Source: Orthodox Church in America RIVES JUNCTION, MI [OCA] On Tuesday, May 18, 2021, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, meeting in their regular Spring 2021 Session under the presidency of His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, canonically elected the Very Reverend Archimandrite Gerasim (Eliel) Bishop of Fort Worth, Auxiliary to His Eminence Archbishop Alexander and the Diocese of the South.
Source: Everyday Saints, by Archimandrite Tikhon In a town in Byzantium, there was once a bishop who was very much beloved by the townsfolk, but then something terrible happened: whether through his own weakness or light-heartedness or through the conniving of the devil, this bishop fell into the sin of fornication. On a Sunday, when the entire town had gathered for the Divine Liturgy, the bishop addressed the people and removed his bishop’s stole, the symbol of his episcopal rank, said: ” I can no longer be your Bishop, for I have fallen into the sin of fornication.” At first,…
Source: Solia – The Herald by Bishop THOMAS (Joseph) and Peter Schweitzer as presented at the Church of St Patrick, Warrenton, VA There is a common tendency in our Western culture to equate the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Orthodox Church to corporations which are institutional structures that are driven by commerce and production. In so doing, we equate bishops with CEOs and priests and deacons as mid-level managers. Accordingly, parish councils operate as ecclesiastical boards of directors, bishops operate at the pleasure of the parish councils, and priests and deacons implement the directives and goals set forth by the councils. The adoption of this corporate…
Source: MYSTAGOGY On Sunday, July 6th, the youngest Bishop in the Orthodox Church was ordained in the Sacred Church of Saint Marina in Bulgaria. Archimandrite Arsenios was elected Bishop of Znepol, an assistant to Metropolitan Nicholas of Philippopolis (Plovdiv), by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria on Wednesday 2 July. Bishop Arsenios of Znepol became the youngest Bishop in the Orthodox Church at just 28 years of age, after a special setting in the Charter of the Church of Bulgaria. Bishop Arsenios was born in 1986 in Stara Zagora. He was tonsured a monk on 11 August 2008…
Source: Sofia News Agency The Sofia Bishopric has labeled the Friday refusal of the Diocesan Council of prelates and vicars to sign the list of representatives from the Sofia Diocese to elect a new patriarch a “sabotage.” The list was prepared by interim Patriarch and Sofia Metropolitan Kiril. The Bishopric admits that there have been disagreements in the process of preparing the list, but their escalation, they say, was a clear sign that the story aims at sabotaging the election. The statement, issued Saturday, further stresses that such act is unacceptable in the light of clerical discipline and canonical spirit.…
Source: Sofia News Agency The unity of the Holy Synod and of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the most important issue for Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria, according to Varna Metropolitan Kiril. Kiril made the statement Sunday in the Bulgarian capital during his very first mass as Sofia Metropolitan and interim Patriarch. “When opinions differ, each must be well-grounded. I hope that all metropolitans will attend the next meeting of the Holy Synod and that those who would be absent would provide excusable reasons for it. They have all made an oath to respond to the invitations of the Synod,” said…