Browsing: Governance & Unity News

Source: Orthodox Church in America CHICAGO, IL [OCA]  Clergy and faithful from parishes across the Midwest gathered at historic Holy Trinity Cathedral here on the morning of Saturday, December 27, 2014 for the celebration of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, during which Bishop-Elect Paul [Gassios] was consecrated to the Episcopacy as Bishop of Chicago and the Midwest. Bishop-elect Paul, who had served as Administrator of the Diocese of the Midwest, was nominated by delegates at a special Diocesan Assembly held in Broadview, OH on October 7, 2014.  On October 21, his name was presented to the members of the Holy Synod…

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America Be glad, you just, heavens rejoice, mountains leap for joy; Christ is born and the Virgin sits like the Cherubim throne carrying in her bosom God the Word made flesh. Shepherds glorify the one that is born; Magi offer gifts to the Master; Angels sing praises, saying: Lord beyond understanding, glory to you! (Lauds of Christmas Matins) To the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of Parish Councils, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Members of Philanthropic Organizations, the Youth and Youth Workers, and…

Source: Religion News Service by Josephine McKenna VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis launched a blistering attack on the Vatican bureaucracy on Monday (Dec. 22), outlining a “catalog of illnesses” that plague the church’s central administration, including “spiritual Alzheimer’s” and gossipy cliques. The pope’s traditional Christmas greeting to the cardinals, bishops and priests who run the Holy See was more “Bah! Humbug!” than holiday cheer as he ticked off a laundry list of “ailments of the Curia” that he wants to cure. READ: The doctor is in: Pope Francis’ diagnosis for what ails the church (RNS) In a critique that left many of the assembled clerics clearly uncomfortable,…

Source: Aleteia The Vatican’s ecumenical default positions badly need re-setting. by GEORGE WEIGEL In his tireless work for Christian unity, St. John Paul II often expressed the hope that Christianity in its third millennium might “breathe again” with its “two lungs:” West and East, Latin and Byzantine. It was a noble aspiration. And when he first visited Orthodoxy’s ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople in 1979, perhaps the successor of Peter imagined that his heartfelt desire to concelebrate the Eucharist with the successor of Andrew would be realized in his lifetime. It wasn’t to be, but not for lack of trying on John…

Source: Ecumenical Patriarchate Your Holiness Pope Francis, beloved brother in Christ, bishop of Senior Rome, We offer glory and praise to our God in Trinity for deeming us worthy of the ineffable joy and special honor of the personal presence here of Your Holiness on the occasion of this year’s celebration of the sacred memory of the First-called Apostle Andrew, who founded our Church through his preaching. We are profoundly grateful to Your Holiness for the precious gift of Your blessed presence among us, together with Your honorable entourage. We embrace you wholeheartedly and honorably, addressing you fervently with a…

Source: Lantern Foundation The Lantern Foundation, established in December of 2012, is a US based registered 501c(3) private foundation. The mission of the foundation is to provide financial support to religious and community service organizations, particularly those related to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and other entities organized for religious, charitable, and educational purposes and to raise, generate, and solicit contributions in furtherance of this purpose. [subscribe2]

Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Today we commemorate our great father among the saints, Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra, the patron of this holy Cathedral. How greatly loved he is throughout the Christian world! He is even honored in popular culture, a fact well known to you all. Let us focus for a moment on the Troparion for St. Nicholas: Thy works of justice did reveal Thee to Thy community as a canon of faith, the likeness of humility and the teacher of abstinence. O, Thou Father and great Bishop Nicholas. Wherefore by humility thou didst achieve…

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America The Assembly’s annual committee reports are now available online. The summary reports, which were prepared by the committee chairmen, provide an overview of each committee’s activities and accomplishments between September 2013-August 2014. Committee for Agencies and Endorsed Organizations Committee for Canonical Affairs  Committee for Canonical Regional Planning Committee for Ecumenical Relations Committee for Financial Affairs Committee for Legal Affairs Committee for Monastic Communities Committee for Theological Education Committee for Youth [subscribe2]

Source: Orthodox Church in America BROOKLYN, NY [OCA] – The Primate of one of the oldest churches on earth will come to America to enthrone His Eminence, Metropolitan Joseph, as the head of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church of North America at Saint Nicholas Cathedral here on Saturday, December 6, 2014. His Beatitude, Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, will come from Damascus, Syria to preside at the Service of Thanksgiving and Enthronement rites. His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West; His Grace, Bishop…

Source: Aleteia A grass roots ecumenism involving Christians of East and West is what will take Christians into the future together. by FR DWIGHT LONGENECKER When referring to the Eastern Orthodox churches Pope St John Paul II used to say the church needed to “breathe with two lungs.” Given Pope Francis’s physical condition of having only one lung, perhaps it is best to discover a new analogy. Looking at the cross we can say that Christ needs two arms to reach out to embrace the whole world. In his trip to Turkey last week Pope Francis celebrated the liturgy with Bartholomew,…

Source: Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio)  In an address upon conclusion of the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Orthodox Church of St. George in Istanbul, Pope Francis said “the one thing that the Catholic Church desires and that I seek as Bishop of Rome…is communion with the Orthodox Churches.” Below, please find the complete text of the Holy Father’s address: When I was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, I often took part in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox communities there.  Today, the Lord has given me the singular grace to be present…

The Pope preaches a sermon on Unity through the Holy Spirit. Source: Journal of Turkish Weekly Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the globe’s estimated one billion Catholics, has celebrated a special Mass in Istanbul on the second day of his official visit to Turkey. Security was tight at the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in the city’s Beyoglu district, ahead of the visit by the 77-year-old Argentinian pontiff, who was greeted by a small crowd of well-wishers before releasing a dove in the courtyard of the church. Around 200 people were waiting for pope’s arrival outside the 1846…