to a meeting in Istanbul, next March, for an exchange of views on the guidelines and time frame for the Preparatory Commission of the Pan-Orthodox Synod, scheduled for 2015. Thus far,…