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Results of Moscow’s “Conference” of Bishops

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA On December 29, 2022, the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate decided in Journal Entry 121 to set a “bishops’ conference” for July 19, 2023.   https://mospat.ru/ru/news/89905/  It is important to note that this is not the “bishops’ council” that been repeatedly postponed because “the international situation continues to hinder the arrival in Moscow of many members of the Bishops’ Council.”  A Bishops’ Council is a decision-making body while a Bishops’ Conference is not.  Rather this Bishops’ Conference is to be “a fraternal discussion of current issues of church life” with an agenda to be prepared by…

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How Did Orthodoxy Get Into This Mess?

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Orthodox History by MATTHEW NAMEE It almost goes without saying that the Orthodox world is a mess right now. The situation in Ukraine alone is a disaster: a Russian invasion of the country backed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by the state, and a recognized-by-only-some Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) that was created by the Ecumenical Patriarchate by joining together and legitimizing two schismatic church bodies. Moscow has broken communion with Constantinople and the other churches that have recognized the OCU: Alexandria, Cyprus, and Greece. In Africa, Moscow has established dioceses on the…

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A commemorative photo Metropolitan Nathanael and the clergy of the Metropolis of Chicago at the meeting with Archbishop Elpidophoros regarding the Charter.

Clergy and Laity of Chicago Oppose Archbishop’s Charter Proposals

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – The clergy and laity of the Metropolis of Chicago expressed their opposition to the Charter proposed and distributed by Archbishop Elpidophoros in person during their recent meeting on Friday, July 7, 2023. He called the meeting to express his thoughts on a new Charter for the Archdiocese of America, referring to them as “his personal” points of view, as he characteristically said. Specifically, at the meeting that took place at the Saints Peter and Paul parish in Chicago, there were about seventy priests from the communities of all the states that…

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A Prayer for Orthodox Christian Unity

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, OCL Publications, Orthodox Christian Laity

O All-Holy Trinity, Father Son, and Holy Spirit, we, your faithful children beseech you to forgive us the sin of divisiveness, which is rooted in our hearts, our dioceses, and our land. Implant in our lives the holy vine of unity which only you can bestow on those who have come together in your name. Enlighten us with your grace so that we may come to the knowledge of your truth, and move our hearts to respond with trust and total obedience to your divine will. Through the intercessions of the God-inspired Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council at…

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Patriarch Bartholomew, Phanar Synod Τhwarted Archbishop’s Plans

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Phanar Synod thwarted the plans of Archbishop Elpidophoros during the session of the Synod held in Constantinople on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, as they reportedly caught him engaging in lies and misinformation. We reveal here that the Metropolis of New Jersey will not be abolished and attached to the Direct Archdiocesan District as Elpidophoros had planned, but in the next Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the end of July, a Metropolitan of New Jersey will be elected. This also means that the existing Charter remains…

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Beyond Borders: Fr. J. Moulketis on the GOA Charter & Restoring Togetherness and Unity in Our Church

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America  Reverend Protopresbyter James C. Moulketis, former Vicar of the Northern Region of the Metropolis of New Jersey and former Chair of the Archdiocesan Presbyters Council, discusses the importance of moving beyond our borders to restore togetherness and unity in Church. Sharing his support for revising the GOA Charter, he also notes the importance of dialogue and collaboration for strengthening our ministries and care for one another. A retired US Navy Reserve Chaplain (Captain), Fr. Moulketis has served the Church for over 50 years. He has also previously chaired the Archdiocesan Benefits Committee.

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Anastasios Vavouskos, Doctor of Ecclesiastical Law of the School of Law A.P.Th. Lawyer Archon Asikretis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAME

Does the Charter of the Archdiocese of America need to be amended?

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: EXAPSALMOS By Dr. Anastasiou Vavouskou/ NATIONAL HERMIT Dr. Anastasios Vavouskos, Doctor of Ecclesiastical Law of the School of Law of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and of Archon Asikrites of M.t.CHE, with his article “intervention” in the “National Herald”, analyzes the issue of the amendment of the Statute of the Archdiocese of America . Mr. Vavouskos’ article reads as follows: For some time now, the issue of revising the Charter of the Archdiocese of America has been pending. Much has been written and even more has been heard about the probable tendencies and opinions of either the Ecumenical Patriarch and the…

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WHY AM I SO CONCERNED ABOUT THE NEW CHARTER FOR THE GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA (GOA)?

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Recent History of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Decisions Related to the GOA The recent record of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s “governance” of the GOA: The forced retirement of Archbishop Iakovos (1996); Rejection of the gathering of the Orthodox Bishops in America at Ligonier, Pennsylvania (1995); Election of Archbishop Spyridon (1997); Imposition of the current Charter against the wishes of the Los Angeles Clergy-Laity Congress (2003); Imposition of a new Archbishop from Turkey who has not served in the US, without any input or participation of the clergy or laity of the Archdiocese as required by previous Charters (2019); Unilateral “suspension” (2020) followed…

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Image Credit: iStock.com/Evgenij84

Humble Abuse and Responsibility: Some Reflections on the Situation Around the UOC

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Public Orthodoxy Lidiya Lozova British Academy Fellow in the Theology and Religion Department, University of Exeter First, I would like to say two things. From 2009 to 2019, I was quite involved in the life of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC)—from singing and helping a priest-monk at a local parish near Kyiv to assisting the bishop during international trips to translating for international ecumenical guests at Lavra, the metropolia, and the Kyiv Theological Academy. Second, I was among the authors of the recent statement against violence in resolving conflicts among church communities in Ukraine, which was drafted after violence was used…

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The Tower of Babel and Sobornost: Unity in Multiplicity

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Public Orthodoxy Tiffany Butler Ph.D. Candidate, University of Edinburgh In an interview reported by The Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations, Rossiya TV asked Patriarch Kirill about his visit to Latin America in February 2016. At the time, Kirill commented about his impression of South America and his hopes for that country. As a comparative lesson, he reflected on the experience of the Soviet Union under a single monopoly in pursuit of one goal of development. He suggested that Latin America is at a similar crossroads between secular and religious influences. In 2016, Kirill responded, Russia seeks…

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Image Credit: iStock.com/Sergii Zysko

The Russian-Ukrainian War is Now a Theological Crisis

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Public Orthodoxy Andrey Shirin Associate Professor of Divinity, John Leland Center for Theological Studies In his 2006 book titled The Civil War as a Theological Crisis, historian Mark Noll argued that the American Civil War of the 19th century was, among other things, a crisis not only of differing biblical interpretations but of the very concept of the Bible. The South and the North interpreted the Scriptural outlook on slavery very differently, with Southern interpretation being more straightforward and the Northern one more nuanced. Therefore, at issue was the concept of the Bible as a clear source that could offer transparent…

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Of Camels and Gnats – The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Public Orthodoxy Rev. Bohdan Hladio A Ukrainian Orthodox priest within the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate As I write this, the drama surrounding the expulsion of the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under Metropolitan Onuphry from the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is being played out, a drama simultaneously sad, understandable, and scandalous. I first visited the Lavra in November of 1988. A portion of the monastery had just been re-opened, and it was moving to see how the monks were re-establishing monastic life after decades of Soviet persecution.  One of the elderly monks “boasted” that he had been expelled from…

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