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Worshippers take part in an Orthodox worship service at Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Photo AFP, Yuriy Dyachyshyn

Ukrainian initiative wants to reconcile UOC and OCU

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By on Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Christian Network Europe During an inter-church discussion, representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church concluded that it would be best to re-unite both denominations. Therefore, they recommend renewed cooperation. “It is crucial to preserve the spiritual unity of the Ukrainian people, the origins of which go back to the ancient Kyiv Orthodox tradition”, the clergy write in a statement, as reported by Risu.ua. They drafted the document during a so-called inter-church dialogue that took place in the St Sophia Church in Kyiv, as reported by Orthodox Times. Dialogue To achieve unity, the clergy propose…

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Synodic Center, Tirana, Albania

Decisions by Albanian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches & Other News

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Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Albania on February 24 issued a communique relating to the Orthodox church in North Macedonia.  https://orthodoxalbania.org/2020/en/2023/02/24/communique-the-holy-synod-orthodox-autocephalous-church-of-albania/  The official English translation is as follows: The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, during her session of February 23, 2023, under the presidency of His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios, reiterated that she gladly welcomes the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, of last May 2022, that “She accepts into Eucharistic communion the Hierarchy, the clergy, and laity of the Church under Archbishop Stefan… She recognizes as…

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WHY HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE TRUTH OF GOD? AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Public Orthodoxy ελληνικά | Русский Your Eminences! My letter is addressed to the Orthodox bishops in Russia. I have intentionally not collected signatures or involved any Church structures or public organizations, because I am addressing not the episcopal body, not the leaders of the Moscow Patriarchy, but each of you personally. My letter’s addressee is an Orthodox Christian who took holy baptismal and monastic vows, was elevated to the dignity of bishop, and who in his heart recognizes that it is impossible to govern the Church without striving to love Christ, seeking His truth, and serving Him and not Caesar. Under the circumstances,…

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His Eminence Metropolitan Ignatius of Demetrias (OrthodoxiaNewsAgency)

Ukrainian Autocephaly and Responsibility Toward the Faithful

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Source: Ss Cyril & Methodius Orthodox Church Originally posted on October 23, 2019 ~ FR GREGORY Excerpts from the intervention of His Eminence Metropolitan Ignatius of Demetrias, Chairman of the Synodal Committee for Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Christian Relations During the Extraordinary Session of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece (12th October 2019) Your Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, Brothers in Christ, The Synodal Committee for Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Christian Relations, which I am honored to chair, explicitly followed the mandate of the Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. In this light, I would like to summarize…

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Electricity pylons, power lines and cooling towers of the cogeneration plant near Kyiv (Ukraine) in winter.

Ukraine Relief Update

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By on Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) IOCC Programs Provide Vital Assistance in Ukraine, Romania, and Poland As winter in Ukraine deepens, a new set of needs arises. Damage to infrastructure during the ongoing conflict has left thousands of civilians without water, power, and heat. To address these growing needs, IOCC is drawing on experience in other areas torn by conflict. New efforts are focused on providing vital alternative power options—including generators and solar-energy systems. IOCC is also working to create programs to support income generation and employment. In addition, IOCC and a local partner are providing psychosocial support to help…

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Russian Orthodox leader Metropolitan Hilarion speaks at the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 6, 2021. (photo: Screenshot from 52nd International Eucharistic Congress. / EWTN)

Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest sanctioned for 30 years

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By on Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA On January 23, 2023, President Zelensky of Ukraine signed Decree № 26/2023 “On the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions).”  https://www.president.gov.ua/documents/262023-45613  Attached to the decree are the names of 22 individuals, all of whom are representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.  Six individuals are sanctioned for 30 years, while 16 are sanctioned for five years.  See also https://lb.ua/society/2023/01/24/543485_zelenskiy_zaprovadiv_sanktsii_proti.html.  The first person on the list of those sanctioned for 30 years is Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), presently Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary.  As is well-known, he was chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department…

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Vladimir Putin attends a Christmas service alone at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kremlin.

Russia’s Attempt to Weaponize Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The Moscow Times By Ksenia Luchenko The celebration of Orthodox Christmas in both Russia and Ukraine on Jan. 7 provided ample evidence of what the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War has called Russia’s weaponization of religion in its propaganda war against Ukraine. Just as Ukraine’s 2013 Maidan Uprising was seen by Vladimir Putin as a personal affront, the 2018 creation of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church to replace the Moscow-aligned Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate, has not been forgiven by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, who was left fearing a domino effect should other regional churches seek to break…

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Metropolitan Ambrosios (Zografos), left, addresses the Mega-Conference of the International Orthodox Theological Association meeting in Volos, Greece, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023. Photo courtesy of IOTA

A historic meeting of Orthodox Christian scholars convenes to confront divisions and war

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Religion News Service Contentious issues of church polity have been exposed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. By Meagan Saliashvili (RNS) — Nearly 400 Orthodox Christian theologians from 44 countries convened in the largest international conference of its kind in Greece on Thursday (Jan. 12) to discuss “Nicaea-sized” questions facing the Eastern Orthodox Church amid war and bitter division. Some of the most contentious issues at the Mega-Conference of the International Orthodox Theological Association, meeting in Volos, have been exposed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, which exacerbated a split between a newly independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine…

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File photo of Russia's Vladimir Putin meeting with Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill. Photo Credit: Kremlin.ru

Patriarch Kirill’s ‘Theology Of War’ Leading To The Demise Of The ROC MP

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Eurasia Review by Paul Goble  Patriarch Kirill’s “theology of war” which seeks to justify acts of genocide in Ukraine is leading to the collapse of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as it has existed since Stalin restored that structure during World War II, Sergey Chapnin says. Indeed, the former deputy editor of the Moscow Patriarchate’s publishing house who has broken with the ROC MP and now is a senior fellow at Fordham University’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center says, what is going on “most clearly resembles” an act of suicide by the Moscow church (theins.ru/opinions/sergei-chapnin/258086). Many Russian…

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The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra complex in Kyiv. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is canonically linked to the Moscow Patriarchate. BERNAT ARMANGUE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ukraine Clamps Down on Orthodox Church Linked to Moscow

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By on Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories, Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The Wall Street Journal Zelensky seeks to weaken a key source of Russian influence as heavy fighting continues By Yaroslav Trofimov KYIV, Ukraine—Ukraine’s government moved to curb the activities of the Orthodox Christian denomination historically linked to Moscow, aiming to cut off the most important remaining source of Russian cultural and religious influence in the country. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the move as deadly battles continued along the front line, with Russia making small advances near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which has re-emerged as a major focus of the war. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, canonically linked to the Moscow Patriarchate, is one…

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Patriarch Kirill of Moscow

PATRIARCH KIRILL’S CRUSADE

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Public Orthodoxy by George Demacopoulos In 1095, Pope Urban II told a large gathering of knights in Southern France that it was their responsibility to avenge the Islamic conquest of the Holy Land (he did not mention that the conquest had occurred nearly 500 years earlier). Urban’s sermon led to the First Crusade, and it forever changed the dynamics between Western Europe, Eastern Christianity, and the Islamic world. From a Christian theological perspective, Urban introduced an entirely novel—some might say heretical—way of thinking about the relationship between Christian piety and violence. Near the end of his sermon, Urban declared, “Set out on…

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CHECKMATE: SERBIAN ORTHODOX DIPLOMACY IN THE SHADES OF THE UKRAINIAN WAR

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By on Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Public Orthodoxy by Emil Saggau This spring, the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) sealed significant and important deals, which has solidified and strengthened the SOC’s position. The first “deal” in May turned the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC), formally the Ohrid Archbishopric, into a canonical church, which ended around 50 years of estrangement between the SOC and MOC. The second one in July was between the SOC and the Montenegrin government, which granted the SOC privileges in Montenegro and closed almost twenty years of uncertainty between the two parties. These deals are not just a sign of the new diplomatic strength of…

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