A Sermon for Antiochian Village In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Your Eminence, Your Grace, Reverend Fathers, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, Good morning! Today, in this short sermon, I would like to share a few reflections on the legacy of St. John Chrysostom—from Antioch to America—and how his vision continues to shape the life of the Orthodox Church in our land. The Prayer for Unity in the Liturgy At the very beginning of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the deacon or priest proclaims in the Great…
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Source: Solia Calendar 2015 – Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America – pages 200-252 The following paper was written by Rev. Dr. Gabriel Gardan with the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Petroniu of Salaj (Romania) in honor of the 30th Anniversary of the Enthronement of His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel on November 17, 2014. FROM DREAM TO REALITY: ORTHODOX UNITY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA[i] Rev. Dr. Gabriel-Viorel Gârdan, University Lecturer Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Cluj-Napoca, Romania The number of researchers who are focusing on the life of the Orthodox communities on the North American Continent[ii] is increasing considerably, and…
Source: Public Orthodoxy Originally published on June 5, 2025 A recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal “Are Americans Really Losing Their Religion?” shared results from the largest ever survey of Americans who identify as “Nones”, either atheist, agnostic or having no particular religion. While this population has grown tremendously in recent times, an interesting point came out of the data: a full two thirds of these folks say they feel drawn toward spirituality but are much more resistant to the idea of organized religion. It struck me that in this age of anxiety, mental illness and isolation people indeed yearn for a connection to…
Source: Orthodox Studies Institute By Matthew Namee and Dn. Seraphim Richard Rohlin Last year, two major surveys were conducted on the American population: the Pew Religious Landscape Study (with nearly 37,000 respondents) and the Cooperative Election Study (with almost 60,000 respondents). Both Pew and CES asked respondents a battery of questions, and we can learn a lot about our own Orthodox community from the data. In this report, we’ll present some key findings from the two new surveys…. Read the complete article here.
Source: Orthodox Christian Mission Center Today, on behalf of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center Board of Directors, Board Chair Dr. Gayle Woloschak announced the selection of Dr. Nathan Hoppe as the organization’s new Executive Director. Dr. Hoppe will succeed Fr. Martin Ritsi and transition into his role in January 2026, following Fr. Martin’s retirement after more than 26 years of dedicated service. “We have been exceedingly blessed to have Fr. Martin chart the course of the organization all these years and we couldn’t be more confident in Dr. Hoppe’s ability to build on the legacy that Fr. Martin will leave,” stated…
Source: Public Orthodoxy Sergei Chapnin Director of Communications at the OCSC of Fordham University and Chief Editor of The Gifts (Дары) Almanac As an Orthodox Christian witnessing the systematic persecution of clergy and faithful in Russia, I find myself compelled to break the deafening indifference within our American Orthodox communities. My heart grows heavier each day as friends—priests I’ve known for decades—suffer for their faithfulness to the Gospel of peace. Here, I must acknowledge that Ukrainians are dying daily under Russian aggression. At the same time, hundreds of pro-war priests from Russia actively support the war efforts in the occupied…
Source: Orthodox Christian Studies Center (OCSC) – Fordham University Religion in Russia – Chapnin – UN presentation 2025 Sergei Chapnin presented his report “Religious Communities Under Pressure: Documenting Religious Persecution in Russia 2022-2025” at the Free Peoples of Russia House in Washington, DC, during a panel discussion entitled “Can Post-Regime Russia Embrace Christian Democracy? Religious Persecution in Modern Russia and Occupied Ukraine.” The panel examined the potential role of Russian Orthodoxy in democratic restoration following regime change, approaches to securing freedom of conscience in a multi-confessional Russia, and the current realities of religious persecution. Download the Report here Sergei Chapnin…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has just received the Ecumenical Award of the Catholic Academy of Bavaria “in recognition of his contribution to the Ecumenical Dialogue, that is, the effort to bring Christian Churches closer together.” At the ceremony in Munich on June 6, 2025, Bishop Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, President of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), delivered a heartfelt tribute to the Ecumenical Patriarch that beautifully expressed some of His All-Holiness’ innumerable accomplishment in nearly thirty-four years as the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. Bedford-Strohm stated that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew…
Source: Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate The news from Egypt in late May was frankly shocking. The Times of London reported on May 29, 2025 that “Egypt could be set to close the world’s oldest continuously functioning Christian monastery after almost 15 centuries, igniting international concern and fury from the Greek Orthodox community.” Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Mount Sinai was established in the sixth century by the order of the Roman Emperor Justinian, and has functioned continuously as a Greek Orthodox Christian monastery since then. The idea that it could be suddenly closed on the order of the Egyptian government was a…
Source: Orthodox History Editor’s note: Last year, Scott Kenworthy (whose landmark biography of St Tikhon comes out in November and is available now for preorder) sent me a remarkable email. He had discovered a letter written by Patriarch Tikhon to Patriarch Gregory IV of Antioch in 1922, dealing with the jurisdiction of Syrians/Antiochians in North America. The letter was in Russian, so I sent it to Sam Noble, who translated it into English. Click here to download the original Russian letter. The full translation is below, but before we get to that, I asked Scott to write a short introduction, giving context…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA At the very short negotiation session in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine on the afternoon of June 2, Russia presented a three-page memorandum on its proposed terms for settlement. TASS reported: The memorandum Russia handed over to the Ukrainian side today in Istanbul consists of two parts, Russia’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said. “We handed over to the Ukrainian side our memorandum, which consists of two parts. The first one is about how to reach a truly lasting peace. The second part highlights the steps to be taken toward a real ceasefire,” he said, adding that…