Source: Russian Orthodox Church DECR In physics there is a notion of ‘bifurcation point’, which denotes a critical state of a system when it becomes unstable and, under the impact of even minor external events, can shift to a lower or, on the contrary, higher level of self-organization. In a certain sense, the developments in Ukraine are such a ‘bifurcation point’ for the whole world of Orthodoxy. The decisions made today and actions carried out determine in many ways the future life of the Orthodox Church, possibly, even for many centuries. In this situation, it would be wrong to step aside…
Browsing: Constantinople
Source: ToBHMA by George Gilson In his address to the Delphi Forum, Elpidoforos insisted that the educational offering must meet the international academic standards of universities regardless of whether the Turkish state recognises the seminary as a university or not. That an issue concerning a religious institution and religious freedom might preoccupy an international economic conference at Delphi might seem a bit unusual to most at first blush. In fact, it is in an odd way perfectly fitting that the place which in ancient Greece was considered the centre or omphalos of the earth – and a place where representatives from the entire…
Source: Russian Orthodox Church DECR In compliance with the decision taken by the Holy Synod of the Albanian Orthodox Church at its session on the 4th of January 2019, the Albanian Church refused to recognize “the Orthodox church of Ukraine,” recently created by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It is stated in the letter sent by His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on the 14thof January 2019 and published in accordance with the decision of the Holy Synod of the Albanian Orthodox Church of the 7th of March 2019. The text of the letter is…
Source: Orthodox Christianity Tirana, March 8, 2019 incarnatewordsistershouston.org The Holy Synod of the Albanian Orthodox Church has not recognized the Ukrainian schismatic church, calling their ordinations graceless and calling instead for a Synaxis of the primates of the Orthodox Churches, given that Constantinople has failed to achieve unity in Ukraine. The Holy Synod of the Albanian Church adopted its decision on January 4 and expressed it in a letter sent to Patriarch Bartholomew on January 14. The letter was published today on the Albanian Church’s site. In particular, the Albanian bishops expressed their concern about the recognition by the Patriarch of Constantinople…
Source: The Conversation A new Orthodox Church was recently established in Ukraine. Shortly after, Bartholomew I, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the spiritual head of global Orthodox Christianity, granted independence to the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine and transferred its jurisdiction from the church of Moscow to the church of Constantinople, located in Istanbul. This competition between the churches of Constantinople and Moscow for dominance in the Orthodox Christian world is not new – it goes back more than 500 years. But the birth of the new Orthodox Church in Ukraine opens a new chapter in this history. So what is Ukraine’s new church, and…
Source: OrthoChristian.com by Kirill Alexandrov A comparison of the relationship of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the Moscow Patriarchate and the “Holy Church of Ukraine” with the Phanar. Petro Poroshenko and Epiphany Dumenko have received their desired tomos. Already well before that, the majority of religious experts argued that the Phanar would never give the Ukrainian Church true autocephaly, and that’s what happened. Even the most ardent supporters of autocephaly have to admit that the Ukrainian so-called autocephaly has a number of very significant restrictions. They also expressed the opinion that the new Ukrainian Church, which will be called autocephalous, will in…
Source: Orthodox Christianity Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) The actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (EP) in its process of granting a Tomos of autocephaly to the schismatic groups in Ukraine have created a canonical crisis. This point of “judgment” (the real meaning of “crisis”) is not so much about Ukraine, per se; but about the nature of the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and of primacy, indeed of episcopacy in the Orthodox Church. Thus, it affects every Orthodox Church and every Orthodox Christian. It has nothing to do with nationalism, though this has been a tool for manipulation of various parties involved; it has…
Source: The National Herald By Dennis Menos The fact that Orthodoxy finds itself today in the midst of disastrous schism between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church of Russia is hardly a secret. It is all the result of the recent issuance of a Tomos of Autocephaly to the Church of the Ukraine by the Ecumenical Patriarch, a move that the Patriarchate of Russia strongly opposed. Because of the issuance of the Tomos, the Patriarchate of Moscow has directed that all religious co-celebrations between its hierarchs and those of the Ecumenical Patriarchate cease, and that the two Patriarchates no longer…
Source: Bigorski Monastery On January 4, 2019, His All Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew welcomed in his patriarchal residence the Reverend Hieromonk Luke of Xenophontos. Father Lucas, the most famous Athonite painter and calligrapher, gave His All Holiness the parchment with a calligraphy of the Tomos for the autocephalous Church in Ukraine, hand written by him, with the blessing of his Abbot, Archimandrite Alexios of the Xenophontos Monastery, Mount Athos. The representatives of the Ukrainian Church, headed by the Metropolitan of Kiev, Epiphanius, have already arrived at Phanar, where the next day they will attend the ceremonious act of the Tomos ratification by the Ecumenical Patriarch.…
Source: Russia Today by Jim Jatras Originally published on October 3, 2018 One of the most contentious and significant controversies in the world today is also one of the least-well understood. In part, this is because it involves matters of faith and church governance, the importance of which many people, especially some of a secular mind who scorn mere “religion,” tend to underestimate. That is a mistake, certainly with respect to the storm that seems on the verge of plunging Ukraine into a new cycle of violence. That may happen if, as seems quite possible, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople recognizes an “autocephalous” (completely self-ruling)…
Source: Kyiv Post By Toma Istomina. The Unification Council in Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral elected the head of the unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Dec. 15, the latest step on the path to Ukraine gaining its own national church. Epiphanius, Metropolitan of Pereyaslav and Bila Tserkva, born Serhii Dumenko, will head the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the council announced. Ukraine’s Minister of Culture Yevhen Nyshchuk announced the name of the new church leader on the evening of Dec. 15 from the stage on Sofiivska Square, where people had gathered to celebrate the event. Epiphanius then addressed the crowd on the square, calling the day a…
Source: NBC News Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko believes the potential outcome of Saturday’s meeting represents an “opportunity that arises once in a millennium.” By Yuliya Talmazan One of Christianity’s biggest splits in centuries is expected to be formalized this weekend as Ukraine moves to create a new church independent from Russia’s influence. It’s estimated that more than 70 percent of Ukrainians — or nearly 32 million people — identify as religious. The overwhelming majority of them are Orthodox Christian. But they don’t all pray in the same churches. There are currently three separate branches of the Orthodox church in Ukraine, including one under…