Assembly of Bishops Publishes New Research Report on Monastic Communities

By Webmaster on January 26, 2015 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA There are more than 70 Orthodox monastic communities in the United States today. There exists significant diversity among these communities, including in their size, liturgical practices, openness to outside visitors, and educational programs. The Assembly’s Committee for Monastic Communities is tasked with studying and comparing Orthodox monastic communities in the US. Accordingly, this study, “Orthodox Monastic Communities in the United States,” was designed as a first step toward that goal. The report’s findings are based on a survey that was conducted of all Orthodox monastic communities in the United States in late…

Russian Orthodox head slams French weekly’s mockery of Christians

By Webmaster on January 25, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Reuters MOSCOW (Reuters) – The head of Russia’s influential Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, said on Sunday cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were “childish” compared to offences it had dished out to Christians. Charlie Hebdo has regularly offended Muslims, Christians and others with its irreverent cartoons. Gunmen killed 12 people at the Paris office of the weekly this month saying they were avenging the Prophet Mohammad, whom the magazine had depicted in cartoons in defiance of a ban in Islam on representing its founder. Kirill, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir…

Pope concluding Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

By Webmaster on January 24, 2015 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Vatican Radio Pope Francis will bring the curtain down on the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with a Vespers service, Sunday evening, in Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, formerly known as the Octave of Christian Unity, is ‎traditionally celebrated over eight days, from Jan 18th ‎to 25th, around a common theme, and involves ‎Christian communities and Churches across the world, including the Catholic ‎Church. The Week ends with the Jan. 25 feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Representatives of Orthodox and Anglican Churches will be present…

‘Horrifyingly high’ abortion rate must be cut, says head of Russian Orthodox Church

By Webmaster on January 23, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Christian Today Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill called on Thursday for a deep cut in the “horrifyingly high” number of abortions, which he linked to a Western rejection of moral norms. “The idea of absolutely prioritising the value of free choice and of rejecting the priority of moral norms has become a slowly exploding bomb for Western civilisation,” he said in a speech to lawmakers. “If we could just cut in half the number of abortions, there would be steady and powerful demographic growth.” Russia’s population has been declining since the mid-1990s, hit by falling birth rates and life expectancy…

PBS’ Religion and Ethics Newsweekly program reports on ‘Halki Seminary’

By Webmaster on January 23, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories, Uncategorized

Source: Religion & Ethics Newsweekly Halki Seminary Once the world’s leading Eastern Orthodox seminary, Halki was closed by the Turkish government 43 years ago. The US and religious freedom activists want it reopened. But Turkish officials have long said that won’t happen until Greece improves conditions for Turkish minorities living there. Transcript of Video KIM LAWTON (@KimLawtonRandE), correspondent: The Theological School of Halki was once the world’s leading Eastern Orthodox seminary. But it was closed by the Turkish government in 1971. More than 43 years later, the US government and many faith-based activists around the world are still waging a campaign to…

Orthodox Church leader Reflects on the Religious Dimension of the Ukrainian Crisis

By Webmaster on January 23, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Eurasianet Patriarch Filaret heads the Kyiv Patriarchate, the branch of Ukrainian Orthodoxy that is loyal to President Petro Poroshenko’s administration. He recently sat down with EurasiaNet.org to discuss religious affairs in Ukraine and how the ongoing conflict between Kyiv and Moscow is extending into the spiritual sphere. In 1991, after Ukraine gained independence, then-Metropolitan Filaret Denysenko led a different kind of independence movement. At that time, he was the highest-ranking cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and he believed Orthodox bishoprics in Ukraine should secede from the Moscow Patriarchate and form an independent church entity. Though the…

Orthodox Scout Sunday is February 8

By Webmaster on January 23, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA has designated February 8, 2015 as Orthodox Scout Sunday. The Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting is an official agency of the Assembly of Bishops. Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ: On Sunday, February 8, 2015, Scouts all over the United States will celebrate National Scout Sunday. Scout Sunday is an annual event among all faiths which recognize the good work that is done by Scouts in our religious communities. The observance of Scout Sunday tradition was started years ago to make people…

The Middle East’s vanishing Christians

By Webmaster on January 22, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: MercatorNet by Michael Cook But some of the region’s bishops urge Christians to work with Muslims for free and tolerant society. The Middle East is losing its ancient Christian heritage. When Iraq was invaded in 2003, 1.5 million Christians were living there. Now the figure is 400,000 and falling. The savagery of the Islamic State has accelerated the Christian exodus. Mosul, about 400 kilometres to the north of Baghdad, was captured by IS in June last year. Ten years ago it had about 60,000 Christians. Now there are none. IS gave them an ultimatum: conversion or death. For the first…

Assembly Delegation to Participate in March for Life in Nation’s Capital

By Webmaster on January 19, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops will send a delegation to the annual March for Life, Thursday, January 22, 2015 in Washington, DC. The date marks the 42nd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Metropolitan Methodios will lead the delegation. He will be joined by Metropolitan Tikhon, Bishop Michael, and Bishop Demetrios Mokissos. Metropolitan Tikhon will deliver the invocation at the annual Rose Dinner at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington DC on the evening of the 22nd. On the evening before the March, Metropolitan Methodios will attend the National…

Orthodox Christian Concerns: A Lament for Our Millennial Daughters

By Webmaster on January 19, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Patheos By Jennifer Nahas What is best about the Orthodox Church—holding true to early teachings and traditions—also presents its greatest challenge: making sure tradition doesn’t trump appropriate treatment of others. While many prize the richness of the Orthodox Church, our traditions can lead to exclusion of some from fully participating in the community of Christ. It’s a fine line, preserving ancient rites without marginalizing particular groups, within a patriarchal structure, and is ripe for discussion, particularly as it pertains to women. Orthodoxy arrived in the early 20th century, at a time when the United States experienced unprecedented social, economic,…

Celebrating the Baptism of Christ on the Jordan River

By Webmaster on January 18, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The Arab Daily News By Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D. It was simply a most glorious celebration of the Epiphany on the Jordan River today according to the Old Julian calendar. There were hundreds of priests, nuns and thousands of people from all walks of life coming to the precious site where over 2,000 years ago “…the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him…” (Matthew 3:13-17) It was so wonderful to see many local people in addition to internationals for this grand celebration. His Beatitude Patriarch…

Sanctity of Life Sunday, January 18, 2015: Archpastoral Message of Metropolitan Tikhon

By Webmaster on January 16, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Orthodox Church in America Sanctity of Life Sunday 2015 Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon To the Venerable Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America: Dearly beloved, Today has been designated by the Orthodox Church in America as “Sanctity of Life Sunday,” a day on which we re-affirm our faithfulness to the eternal value of human life and re-commit ourselves to the defense of the lives of the unborn, the infirm, the terminally ill and the condemned. Our proclamation of life is offered in the context of a world in dismay at the…

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