Child of Governance
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity CLICK HERE or on the image below to open the booklet in PDF format.
Browsing: Governance & Unity Essays
Source: Public Orthodoxy A SURVEY OF LITURGICAL SOURCES by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko The global COVID-19 crisis has ignited a number of difficult discussions among Christians. The method used to distribute Holy Communion is fiercely debated. In the Churches that remain open, many Protestants and Catholics are withholding the cup, so faithful are receiving in one kind only, the body of Christ. In Orthodox communities, clergy and laity are discussing the possibility of trying new methods for distributing Holy Communion that prevents the spread of disease through a common spoon. This issue has generated emotional statements claiming that it is impossible…
Source: Orthodoxia.info REVEREND DR. ALKIVIADIS C. CALIVAS Liturgical spoons existed from at least the sixth-seventh century.[1] But it does not mean that they were used for Communion. In fact, canon 101 of the Penthekte Synod (691-692) prohibits the use of any receptacle for the reception of the consecrated Bread other than the human hand.[2] The canon reads: “So that if anyone should wish to partake of the pure Body during the time of the synaxis…let him form his hands into the shape of a cross, and thus approaching, let him receive the communion of grace. For we nowise welcome those men who…
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Pope Francis smile during a meeting at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana in this Feb. 12, 2016, file photo. (CNS/Paul Haring)
Source: National Catholic Reporter by John D. Faris In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis March 27 characterized the worldwide trauma as: “God’s call on people to judge what is most important to them and resolve to act accordingly from now on.” Can this occasion also be a time of deeper communion among us? Catholics, Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox hierarchs, pastors and faithful agree that the Eucharist, the body and blood of the Son of God, is the most precious gift of God to the church. It is of paramount importance to us! Nevertheless, while sharing the same belief in the…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity by V. Rev. Timothy Cremeens, PhD CLICK HERE or on the image above to view a PDF slide presentation. Please use this presentation individually and in your parish community as an introduction to spiritual renewal and to better understand that the unity of the Church starts with our own spiritual renewal. Feel free to contact Fr Timothy about this presentation. Other Resources Pathway to Orthodox Renewal by Fr Eusebius Stephanou of blessed memory.
Fr Frank Marangos
Source: Oinos Educational Consulting By Frank Marangos, D.Min., Ed.D., FCEP “One of the clearest and most concrete facts of history is that men of spiritual resources may not only redeem catastrophe but turn it into a grand creative moment.” ~ Herbert Butterfield Crisis is the cocoon of creativity. Indeed, the current Covid-19 crisis has stimulated abundant examples of creative innovation in public health, economic, education, and faith-based institutions. Resourceful ingenuity has additionally appeared in many family homes and neighborhoods. While the pandemic has undeniably inspired many levels of creativity it has, nonetheless, also generated societal fears, inertia, and depression. Why the disparity?…
Source: The Orthodox World By Elias Damianakis, Hagiographos, Archon Maestor “God’s grace is as evident in the healing power of medicine and its practitioners as it is in miraculous cures.” -St. Basil of Caesarea Hindsight is 20/20 and 2020 in hindsight, is the tale of two Patriarchates. Seemingly simple, the requested initial reflection was basic: what are the realities between the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Constantinople and Moscow? So, I developed a timeline, a list of quotes of church leadership and news articles. The results are dramatic, shocking, and sad. Considering the human crisis over the past few months,…
Rodoljub Kubat, a full professor at the Old Testament Chair (Department) of the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade
Source: Public Orthodoxy After a critical statement about the situation with the coronavirus, Vukašin Milićević, lecturer at the Theological Faculty in Belgrade, was banned from speaking publicly by the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In this interview, his colleague Rodoljub Kubat sheds light on the background and tensions around the Faculty. This interview was previously published in German in the newsletter “Nachrichtendienst Östliche Kirchen.” 1) The Serbian Holy Synod forbade the lecturer Vukašin Milićević to address the public. How has it come to that? Let me remind you that the ban about addressing the public came from the Patriarch…
Source: Fletcher School of Tufts University Fletcher Prof Elizabeth Prodromou shares her thoughts on Human Security & Religion in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Very Reverend Dr. Cyril Hovorun is Expert and Contributor at Encyclopedia Britannica, Associate Dean of St. Ignatios Theological Academy (Sweden), Director of Research at the Institute of Theological Studies at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine), and Acting Director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute at Loyola Marymount University (USA). From 2007 to 2009, he chaired the Department of External Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. From 2009 to 2011, he was the first Deputy Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Source: The Wheel The pandemic now ravaging the Orthodox Church is not only COVID-19 but also fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is a sort of populism for the church. It is based on post-truth and conspiracy theories. Although it pretends to be pietistic, it is quite secular and secularizing. I would apply to fundamentalism the phrase once coined by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “cheap grace.” Fundamentalism is a cheap spirituality and a cheap substitute for genuine ecclesial existence. The circumstances of the COVID 19 epidemic demonstrate that fundamentalism not only corrupts minds and muddies faith, but can also kill bodies. It is time to treat…