Browsing: Governance & Unity News

Source: WBLX Local By Alan Silverman WAUWATOSA (WITI) — The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is investigating whether a former priest stole money from Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa. Members of the congregation gathered on Sunday, October 27th to learn more about the alleged activity of their former priest, Father James Dokos. Church attorney Emmanuel Mamalakis presented members with the findings and sequence of events that led them to the District Attorney’s Office. “We were doing some work on accounting. We were cleaning up papers and as we were going through, we noticed some issues,” explained Mamalakis. The issue was…

Source: Pravoslavie.ru Damascus, October 24, 2013 The Greek Church news agency Romphea has reported the decision of the Synod of the Church of Antioch regarding the issue of jurisdiction over the state of Qatar, stated by the Patriarch of Antioch. Patriarch John X has warned the head of the Church of Jerusalem that if within two months he does not take steps to resolve the problem with Qatar, then the Church of Antioch will have to break off relations with the Church of Jerusalem. Both local Churches consider the state of Qatar to be their canonical territory. The conflict happened…

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North America Editor’s Note: The first Public Forum on Unity and the Assembly of Bishops was hosted by Orthodox Christian Laity on October 25 2012 at St George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Washington D.C. Bishop Maxim, Serbian Orthodox Church Western Diocese, Alhambra, CA and Protodeacon Peter Danilchick were presenters. OCL will present “The Assembly of Bishops and the Future of Orthodoxy in America” on Saturday November 2 at 9:00 am at Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church, Moraga, CA. The Orthodox Christian community of Cleveland, Ohio will host a public forum on the Assembly of Bishops…

Source: Greek Reporter A fierce conflict between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Moscow, that may lead to a new schism, threatens a forthcoming Orthodox Ecumenical Council. The reason is the effort of the Russian Church to degrade the primacy of Constantinople in the Orthodox world and to expand in China and Japan. This expansive strategy has clear political extensions of a geopolitical character, with the assistance of president Putin. Patriarch Bartholomew reacted intensely, sending a letter to the Patriarch of Moscow, Kyrill, and two others, of informative character to Archbishop Ieronymos. According to the letter to Kyrill, the facts that caused…

Source: Patriarchate of Antioch Facebook Page Statement by the Secretariat of Holy Synod of Antioch Balamand, October 17, 2013 The Holy Synod of Antioch held its second session from October 15th through 17th, 2013. His Beatitude Patriarch JOHN X presided over the meeting, with the participation of Their Eminences, the Metropolitans and Fathers of the Holy Synod of Antioch: Spiridon of Zahleh and its dependencies; Georges of Jbeil, Batroun and their dependencies; Yuhanna of Lattakia and its dependencies; Elias of Beirut and its dependencies; Iliya of Hama and its dependencies; Elias of Tyre, Sidon; and their dependencies, Damaskinos of Sao…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – Archimandrite David [Mahaffey] was elected by the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America to fill the vacant Episcopal See of Sitka and Alaska on Wednesday, October 16, 2013. The election took place during the fall session of the Holy Synod at the OCA Chancery. Delegates to the Assembly of the Diocese of Alaska on September 15, 2012 had nominated Father David, who has been serving as the diocese’s Administrator and Chancellor, to fill the vacant See. His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin, Locum Tenens of Episcopal…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – The fall session of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America opened on Tuesday, October 15, 2013, and will run through Thursday, October 17. According to Archpriest Eric G. Tosi, OCA Secretary, on Monday, October 14, the eve of the meeting, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, will meet with members of the Sexual Misconduct Policy Advisorary Committee (SMPAC), at which time a final revision of the new Policies, Standards and Procedures (PSP) will be reviewed.  The PSP will be presented to the members of the Holy Synod for approval. Much…

Source: Estiator – The Restaurateur Peter S. Makrias, Publisher-Editor October 2013 In addition to all that we have already written about the hegemonic authority exercised by the Metropolitans of our Church in America, we must also note the fact that they do not offer an account for their actions and decisions.  Among other things, they do not offer any public accounting of their income and expenses, as the Archdiocese does at its Clergy-Laity Congresses.  It is there that the Archdiocese’s finances are discussed, along with its income from parishes and expenditures for various institutions. The incidents involving Metropolitan Evangelos of New Jersey…

Source: Ekklesia 2013 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, when emperor Constantine ended the persecution of Christianity, to which he had converted. In early October, World Council of Churches General Secretary Dr Olav Fykse Tveit praised Constantine’s legacy in glowing terms. Yet in reality it has been a mixture of harm and good. Tveit sent his regrets to Serbian church leaders for being unable to attend anniversary ceremonies to which they had invited him, stating that the legacy of Constantine – the first ruler to do battle and kill in Christ’s name – “is still helping to…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – The independent audit of the Orthodox Church in America’s financial records for the year ending December 31, 2012, conducted by the auditors Lambrides, Lamos, Taylor LLP, has been completed and is available on-line. “For the third consecutive year the OCA has been issued an unqualified or ‘clean’ audit opinion,” said Melanie Ringa, OCA Treasurer.  “The unqualified opinion is the best type of report an auditee can receive from the external auditor.” Ms. Ringa also noted that “the financial results for 2012 show total revenues of $2,780,295.00, total operating expenses of $2,124,224.00, with a…

Source: Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia On Wednesday, July 10, 2013, an extraordinary session of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held, presided over by its First Hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York. Participating in the meeting were permanent members of the Synod of Bishops: His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany; His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America; His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada, and His Grace Bishop Peter of Cleveland, Administrator of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America.  Deliberating…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – The fall session of theMetropolitan Council of the Orthodox Church in America drew to a close on Thursday, September 26, 2013. Metropolitan Council members participated in a full-day retreat led by Priest Nicholas Solak and Dr. Al Rossi on the topic of conflict resolution on Monday, September 23.  Council members were presented with a variety of techniques and methods to enhance communication and to identify and work through conflicts on the personal and group levels. On Tuesday afternoon, September 24, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, delivered his report to Council members. “It has been…