Source: Acton Institute by REV. BEN JOHNSON Leaders from the world’s two largest churches say that Christians in the West are facing “unprecedented” hurdles to living out their vocation according to their conscience. A statement from Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians says that as traditional Western culture – liberally influenced by Christianity – is replaced with relativistic secularism and radicalized Islam, Christians are facing new barriers to entering whole sectors of the workplace, as well as other forms of hard and soft persecution. A misunderstanding of human dignity, they say, lies at the heart of it all. “In the…
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Source: Basilica.ro Published by Aurelian Iftimiu On the feast of the Saint and Great Martyr Theodore of Tyre, 17 February 2016, the day on which His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa celebrates his name day, a festive Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Holy Church of St Nicholas, within the Missionary Centre of Kolwezi. Together with the Alexandrian Primate concelebrated Their Eminences Nicephorus, Metropolitan of Kinshasa, Innocent, Metropolitan of Burundi and Rwanda, and the local Metropolitan Meletios of Katanga, accompanied by the Clergy of the Hy Metropolis. As the official site of the Patriarchate…
Source: The Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting Boston, MA November 18-21, 2017 Eastern Orthodox Studies Unit This Unit focuses on the critical study of the theology, culture, history, and practices of the Eastern Christian churches, including their mutual interaction and engagement with Western Christian and non-Christian groups. Call for Papers To submit a proposal, visit https://papers.aarweb.org/content/welcome View call details on the AAR website: https://www.aarweb.org/annual-meeting/call-for-papers#CallText Deadline: March 1 • Evangelicals, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and “Traditional Values”: A Global Alliance? The past several years have seen an intensifying discourse regarding “traditional values” among groups of…
Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America The Archdiocese Department of Sacred Music’s Composer-in-Residence nazo zakkak has released his premiere CD of liturgical music, titled LUXARI. A collection of original hymns for the Orthodox Church, LUXARI draws on the influences of traditional Byzantine, Russian, and Romanian music, and lovingly crafts them into a new and enticing American sound. The CD also features works commissioned by churches and monasteries across the US. As a composer, nazo zakkak is one of Orthodox America’s next generation of liturgical musicians seeking to develop an authentic musical expression of the Church’s prayer in this time and place.…
Source: The National Herald By Dennis Menos In the history of the Orthodox Church, the year 2016 could have been momentous. It was, after all, the year of the Holy and Great Council (HGC), the once in a millennium mega event that was designed to bring together all fourteen Orthodox Autocephalous Churches in a grand demonstration of unity. Sadly, it did not turn out to be. Four Churches boycotted the event, in the process providing evidence of the disunity that sadly afflicts today the Orthodox Church. The degree of disunity, demonstrated by the absence from the Council of the Patriarchates…
Source: New Ostrog Poverty is an abortionist. While Canada and America have low rates of spontaneous abortions: only between 12-25%, poorer nations have rates much, much higher. Spontaneous abortions take place more among the poor, the malnourished, those who have no access to proper medical care, (those working for minmimum wages, for example) than among any others. America has the largest number of children living in poverty than has any other nation in the Western World. Many of those children become post-birth “abortions” because of their poverty and lack of free access to adequate health care and nutrition. Poverty is…
Source: Cult Education Institute By Archbishop Lazar Puhalo Oct 18, 1998 Brothers and sisters, before we begin our usual question and answer time, I want to say something, first, about the meaning of “geronta” [elder; starets]. Sadly, in our day, perhaps more in North America than in Greece, but even in Greece, there has developed a new guru cult concept of “gerontes.” Alas, this cultish idea is actually cultivated by many self-styled and even acknowledged “elders.” Gerontes or elders, many of them self-appointed and self advertised, others acknowledged by monastic establishments, have begun to act and be looked upon like…
Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary On Friday, January 13, 2017, Archpriest John Behr, dean and professor of Patristics at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, presented his inaugural lecture as holder of the Metropolitan Kallistos Chair in Orthodox Theology and assumed his position as full professor at the Amsterdam Centre for Orthodox Theology (ACOT) in the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). Father John’s lecture, titled, “The Paschal Gospel: Reading John in Early and Eastern Christianity,” may be read here. Father John was appointed to the newly created Chair by the Executive Board of VU on September 1, 2016. He retains his position as Dean of St. Vladimir’s, but will visit ACOT a…
Source: St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary [SVOTS Communications / Yonkers, NY] On Monday, January 23, 2017, at 7 p.m., St. Vladimir’s Seminary will co-sponsor an “Orthodox-Catholic Prayer for Unity and Life” event at the Parish of St. John Nepomucene and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, 411 East 66th Street, New York, NY. Other sponsors include the host parish and the Parish of St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Catherine of Sienna. An Orthodox Christian service, the “Akathist for the Unborn,” and a Roman Catholic service, the “Divine Mercy Chaplet,” will be held during the evening. His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA),…
Source: Russia Today Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov, who was shot dead in Ankara, has been buried in Moscow with honors. Russian President Vladimir Putin was among those who bid a final farewell to the slain diplomat, who was named a hero of Russia posthumously. The funeral for the assassinated ambassador began at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the ceremony to pay his last respects. Putin “expressed heartfelt condolences to Andrey Karlov’s family, his mother Maria, widow Marina, son Gennady ,and sister Elena,” a statement from the Kremlin said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presented…
Source: Fox News MOSCOW – The Russian Orthodox Church is expanding its influence in what was once an officially godless state — and President Vladimir Putin appears eager to harness that resurgent power of faith to promote his own agenda. Long consigned to society’s margins in the Soviet era of “scientific atheism,” religious activists in today’s Russia can get theater performances banned and exhibitions closed. Their next target is to end state funding for abortion in a land where nearly half of all pregnancies end in termination. Putin has condemned recent attacks on art exhibitions and efforts to hound performers…
Source: The Orthodox Evangelist By the V. Rev. Fr. Timothy Cremeens, PhD Dean – Holy Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre, PA To the Christian believers gathered in the Church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). He likewise writes to the Church at Galatia, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). The Cross is the indispensable center of the…