Byzantine, Texas

A little bit of Luke 6:41 it seems... "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Apologies for the colorful Russian to English translation. Moscow, September 30, ( Interfax ) – A leader of scout movement in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Archpriest Yaroslav Belikov recommends elderly parishioners who insult young people coming to the Church to think over spiritual education of their own grandchildren. “ When I see an old women reproaching youngsters, I always want to question them: why do you educate others’ children and grandchildren who have come to the Church? Where are your own grandchildren? Why didn’t they come to the church? ” a cleric of the Church of Icon of Joy of All Who Sorrow in San Francisco and spiritual leader of the Kiev scout team Fr. Yaroslav told an Interfax-Religion correspondent. According to the priest, new parishioners are lucky if they manage pass the candle shop ...

( Directions to Orthodoxy ) - The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches traveled to Armenia for the annual feast of the blessing of holy muron (chrism). The presdent of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stresses the importance of religion in maintaining peace and moral values in a meeting with the Catholicos of All Armenians and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. President Serzh Sargsyan today hosted the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, Heads of Dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I who arrived in Armenia on the occasion of blessing the Holy Chrism and representatives of sister churches of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Greeting the guests, the President of Armenia said: “Muron is of special symbolic importance or us. Everyone in Armenia believes that spreading all over the world, the Muron returns to Holy Etchmiadzin ...

You may remember my earlier article " Schismatics attempt to take eparchial building over ." This is another update. ( RISU ) - A press conference on St. Yur’s Hill in Lviv on September 17th announced a guilty verdict in the “Pidhirtsi Fathers” trial. In the beginning of June, the court opened the criminal trial of hieromonachs from the Order of St. Basil the Great: Illia A. Dohnal, Metodii R. Shpirzhik, Markiian V. Hitiuk and priest Robert Oberhauser. The Collective Tribunal of Sokal and Zhovkva Eparchies excommunicated the priests in trial. According to law, the sentence specified that “whoever consider themselves wronged by this sentence has a right to appeal within 15 days of the announcement of the sentence to the Tribunal of the Supreme Archbishop of UGCC at the address: Saint George Square, 5; city of Lviv, 79000; Ukraine." The accused priests appealed the sentence on June 12, 2008. In the second court hearing, the Tribunal considered the appeal of accused priests...

Interesting questions and commentary.

Another great article on this comes from a back issue of Touchstone linked here . Richmond, Sep 26, 2008 / 08:56 pm ( CNA ) - At least five Virginia State Police chaplains have resigned after being told they must refrain from using words like "Jesus" and "Christ." Superintendent W. Steven Flaherty, reportedly concerned about offending people of other faiths (sidenote: Religion isn't innocuous. If you want the rhetoric and delivery style without the substance hire Jessie Jackson.) , directed the agency’s 17 chaplains to begin delivering neutral or nondenominational prayers at functions such as trooper graduation ceremonies and its annual memorial service for fallen officers, the Richmond Times-Dispatch says. "The department recognizes the importance of a state government agency to be inclusive and respectful of the varied ethnicities, cultures and beliefs of our employees, their families and citizens at large," Flaherty said in a statement. Flaherty cit...

On September 26 the group of pilgrims with Metropolitan Volodymyr at the head was received by His Most Godly Beatitude the Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine Theophilos III. Taking part in the reception also were Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and all Moldova with numerous clergy, as well as the hierarchs and clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, more than 200 pilgrims from Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. ( UOC-MP ) The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the head of the Church of Moldova thanked the Patriarch of Jerusalem for the reception and the possibility of celebration of the Divine Liturgy at the most holy shrine of the Christian world - the Holy Sepulchre. In his greeting word Metropolitan Volodymyr noted with gratitude that His Beatitude Patriarch Theophanes of Jerusalem rendered inestimable service to the Russian Orthodox Church - restored the orthodox hierarchy in the territory of Rzeczpospolita. His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr donate...

Fabulous post by Annales Ecclesiae Ucrainae on the changing role of the "Greek" deacon in papal masses. Before Vatican II there was an uneven liturgical process of use on the Greek deacon as compared to the Latin deacon (see article for details). After Vatican II efforts were made to show due dignity to both, but this has not been done uniformly. If you care about this sort of thing at all, or even about the use of a deacon from the Ecumenical Patriarchate this year in a papal mass, this is a must read. If not, I expect you will be bored to tears. ... In our day, the Greek deacon often (but not always) makes an appearance at solemn papal masses but, contrary to the former practice, he need no longer be a monk of Grottaferrata Abbey. Sometimes he is Greek, other times Russian, Ruthenian or Ukrainian etc. and proclaims the gospel in the liturgical language of his own Particular Church. Any signs of inequality between the Latin and Greek ministers have been suppressed. Due to ...

I received several emails and a comment on my post updating the status of the Union of Brest ecumenical workgroup (vide infra). Since there is interest, I'll point you to another historical treatment of the events . It may be a little dense for some, but if bite-sized portions are taken it should prove rewarding. ... As similar historical paradigm for the "martyriological structure" of papal primacy can be found in the UGCC. The Ruthenian hierarchy freely sought out the Union of Brest, because neither the Patriarch of Constantinople "nor his predecessors since the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 had exercised any direct authority over the Kievan Church" (S. SENYK, “The Background of the Union,” in Analecta OSBM, Section II, Volume XV (XXI) 1-4, 1996): 103). Moreover, the Patriarch of Constantinople was powerless to deal with the Kyivan church's concrete problems, as he himself was in need of aid and constantly in search of "generous alms to ...

Our parish is blessed with two children with Down's Syndrome. They are themselves blessed with patient and loving parents. We refuse to have the screening test done, and even using a very pro-family doctor, his nurses will ask my wife every time she comes in if she wants to get tested. Washington, DC ( LifeNews.com ) -- After recent Senate passage, the House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to help reduce the number of abortions on babies who have Down syndrome or other conditions. The legislation is headed to President Bush, who is expected to sign it into law. Senator Sam Brownback, the lead sponsor of S 1810 in the Senate, told LifeNews.com he's elated by the news. “Passage of this bipartisan bill in both the Senate and House is a great victory for expecting parents who learn that their unborn child may be born with a disability,” he said. “Currently, 90 percent of children prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted, and that percentage is simila...

Making no assumptions about what you know of Ukrainian history, the Union of Brest was: "the 1595-1596 decision of the (Ruthenian) Church of Rus', the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'", to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the (patriarch) Pope of Rome, in order to avoid the domination of the newly established Patriarch of Moscow." ( UOC News ) - On the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and all Ukraine on September 14-18 the session of the workgroup on writing the history of the Brest Union is held at the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine. The group working on the project of writing history of the Brest Union of 1596 is composed of the Orthodox, Catholic and Greek Catholic researchers. The project of writing the Brest Union history was launched by the international fund «Pro Oriente» in 2002 when the creation of the extra-confessional workgroup ...

More comedic gold from the Onion Dome : Parishioners at the Church of All Saints of Southern North Carolina have accused their priest of plagiarizing confessions as they have been getting the feeling that their sins have inspired several Sunday sermons. Dorcas Smith said that after she had confessed to fantasizing about a triple fudge chocolate sundae with heavy whipped cream on the top during the third week of Lent, Fr. Barsanphius began drooling on his stole and that day his sermon was about the importance of not tempting your neighbor. Similarly, 12-year-old Anna Anderson found another confession correlation. "I said that I was really, really sorry for finding the guide to swearing in 8th-century Slavonic and passing it around Sunday school. And then Father gives this long sermon about speaking in tongues and how St. Paul was trying to keep the Corinthians from speaking in tongues too much, which I don't think anybody really understood but me." Bertha Cuthberta Johnson...

One thing having a lot of children does for a man is ti free him from embarrassment or general discomfort brought on by things that would have earlier made him cringe or run away in fright. Perhaps some examples would be helpful. I feel completely free to order the girliest of drinks in social settings. When asked - no male gathering is free of manliness of drink quotient checks - I will affirm the existence of my five children as proof of my manliness, quaff my drink, and order something with a cherry and small, festively colored umbrella. I am on Orthodox and Eastern Catholic homeschooling mailing lists. I am often the only man subscribed or at least willing to make the occasional comment. I no longer fear the color pink as shirt choice option, but still refrain from its purchase. In this vein I feel free to post about an article on Baptism in the Orthodox tradition from a decidedly feminine blog dedicated to the manufacture and care of attire for baptisms, christenings, and flower ...

MOSCOW, SEPT. 24, 2008 ( Zenit.org ).- Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II says he is very pleased with the publication of a Russian edition of the Catholic magazine " 30 Days ." In a letter to its director, former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said he is "very happy to see that this authoritative monthly, published in seven languages, now also has a Russian edition." "This special issue contains rich material on the history, cultural and present-day life of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church," the patriarch noted. He added that he is certain this initiative will promote "a fruitful dialogue between the patriarchate of Moscow and the Roman Catholic Church." The special Russian issue of "30 Days" was produced in collaboration with Moscow's World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations" and is titled "The Faith of Russia, the Unity of the Church."

Roman Catholic presence in Greece is certainly contentious. Take the simple legal impediment of even visiting/tourist Catholic clergy not being allowed to wear their Roman collar or cassock in public and you get some idea of what legal recognition might mean to this small group. Warsaw, 23 September ( ENI ) -- A leader of Greece's Roman Catholic minority has demanded legal recognition for his church, and complained that for decades it has been denied equal rights in the predominantly Orthodox country. "In refusing recognition to the Catholic Church for years, the authorities are guided not by legal considerations but by an opportunism linked to the eventual political cost of any decision," said Archbishop Nikólaos Printesis , general secretary of Greece's (Catholic) Bishops' Conference. In an interview with the Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia at the end of August, Printesis said that contacts with many political leaders in Greece, including government ministers, ar...

NEW YORK ( GOARCH ) – Archbishop Demetrios of America received yesterday, September 22, 2008, at the Archdiocese headquarters, the Holy and Sacred Relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, one of the best known Russian Orthodox Saints of the 19 th century and a popular saint in Greece. Bishop Mercurius of Zaraisk, the head of the Representation of the Patriarchate of Moscow in the United States presented to Archbishop Demetrios the relics, sent directly from Moscow and by the express wish of Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia. The bestowal of the Relics came as the culmination of a request from the St. Anthony’s Monastery in Florence, Ariz. The Russian Orthodox Patriarchate, observing the canonical order of the Church, transferred the Relics to the Archbishop, who will make provision for the bequest to the Monastery. Bishop Mercurius and his staff, Fr. Alexander Abramov and Mrs. Yulia McGregor, were received by the Archbishop, Bishop Andonios of Phasiane, and the clergy and staff of the A...

Dallas, TX ( Diocese of the South ) - His Eminence, Archbishop Dmitri communicated with his chancery office this evening to announce that Bishop-elect Jonah will be consecrated to the episcopacy here (Dallas) on Saturday, November 1. Events scheduled from October 31st to November 2nd. His Eminence further announced that His Eminence, Archbishop Job and His Grace Bishop Benjamin will participate in the consecration.

Minsk, September 24, ( Interfax ) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said he would like the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Pope to meet in Belarus. "I would very much like a meeting of the Moscow Patriarch and the Roman [Catholic] Pope to take place here in Belarus, in the center of Europe and at a meeting point of Orthodoxy and Catholicism," Lukashenko said in an interview with the Western media. The president, however, admitted that "it is impossible today for certain known reasons." In spite of this, "we, following the principles of hospitality and respecting our Catholics, have invited this great person [the pope] to visit Belarus," he said. "I strongly regret that the incumbent pope's predecessor - John Paul II - did not come to Belarus. He wanted very much to visit our country. He loved Belarus absolutely sincerely," Lukashenko said. The Belarusian president said he sees no reasons for religious conflicts in his...

( Chicago Synergy ) - Synergy has been hosting an annual Symposium since 1995. We've gradually settled on the third Saturday in October. The 2008 Symposium's theme is suicide. Alone in a Crowd: Issues, Signals and Strategies Relating to Suicide Suicide is the second leading cause of death for those aged 15-26 Speakers: Dr. Ari Christofidis Founder and Director of the Orthodox Christian Counseling Institute Youth and Family Counseling Ms. Jeanne Malnati, LCSW Advisory Board and Speaker for Elyssa's Mission, a not-for-profit foundation providing support and resources relative to teen suicide. Private counseling specializing in women, teens and families Saturday, October 18, 2008 9:00 am - 1:30 pm St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church 1220 S. 60th Court, Cicero Registration information will be available on our website and will also be mailed in September. For more information call (847) 647-8880 or (630) 230-0079

( EP ) - Addressing a formal sitting of the House as part of European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Bartholomew I, spoke of the value of the European project in promoting peace and tolerance, the importance of accepting minorities and the need for the EU to accept Turkey as a member. He also underlined his church's efforts to encourage respect for the environment. Introducing the Ecumenical Patriarch, EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering stressed that "The European Union is a community based on values, the most fundamental of which is human dignity. In this respect religious freedom is central to human dignity". He linked this to the separation of church and state, as anchored in the Lisbon Treaty. Mr Pöttering described the Patriarch as "a beacon to your followers in the Orthodox world" and pointed out that recent EU enlargements had brought in the Orthodox countries of Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania. He added "...

A vow of conversation has a recent post on the disagreement on using leavened or unleavened bread for the Eucharist and the effect it had on the Church.

I applaud the thought. I at the same time remember with sadness that both the process of glorification (canonization) of holy people and also the works of the saints have also been used as weapons by governments, inter-church politicians, and angry converts. Attempts have been made to glorify Stalin, men who tried to forcefully dismantle other churches (Greek Catholics, Orthodox, Chalcedonians, monophysites, etc), and those whose theology finds fault with the theological constructs of others. I hope they add some time for this grave misuse of the Church. ( WCC ) - Can saints and martyrs - or for that matter, Christians who lived exemplary lives - help unite the churches into which they were born? An international group of experts will discuss this and other related questions at a symposium in an Italian monastery. Throughout the history of the church, men and women have set examples of Christian life that constitute a rich heritage to the ecumenical movement. An international symposium...

Unam Sanctam puts the screws to the sort of "gotcha" invalidating many people attempt to use when discounting other ecclesial bodies. I am currently still shaking off reading three or four blogs that spent many a paragraph on nitpicking, fault finding, or simple name calling in an attempt to point the judgmental finger. Orthodox, Catholics, and Evangelicals alike have their own playbooks on discounting each other. I've grown rather tired of it. I no longer entertain discussions on who has longer or more antiphons than whom. Who retained such and such practice in its most "authentic" form. Who stands, sits, prostrates, bows, genuflects, does the Lambada, what-have-you at what time during the liturgy. We are not street gangs looking for the most street cred. We are the faithful striving to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as ...

I earlier mentioned this event when it was announced that in addition to the Ecumenical Patriarch's role as an observer along with other Orthodox (Oriental and Eastern) hierarchs in attendance, he would also be addressing the synod directly. People that consider 'ecumenism' to be a word as vile as 'genocide' or 'papist' were not pleased. People who lament the division of East and West were pleasantly surprised. ( Newsahead ) - The 12th general assembly of the Synod of Bishops meets in October to discuss "The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church." Significantly, Bartholomew I, the 270th patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, will attend this first Synod called by Pope Benedict XVI. One result of the Vatican Council II of the Catholic Church, which ran 1962 to 1965, was the decision to welcome "fraternal delegations" to synod assemblies. Father Joseph Ratzinger was a theological consultant for the 3-year Council. Now Pop...

Do please feel free (and very much encouraged) to spread the word about this event. Below is an early version of the patch I've worked on that will in all likelihood be adjusted by the patch vendor before all is said and done. The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh Catholic Committee on Scouting announces the first Light is Life Camporee for Boy Scouts to be held at Camp Guyasuta, Pittsburgh from Friday, 11/21/08 through Sunday, 11/23/08. Cost will be $10. Any Eastern Catholic Boy Scout or Venturer interested in a weekend of Eastern Catholic Scout Fellowship and working towards the Light is Life emblem should RSVP to Father Deacon Lance Weakland at 724-223-8048 or camporee@byzcathscouting.org by 10/31/08.

MANGALORE, India ( UCAN ) -- Sister Selma says the beating she endured at the hands of policemen has helped her appreciate the persecution her forefathers suffered for their Catholic faith.Pictured left: Bethany Sister Selma in a hospital in Mangalore, India, on Sept. 18, after police beat her for protecting a church from attacks by Hindu fanatics. The Bethany nun and eight other members of her congregation were among some 40 women injured on Sept. 15 when policemen baton-charged Catholics at two separate gatherings in Mangalore, Karnataka state. The Catholic men and women were protecting their churches from attack by Hindu fanatics while protesting earlier attacks on other churches in this southern Indian state. During the past month, Hindu militants in Karnataka have vandalized churches and prayer halls, destroyed bibles, prayer books, crosses and crucifixes, and desecrated the Blessed Sacrament. Hindu radical groups accuse Christians of converting Hindus through force and allurement...

And for fun the largest mosaic of Jesus (Pantocrator) in the West was installed in San Francisco:

You will hear from one side that Iraqi Christians should strive not to separate themselves off from the larger Muslim society as it will create less mutual understanding and actually make the fighting worse. On the other side is the opinion that engagement serves no purpose as the hostilities have not stopped and will not as no one is helping them lead safe and secure lives. I personally don't know who has the right of it. Brussels ( AINA ) -- On September 16 the head of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, Patriarch Dinkha IV, proclaimed after a prayer service in a Syriac Orthodox church that Assyrians must work to establish an Assyrian administered unit in northern Iraq's Nineveh Plain. Patriarch Dinkha emphasized the Assyrian administrative area must comply with the Iraqi constitution and United Nations regulations. The Patriarch reiterated Assyrians are under attack in the Middle East and it is thus necessary for the Assyrians of different church denomin...

An Orthodox mom's blog post on respecting the differences between boys and girls. “Don’t try to mess with me. I’m the equivalent of a 30 year old beat cop or a career fighter pilot. I have five sons. And I'm here to tell you the truth about those blue-ribbon babies. They really aren’t just like girls in most essential ways. While they sometimes seem to have the emotional range of single-celled organisms, boys can be moved to tears by anything involving a dog. But they’re unmoved by the tears you shed when you find the cupboard drawer containing the half-eaten pudding (th fossilized pizza…) And it’s not only boyfriends or husbands who loathe and fear the words, “We need to talk.” Sons do too. Male humans, in my experience, will begin answering questions with monosyllables as soon as they can make disgusting sounds, which is almost immediately. Making those disgusting sounds will serve as an endless source of amusement to them and their friends for at least the next 20 years......

Interview discusses the history of the conference and its composition. It then moves into a discussion of the Western and Eastern practices of facilitating spiritual direction (spiritual father, geronta, staretz) with special emphasis on the role the monastics play. Real media clip here .

Moscow, September 18, ( Interfax ) – The Russian Church points out to great potential for cooperation with Catholics, but warns against their unfriendly steps. “We have much in common with Catholics not only in teaching, but also in morals,” the Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said on air of the Soyuz Orthodox TV channel. According to him, today “Catholic hierarchs and laymen actively opposes the problems actual for modern Russia: aborts, dilution of family, cult of permissiveness in private life, in sexual relations, in media, in education and so on.” “We fight against the same enemies and must at least coordinate our efforts,” Fr. Vsevolod stressed. Though, he noted, the Moscow Patriarchate saw “there are people in the Catholic Church who try to expand the area of its influence in Orthodox countries and nations.” “It happens in Ukraine where the Greek Catholic Church was a local phenomenon of three region...

LONDON, September 17, 2008 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) - Internet giant Google has settled out of court with The Christian Institute and will now allow religious groups to place factual and campaigning ads on the subject of abortion. The Christian Institute, a pro-life and pro-family Christian lobbying and education organization, took legal action against Google after it rejected an ad in March with its search-related advertising system, AdWords, which read: "UK abortion law: Key views and news on abortion law from The Christian Institute. http://www.christian.org.uk." Google rejected the ad because its former policy disallowed the advertising of sites that mixed "abortion and religion-related content." The Christian Institute took Google to court in April, saying the refusal constituted discrimination on the grounds of religious belief, a violation of Britain's anti-discrimination laws, the Equality Act 2006. A spokesman for the Institute said in April, "For man...

( The Age ) - A Serbian bishop who was forcibly retired in the US after a revolt by his clergy is working in Victoria, where his presence has divided the Serbian Orthodox community. Bishop Nikolai Soraich was removed as bishop of Alaska by the Orthodox Church in America this year after two investigations upheld a litany of complaints, including that he appointed to the clergy in Alaska a man jailed for sexual abuse of minors. The bishop was forced to cancel his visit to St Stephan of Dechani church at Carrum Downs 10 days ago after members of the congregation protested before the service. And police were called on Sunday after a confrontation between the congregation and members of other Serbian churches who travelled from Greensborough and Keysborough. Official church investigations in Alaska into Bishop Nikolai found that he repeatedly abused and intimidated clergy and laypeople, violated the church's rules on sexual misconduct and fostered an atmosphere of fear and mistrust. He ...

( POI ) - "Inspired by ecumenism": this will be the inspiration behind the journey that the patriarch of Moscow, Alexius II, will make in Austria, from 20 to 23 December. This was stated by the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Vienna, Hilarion (Alfejew). During the presentation of the schedule of the Patriarch's visit, the bishop spoke of the "great interest" aroused by the event even in Russia. Many Russian bishops will be in the Patriarch's retinue. The ecumenical repercussions of Alexius II's visit include the Patriarch's visit to the abbey of Klosterneuburg on December 21st and his attendance of an Advent concert in the Basilica, along with all the Christian delegates that at the end will meet the Patriarch. The delegates of the other Orthodox Churches in Austria too will take part in the celebrations due to take place in Vienna and Klosterneuburg: they include the metropolitan bishop, Michael Staikos, the Romanian Orthodox metropolitan bishop of Germa...

Tur Abdin, Turkey ( AINA ) -- The St. Gabriel Assyrian monastery, of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, was established in 397 AD, hundreds of years before its neighboring villages of Yayvantepe, Eglence and Candarli were founded. During the reign of the Ottoman Empire the monastery was officially declared as a foundation and is still legally regarded as such. Since its establishment the monastery has developed and continuously improved its environment. Over the last three decades it has developed into a major center that attracts tens of thousands visitors from Turkey and abroad. The entire region has benefited from this development. Kurdish leaders from the villages of Yayvantepe, Eglence and Candarli, in cooperation with influential members of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), are now trying through dubious "lawful means" to confiscate the land of the monastery by claiming that the monastery has "too much" land for prayer and that land is neede...

Full article here . I'd highlight the important part, but it would all be red. Six weeks after the Metropolitan Council unanimously requested the 2007 financial statements and audited reports from St. Tikhon's Monastery, in early April 2008, former Metropolitan Herman quickly arranged a $152,000 loan from the Honesdale Bank according to documents sent to the Metropolitan Council by an unidentified OCA member. The mortgage was taken out without the knowledge or authorization of the Metropolitan Council, in an apparent violation of the OCA Statute. Members of the OCA Administration have also privately denied knowledge of the mortgage, but no public comment has been made.

BHUBANESWAR, India ( UCAN ) -- As the anti-Christian pogrom in Orissa ebbs, survivors recount narrow escapes as well as atrocities they witnessed. Anti-Christian violence swept through the eastern Indian state after Swami Laxmananda Saraswati, an 85-year-old Hindu religious leader, and four associates were killed on Aug. 23 in the state's Kandhamal district. Maoists claimed responsibility, but Hindu extremists blame Christians. About 50,000 Christians hid in forests as Hindu radical mobs burned their houses and Church buildings, such as churches, presbyteries and convents. The violence claimed at least 27 lives, mostly Christians, and wounded hundreds including pastors and nuns. One of the Catholics killed in the violence was Rajesh Digal. His brother-in-law, Kamal Digal, narrated how a mob buried Rajesh alive. Kamal, also a Catholic, spoke with UCA News on Sept. 9 over the phone from an undisclosed location in Kandhamal district. Rajesh, 27, and a Hindu friend, Tunguru Mallick, wo...