Browsing: Governance & Unity Essays

Source: The National Herald By Dan Georgakas Financial and academic problems are again plaguing Hellenic College Holy Cross School of Theology (HCHC). The crisis has even called into question the desirability of their continued existence. Reviewing the history of the institution provides some guidance on what changes may be desirable. The first attempt to create a Greek Orthodox school of theology in America came in 1921 following a visit by the Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis. Understanding the need for English-speaking and American-born priests, he founded the Seminary of St. Athanasios in Astoria, New York. The school lasted only two years,…

Source: The National Herald By Theodoros Kalmoukos BOSTON, MA – There is only one essential change in the program of the upcoming 44th Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, to be held at Copley Marriott in Boston, MA, July 1-5. On July 2, after Archbishop Demetrios’ keynote address, the theme being “All Things Are Possible to the One Who Believes in Christ” (Mark 9:23), the delegates will not form the usual small groups to discuss and analyze the archbishop’s speech, as is usually the case. Instead, there will be a three-hour open forum (2-5PM) to discuss…

Source: The National Herald To the Editor: Thank you for a good editorial “The Demetrios Doctrine: ‘Let it Burn,’” (Jun. 9). Most important is the solution: Retire bishops at 75 years old like the Roman Catholic Church does. The Greek Orthodox cannot tolerate stagnation. Where are the metropolitans’ performance reports? Fr. Ephraim of Mount Athos and St. Anthony’s Monastery Florence, Arizona built seven Churches on 300 acres, rendering it the second-largest tourist attraction in Arizona, along with 20-plus monasteries in America. The late Metropolitan Anthony built 25 Churches in 25 years and developed the St. Nicholas Ranch Retreat Center with…

Source: The National Herald Τo the Editor: We appreciate the attention Theodore Kalmoukos gives to the affairs of our Archdiocese, including Hellenic College-Holy Cross (HCHC) Seminary and other entities, apparently the only person who keeps abreast of the failings thereof. In response to “Hellenic College-Holy Cross at the Edge of the Cliff” (Jun. 7, online), this is disgraceful, just as the condition of our Archdiocese is disgraceful. What is the matter with our “leadership”? Is there no one who will take on the business of our institutions with honesty, humility, dedication, and positive creativity? I blame us, the laity, in large…

Source: The National Herald By TNH Staff NEW YORK – Prominent Greek-American businessman and great benefactor of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, Mr. John A. Catsimatidis, in an open letter calls on His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America to resign because he has led the Church to a dire condition. Catsimatidis wrote that “The financial mismanagement that has occurred is inexcusable. Saint Nicholas at Ground Zero should be our crowning jewel; instead we are a national embarrassment. The Archdiocese has misused funds, the priests’ pensions, and God knows what else! The Seminary is in danger of closing, but the…

Source: The National Herald By Christopher Tripoulas The crisis in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, which has become manifest over the past year, appears to have reached a climax. With Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew reportedly asking Archbishop Demetrios to submit his resignation, the Greek-American community and Hellenism worldwide – considering the importance of this eparchy – awaits to see how the final act of this drama will play out and what the future will hold. After the archbishop seemingly refused the patriarch’s request, stating that he wanted to stay on and see the Archdiocese through the financial crisis, the Patriarchate…

Source: The National Herald By TNH Staff The National Herald’s Publisher-Editor, Antonis H. Diamataris, writes in Kathimerini, the leading newspaper of Greece, about the crisis at the Archdiocese of America. Mr. Diamataris makes the point for a new leadership at our church. Here is the article: In the history-filled chambers of the Holy Synod of the Phanar, in mid morning, last week, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I asked Archbishop Demetrios of America to submit his resignation. Iakovos, a generation ago, had obeyed. Demetrios refused. “I still have a lot of work to do”, he responded. It was an astonishingly rebellious act.…

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity I served on my Parish Council for more than twenty years; three as President.  I also represented my Parish as a lay delegate to ten Clergy-Laity Congresses.  I no longer serve on our Parish Council.  Although I was removed from a volunteer position on our Stewardship Committee for sending an entirely truthful and accurate “Letter to the Editor” of The National Herald, I was still asked to come back and advise our Parish Delegates about what they should say and do at the Boston Congress as delegates to the Congress.  In summary, the following was my…

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity OCL Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the Resolution calling for Autocephaly of the American Orthodox Church. It is more relevant now, but little progress has been made (see text below). Orthodox Christian Laity A Resolution for Autocephaly Adopted October 10, 1998 BE IT RESOLVED THAT:  The Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL), assembled at its 11th Annual Meeting in the city of Los Angeles, California, on the eve of the Feast day of its patron saint, Symeon the New Theologian, petitions His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Holy Synod of Constantinople to grant autocephaly to the American…

Source: Public Orthodoxy by Nadieszda Kizenko Dr. Katherine Kelaidis recently published a piece in this forum on ‘Headscarves, Modesty, and Modern Orthodoxy.’ The article, a loving homage to Kelaidis’s grandmother, aunts, and mother, describes the pressures faced by Greek immigrant women of the American Mountain West two generations ago, by contemporary Muslim women, and by Orthodox women under Ottoman rule. Acknowledging head covering as a historical code for women’s modesty and chastity—shared, one might point out, by Orthodox Jews, African American ‘church ladies,’ Roman Catholics before Vatican II, and Episcopalians before the social changes of the 1960s—the author then makes two unexpected turns.…

Source: Estiator Magazine Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago, enthroned just last month, impressed us with his enthronement address and appears to be quite suited to shepherd a Metropolis that was led for decades by a questionable prelate and his auxiliary bishop over the last few years, who has now been cast aside. Based on other reports as well, Nathanael appears to be a serious individual, a good orator (who has an excellent command of both languages), exceptionally trained, and above all, down to earth. From his interviews, we gather that he has an understanding of today’s social reality, and at a time…

Source: Bloomberg Their religious roots, not their Communist experience, support authoritarianism and risk aversion. By Leonid Bershidsky Originally published on April 26, 2018 Eastern Orthodox Christianity has done more to shape certain ex-Communist countries than communism. It also, some say, made their people relatively unhappy and anti-capitalist. This theory got a lot of play in 1990s Russia but has now resurfaced in a fresh World Bank working paper.Its authors, former Bulgarian finance minister Simeon Djankov and Elena Nikolova of University College London, analyzed data from the World Values Survey and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Life in Transition Survey to study the correlation between religious background and attitudes. They…