Source: Strategic Culture Foundation by James George Jatras “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” So Karl Marx wrote in 1843. For three generations over the course of the 20th century his atheist disciples violently sought to break their subjects of this “opium” addiction. They failed. In many though not all parts of the former communist bloc Christianity not only survived but provided the impetus for national and social revival. In some countries, like Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania, this meant Roman Catholicism.…
Browsing: Orthodox Church
Source: Orthodox Christianity Jamaica – The mission parishes of the Jamaican Orthodox Mission have voted to join the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and are in the process of being received. The mission initially began on April 24, 2015, as the Holy Orthodox Archdiocese in Jamaica—a Vicariate of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Mexico of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The mission was established in response to the efforts of a young Jamaican, Moses Myers, a former member of a Pentecostal Holiness denomination who converted to Orthodoxy in March 2014. As Myers told OrthoChristian.com, the Jamaican Mission consists of two…
Source: Orthodox Witness by Fr. Emmanuel Hatzidakis | November 24, 2014 Papa ante portas Novae Romae Orthodoxy resisted recapitulation to the pope of Rome in the council of Ferrara-Florence (1438-45) rejecting this synod, even though, as a result, Constantinople fell under the hordes of the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The Great Schism between Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Roman-Catholicism, dated from 1054, has remained to this day. Attempts to reunite the two Churches have intensified recently. Is reunification of Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches possible almost a millennium later? Not only is it possible; it is imminent. In an interview with…
Source: Orthodoxy in Dialogue As a living art that has existed for more than 2000 years, Byzantine chant is a significant cultural tradition and comprehensive music system forming part of the common musical traditions that developed in the Byzantine Empire. Highlighting and musically enhancing the liturgical texts of the Greek Orthodox Church, it is inextricably linked with spiritual life and religious worship. This vocal art is mainly focused on rendering the ecclesiastical text; arguably, the chant exists because of the word (‘logos’), since every aspect of the tradition serves to spread the sacred message. As a living art that has…
Source: The Orthodox World By Evagelos Sotiropoulos “Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do” (Matthew 23:3). The reaction of the Moscow Patriarchate to the recent decisions by the Ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria, as well as the Church of Greece, to formally recognize the Orthodox Church in Ukraine (OCU) and its primate, Metropolitan Epiphanios of Kyiv and all Ukraine, reminds me of the Bible passage above. Last November, in my article “Caring for the Church of Ukraine: Constantinople’s Calmness Carries the Day” published in Providence…
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: Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Dear Friends of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry, For over five years, I have been privileged to serve as the part-time Executive Director of OCPM. As a priest and retired federal prison chaplain, I have dedicated much of my life and ministry to serving those in jails and prisons. It has been a blessing to see the impact OCPM has made in the lives of so many, through its noble mission: To serve those who are incarcerated and their…
Source: Orthodox Synaxis Archbishop Anastasios of AlbaniaGreek source here. On Tuesday, November 26, 2019 (the day of the great earthquake in Durres, Albania) a report by Mr. Antonis Triantafyllou was published in your newspaper with the title “Anastasios’ Intervention in Favor of Moscow.” This is a malicious distortion of my views, intentions and proposals with regard to a sensitive and critical issue that concerns worldwide Orthodoxy. Its subtitle, “The Archbishop of Albania has again called for a Pan-Orthodox Council (the constant request of Kirill) for examining the Ukrainian issue,” as well as what is mentioned in the report, attempts to…
Source: Orthodox Christianity Jerusalem – Following his recent trip to Moscow, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem has reportedly come under serious pressure from hierarchs from the Patriarchate of Constantinople and elsewhere, according to the Telegram channel “PravBlog,” with reference to its sources in the Holy Land. The Patriarch traveled to Moscow to last month to receive the Patriarch Alexei II Award for working towards Church unity from the International Public Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox Peoples. In his speech upon receiving the award, the Patriarch invited all the Orthodox primates to gather in Jordan to discuss the sensitive issue of…
Source: Monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael Complacency is a subtle demon. It is the death of spiritual growth, the atrophy of inner vision and a vicious defender of falsity. Its foe is repentance — the life of children of the Resurrection. Most faithful Orthodox in America see no problem with multiple jurisdictions. Being Americans, we are multi-ethnic, multi-religion, multi-gender and multi-political, so our multi-jurisdictional mentality dances in step with our unrepentant secular mindset. We have fallen from an ecclesial mind and compromised our integrity in the quagmire of jurisdictionalism. Let us be ruthlessly honest with ourselves. Having more than…
Source: Orthodox Christianity Mt. Athos, November 27, 2019 – On November 12, Patriarch Bartholomew participated in the Vespers service at the Catholic Abbey of Our Lady of St. Rémy in Rochefort, Belgium, together with Archimandrite Alexios, the abbot of Xenophontos Monastery, and Hieromonk Theophilos of Pantocrator Monastery, both on Mt. Athos. According to a new report from the Union of Orthodox Journalists, during his trip to Mt. Athos the previous month, Pat. Bartholomew attempted to convince several Athonite abbots and monks that there are no dogmatic differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and that reunion with the Catholic church is inevitable. Pat. Bartholomew…
Source: Orthodox Christianity [Tirana, Albania, November 25, 2019] Time does not heal schisms, but only sets them in stone, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Albania believes. Therefore, in the spirit of the coming great feast of the Nativity of Christ, all the Local Orthodox Churches must agree to come together to find a pan-Orthodox resolution to the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, he states. However, at present, “a worrying silence prevails in most of the Orthodox Churches,” the Archbishop laments. His Beatitude’s statement, “In anticipation of Christmas 2019 Appeal-Supplication for the overcoming of the ecclesiastical polarization,” is published in full in English and Greek on the…