Browsing: Governance & Unity Essays

Source: ROMFEA In the last months, we are witnessing a very dangerous and seemingly unjustifiable crisis which erupted within our Church. The reason of this crisis is the imminent granting of autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine or rather the creation of an autocephalous Church in Ukraine. It seems that inter-Orthodox relations are a major issue in our days, and although union with the other Christian dogmas is the goal, the Orthodox, although they ascertain love between them, they de-construct this love in their life; they proclaim the union of the blessed sacrament between them but they practice the opposite.…

Source: Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University The Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University is internationally known for its intelligent, sophisticated understanding of Orthodoxy. Professor Aristotle Papanikolaou and Professor George Demacopoulos are often interviewed for their expert commentary on Orthodox history, theology, and culture. As tensions persist between His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, media outlets around the world turn to the Orthodox Christian Studies Center co-directors for their analysis of the Ukrainian autocephaly crisis. Co-Directors’ Expert Commentary on Ukrainian Autocephaly “Orthodox Church Leaders Duel Over Ukraine, Meet With Pope Francis”…

Source: The Tablet by John Chryssavgis Orthodox disunity It is tempting to consign the rift between Constantinople and Moscow – this time over autocephaly in Ukraine – to competition within the Orthodox world over power and jurisdiction. The reality is more complex. Beyond the multifaceted religious intrigue lie murky geopolitical ramifications. The matter transcends any exercise of right or even the simple exhibition of might. The issue of the autocephaly (literally, “self-headed”, or self-governing) of the Church in Ukraine, along with questions of the validity of orders and sacraments, are vital to Orthodox unity, but they pale before the isolationism and…

Source: The Conversation by Alexander Titov The Moscow Patriarchate recently announced that it is breaking its ties with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, triggering what is potentially the biggest split in the Orthodox Church in a thousand years. So why is one of the great defenders of Christianity tearing itself apart? The tussle between Moscow and Constantinople is over Ukraine, and Constantinople’s declaration on October 15 that the Ukrainian church is no longer part of Moscow’s patrimony. And behind this is Ukraine’s divided national identity – and the woes of its current president. There have long been two main Ukrainian identities: Eastern Slavic (or Little Russian)…

Source: Orthodox Christianity Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovich) His Eminence, Amfilohije, Archbishop of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, and of the Highlands of Brda, and Exarch of the Throne of Peć gave an interview to “Channel One” Russia. “The decisions of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew and his Synod concerning the Ukrainian issue, are, in my opinion catastrophic, both for the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and for resolving the Church question in Ukraine, as well as for the unity of the Orthodox Church. We in our Church are simply shocked at how the Ecumenical Patriarch—an expert on the canons—made…

Source: Bloomberg As Ukraine’s church moves toward independence, the Russian president could lose his role of defender of the faith. By Leonid Bershidsky The Eastern Orthodox Church is closer than ever to a schism that would cast Russian President Vladimir Putin in a role similar to that of King Henry VIII when he split the Church of England from Rome in the 16th century. Russia’s ambition to be the center of the Orthodox world threatens to end in isolation. But holding back from splitting the church will mean humiliation by the Ukrainians, who have been ruthlessly terrorized by the Russian leader. On…

Source: Pravda The agreements of 300 years have been cast aside. Constantinople wants to break the spine of Orthodoxy and make Ukraine hostile to Russia forever. However, it is up to common people – Ukrainian Christians – to make their final decision. On October 11, the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate made the following decisions (briefly): 1. To confirm the decision that the Ecumenical Patriarchate proceeds to provide autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine. 2. To restore the stauropegion of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Kiev. 3. To accept and consider the appeals from Filaret Denisenko and Macary Maletich for the…

Source: Hurriyet Daily News By ARIANA FERENTINOU “We have known you for years and we appreciate your devotion to the Mother Church. It needs the devotion and faithfulness of the ones who serve it, because it faces, especially these days, many problems and challenges and its privileges as the First Seated Church are being disputed and attacked passionately,” said His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew in a recent speech welcoming the appointment of a new bishop. It was his first public statement after he returned to Istanbul, from his bittersweet, week-long tour in Greece during which the ongoing crisis between the Autocephalous Church of…

Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos In covering the visit of Elder Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery on Mt. Athos, to the United States, I had the opportunity last week to visit the St. Nicholas National Shrine at Ground Zero in New York, and really it was a very painful and heartbreaking sight, and experience. I had not visited there in quite a while, and seeing what I saw was quite a traumatic shock. The building was locked, as construction halted nine months earlier due to the Archdiocese’s lack of funds, which ultimately caused it to mortgage its…

Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON– His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew appears to be undecided once again about the issue of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America and the possibility of replacing him with a new Archbishop. The National Herald has learned that the Patriarch made a brief mention of the issue at the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate which convenes this week at the Phanar. He reportedly said that he is being pressured concerning the ecclesiastical problem of America and the removal of Archbishop Demetrios, but the issue will be resolved at its proper time. The…

Source: Ekathimerini The next couple of days will be crucial for the future of Hellenism in the United States. A decision will be taken in Istanbul on whether Archbishop Demetrios of America will step down from his post and, if so, who will replace him. Officials in Athens would in the past treat this as a routine decision. But this is no longer the case. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is facing an unprecedented crisis that calls for immediate and radical solutions. Financial mismanagement in the construction of the Saint Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center has…

Source: The National Herald By Antonis H. Diamataris If the leaked information is true, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate will convene October 9-11 in Constantinople to decide the replacement of Demetrios as Archbishop of America. But similar information regarding the archbishop’s replacement also circulated at the previous two Synods, and despite that the information was confirmed insofar as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew asked Archbishop Demetrios to resign, the latter not only refused to do so, but imposed his decision to stay. If such were to happen a third time, for any reason at all, then one thing is certain:…