Source: The New York Times By Neil MacFarquhar MOSCOW — Vyacheslav Gorshkov, who teaches the catechism at a Kiev cathedral, was among the majority of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine who had reconciled themselves to the fact that their church answers to the Russian Orthodox patriarch in Moscow. No longer. Mr. Gorshkov does not want to break with the faith, but does want to split with the Russian Orthodox Church, incensed by what he sees as the Kremlin using the church as an instrument of its old imperial control. He is among the majority of the faithful hoping that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew…
Browsing: Autocephaly
The Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch has called to convene an extraordinary Pan-Orthodox Synaxis
Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists The Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch speaks against establishing parallel jurisdictions within the present canonical Orthodox Churches. The Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch its latest session called to convene an extraordinary Pan-Orthodox Synaxis of the primates to discuss the issue of granting autocephaly to new Churches, reports “Romfea”. The Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch has released a statement in regard to the ongoing crisis situation in Ukraine caused by the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s unilateral incursion into the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the intent of unilaterally granting autocephaly to Ukrainian…
MOSCOW, RUSSIA SEPTEMBER 21, 2018: Patriarch Kirill (front) of Moscow and all Russia welcomes relics of Saint Spyridon of Trimythous from Corfu, Greece, at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral. Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS
Source: The Tablet According to the transcript Patriarch Bartholomew defended his plan to grant autocephaly to a new Ukrainian Orthodox church A Greek Orthodox news agency has published the transcript of a three-hour summit between the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, and Patriarch Kirill of Russia over the future of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, showing that the Russian delegation angrily rejected Ukrainian self-rule and insisted the country’s current government was illegitimate. According to the transcript, published on 1 October by Orthodosia, Patriarch Bartholomew defended his plan to grant autocephaly, or independence, to a new Ukrainian Orthodox church during the 31 August…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America At its formal session on April 20, 2018, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople voted to proceed with taking the necessary steps for granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Christians of Ukraine. This decision was made after extensive study and discussion based on the responsibilities and rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as enumerated by the sacred canons, and the historical reality that in 1589 when the Church of Russia received its status as a patriarchate from the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Metropolis of Kiev, the…
Source: Catholic Herald Tensions over Ukraine threaten to tear apart the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians For centuries, the archbishops of Constantinople could credibly claim to be the “Ecumenical Patriarch”. Their see was the “New Rome”, centre of the oikoumenē, the “inhabited world”. Today, their successor, Patriarch Bartholomew, looks beleaguered. The guards around his residence in the Phanar quarter of Istanbul reveal his threatened position in an increasingly Islamified Turkey. But now he seems poised to gain other powerful enemies, this time within the Orthodox Church itself, by unilaterally recognising a Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent of Moscow. The renascent Church…
Archpriest Nikolay Balashov
Source: Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations Originally published on May 23, 2018 The Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople has stated its intention to discuss with all the Local Orthodox Churches the appeal made to it by Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko to create an autocephalous Church in Ukraine. Is there today a commonly accepted procedure for granting church independence – autocephaly and what does canon law say about this mechanism? – a detailed explanation given to RIA Novosti by the vice-chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, Archpriest Nikolay Balashov. – Father Nikolay, why…
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with Metropolitan Hilarion
Source: Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations In April 2018 the Patriarchate of Constantinople decided to admit for consideration the issue of granting autocephaly to “the Orthodox faithful of Ukraine.” The episcopate of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church unanimous spoke out for the preservation of its current status. However, against their will, Constantinople has set about implementing a project of the Ukrainian autocephaly. The communiqué of the Chief Secretariat of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, published on 7 September 2018, states that two hierarchs, Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon (USA) and Bishop Hilarion of Edmonton…
Source: Asia News by Vladimir Rozanskij The subject is the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and that of Macedonia. But uncertainties remain that the meeting will take place after contradictory signals from the Moscow Patriarchate. Moscow (AsiaNews) – The Orthodox world is waiting with bated breath for confirmation of the announced visit of the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill (Gundjaev) to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew (Archontonis), scheduled for August 31 in Istanbul. The meeting should clarify the question of the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which will be officially discussed at the Synod of the Church of…
Peter S. Makrias
Source: Estiator Magazine Conspiracies, Forgeries, and Lies! Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkon, Patriarch Bartholomew’s representative at the Clergy-Laity Congress in Boston, stated in his address to the Archons that the Church of America is “a creation of the Mother Church of Constantinople – ‘bone of its bones and flesh of its flesh!’ It is not merely one of its eparchies, but an offspring and piece of its soul.” This is a major lie. The truth is that our Church was self-made and operated Autonomously and independently between 1922-1930. However, the Patriarchate, and the Church of Greece, which had already declared its…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity In Support of Efstathios (Steve) G. Valiotis: Time for other appointed leaders of GOA to Speak Up for the Autocephaly of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese In a letter addressed to Mr. Valiotis, George Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity, wrote: “On behalf of the board of directors, advisory board, supporters and friends of Orthodox Christian Laity, thank you for expressing your thoughts on the present condition of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and offering positive suggestions for the future of the Orthodox Christian Church in the United States. Your remarks upon receiving an honorary degree…
Archbishop Demetrios with Patriarch Bartholomew
Source: Ekathimerini VAN COUFOUDAKIS Even though I am no longer active in parish affairs, I am still a member of our Church and its Saint Barbara parish in Sarasota, Florida. I continue to follow with concern the financial, leadership and administrative problems facing our Church. I have had a 20-year involvement in parish and diocesan affairs while living and working in Indiana. Moreover, back in 2000, I was selected for the presidency of Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HC/HC) in Brookline, Massachusetts. For various reasons, I declined that position. The latest debate on the future of the…
Peter S. Makrias
Source: Estiator Magazine The speech given by businessman Efstathios Valiotis at the commencement ceremony of Hellenic College / Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate, caused a great deal of commotion and elicited interesting comments within the ecclesiastical circles and the Greek-American Community. He is the first well-known Greek-American with close ties to our community and the Church, and with seven years of theological studies, who is strongly in favor of an Autocephalous Orthodox Church in America. This view has long been supported by this magazine and by the 1998 resolution of the…