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Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

YOUR DUTY IS TO REALIZE THE WISDOM OF OUR ACTIONS—PAT. BARTHOLOMEW TO ALBANIAN CHURCH

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Source: Orthodox Christianity Istanbul, March 13, 2019 – The Orthodox Churches have no right to speak on the matter of the Ukrainian crisis other than to affirm the decisions and actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, according to Patriarch Bartholomew’s reply to the Albanian Church that was recently published in Greek and subsequently in Russian. In December, Pat. Bartholomew wrote to the primates of the Orthodox Churches throughout the world, calling on them to recognize the results of December 15’s “unification council” that created a new ecclesiastical structure in Ukraine. On January 14, the Albanian Church responded that while it cannot accept…

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Patriarch Kirill and Russian President Vladimir Putin

When Kremlin and Patriarchate cry wolf together

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Source: Kyiv Post By Giacomo Sanfilippo In recent weeks a number of conflicting news items related to Ukraine have appeared in various sources which combine to demonstrate the scope of “Byzantine symphonia” in its 21st-century Russian reincarnation. As I noted previously on these pages, the expression denotes a religious-political ideology from Orthodox Byzantium according to which church and state were said to speak with a single voice. This produced mixed outcomes in the Byzantine Empire, and later in Tsarist Russia, resulting in some of the most shameful pages in the history of the Orthodox Church. In Russia’s case, we have only to recall…

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left, and Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, right, attend a reception at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, late Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Pool)

HOW PUTIN USES RUSSIAN ORTHODOXY TO GROW HIS EMPIRE

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Source: Orthodoxy in Dialogue by Shane McCrum and Alexis Mrachek When Vladimir Putin rose to the presidency of Russia in 2000, he inherited the remains of a once-fearsome communist-atheist imperial state. In the intervening 19 years, he has transformed Russia back into an imperial power with global ambitions. One of his key tools in that transformation has been the Russian Orthodox Church…. Read the entire article here

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George Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity

Musings of the OCL Executive Director: February 2019

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Source: Orthodox Christian Laity OCL is delighted that the 2019 calendar year got off to a meaningful start for Orthodox Christians at home and abroad. It is delightful to see Orthodox Christian faithful people communicating with each other. I hope that you can find 6 minutes in your busy schedules to watch the video of Pan-Orthodox Activities taking place in Cleveland, Ohio. We would love to hear updates from you about people communicating and working together in your communities. What Pan-Orthodox activities are you engaged with in Houston, Denver, Atlanta and other Southern communities; Detroit, Metropolitan New York, Chicago, D.C./…

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FILE - Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, left, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I sign an agreement following their meeting at the patriarchate in Istanbul, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

The Geopolitical Context of Russian and Turkish Ambitions and the Ecumenical Patriarchate

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Source: The National Herald By Dr. André Gerolymatos Moscow’s interest in Eastern Orthodoxy is an integral part of Russia’s geopolitical grand strategy with the Middle East and central to its ambitions. Moscow has supported the regime in Syria in order to maintain its naval facility, however, there are other considerations, especially religious matters. The naval base located in Tartus, a city in Northern Syria, is the only foreign Russian base. In 2017, Moscow signed a new lease with Bashir al-Assad that will permit Moscow to expand the base and service larger Russian warships. The base enables the Russian navy to…

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Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is newly independent of the Russian Orthodox Church. AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

Why a centuries-old religious dispute over Ukraine’s Orthodox Church matters today

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Source: The Conversation A new Orthodox Church was recently established in Ukraine. Shortly after, Bartholomew I, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the spiritual head of global Orthodox Christianity, granted independence to the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine and transferred its jurisdiction from the church of Moscow to the church of Constantinople, located in Istanbul. This competition between the churches of Constantinople and Moscow for dominance in the Orthodox Christian world is not new – it goes back more than 500 years. But the birth of the new Orthodox Church in Ukraine opens a new chapter in this history. So what is Ukraine’s new church, and…

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PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW PULLING ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS FROM AMERICA

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Orthodox Christianity Istanbul, February 19, 2019 — Changes are coming to the American, Australian, and British Churches under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, according to Patriarch Bartholomew’s own words following a recent Divine Liturgy in Istanbul. In a video posted on the Patriarchate’s Facebook page, Pat. Bartholomew speaks about holding elections to replace the primates of the Greek Orthodox Archdioceses in the English-speaking world, reports the National Herald. There have long been reports that Pat. Bartholomew has been trying to oust Archbishop Demetrios of America, though this is the first time the plans have been publicly addressed. It is unclear who will replace…

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Fr Frank Marangos

UNFREEZING THE PANTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION: DEALING WITH THE VORTEX OF ADMINISTRATIVE ACEDIA

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Source: OINOS Educational Consulting by Frank Marangos, D.Min., Ed.D., FCEP “The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything.” Theodore Roosevelt The polar vortex is a large upper-level zone of cold air that hovers over the northern artic region of the globe during the winter season. When the polar vortex is pushed further south, this frigid air pocket can occasionally reach portions of the United States. According to AccuWeather’s Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson, “such a vortex is capable of delivering subzero temperatures for several days at a time.” The recent polar vortex of 2019 has created…

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Nick Karakas

Why Can’t I Criticize My Religion?

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

I have had a number of faithful find fault with my op-ed essays regarding the actions or non-actions of members of the hierarchy and the Archdiocesan Council. When one observes the egregious errors committed by church officials in observing the rules and policies promulgated by themselves, how could any faithful remain quiet? My thoughtful, yet provocative criticisms are meant to be constructive as well as poignant reminders to the church administration to follow their own decrees. By concealing, disregarding and objecting to any criticism to our faith, we are making it more difficult or impossible for any reforms to occur,…

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Academics for the Church: A Father-Son Reflection on IOTA

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Source: Public Orthodoxy by Fr. Marc Dunaway and Benjamin Dunaway This post is a two-part reflection by a father and son who traveled from Alaska to attend the inaugural conference of the International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA) in Iasi, Romania. Fr. Marc Dunaway Many Christians are suspicious of “academic theologians,” and this is understandable. I remember as a young man eagerly tuning into TV documentaries about how the early Church grew or what the world Jesus lived in was like, only to realize in a few minutes that many of these supposedly “Christian” scholars didn’t actually believe in Jesus, or…

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