Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA The tensions between the Armenian Apostolic Church – Etchmiadzin Catholicosate (“AAC”), headed by Catholicos Karekin II, and the Armenian government, headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, have continued to increase with each side taking stronger actions. Most recently, the increased tensions have related to the status of Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, one of the ten bishops of AAC who, together with the Prime Minister, signed on January 4 a document which urged the retirement of Catholicos Karekin II and which created a Coordinating Council to reform the AAC. https://www.panorama.am/am/news/2026/01/05/%D5%93%D5%A1%D5%B7%D5%AB%D5%B6%D5%B5%D5%A1%D5%B6-%D5%B0%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%B5%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B6/3148925. The confrontations relating to Saroyan began on January 10, when…
Browsing: Governance & Unity News
Parent of Governance Category
Source: Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Throughout his lengthy and transformative ministry as Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has consistently emphasized the central importance of dialogue in search of unity among Christians and harmony among all people of good will. As he accepted an honorary doctorate from Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University in Bucharest, Romania in October 2025, His All-Holiness provided a comprehensive exposition of why dialogue is not an option, but a necessity, and a fulfillment of the will of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Countering claims that dialogue was simply a tool for attaining practical ends,…
Source: Faith Encouraged My thoughts on Minneapolis and the Immigration Crisis hopefully informed by my Orthodox faith. Fr. Barnabas Powell The images from Minneapolis are jarring. ICE agents confronting protesters. Violence erupts in the streets. Cities declaring themselves “sanctuaries” that decide that Federal law is none of their business. Political leaders on both sides are manufacturing outrage for their respective bases. And somewhere in the chaos, actual human beings—immigrants, citizens, law enforcement officers—caught in the grinding machinery of our broken discourse. And because of this, people are dying. The Reality We Must Face Let me say plainly what should be…
Source: The National Herald A drowsy wind blows across the blue-gray waters of the Bosphorus. On it a lone seagull flies, lilting along the air current. Behind it looms Constantinople: colossal, gleaming, age-old, alive. I recently spent a week in the Queen of Cities with the Pilgrimage of Discovery, an immersion program sponsored by the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Pilgrimage aims to bring young Orthodox Christians face-to-face with the situation of the Patriarchate and the remaining Greek-speaking Orthodox (or Romaioi) community in modern-day Istanbul. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople— the spiritual capital of the Eastern Orthodox Church—…
Source: St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary CLICK HERE to view or download the issue This issue is devoted to the Orthodox Social Ethos document “For the Life of the World.” We are happy for comments and perspectives. Please send them to gayle.woloschak@gmail.com.
Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA Friday, January 23, 2026 Washington, DC – The Assembly of Bishops once again sent a delegation of Hierarchs to participate in the annual March for Life activities. The delegation was led by Bishop Irinej, who was joined by Bishop Nektarios (GOA), Bishop Alexander, AOCA), Bishop John (AOCA), Metropolitan Tikhon (OCA), Archbishop Melchisedek (OCA), Archbishop Michael (OCA), and Bishop Andrei (OCA). Photo Credit: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA On Thursday, January 22nd, at the invitation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), members the delegation attended the…
Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Author: Michael W. Davis Last week, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem condemned Christian Zionism. This is long overdue. Christian Zionism is a dangerous and heretical ideology. It distorts the clear teaching of Scripture and the Fathers: that the Church, not the Zionist state, is the true Israel of God. Worse yet, it leads Christians in the West to ignore—or even cheer on—the eradication of indigenous Christian communities in the Holy Land. On January 17, 2026, the Council of Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem—including the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III—released…
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Source: Orthodox Volunteer Corps The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America has blessed the last Sunday of January as Volunteer Sunday, raising awareness about OVC. We invite you to celebrate with us on January 25. Would you help us share this ministry with your parish? To assist, please click this link to find the following materials to share with your parish: Sample Announcement to make at the end of Liturgy, if there is not an OVC rep present Two Bulletin Inserts to choose from Color w/ Photo or Black & White Text One page to print with QR…
Source: Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the Feast of Theophany, January 6, 2026, issued an appeal to the Ukrainian hierarchy under Metropolitan Onufriy to reconsider its stance against unification of the Orthodox Christian faithful in Ukraine, and explained once again the reasoning behind his grant of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine on January 5, 2019. “Our motives,” His All-Holiness said, “were entirely ecclesiological. We were not guided by expediency, nor did we make a hasty or superficial judgment on this long-standing issue, as some have accused us. As was our duty, we received…
Source: Orthodox Observer Today, Jan. 13, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople issued a response to an aggressive polemic released a day earlier by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The Ecumenical Patriarchate characterized the accusations directed at Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as baseless and unworthy of engagement. In its responding communiqué, the Ecumenical Patriarchate recalled that since its 2018 decision to proclaim the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, it has deliberately chosen not to reply to the steady stream of similar attacks emanating from political and ecclesiastical circles within the Russian Federation. That principled restraint, it stressed, continues to guide…
Source: Oinos Educational Consulting by Frank Marangos D.Min., Ed.D., OSJ “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and drink.” John 7:37 Last month, during the first week of December 2025, the global water community gathered in Marrakech, the former imperial city of Morocco, for the 19th Annual World Water Congress. Under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, and co-organized by the International Water Resources Association (IWRA), the prestigious event gathered policymakers, practitioners, civil leaders, and private sector representatives to exchange knowledge about “Water in a Changing World: Innovation and Adaptation.” Based on the groundbreaking research that was…