Source: Orthodox History by Matthew Namee In 1894, Pope Leo XIII issued a papal encyclical on the “Eastern Rites” — that is, the Uniates, those groups who use ancient Orthodox liturgical rites but submit themselves to the Pope of Rome. In 1898, St Raphael Hawaweeny, then an archimandrite in New York, published a response in a periodical called Faith and Reason, and […] Click here to read the article
Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary On October 27-28, 2023, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) student Mihailo Vlajkovic (M.A. ‘24) represented the Seminary at a conference hosted by the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. The two-day conference, titled “The Apostolic Ministry”: History, Theology, and Ecumenism, offered an exploration of “the ways in which churches claim ‘apostolicity,’ and what this ideal means for broader questions of ecumenism and inter-communion.” Eighteen presenters from the US, Canada, and Kenya joined the conference, representing a range of professions and viewpoints, including “theologians, historians, ordained ministers, canon lawyers, ecclesiologists, ecumenists, and students and seminarians.” Mihailo learned…
Source: U.S. Religion Census The book, “U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Adherents,” is now available for download free of charge at: https://www.usreligioncensus.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/2020_US_Religion_Census.pdf This unique publication offers national, state, and county-level information and statistics on congregations and membership for 372 religious groups, including fourteen Eastern Orthodox and nine Oriental Orthodox Churches. The book’s ten chapters examine various aspects of church life in America and can also be downloaded individually at: https://www.usreligioncensus.org/node/1638 These chapters include: Quick Answers to Important Questions from the U.S. Religion Census Historical Efforts to Collect U.S. Data on Religious Congregations Trends in Adherents Data: 2010-2020 Patterns of Historical and Organizational Events and Conflict…
Source: The National Herald By Nikolaos Piperis When our forefathers immigrated here near the turn of the 20th century, they generally desired to maintain their Hellenism in America. Like people everywhere, Greeks hold fast to their inherited traditions, having protected them through centuries of inordinate persecutions in the Ottoman Empire. Understandably, these immigrants intended to perpetuate their culture and religion in their new country and accordingly established, in nearly every locality they stepped foot, local societies devoted to that task. These societies, which sponsored Greek schools, community centers, and churches, later transformed themselves into parishes, creating the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese…
Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA On September 14th, Foreign Affairs, the influential magazine of the Council on Foreign Relations, published an article entitled, “Putin’s Useful Priests.” The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America hereby expresses its objection and concern with the inaccurate manner with which Orthodox Christians in the United States are stereotyped by the authors. First, the article contains significant factual errors that are surprising for the renowned Foreign Affairs and disrespectful to a vital Christian community whose roots in America date over three centuries. Orthodox Christians in America – representing a plethora…
Source: Orthodox History by MATTHEW NAMEE The following remarkable letter appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on March 18, 1915. It offers a well-informed but obviously partisan perspective on the Orthodox reality in America and globally in 1915 — in the midst of World War I. There’s so much happening in this letter, so many layers. It has to be one of the most fascinating historical records I’ve ever stumbled upon. I only wish I knew the identity of the author — all we can tell here is that he’s a Greek-American who knows a great deal about the entire Orthodox world. Read…
Source: Public Orthodoxy by Very Rev. Dr. John Jillions Visiting Professor at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (Cambridge, UK) When the New York Times recently asked readers to tell them why they had left their religion behind some 7,000 readers responded (“Why Do People Lose Their Religion?” June 7, 2023). Clearly there is a lot of painful pent-up feeling about this. But an equally intriguing question is, “Why do people keep their religion?” This is a question that percolated throughout a course on religion in American history I was teaching this past Spring at Fordham University (“American Religious Texts and Traditions”). The class…
Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – The National Herald publishes here the fourth and final part of the confidential report from the meeting of hierarchs of the Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese of America with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. This article features what Metropolitan of Chalcedon Emmanuel and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said. The report contains the following: “Next, Metropolitan Chalcedon took the floor, emphasizing the need to build a spirit of mutual trust between the Archbishop of America and the members of the Eparchial Synod, and in no case should [people] be given…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity Orthodox Christian Laity successfully completed its first in-person annual board meeting and conference, since the beginning of the pandemic, in the Atlanta metropolitan area on October 14-15, 2022. This 35th Annual Conference brought together board members, presenters and participants from New Jersey, Texas, Utah, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, California and Georgia. Thursday, October 13 Board members arrived in Atlanta on Thursday evening, October 13, and enjoyed an evening dinner together prior to the annual program. With the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel, an OCL Advisory Board Member, the Sts. Constantine & Helen Romanian Orthodox…
Source: Orthodox Reality The report, The “New Traditional” in a Most Traditional Church: How the Pandemic Has Reshaped American Orthodox Christian Churches. What Do Lay People Think about It?, is available now. More than 2,000 ordinary parishioners from all parts of the USA participated in this study, and shared their thoughts about Orthodox Church life in America during and post-pandemic An executive summary (4 pages) can be downloaded here: https://orthodoxreality.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/NewTraditionalLaityReportExecSummary.pdf A summary of major findings and conclusions (10 pages) can be downloaded here: https://orthodoxreality.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/NewTraditionalLaityReportConcludingPart.pdf The full report can be downloaded here: https://orthodoxreality.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/NewTraditionalLaityReportFinalSecured.pdf The core question addressed in this report is: how…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America July 3-7, 2022 Marriott Marquis, New York, NY Clergy-Laity Congress 2022: Preparations Focus on theme of “Legacy, Renewal, Unity” The Clergy-Laity Congress Committee, under the direction of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros and Co-Chaired by Chrysanthy Demos and Nick Karacostas, continues its preparation of this summer’s Centennial Congress. While preparing this historic Centennial Congress, His Eminence’s theme of “Legacy, Renewal, Unity” has been built into all parts of the program. June 30th – July 4: National Young Adult Conference Fourth of July Weekend will offer young adults from all over the country an opportunity to gather…
Source: OrthodoxReality National Study about the Pandemic’s Impact on Orthodox Church Life in America Dear OCL friends, If you are a lay church member in the United States of America, we ask you to do something that could make a significant difference for the future of both your parish and the Orthodox Church in general. We ask you to take part in a national study about the pandemic’s impact on Orthodox church life in America. The study has heard already from about 400 American Orthodox priests and the results were published here: https://orthodoxreality.org/coronavirus-and-american-orthodox-parishes Now it is time to hear the thoughts, concerns and experiences…