Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America APOSTOLIC PILGRIMAGE TO JERUSALEM The meeting of Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in the City of Jerusalem May 23-27, 2014 A Historic Meeting Learn about the purpose of the historic meeting between Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Jerusalem. On Sunday, May 25. 2014, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis will meet at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to commemorate a meeting in the Holy Land fifty years ago by their revered predecessors, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI. The historic meeting in 1964 marked the beginning of a new era in the relations between…
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Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America The Archdiocese communicated the following details regarding historic May and June meetings to all clergy and parishes on April 8, 2014: The dates and location have been set for a special Archdiocesan Synod Meeting, Board of Trustees meeting and the Special Nominating Convention. The location will be Chicago, Illinois, in order to facilitate air travel from all parts of the Archdiocese. The specific hotel will be announced, and all meetings will take place at that hotel. (See here for hotel and registration updates from April 29.) The new date and location for the Special Board of…
Source: Orthodox Church in America PHILADELPHIA, PA [OCA] – The Rite of Installation, during which His Grace, Bishop Mark [Maymon] was enthroned as Bishop of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, was celebrated at the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Saint Stephen Cathedral here Saturday, May 10, 2014. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, presided at the Divine Liturgy. In addition to Bishop Mark, His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; His Eminence, Archbishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania; and His Grace, Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey, concelebrated. Eight priests, including Priest Victor Gorodenchuk, Dean of Saint Stephen…
Source: First Things – May 2014 by John P. Burgess On the eve of the Bolshevik Revolution, the Orthodox Church had 50,000 parishes, a thousand men’s and women’s monasteries, and sixty theological schools. By 1941, Stalin had nearly succeeded in eliminating the Church as a public institution. Perhaps only a hundred and fifty to two hundred churches remained active in the whole country, and every monastery and seminary had been closed. Although Hitler’s invasion of Russia caused Stalin abruptly to change course—he turned to the Church to help him mobilize the population for war—the Church nevertheless labored under severe restrictions until…
Source: ABC News ISTANBUL May 9, 2014 (AP) By DESMOND BUTLER Associated Press Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians, says a meeting with Pope Francis in Jerusalem this month will help move the two churches closer to ending their nearly 1,000-year divide. In an interview with The Associated Press in his Istanbul office, Bartholomew also praised Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for improving rights for Christians but said pointedly, “it is not enough.” The meetings between the ecumenical patriarch and the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics on May 25-26 will commemorate the historic visit of…
Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan writes on May 7 (CLICK HERE for official letter): Very Esteemed Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, And Beloved Faithful of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Christ is risen! I would like to inform you that the Holy Synod of Antioch, after convening on April 29th, 2014, decided that the participation of the Antiochian Archdioceses around the world in the Assembly of Bishops be restored to its status prior to the decision taken by the same in its session held in October 2013. After receiving from the Secretariat…
Christ is Risen! With less than one month to go before our 2nd annual Pan Orthodox Fellowship weekend, I wanted to personally thank each and every one of you for your ongoing help in trying to make this event as successful as possible. The Pan Orthodox Fellowship Weekend is still a relatively new event and it would be nothing without all of your efforts. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Mark Bleahu. I worked on the event last year but will now be in charge of the day to day preparations leading up to…
Source: Pravmir The Church of Antioch has unanimously decided to suspend communion and not to commemorate Patriarch Theophilos in the ecclesiastical diptychs. Originally published on April 30, 2014. PRAVMIR. The Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch, presided over by Patriarch John, announced on April 29 that it has officially suspended communion with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. This has been reported by polit.ru, with reference to the website of the Patriarchate of Antioch. The Primate of the Church of Antioch again raised the question of the canonical intrusion of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem into the Metropolia of Qatar. In his…
Source: Catholic Culture & Pravmir “Whenever an Orthodox church succumbs to nationalist rhetoric and lends support to racial tendencies, it loses sight of the authentic theological principles and gives in to a fallen mindset, totally alien to the core of Orthodoxy” In an address delivered in the Netherlands, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor within Eastern Orthodoxy, criticized nationalist tendencies within some Orthodox churches. “The concept of the nation cannot become a determining factor of Church life or an axis of Church organization,” the Ecumenical Patriarch said in an address delivered at the Old Catholic…
Source: Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in an interview with the Italian agency SIR said that today there are many issues that both churches must address together, Religion in Ukraine reports, with a reference to Pomisna. “Today, perhaps more than 50 years ago, there is an urgent need for reconciliation. This means the meeting with our brother Francis Pope in Jerusalem is very important,” said Patriarch Bartholomew about the upcoming pope’s visit to the Holy Land. Among the issues that the Orthodox and Catholic Churches are facing, he described the suffering and injustice experienced by people…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity by George E. Matsoukas In 2008, a Meeting of Patriarchs of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches convened in Switzerland under the auspices of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, and charged the Bishops, in the lands outside of the traditional Roman Empire, to meet together in Assemblies of Bishops. The purpose of these meetings of Assemblies of Bishops is to develop blueprints to establish canonical order within their geographic areas. The Churches in these areas have Bishops of different Orthodox Christian groupings overlapping in the same geographic areas. There is no comprehensive directory of priests. There is great duplication…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity By Roy Synder Recently, after the Patriarch of Antioch ordered that the American Clergy cease their involvement with the Assembly of Bishops, I took an action to voice my disagreement with this decree. It was a small thing – no big oratory, grandstand or “snit.” Someone asked me what I thought I would accomplish and I replied: “I suppose it’s tantamount to a flea biting and elephant’s butt, I did not think that I should be silent.” Reflecting, I realized that there would be no notice from any level of hierarchy. I am not well known,…