Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America NEW YORK – His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America has been invited to offer the benediction at the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Luncheon following the Inaugural ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol on January 21, 2013. The invitation was extended by U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC), which also hosts the luncheon to honor President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. “It’s my honor to select Archbishop Demetrios to offer this important task at the Inaugural Luncheon,” Schumer said. “The Archbishop is a tremendous and respected…
Browsing: Orthodox News
Source: Tampa Bay Times By Stephanie Wang and Keyonna Summers, Times Staff Writers TARPON SPRINGS First-time diver Vassilios Harding, 16, crouched Sunday atop an overturned dinghy in Spring Bayou. He worried the position put him at a disadvantage in diving with 46 other Greek boys for the Epiphany cross. “I want this,” he thought to himself, “and I want this bad.” Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, blessed the waters, then dropped the coveted cross into Spring Bayou. Ahead of the other divers, churning through the water, Vassilios reached the bobbing white cross within seconds. “God…
Source: Reuters By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) – The head of Russia’s Orthodox Church urged citizens in a Christmas address on Monday to adopt Russian children after President Vladimir Putin signed a law last month barring Americans from doing so. The ban retaliates for U.S. legislation designed to punish Russian human rights violators which Putin said is poisoning relations. Critics of Russia’s legislation say Putin has made the welfare of children trapped in a troubled orphanage system hostage to political maneuvering, dimming their chances of finding loving homes or adequate medical care. Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a strong supporter of Putin, paid special…
Source: MYSTAGOGY By Professor Ioannes Fountoulis On January 6th our Church celebrates the great despotic feast of “Theophany” or “Epiphany” or “Holy Lights”. The forefeast begins the day after New Years, January 2nd. In this preparatory period is found the “Sunday Before the Lights”. This fits into the functional forefeast preparation. In the Gospel reading from the Divine Liturgy on this Sunday we hear: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” from the prologue of the Gospel of Mark, who narrates the appearance of John the Forerunner in the Jordan desert, preaching and prophesying about…
Source: Orthodox Church in America WASHINGTON, DC [OCA] On Friday, January 25, 2013—the eve of the enthronement of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon at Saint Nicholas Cathedral here—Orthodox Christians from across the country will gather in the US capital for the annual March for Life. The members of the Orthodox Church in America’s Holy Synod of Bishops will join Metropolitan Tikhon, students from Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA and Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Crestwood, NY, and clergy and faithful from the region and beyond for the march. According to Archpriest John Kowalczyk, a pro-life activist and co-founder of the Orthodox presence…
Source: Arutz Sheva 7 Pay your bills as the Kotel and Knesset do, a spokesperson for the Jerusalem Municipality told officials at a major Jerusalem church. by David Lev Reports that the government and the Jerusalem municipality were planning to pick up the tab for eight years of water bills unpaid by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City were premature, said a member of the City Council. Jewish Home (Bayit Yehudi) representative David Hadari, who is a member of the Council as well as a Deputy Mayor in the city, said that the Council’s finance committee…
Source: Asia News by Nina Achmatova Amid controversy and criticism from civil society groups and some government ministers, Putin signs into law controversial bill passed by parliament in retaliation against US Magnitsky Act. For Archpriest Chaplin, orphans raised by foreigners cannot go to heaven. Patriarch Kirill speaks about possible help to families. Moscow (AsiaNews) – Despite a wave of criticism from civil society groups and members of the Russian government, the Russian Orthodox Church has backed the controversial ‘anti- Magnitsky bill’ that President Vladimir Putin signed into law last Friday. As of 1 January, the new law bans adoptions of…
By Susan Abram, Staff Writer Detectives with the LAPD’s Hollywood station are asking for the public’s help in providing any information that will lead to the arrest of the suspect who burglarized the church at 5432 Fernwood Ave. on Dec. 22. “An unknown individual entered the Holy Transfiguration Russian Orthodox Church, gained access to the altar room and stole numerous religious artifacts,” police said in a statement. A total of 37 items were taken, police said. Photographs of the missing items include ornate crosses and chalices for communion. “The community is very upset,” said a member of the church, who gave…
Source: Zenit Prelates Release Joint Statement on Revisions to Legislation WASHINGTON, D.C., December 28, 2012 (Zenit.org). The U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Department of Communications and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America issued the following statement in support of the Federal Trade Commission’s revisions to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that were announced on December 20. “We applaud the Federal Trade Commission and Chairman Jon Leibowitz for these important steps to keep children safe in the ever-evolving digital world,” said Helen Osman, Secretary of Communications for the USCCB. “The Commission is to be especially commended for…
Source: The Wall Street Journal By Andrey Ostroukh The head of the Orthodox Church in Russia, the country famous for its penchant for expensive cars and an unsafe driving culture, called on his clergy to choose their vehicles “with modesty” and not to drink “holy sacraments” before driving. The Russian Orthodox Church has been marred by scandals in 2012, some of which were vehicle-related. Social networks, popular with the Russian opposition and the country’s politically active middle class, have been inundated with photos of the clergy’s expensive cars. In August, a monk identified as Ilya crashed into road workers in…
Source: Acton Institute Power Blog by Dylan Pahman The video below of a second grade teacher in Providence, RI reading his letter of resignation has recently gone semi-viral with over 200,000 views on YouTube. What I would like to offer here is an Orthodox Christian critique of the anthropological assumptions that separate this teacher from the “edu-crats,” as he terms them, who in his district so strongly championed standardized testing-oriented education at the exclusion of all other methods and aims. In the Orthodox Christian tradition, there is an understanding, just like all other Christian traditions, that human beings are made…
Source: Courierpostonline.com by Terry Mattingly Blame it on the guns. No, blame the judges who banned God-talk in schools, along with most lessons about right and wrong. No, our lousy national mental health care system caused this hellish bloodbath. No, the problem is the decay of American families, with workaholic parents chained to their desks while their children grow up in suburban cocoons with too much time on their hands. No, it’s Hollywood’s fault. How can children tell the difference between fantasy and reality when they’ve been baptized in violent movies, television and single-shooter video games? Why not blame God?…