Source: Orthodox Christianity [Lastva Grbaljska, Montenegro] – The Serbian Orthodox Church is equal to the ancient Churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Constantinople and the rest, and the Church of Christ does not divide along ethnic lines, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia and His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro said at recent celebrations at the Podlastva Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Montenegro. Celebrating the 800th anniversary of the autocephaly of the Serbian Church and the 1,500th anniversary of the monastery on Saturday, September 28, His Holiness stated that “today is a great and blessed day. Eight…
Browsing: Constantinople
Source: Orthodox Christianity Background [Athens] – One of the biggest battlegrounds in the Ukrainian Church Crisis has been whether or not the Church of Greece will recognize the Ukrainian schismatics. The latest news on the matter came on August 29, when it was reported that the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece recognizes the right of the Phanar to “grant autocephalies” but also stopped short of specifically recognizing the Ukrainian schismatics. The issue of recognizing the schismatic OCU within the Greek Church is highly polarizing, unlike in the Polish or Serbian Churches where there is virtual unanimity among the bishops. Some…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA A whirlwind of events occurred today in connection with the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s former “archdiocese,” composed of parishes of the Russian tradition in Western Europe. Many of these events are revealed in the minutes of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, which convened a special meeting today (September 14), “thorough remote communications,” to grant an appeal, also made today, by Archbishop John (Renneteau) to Patriarch Kirill. The full text of the minutes is posted at http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5499619.html. An English translation of parts of the minutes have been quickly posted by the DECR of the Moscow Patriarchate. https://mospat.ru/en/2019/09/14/news177560/ These…
Source: Orthodox Synaxis The Greek original with the list of signatories can be found here. Your Beatitude, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, Most Reverend Metropolitans of the Church of Greece, Your Beatitude, Your Eminences, As members of the Orthodox Church and, in spirit, children of Your episcopal-fatherly responsibility, we feel the need to address You as our spiritual and ecclesiastical Fathers and to express our unease and distress over the uncanonical granting of Ukrainian autocephaly. We share Your anguish and serious ecclesiological and canonical hesitations and reservations as they have been stated expressly or even silently according to the…
Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Protopriest Andrey Nikolaidi How many canons were violated by the Patriarchate of Constantinople by creating a parallel jurisdiction in Ukraine. The modern ecclesiastic situation in Ukraine, provoked by the actions of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, appears as a crucial challenge vis-à-vis the plentitude of World Orthodoxy. One option is to accept the point of view of Constantinople and finally destroy the canonical law system that has developed on the foundation of the apostolic vision of the Church. The other is to remain faithful to Orthodox ecclesiology and reject Phanar’s unilateral actions. Despite the fact that Constantinople positions itself…
Source: Orthodox Christianity [PARIS] On August 31, the central office of the Archdiocese of Russian Churches in Western Europe issued a communiqué in preparation for its upcoming General Assembly on September 7, outlining three points to be discussed as proposed by the Archdiocesan Council. The three points were: Acceptance of the proposed act of canonical communion with the Moscow Patriarchate; Following a meeting with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the setting up of a bilateral dialogue in order to re-examine the possibility of a new ecclesial structure for the Archdiocese; The large-scale reforming of the Archdiocese as an autonomous structure, as…
Source: Orthodox Christianity KIEV – The Greek Orthodox Church does not want to enter into a direct confrontation with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but clearly understands that for any Local Church to recognize the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU) would be to divide the Orthodox world into two parts, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, Deputy Head of the canonical Ukrainian Church’s Department for External Church Relations, commented in an interview with First Cossack, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists. “The text of the Synod’s decision became the basis for some news agencies to say that the Greek Church recognized the means of…
Source: Orthodox Christianity ATHENS — The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church has once again delayed its decision about whether or not to recognize the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU). Having heard the proposals of the Synodal committees on dogmatic and canonical issues and on inter-Orthodoxy and inter-Christian relations at its 3-day session this week, the Synod “recognize[d] the Ecumenical Patriarch’s canonical right to issue the status of Autocephaly,” reports Romfea. It is unclear if the Synod is speaking of Constantinople’s rights in general or specifically in the Ukrainian situation, though, predictably, Constantinople-aligned Greek and Ukrainian sources were quick to proclaim that the…
Source: Orthodox Christianity PARIS — The Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople unexpectedly decided to remove the exarchate status of the Archdiocese of Russian Churches in Western Europe, telling the parishes that they had to become part of the Patriarchate’s Greek metropolises. However, the clergy and faithful of the Archdiocese then overwhelmingly voted to remain together as an ecclesiastical body. They are actively considering several options for their future, the most likely being to join the Moscow Patriarchate, which has the backing of the Archdiocese’s hierarch, Archbishop John of Chariopoulis, though there are certainly those members who actively oppose returning…
Source: Byzantine, TX (president.gov.ua) – President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Fener in Istanbul. The Ecumenical Patriarch reiterated support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the Ecumenical Patriarch for supporting Ukraine. “Our common value is human life. This is the main thing for me, especially now, when I became President of Ukraine. The authorities shouldn’t interfere in church affairs. I will defend the independence of the church,” the Head of State emphasized. The agenda of the President’s visit to Turkey also includes St. George’s Cathedral located on the…
Source: Union of Orthodox Journalists Elena Konstantinova Metropolitan Amphilochios claims the Church should return to the system that was before Emperor Constantine, and all issues should be resolved by the Ecumenical Council. Metropolitan Amphilochios (Radovic) of Montenegro and the Littoral believes that “Jerusalem is the true mother of all Orthodox Churches” because, according to him, “neither Rome nor Constantinople, but Jerusalem gave birth to all churches”. He stated this in an interview with TASS agency. In particular, His Eminence Amphilochios stressed that he did not believe in the possibility of repeating the scenario of Orthodox schism in the Balkans, which the Patriarchate of Constantinople had committed…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America On Friday morning, July 26, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew discussed the importance of observing the doctrines of the Church, as well as its genuine and authentic ecclesiology, as he celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Paraskevi Pikridiou, which was granted by the Patriarchate to serve the Romanian-speaking community of the City (Constantinople). “Each place has one Bishop, regardless of ethnic origin,” His All-Holiness said emphatically. “Being baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we live and grow and continue in the truly great Mystery of the…