Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA On Wednesday, October 11, the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate met at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. The meeting had not been previously announced. The minutes of the meeting can be read at (link). Changes were made in three important positions of the Moscow Patriarchate. The first change is that Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea is retired by the Holy Synod. See Journal entry 92. The retirement of Metropolitan Lazar is not a surprise. He was born in 1939 (thus 84 years old) and has served as the head of the Simferopol and Crimea diocese…
Browsing: Ukraine
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA There have been several reports in the last few days that enough deputies in the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) have pledged their support for the passage for Draft Law 8371. Draft Law 8371 has been pending in the Rada for more than nine months but had not been submitted to the Rada for the first reading because of lack of majority support in the Rada. However, Oleg Dunda, a deputy in the Rada, stated on October 6: “The appeal of the People’s Deputies to ban the UOC-MP has already collected about 240 signatures, and in…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA On Sunday, September 25, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ issued a decree initiating canonical proceedings in the diocesan court of the Moscow Diocese against Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun. Pending a canonical trial, the decree imposed severe limitations on the priestly service of Archimandrite Cyril. The full text of the decree is posted at (link). A Google translation of the full decree is as follows: Decree No. U-02/152 of 25 September 2023 // to Archimandrite Kirill (Hovorun) The written commitment of fidelity to the Russian Orthodox Church given by you was repeatedly violated, which was expressed,…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA The first session of the XVI Assembly of the Synod of Catholic Bishops will be held at the Vatican during the period October 4-28, 2023. The Synod will be devoted to the subject: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission. On September 19, the Vatican provided the final list of the Synod participants. https://www.synod.va/en/news/the-participants-of-the-16th-general-assembly-of-the-synod-of-bishops.html Of the twelve “fraternal delegates” listed, three are from the Orthodox Churches of the Byzantine tradition, and three are from the Oriental Orthodox Churches. With respect to the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch is listed as a participant, and Father Hyacinthe…
Source: Public Orthodoxy Hieromonk Athanasius (Bukin) On February 7th, 2023, still a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, I boarded a plane and left the Holy Land, where I was serving as a member of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem (REM). Only after landing in Antalya (Turkey) did I publish a post on social media in which I announced my departure from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and my intention not to return to Russia. This was preceded by months of heavy reflection and, I will not hide, moral uncertainty. I became a practicing Orthodox Christian in 2008, when…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA On September 1, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew celebrated at the Phanar the Feast of Indiction, which marks the beginning of the church year. September 1 is also the Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Environment, instituted by the late Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios in 1989. The Ecumenical Patriarch’s letter for this year can be read in English at https://ec-patr.org/patriarchal-message-for-the-beginning-of-the-ecclesiastical-year-and-the-solemn-day-of-prayers-for-natural-environment-1st-september-2023/. This year’s letter includes a paragraph devoted to the “horrible ecological devastation” caused by the war in Ukraine. In view of the fact that “the people and ecosystem of Ukraine have undergone and continue to undergo…
Source: The National Herald SOUTHAMPTON, NY – In an interview featured on 27east.com, Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Father Alexander Karloutsos spoke about the war in Ukraine. Tom Gogola’s article begins by noting that, “the war in Ukraine may be thousands of miles away, but it hits close to home for Father Alex Karloutsos of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons in Shinnecock Hills.” Gogola writes that, “Karloutsos is joining his church colleagues in decrying the punishment, he says, of hundreds of Russian-based clergymen in the Russian Orthodox Church who have opposed the war…
Source: Orthodox Public Affairs Committee The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC) decries the punishment of clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Kirill for opposing the war against Ukraine. Although there are tens of thousands of Russian Clergy, around three hundred have actively opposed the war and its support by Kirill. They have defied the Russian Church leader by substituting the word “peace” for “victory” in Putin-centric prayers mandated by the Russian Church Hierarchy. Some, like Father Ioann Koval have been defrocked and sought refuge under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Not only does Kirill and his cronies continue to compromise the integrity of the…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, who has been the key representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with respect to Ukraine since 2018, has now arrived in Kyiv. On August 10, the Metropolitan met with President Zelinsky. https://www.president.gov.ua/news/volodimir-zelenskij-zustrivsya-z-predstavnikom-vselenskogo-p-84813. According to the President’s website, attention was paid at the meeting to “the spiritual independence of Ukraine, the discussion of the Ukrainian peace formula, as well as the issue of the return of children illegally deported from our country.” A short video of the meeting can be accessed at https://orthodoxtimes.com/elder-metropolitan-of-chalcedon-met-metropolitan-of-kiyv-and-president-of-ukraine-video/ The video shows that Viktor Yelensky, the head of DESS, was…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA On August 7, 2023, Metropolitan Pavlo, vicar of the Kyiv Lavra, was released from the Kyiv pretrial detention center following the posting of bail in the amount of UAH 33,300,000 ($902,183). https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-society/3745466-mitropolit-pavlo-vijsov-izpid-varti-pid-zastavu-advokat.html The attorney for Pavlo, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, posted the details on his Telegram site. https://t.me/s/nikita_chekman His description is as follows: Today, August 7, 2023, the Vicar of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was finally released from custody. We will remind you that the Solomyansky district court of the city of Kyiv changed the preventive measure of Metropolitan Pavlo from 24-hour house arrest to detention with bail in…
Source: CathNews Ukraine has moved its official Christmas holiday to December 25, breaking with the Russian Orthodox Church, which celebrates it on January 7 in line with the Julian calendar. Source: SBS News. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a bill pushing for the change in June, with the aim of moving away from “the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations” in January. Ukraine’s Parliament voted in favour of changing the date of the Orthodox Christmas holiday earlier this month, with Mr Zelenskyy signing the bill on Friday. The bill highlights the deepening rift between churches in Kyiv and Moscow since Russia’s invasion…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest has given a long interview to RIA Novosti, the Russian state news agency. https://ria.ru/20230725/mitropolit_ilarion-1886120415.html To the best of my knowledge, this is the first significant interview that Metropolitan Hilarion has given since his transfer to Budapest in June 2022. Most of the interview relates to Constantinople and the document presented by Metropolitan Hilarion at the recent Bishops’ Conference (https://mospat.ru/ru/news/90540/ ). However, the Metropolitan also addressed the discussion at the Conference concerning the “current armed confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.” Thus, the Metropolitan stated: I would like to quote the words of His Holiness the Patriarch…