Source: The National Herald To the Editor: A report of an interview given by Pope Francis to an Italian journalist was recently published in the International Herald Tribune. Although the pope was speaking of the Roman Curia and the Catholic Church, his comments accurately described the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA). In the interview, the Pope called the church “overly clerical and insular, interested in temporal power”. He pointed out that the “heads of the church have often been narcissists, flattered and thrilled by their courtiers.” As for the Roman Curia he said: “The court is the leprosy of…
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Source: First Things by Ivan Plis October was not a month of especial cooperation in the global Eastern Orthodox communion. Protesting the appointment in March of an archbishop for Qatar by the Church of Jerusalem, the Church of Antioch withdrew its participation from “all the Assemblies of Canonical Orthodox Bishops abroad.” The Antiochian Patriarchate claims sole authority over the small Gulf state though at present it has no parishes of its own there. The assemblies affected by this decision include the canonical episcopal council in North America, which counts several Antiochian bishops among its officers. Meanwhile, following a visit to Indonesia by Serbia’s Patriarch Irinej,…
Source: Catholic Online By Deacon Keith Fournier Sadad is a small town of 15,000 people, mostly Syriac Orthodox Christians, located 160 km north of Damascus. It has 14 churches and a monastery with four priests. We have shouted to the world but no one has listened to us. Where is the Christian conscience? Where is human consciousness? Where are my brothers? I think of all those who are suffering today in mourning and discomfort: We ask everyone to pray for us. (Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh) SADAD, Syria (Catholic Online) – We have regularly covered the plight of Christians in Syria and…
Source: Huffington Post DIAA HADID BEIRUT (AP) — In the midst of a conflict rife with sectarianism, a giant bronze statue of Jesus has gone up on a Syrian mountain, apparently under cover of a truce among three factions in the country’s civil war. Jesus stands, arms outstretched, on the Cherubim mountain, overlooking a route pilgrims took from Constantinople to Jerusalem in ancient times. The statue is 12.3 meters (40 feet) tall and stands on a base that brings its height to 32 meters (105 feet), organizers of the project estimate. That the statue made it to Syria and went…
Source: The Christian Post BY STOYAN ZAIMOV, CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER An Eritrean Christian woman who was tortured in prison has revealed that her faith helped her get through the darkest of times, describing the experience as a “honeymoon with Jesus.” “When we visited Gabriella at home, she stood up from her seat to welcome us. We immediately saw how much weight she had lost in prison. We could see that she had suffered much. But despite the weakness, Gabrielle looked to us like a soldier who has returned from war victorious. Her joy was very visible and quite overwhelming. We asked…
Source: National Review Online By Nina Shea The Vatican news agency Fides reports today that two new mass graves containing a total of 30 bodies were found in Sadad, an ancient Christian town of some 15,000 people between Damascus and Homs, bringing to 45 the number of residents killed there by Islamist militias since October 21. Surviving relatives and friends uncovered the graves after government forces recently recaptured the town from rebels. Those killed were reported by the local Syriac Orthodox metropolitan, who presided over 30 of their funerals this week, to be Christian civilians, including women and children. A list of their…
Source: The National Herald Amb. Patrick N. Theros Special to The National Herald The Greek Orthodox populations of the Middle East have survived where others have virtually disappeared. Leading up to the Islamic conquest in the 7th century, the Orthodox represented perhaps ten percent of the total population of the then Eastern Roman (now known as the Byzantine) Empire’s provinces of Syria and about two percent in Egypt. The rest were heterodox (i.e., heretical) Christians, including Assyrians, Nestorians, Arians and Copts among others who fought the Empire and whom we persecuted in return. The Orthodox Christians recovered from the Persian…
Mandate The Assembly has been established in accordance with the Decision of the 4th Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference, convoked in Chambésy, Switzerland, June 6-12, 2009, at which met representatives from all the universally-recognized autocephalous Orthodox churches. These representatives recognized substantial canonical “anomalies” in the organization and life of the Church in these regions, and realized that, though these anomalies had arisen from specific historical circumstances and pastoral needs, they nonetheless present a number of serious problems for the faithful; moreover, they give an appearance of disunity in the one holy Church. As such, these representatives unanimously agreed to the formation of…
St. Nicholas Church, Destroyed on 9/11, to Rebuild With Byzantine Design Source: The New York Times By DAVID W. DUNLAP A gleaming, monumental and unmistakable symbol of Orthodox Christianity would rise at the south end of the National September 11 Memorial under plans drawn up for the new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. The original St. Nicholas Church was crushed on Sept. 11, 2001, when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. Plans to replace it on the grounds of the new trade center, across Liberty Street from the memorial, have sputtered, stoppedand crept ahead in the intervening years. But no images of…
Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – New guidelines for ordination, appointments, and clergy transfers are now available on the web site of the Orthodox Church in America. Also available is a summary regarding the transfer of non-OCA clergy into the OCA. “Revising these guidelines represents a year-long process,” said Archpriest Eric G. Tosi, OCA Secretary. “It involved the Holy Synod of Bishops, canonists, and seminary representatives working through the Board of Theological Education. The members of the Holy Synod offered their approval at their Fall 2013 session.” Guidelines for Ordination, Appointment and Transfer of Clergy Guidelines for Petitioning for…
Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches opened on October 30, 2013 in Busan, Republic of Korea. Representing the Orthodox Church in America at the Assembly are His Grace, Bishop Alexander of Toledo; Professor Paul Meyendorff of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary; and Cindy Davis of the OCA Chancery. The OCA delegation will join the other Orthodox delegations in offering an Orthodox presence and witness at the Assembly. The OCA delegation is the only delegation representing Orthodoxy in North America. The other Orthodox delegations are the voices of the Orthodox patriarchates…
Source: WBLX Local By Alan Silverman WAUWATOSA (WITI) — The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is investigating whether a former priest stole money from Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa. Members of the congregation gathered on Sunday, October 27th to learn more about the alleged activity of their former priest, Father James Dokos. Church attorney Emmanuel Mamalakis presented members with the findings and sequence of events that led them to the District Attorney’s Office. “We were doing some work on accounting. We were cleaning up papers and as we were going through, we noticed some issues,” explained Mamalakis. The issue was…