Browsing: Governance & Unity Commentary

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity West Palm Beach, Florida, is the Epiphany City for the Orthodox Christian Community in Southeast Florida. The faithful gather from Fort Meyers, Miami, Coral Gables, Kendell, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Davie, Boca Raton, Lantana, West Palm Beach, and Fort Pierce. The Metropolis of Atlanta proclaims the event one or two weeks after the ceremony at Tarpon Springs, Florida, on the actual feast day (January 6). For thirty years, this inspirational event has been organized and implemented by the parish community of St. Catherine. St. Catherine Parish is located on the Southeast corner of Flagler Drive and the…

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America – Center for Family Care by Presvytera Melanie DiStefano What does the phrase “eternal memory” mean really, for us mere mortals? This question begs at me much now that I am in my sixth decade of life and have witnessed so many lovely souls pass on to the next life. My sweet grandmother passed away on Theophany 6 years ago. She is in my thoughts at times, but I must admit not at all times – thus her memory is certainly not eternally in my small mind. There are moments when my heart throbs…

Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Messinia, one of the most prominent and learned hierarchs of the Church of Greece and Orthodoxy in general, professor at the University of Athens, presented an interview to The National Herald. He spoke about the meaning of the Incarnation of God, violence, same-sex marriage, elderism and more. The National Herald: Your Eminence, these are Holy Days, marking the incarnate presence of God among us. What does this mean today for the modern man? Metropolitan Chrysostomos: First of all, the very fact of the Incarnation of the…

Source: Notes on Arab Orthodoxy Jad Ganem Patriarch Bartholomew celebrated the Feast of Saint Nicholas at the church-turned-museum bearing his name in the city of Demre, Turkey. During the liturgy, he gave a sermon that included the following: “The East is not just the birthplace of great saints but also the cradle of the Church in its present form. Our theology and ecclesiology originated in these sacred lands, within the canonical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It was here that the Ecumenical Synods convened, shaping the ecclesiastical conscience rooted in the ministry of the Lord, transcending national or other distinctions. The wisdom…

Source: Public Orthodoxy Talia Zajac Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Niagara University I first heard the rumor’s confirmation as I was heading out the church door. The cantor was saying goodbye to me and added with a half-smile that change was inevitable. The Julian calendar was bound to fall behind the Gregorian calendar, he said, so much that Christmas according to the two calendars eventually would be celebrated hundreds of days apart, instead of the current difference of thirteen days. I knew then that the rumor was true. Parishioners and priests had whispered for years that the Ukrainian Greek…

Source: The National Herald Analysis by Theodore Kalmoukos I have dealt with Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology several times, highlighting some of their serious and deep-rooted problems, not limiting myself to observations but also proposing ideas and possible solutions for reflection and dialogue. All these efforts stem from love and interest, primarily for the School, and consequently for the Church and our Greek-American community, as they are directly influenced by the School, being the breeding ground for priests. Undoubtedly, the School has suffered immensely in recent decades, starting under the Αrchiepiscopate of Iakovos, with constant…

Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – The Chairman of Leadership 100, Demetrios Logothetis, is traveling to Constantinople to deliver a letter from the organization in of support for Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. Logothetis is expected to meet with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Friday morning, December 1, 2023 at the Phanar to personally deliver the letter and speak in support of  the Archbishop. According to information obtained by The National Herald, members of Leadership 100 from three different parts of the United State were informed about this initiative by members of the Executive Committee of Leadership…

Source: Public Orthodoxy Very Rev. Dr. Andrei Kordochkin Priest at St. Mary Magdalene Russian Orthodox Church (Madrid, Spain) Editor’s Note: The Orthodox Church in Russia is divided, but this division is not canonical nor administrative. Moreover, it is not always visible from the outside. While the official Church has become an integral part of Putin’s political regime, on a deeper level, there is resistance on behalf of small Orthodox communities and individuals who deny accepting the proclamation of violence and the justification of war. These “propaganda sermons” are constantly pronounced from the ambos of the churches nationwide, causing abruption and…

Source: The National Herald To the Editor: Due to indisposition I stayed at home last Sunday and watched the Divine Liturgy from 10 o’clock until almost 12. The Liturgy is broadcast from the Holy Resurrection Church with presiding priest Fr. Panteleimon Papadopoulos, the former deacon of Archbishop Demetrios, and is mostly in English and the impressive thing is that now the cantors chant in English, too, because now there are also cantors who were born here in the United States. And I will briefly recount the course of English in the Church. When I came to America in 1955, the…

Source: Public Orthodoxy Inga Leonova Editor-in-Chief at The Wheel Journal Once again, following violence against Jews, Jewish schools, synagogues, cultural centers around the world have gone on high alert, because any local violence against Jews is perceived as a rallying cry elsewhere. The context is an astonishing global surge in antisemitism. Following the attack on Israel of October 7, the Western world erupted in massive pro-Palestinian rallies, often replete with calls for the eradication of Israel – not Hamas. Even the Secretary-General of the UN repeated Hamas propaganda and made excuses for the unspeakable massacre by “contextualizing” it. The mainstream media…

Source: Public Orthodoxy Michael G. Azar Associate Professor of Theology/Religious Studies at the University of Scranton In his fight against those in Gaza whom he called “human animals,” the Israeli defense minister on October 8 vowed to act “accordingly” by cutting off fuel, food, water, and electricity to the impoverished strip of land. With this explicit policy of collective punishment (which has gotten even more collective and punishing in the last month), residential neighborhoods and marketplaces became immediate targets. Israel’s military dropped 6,000 bombs in the first six days of the war with “damage, not accuracy” as its goal. In those first few days, the neighborhood…

Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary On October 27-28, 2023, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) student Mihailo Vlajkovic (M.A. ‘24) represented the Seminary at a conference hosted by the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. The two-day conference, titled “The Apostolic Ministry”: History, Theology, and Ecumenism, offered an exploration of “the ways in which churches claim ‘apostolicity,’ and what this ideal means for broader questions of ecumenism and inter-communion.” Eighteen presenters from the US, Canada, and Kenya joined the conference, representing a range of professions and viewpoints, including “theologians, historians, ordained ministers, canon lawyers, ecclesiologists, ecumenists, and students and seminarians.” Mihailo learned…