St. Vladimir's and the Malankara Orthodox Church

(SVOTS) - V. Rev. Dr John Behr (Dean) spent two intense but immensely rewarding weeks in October, travelling and speaking to different groups in southern and central India as the guest of the Malankara Orthodox Church. He was invited by Rev. Dr Bijesh Philip, an SVS alumnus (1994), now Professor of the St Thomas Orthodox Seminary in Nagpur, and founder of the Prerana Special School for the mentally challenged. Fr John's visit strengthened existing connections between St Vladimir's Orthodox Theology Seminary and the Malankara Orthodox Church. It also prompted both sides to begin exploring new possibilities for further collaboration.

Fr John took a camera with him and documented many aspects of the trip. This is what happened...

Meetings with hierarchs

Fr John arrived in India on Wednesday September 30th. Almost immediately, he was granted an audience with the Catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Church, His Holiness Baselius Mar Thoma Didymus I, and his assistant and Catholicos Designate, His Beatitude Paulose Mar Milithios. Also present were His Grace Thomas Mar Athanasios (Diocese of Chengannur) who is responsible for publications, and His Grace Gabriel Mar Gregorios (Diocese of Tiruvananthapuram) who is responsible for ecumenical affairs. The meeting was warm, friendly, and very productive.

On October 2nd, while in Kollam, Fr John met His Grace Zachariah Mar Anthonios (Diocese of Kollam).

While at St Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary in Nagpur, Fr John met the hierarchs and Board members who had gathered for St Thomas' Seminary Board meeting and convocation. Fr John had further conversations with H.B. Mar Milithios, the Catholicos Designate, as well as His Grace Dr Yakob Mar Irenius (Diocese of Kochi) and His Grace Dr Joseph Mar Dionysius (Diocese of Kolkatta).

Presentations and meetings with theologians and seminarians

Fr John visited the two seminaries of the Malankara Orthodox Church, an ashram, and several churches.

He began at the Orthodox Seminary in Kottayam, which has a distinguished history. It is known as the "Old Seminary" because it was founded in 1815, with the aid of British missionaries, and was the first such educational institution in India. He was warmly welcomed by the Principal, Rev. Dr K M George, and by Fr M S John (another SVS alumnus). Fr John played a DVD showing the life of St Vladimir's Seminary and spoke to the students about theological education, its demands and principles. The Kottayam students enjoyed the DVD - especially when they recognized one of SVS's current students - Ceena (Miriam) Varghese -who is featured on it!

• On October 3rd, Fr John spoke to the faculty and students from the Old Seminary and other seminaries on "The Challenge of Our Past and Challenging the Past".
• On Monday, October 5th, Fr John traveled to St Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary in Nagpur - literally the center of India - which was holding its Board meeting and Convocation. He was welcomed by the Principal, Rev. Dr Reji Mathew, spoke to the Alumni Association, and delivered the Convocation Address.

While at St Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary, Fr John spent two days teaching the students, working through two texts of two authors - the Mystical Theology of Dionysius the Areopagite and Ambiguum 41 of St Maximus the Confessor - foundational for the later Byzantine tradition.

Meeting with and speaking to youth groups

While at the Orthodox Seminary in Kottayam, Fr John had the opportunity to visit Mt Horeb Ashram, headed by Fr V M James, near Kollam. The Ashram oversees various colleges and educational institutions. So, Fr John spoke about the Bible and how to read it, to a group of young women, studying at the St Basil Bible School and Orientation Center before going on to train as nurses.

• On Sunday, October 4th, Fr John spoke to a youth group at St George's Church in Thekkady, hosted by Fr Sanjay Geevarghese. Fr John was asked to speak to the young people on suffering and death in response to the tragedy at Thekkady, only a few days before, when thirty-nine tourists died after their boat capsized.
• On Sunday, October 11, Fr John was honored by a youth retreat at St Mary's Church in Raipur, and spoke with them on the theme "Blessed are those whose delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law they meditate day and night" (Ps 1.2)

Greek Church sues Turkey over treatment in Cyprus

(guardian.co.uk) - The Greek Orthodox church of Cyprus has taken Turkey to the European court of human rights over allegedly preventing the 500 Greek Cypriots living in the Turkish north worshipping at religious sites there, a church lawyer said today.

The lawsuit concerns 520 churches, monasteries, chapels and cemeteries under Turkish control since Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, said Simos Angelides. The north's Greek Cypriot community cannot worship at these sites because they are either derelict or have been converted into mosques, army barracks, stables or nightclubs, he added.

Turkish officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Mediterranean island is split along religious as well as ethnic lines. The Greek-Cypriot south, seat of the country's internationally recognised government, is overwhelmingly Greek Orthodox. The Turkish-Cypriot north is Muslim, but some 500 Greek Cypriots still live there.

The lawsuit will likely further stoke tensions between Turkish Cypriots and the church leader, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, whom they see as an outspoken but influential hardliner representing a nationalist fringe.

It is unlikely, however, to damage ongoing reunification talks between the Greek Cyprus president, Dimitris Christofias, and Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat.

Although critical of Christofias' handling of the talks, Chrysostomos has been careful not to interfere, saying the lawsuit is not linked to the peace process. The church is suing Turkey because the court's past rulings hold that country responsible for the north, where it keeps 35,000-strong military force, Chrysostomos told the Associated Press.

The church has "documented proof" of the destruction of religious sites in the north, and will seek unrestricted access to its property there so the faithful can worship freely, he said.


The archbishop added that the church was also seeking damages for being denied use of property that should be restored to its pre-invasion condition wherever possible.


"It's obvious that the only reason why these aforementioned rights are being violated is because we are Greek Cypriot Orthodox Christians," Chrysostomos said.

Conspicuous consumption - Black Friday at a Walmart

On the Feast of St. Andrew the First Called

(ARCHONS) - His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received warm, fraternal greetings from Pope Benedict XVI on November 30th, the Feastday of the Ecumenical Throne, of St. Andrew the First-Called Disciple.

The Pope's message was delivered to the Ecumenical Patriarch by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, during the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George. The Vatican delegation also included Bishop Brian Farrell, Fr. Vladimiro Caroli, Fr. Andrea Palmieri, and Archbishop Antonio Lucibello, the apostolic nuncio in Ankara.

The Pope's message to His All Holiness can be read below:

To His Holiness Bartholomaios I
Archbishop of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch

Your Holiness,

It is with great joy that I address Your Holiness on the occasion of the visit of the delegation guided by my Venerable Brother Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, to whom I have entrusted the task of conveying to you my warmest fraternal greetings on the Feast of Saint Andrew, the brother of Saint Peter and the protector of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

On this joyful occasion commemorating the birth into eternal life of the Apostle Andrew, whose witness of faith in the Lord culminated in his martyrdom, I express also my respectful remembrance to the Holy Synod, the clergy and all the faithful, who under your pastoral care and guidance continue even in difficult circumstances to witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The memory of the holy martyrs compels all Christians to bear witness to their faith before the world. There is an urgency in this call especially in our own day, in which Christianity is faced with increasingly complex challenges. The witness of Christians will surely be all the more credible if all believers in Christ are "of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32).

Our Churches have committed themselves sincerely over the last decades to pursuing the path towards the re-establishment of full communion, and although we have not yet reached our goal, many steps have been taken that have enabled us to deepen the bonds between us. Our growing friendship and mutual respect, and our willingness to encounter one another and to recognize one another as brothers in Christ, should not be hindered by those who remain bound to the remembrance of historical differences, which impedes their openness to the Holy Spirit who guides the Church and is able to transform all human failings into opportunities for good.

This openness has guided the work of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue, which held its eleventh plenary session in Cyprus last month. The meeting was marked by a spirit of solemn purpose and a warm sentiment of closeness. I extend once again my heartfelt gratitude to the Church of Cyprus for its most generous welcome and hospitality. It is a source of great encouragement that despite some difficulties and misunderstandings all the Churches involved in the International Commission have expressed their intention to continue the dialogue.

The theme of the plenary session, The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium, is certainly complex, and will require extensive study and patient dialogue if we are to aspire to a shared integration of the traditions of East and West. The Catholic Church understands the Petrine ministry as a gift of the Lord to His Church. This ministry should not be interpreted in the perspective of power, but within an ecclesiology of communion, as a service to unity in truth and charity. The Bishop of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity (Saint Ignatius of Antioch), is understood to be the Servus Servorum Dei (Saint Gregory the Great). Thus, as my venerable predecessor the Servant of God Pope John Paul II wrote and I reiterated on the occasion of my visit to the Phanar in November 2006, it is a question of seeking together, inspired by the model of the first millennium, the forms in which the ministry of the Bishop of Rome may accomplish a service of love recognized by one and all (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 95). Let us therefore ask God to bless us and may the Holy Spirit guide us along this difficult yet promising path.

Yet even as we make this journey towards full communion, we should already offer common witness by working together in the service of humanity, especially in defending the dignity of the human person, in affirming fundamental ethical values, in promoting justice and peace, and in responding to the suffering that continues to afflict our world, particularly hunger, poverty, illiteracy, and the inequitable distribution of resources.

Furthermore, our Churches can work together in drawing attention to humanity's responsibility for the safeguarding of creation. In this regard, I express once again my appreciation for the many valuable initiatives supported and encouraged by Your Holiness which have borne witness to the gift of creation. The recent international symposium on Religion, Science and the Environment dedicated to the Mississippi River, and your encounters in the United States with distinguished figures from the political, cultural and religious spheres, have exemplified your commitment.

Your Holiness, on the solemn Feast of the great Apostle Andrew, I express my respectful esteem and spiritual closeness to Your Holiness and to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and I pray that the Triune God may bestow abundant blessings of grace and light on your lofty ministry for the good of the Church.

It is with these sentiments that I extend to you a fraternal embrace in the name of our one Lord Jesus Christ, and I renew my prayer that the peace and grace of our Lord may be with Your Holiness and with all those entrusted to your eminent pastoral leadership.

From the Vatican, 25 November 2009
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

A touching letter from Mat. Yulia Sysoeva

From ROCOR United. A letter from Matushka Yulia Sysoeva on the murder of her husband, Fr. Daniil Sysoeva.

Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for your support and prayers. This is the pain which cannot be expressed in words. This is the pain experienced by those who stood at the Cross of the Saviour. This is the joy which cannot be expressed in words, this is the joy experienced by those who came to the empty Tomb.

O death, where is thy sting?

Fr Daniel had already foreseen his death several years before it happened. He had always wanted to be worthy of a martyr's crown. Those who shot him wanted, as usual, to spit in the face of the Church, as once before they spat in the face of Christ. They have not achieved their goal, because it is impossible to spit in the face of the Church. Fr Daniel went up to his Golgotha in the very church which he had built, the church to which he gave up all his time and all his strength. They killed him like the prophet of old – between the temple and the altar and he was indeed found worthy of a martyr's calling. He died for Christ, Whom he served with all his strength.

Very often he would say to me that he was frightened of not having enough time, time to do everything. He was in a hurry. Sometimes, as a human-being he exaggerated, he got things wrong, he tripped up and made mistakes, but he made no mistake about the main thing, his life was entirely dedicated to HIM.

I did not understand why he was in a hurry. The last three years he was busy serving, never taking days off or taking holidays. I moaned, just now and again I wanted simple happiness, that my husband and my children's father would be with my children and me. But another path had been prepared for him.

He used to say that they would kill him. I would ask him who would look after us. Me and the three children. He would answer that he would put us in safe hands. ‘I‘ll give you to the Mother of God. She'll take care of you'.

These words were forgotten too soon. He told us which vestments to bury him in. Then I joked that there was no need to speak about that, we still did not know who would bury who. He said that I would bury him. Once our conversation turned to funerals, I don't remember the details but I did say that I had never been to a priest's funeral. And he answered that it did not matter because I would be at his funeral.

Now I remember many words which have gained a meaning. Now my doubts have dissolved, the misunderstandings have gone.

We did not say goodbye in this life, we did not ask each other forgiveness, we did not embrace one another. It was just another day: in the morning he went to the liturgy and I did not see him again. Why didn't I go to the church that day to meet him? I had thought of it, but I decided I had better get the evening meal ready and put the children to bed. It was because of the children that I did not go there. There was a hand that did not let me go. But the evening before I had gone to the church and met him. I had felt as if dark clouds were gathering over us. And in the last few days I had tried to spend more time with him. Over the last week I had thought only about death and about life after death. I couldn't get my head around either the first or the second. That day my head was spinning with the words: ‘Death is standing right behind you'. The last week everything was so hard, as if a huge load had been emptied out on top of me. I am not broken. He is supporting me, I feel as if he is standing by me. Then we said so many affectionate words, which we had never said to each other in our whole life before. Only now do I understand how much we loved each other.

The memorial service for the forty days of Fr Daniel takes place on the eve of his namesday and the patronal feast of the future church, 29 December, and 30 December is the feast of the holy prophet Daniel. According to the prophecy of an elder, the church would be built but Fr Daniel would not serve in it. The second part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled.

Matushka Yulia Sysoeva

Blessing The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ Monastery

I was unable to make it to the blessing, but more picture are available here.

Bishop Hilarion chimes in on Italian crucifix ban

(UOC-MP) - The decision made by the European Court on 3 November 2009 to the effect that the presence of crucifixes violates human rights in Italian schools has prompted Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk to send the following message to the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone:

Your Eminence,

The decision made on 3 November 2009 by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Lautsi versus Italy to the effect that the presence of crucifixes in state-run schools in Italy violates human rights has raised our great concern.

We consider this practice of the European Court to be an attempt to impose radical secularism everywhere despite the national experience of church-state relations. The above-mentioned decision is not the only one in the practice of the Court, which has increasingly shown an anti-Christian trend.

Taking into account the fact that the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights have clearly lost touch with legal and historical reality in which most of the European live, while the Court itself has turned into an instrument of promoting an ultra-liberal ideology, we believe it very important that religious communities in Europe should be involved in a discussion concerning its work.

In this connection, we propose that through common efforts a seminar be organized on the platform of the Council of Europe with the participation of religious communities and experts for discussing those aspects of the work of the European Court of Human Rights which matter for religious communities.

Respectfully,

+ Hilarion
Archbishop of Volokolamsk
Chairman
Department for External Church Relations
Moscow Patriarchate

UOC-MP on unity in Ukraine

KYIV (RISU) — “The purpose of our dialogue with the non-canonical church groups is not a desire for canonical separation from the fullness of the Rus Church but an aspiration to restore the church unity,” reads the Address of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to Faithful Children passed during the extended session of its synod of November 24, 2009. In this document the leadership of the church clearly set out its position as to the unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and stressed the conditions of that process. First of all, it repeated its position that “the way to restore the unity is through repentance, that is a graceful ‘change of mind’ and way of life of those who are in separation” and that “the only acceptable model of restoration of church unity and unification of all Orthodox Christians in the within the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, that is the return of the separated ones to where they came from.”

As for the way of organization of life in the UOC itself and a possible change of its status, which recently have been discussed in various environments, the Synod of the UOC clearly conveyed to the faithful and everyone interested in this question: “The position of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the question of its canonical status, approved in the Statutes of the ROC [Russian Orthodox Church] by the Council of ROC on January 28, 2009, is unchanged. We believe that a revision of the existing status of UOC is not good for church life. Let us remind our flock that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is part of ROC with the rights of extended autonomy and a self-ruling government as specified in the Statutes of ROC. It is united with the One Holy Universal and Apostolic Church through the Russian Orthodox Church. It is in unity with the Ecumenical Orthodoxy exactly through the canonical and prayer connection of our church with the fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church. The current status of our Church is optimal for fulfilling its salvation mission for the modern Ukrainian state that is to sanctify the people of God, who are Ukrainian citizens, making them the citizens of Heaven.”

The address reads that UOC-MP also keeps to its principled position as to the historical fact of the schism and its initiators. It stresses that the only possible canonical model of the restoration of church unity in Ukraine is the repentance of the “scismatics.”

Kyivan Patriarchate on Ukrainian unity

KYIV (RISU) — Representatives of the Kyivan Patriarchate commented on the decision of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) of November 24, 2009, as to the preparation of a dialogue with the Kyivan Patriarchate. “One had ambivalent impressions from these decisions. On the one hand, it is positive that the process of preparation for the dialogue can be continued and that it will not be abandoned. For before the session of the Holy Synod, there were fears that radical opponents of the dialogue in the synod will pass resolutions which would make the further process of communication of the work team impossible,” commented the spokesman of the Kyivan Patriarchate, head of its information and publishing department, Bishop Yevstartii (Zoria). “On the other hand, there are also negative tendencies: the documents passed by the synod are filled with the rhetoric of the past. Such words were used ten-fifteen years ago. If anyone hopes that one can overcome the division of the Ukrainian Church in this manner, one is greatly mistaken,” continued the bishop.

Bishop Yevstratii stressed that the way of the dialogue with he UOC-MP is the right but not the only way of overcoming the divide in Ukrainian Orthodoxy: “However, the dialogue is not the only way out of the current situation. One should not forget that the Ecumenical Patriarch has been and continues to be an important factor in solving the Ukrainian Church issue. Constantinople is our mother-church. And, unlike the Moscow Patriarchate, which has difficulties showing a constructive position toward us, the Constantinople Patriarchate has a more open attitude,” stated the spokesman of the Kyivan Patriarchate.

The bishop stressed that unlike the Moscow Patriarchate, the Constantinople Patriarchate is afraid of the dialogue with the Kyivan Patriarchate or meetings or negotiations with Patriarch Filaret. “If the preparation of the dialogue with the UOC-MP comes to nothing, perhaps the opening of the Representative Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate will give a new impetus for the process of the unification of the Ukrainian Church,” summed up the bishop.

On legislating morality

From The Standard & the Times. It touches on something of a pet topic of mine that I have posted on a number of times. Secular teaching is not the absence of religion, it replaces religious teachings with the popular opinions of the day. As such is changes often and trends towards being ever more permissive.

In response to Christian attempts to preserve the moral order of our society, those opposed to the natural law and the law of God often retort, “You can’t legislate morality.” Legislation informed by God’s revealed law is portrayed as being contrary to freedom and to a free country, and unjustified imposition of religion on people who want none of it. And so, in response to every attempt by Christians and others who acknowledge the existence of a moral order given by God to have that order reflected in the law of the land is met with the dismissive words “You can’t legislate morality.”


To say that you cannot legislate morality is true in a trivial way, but it is false in the most significant way. It is true only in that people will not become good and moral simply through legislation. Outlawing adultery does not keep people from committing adultery. (It does, however, help undermine the pernicious concept of a ‘no-fault’ divorce, provides some measure of protection for the injured parties, and expresses the norm of virtue to which a society aspires.) Though law in itself does not render citizens virtuous, when enforced it serves to restrain evildoers and to protect the innocent. Though pointing to the good, it can’t make people good. Thus, in the sense that by passing laws you cannot make people good, the slogan is true.

Apart from the foregoing, the claim that you can’t legislate morality is false. After all, what is law? It is the legal standard which defines what is considered to be bad, unacceptable behavior in a particular civil society. Hence, the law is always legislated morality—it is always reflects someone’s standard of right and wrong. When it is said in these United States that “you can’t legislate morality,” what is usually meant is that the one making the statement does not want Christian morality reflected in the law. But keeping Christian morality out of the law does not keep us from legislating morality; it only means that some other morality can and will be legislated.

Make no mistake: all law is legislated morality, a legal definition of right and wrong for a society. In the Soviet Union, law was based on Communist morality and the revolutionary consciousness of those who overturned the old order. In Nazi Germany, law was based on Nazi morality. Given the principles of Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest) and the superiority of the Teutonic race, it was good and right to exterminate lesser peoples, much as men kill vermin such as rats and cockroaches, to protect the long-term viability of the human race. Every ideology provides a ‘moral’ way of looking at the world; in power, every ideology naturally will attempt to construct a social order based on that vision of the world.

Read more »

On Christian Love

H/T: Torn Notebook

Already for centuries, and apparently with a pure conscience, not only individual Christians but also whole churches have affirmed that in reality Christian love must be directed toward one’s own—that to love essentially and self-evidently means to love neighbors and family, one’s own people, one’s own country—all those persons and things that we would usually love anyway, without Christ and the gospel. We no longer notice that in Orthodoxy, for example, religiously colored and justified nationalism long ago became a genuine heresy, crippling church consciousness, hopelessly dividing the Orthodox East and making all of our profuse talk about the ecumenical truth of Orthodoxy a hypocritical lie. We have forgotten the other, no less strange and frightening words that the gospel contains about this merely “natural love”: “He who loves father or mother…son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37), and “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers…he cannot be my disciple (Lk 14:26). If coming to Christ signifies the fulfilment of his commandment, then, obviously, Christian love not only is not a simple increase, “crowning” and religious sanction of natural love, but is radically distinguished from it and even contraposed to it. It is really a new love, of which our fallen nature and fallen world are incapable and which is therefore impossible in it.

- Fr. Alexander Schmemann, The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom (New York: St. Vladimir’s Press, 2003), 135-136.

Switzerland bans building of minarets

(Swiss Info) - Swiss voters' clear decision on Sunday to ban the construction of minarets has generated a wide range of emotions, from stunned joy to rueful concern.

Supporters of the initiative said the Swiss electorate wanted to put a brake on the Islamicisation of their country, whereas opponents were concerned about the violation of rights, not to mention an international backlash and possible boycott of Swiss products.

"Forced marriages and other things like cemeteries separating the pure and impure – we don't have that in Switzerland and we don't want to introduce it," said Ulrich Schlüer, co-president of the Initiative Committee to ban minarets.

Oskar Freysinger, a member of the rightwing Swiss People's Party and a driving force in the campaign, said he was "stunned and dumbfounded" by Sunday's result "since the entire establishment was against us".

"I would like to say to all the Muslims listening that this will in no way change their right to practise their religion, to pray or to gather [in mosques]," he said. "However, society wants to put a safeguard on the political-legal wing of Islam, for which there is no separation between state and religion."

The president of the People's Party, Toni Brunner, said voters had clearly rejected the idea of parallel societies and the further expansion of Islam – including radical, political Islam – in Switzerland.

According to final results, 57.5 per cent of voters and a majority of cantons backed the initiative – up from 34 per cent last month. Turnout was high at around 53 per cent.

Brunner said people who settled here had to realise that they couldn't turn up to work in a head scarf or get special dispensation from swimming lessons.

Government reaction

The government said in a statement it respected the decision.

For Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, the outcome reflected fears among the population of Islamic fundamentalist tendencies, "which reject our national traditions and which could disregard our legal order".

"These concerns have to be taken seriously. The government has always done so and will continue to do so in future. However, we take the view that a ban on the construction of new minarets is not a feasible means of countering extremist tendencies," she said.

Widmer-Schlumpf underlined that Sunday's vote was only directed against the construction of new minarets. "It is not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture. Of that the government gives its assurance."

Read more »

Thanksgiving outtakes

H/T: Creative Minority Report

Liturgy on the train...

From Again & Again:

As nearly all dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church organized transportation for Patriarch Pavle’s funeral last Thursday, Fr. Jovan Plamenac ran into a little bit of a problem. As he serves liturgy every day the train ride from Montenegro to Belgrade would not give him the opportunity to do this. So he was left with no other option but to serve the liturgy…on the train. (Of course, he received the bishop’s blessing.) More photos available here.

Ecumenical Patriarch's visit to DC creates legislation

(ARCHONS) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visit to Washington generates legislation

Washington, D.C.
11/23/2009

Some of the most influential United States Senators introduced legislation calling on Turkey to reopen the Ecumenical Patriarch's theological school of Halki, "without condition or further delay" and to "address other longstanding concerns relating to the Ecumenical Patriarchate."

"The Executive and Legislative branches of Washington are still reverberating from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's extraordinary impact. We anticipate additional proactive steps to be taken by top U.S. policy makers in the weeks ahead," said Andrew Manatos, Chairman of the 2009 Visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch to Washington, DC and President of CEH.

While in Washington during the first week of November, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew held in-depth discussions with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), as well as numerous other key Senators, Members of Congress and Administration officials.

• The key U.S. Senators who introduced this legislation, S. Res. 356 included:
• The Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD);
• The Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV);
• The Chair of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee's European Affairs Subcommittee, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH);
• Former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Member and highly-regarded leader on Hellenic and Orthodox issues, Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME);
• The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's International Development and Foreign Assistance Subcommittee and member of the Senate Leadership, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ); and
• A leader in the U.S. Senate for religious freedom and member of the influential Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS).

The full text of this legislation is here.

Rare word #9: sempiternal

sempiternal: (adj) dateless, endless, sempiternal (having no known beginning and presumably no end) "the dateless rise and fall of the tides"; "time is endless"; "sempiternal truth"

Letters to American Orthodox hierarchs

If you are unaware, there is currently a rather sizeable effort underway by the laity to bring the unsavory moral positions of some Orthodox American politicians to the attention of their bishops through a letter writing campaign. The hope is that it will motivate (by and large the focus seems to be the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese) the bishops to challenge politicians who profess the Orthodox faith, but at the same time support and vote against the teachings of the Church. The recent Manhattan Declaration seems to have further catalyzed the movement. Here is one such letter (from Solomon Hezekiah):

My Letter to Metropolitan Gerasimos
November 23, 2009 — sol
I will be posting this letter along with the letter to Rep. Dina Titus:

His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos
Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco
245 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Your Eminence

As an American member of the Greek Orthodox Church currently living abroad, I was appalled when I learned that a member of your diocese serving in the United State House of Representatives, Dina Titus, publicly declares that she supports ethics of which Orthodox Christians would be proud and uses her position in Congress to look out for Orthodox issues.

Rep. Titus’ ethics are in direct contradiction to the teaching of the Orthodox Church. Rep. Titus openly supports the federally sponsored killing of the unborn. By her words and actions she is declaring that support for abortion is compatible with Orthodoxy.

Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America boldly declared in Washington, D.C. in January of this year, “…the unqualified opposition to abortion that is at the heart of the Orthodox Christian Tradition and is unarguably the teaching and the dogma of the Orthodox Church.” As Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh has said, “It is our obligation as Orthodox to speak up and not remain silent on this issue.”

Rep. Titus has voted in favour of using tax dollars to fund abortion, in House Roll Call No. 571 (the District of Columbia funding bill, H.R. 3170), in House Roll Call No. 643 (the Pence amendment to H.R. 3293), and in House Roll Call No. 884 (the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to H.R. 3962). Such votes unarguably stand in opposition to the ethics of the Orthodox Church. She is openly an accomplice to what the Orthodox Church clearly and unequivocally regards as murder.

As a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, I urge you to fulfil the obligation to speak up and not remain silent. I ask you to call upon Rep. Titus to repent of publicly rejecting the teaching and dogma of the Orthodox Church and Holy Tradition in the Congress of the United States. I call upon you to fulfil your duty to Christ and His Church to guard the holy, life-giving sacraments and demand that Rep. Titus refrain from receiving the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord so long as she spends the public purse to rip the bodies of the innocent unborn from their mothers and pours out their blood upon the altar of convenience.

In Christ,

On the murder of Fr. Daniil Sysoyev

H/T: Mystagogy and ROCOR United

(Moscow Times) - Hundreds of mourners gathered Sunday to pay their respects to Father Daniil Sysoyev, a Russian Orthodox priest famous for his missionary work and criticism of Islam, after he was gunned down in his church last week.

Church insiders said the attack, which happened late Thursday in southern Moscow, could have been the work of radical Islamists, who had regularly threatened him for preaching to Muslims. Law enforcement officials said they believed religion was the primary motive in the killing.

The 35-year-old Sysoyev, who led the St. Thomas Church on Kantemirovskaya Ulitsa, was shot point-blank four times by an unidentified man wearing a medical face mask, police said. He was severely wounded and died in an ambulance.

Vladimir Strelbitsky, a 41-year-old regent who was nearby during the attack, was also shot and remains hospitalized in serious condition.

Citing sources with knowledge of the matter, Interfax reported that the killer called Sysoyev twice shortly before the shooting. Viktor Kupriyanchuk, the church's elder, told Kommersant that the killer burst into the church shouting, "Where's Sysoyev?" When Sysoyev stepped forward from behind the altar, the assailant shot him several times and attempted to flee.

The shooter encountered and wounded Strelbitsky on his way out of the church, Kupriyanchuk said.

Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said "witness accounts were collected indicating that Father Daniil had long received threats because of his religious activity."

In February 2008, Sysoyev said on television that he had received "10 threats via e-mail that I shall have my head cut off," unless he stopped preaching to Muslims. "As I see it, it is a sin not to preach to Muslims."

Sysoyev was a popular blogger, who also wrote against cults in his LiveJournal blog. An ethnic Tatar, he was a fervent critic of Islam, arguing that coexistence between Christians and Muslims was not possible.

"How can we create a union with people who see a territory not governed by sharia law as a land of war?" he said in the interview on Ekho Moskvy radio in 2005.

In one of his books, "Marriage to a Muslim," Sysoyev spoke against intermarriage between Muslim and Christians, saying such unions were only possible if Muslims converted. Writing in his blog about the anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution earlier this month, Sysoyev said Christians should not even sit at the same table with Communists, comments that angered many on the left.



Although in his books and speeches he tried to refrain from radical remarks often used by the Orthodox Christian right, religion experts said Sysoyev often crossed that line while clashing with his opponents.

"Many of his texts strayed far from political correctness. He often balanced on the edge," said Alexander Soldatov, a religious commentator and editor of the Credo.ru religious news service.

News of Sysoyev's death was met with cheers on Internet forums for radical Islamists, with some acknowledging that they had dreamed of knifing him to death personally.

The official leaders of the Russian Islamic community condemned the murder, and Orthodox leaders called for calm.

"We are against any extreme act or act of terror, and we consider the killing of an Orthodox priest a terrible sin," Ravil Gainutdin, chairman of the Muftis' Council of Russia, told reporters Friday.

Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, extended his condolences to Sysoyev's family and called on investigators to solve the murder.

"The killing of a priest in a church is a challenge to divine law and the desecration of a sacred place," he said in a statement.

Sysoyev's funeral will be held at 10 a.m. at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in Yasenevo, after which Kirill will perform the conclusion of the all-night vigil. Sysoyev will be buried at the Kuznetskoye Cemetery in western Moscow.

And while some religious experts told The Moscow Times that the patriarchate had been distancing itself from the outspoken priest, he was popular and respected among the lower-ranking clergy. Sysoyev's supporters were collecting signatures on a petition over the weekend asking Kirill to make sure that his missionary work is continued.

Father Boris, who leads an Orthodox church outside Moscow, told The Moscow Times that he admired Sysoyev's books and that he believed the priest was a victim in a war against Christianity unleashed by Muslims.

"When I was reading them, I understood that it will end like this," he said. "There is a war, and people are being shot. Then they leave the trenches to go to battle. Father Daniil has left his trench."

Church burglarized - "nothing left to take."

The video available from the news website is worth watching.

LA MESA, Calif. (10News) - A La Mesa church has been the target of multiple thefts and vandalism the last few weeks, and police said they may know who is responsible, 10News reported.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church has been broken into four times in less than a month. Church leaders have started putting up signs that are letting people know there's nothing left to take.

"It's very disturbing to know that this space has been violated by somebody who I believe has hatred of some sort," said Father James Bankston.

Bankston said the most recent attack happened on Tuesday when he found the church doors left open and bizarre signs that someone had been in the building.

"Hand lotion in a bottle had been put on the altar. Other things had been turned over, and the Holy Eucharist had been spilled upon the altar," said Bankston.


Bankston also said a hand cross was turned upside down, something he believed was a direct attack on his faith.

Church leaders said they believe the people responsible are homeless and either walk down a nearby trail or come from the park across the street to attack the facility.

10News contacted the La Mesa Police Department, who said they have seen a spike in the number of homeless encampments popping up around the city, especially in areas around the church.

The vandalism and stolen property have cost the church about $5,000, an expense church leaders said it simply isn't equipped to cover.

"Donations are down. You know, we have a small community here and so it hurts," said Bankston.

No arrests have been made in connection with the thefts and vandalism, but police said they are keeping a close watch on the property.

10News learned the church will be installing a security system donated by a parishioner.

Met. Jonah scheduled to bless new monastery

Come one! Come all!

Manhattan Declaration published

NEW YORK, NY (OCA Communications) - His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, and the Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor of Saint Vladimir's Seminary, were among some 125 US religious leaders who signed a 4,700-word declaration addressing the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty here recently.

The statement, known as the "Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience," issues “a clarion call” to Christians to adhere to their convictions and informs civil authorities that the signers will not “under any circumstance” abandon their Christian consciences. The text of the declaration, which already has generated considerable controversy, was released on Friday, November 20, 2009.

"The Manhattan Declaration is the result of several months of dialogue among Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christian leaders culminating in a gathering of approximately 100 leaders in New York City on September 28, 2009," Catholic News Agency [CNA] reports. "Attendees considered an early draft... but the document was entrusted to a drafting committee."

"We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right—and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense of these truths," the Declaration reads. "We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence.

"We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral,” the signatories explain.

But, CNA reports, they also made clear that “we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriage or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family.”

The signatories explained that they speak now because in order "to defend principles of justice and the common good that are now under assault."

"We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but we will under no circumstances render to Caesar what is God’s."

Declaration available here.

The people of Serbia remember their patriarch

H/T: OBL News

Notes from Orthodox-Catholic dialogue in Kyiv

(svots.edu) - On November 3–7, 2009, Dr. Paul Meyendorff, the Father Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, participated in a meeting of the St. Irenaeus Orthodox-Catholic Working Group in Kiev, Ukraine. The group was hosted at the Kievan Monastery of the Caves and the Kiev Theological Academy and was graciously received by Metropolitan Wolodymir of Kiev.

The Working Group, founded in Germany in 2004—a time when the official Orthodox-Catholic international dialogue was at a standstill—is an informal gathering of twenty-four scholars and theologians, equally divided between Roman Catholics and Orthodox. Meeting annually since its inception, the group has recently focused its work on questions related to primacy. This sixth meeting of the group centered on the Vatican I declarations on the infallibility and universal jurisdiction of the Pope, which pose a major stumbling block in the relationship between the two churches.

“A close reading of the conciliar decree in its historical context, however, indicates that the Catholic doctrines regarding infallibility and universal jurisdiction may not be as absolute as they are often understood on both the Catholic and Orthodox sides,” Prof. Meyendorff noted. “A more nuanced re-reading and understanding of these dogmas, therefore, could help to resolve this major obstacle to the rapprochement between Catholics and Orthodox.”
Also while in Kiev, Prof. Meyendorff gave a half-hour interview to the religious TV station "Glas" about Orthodoxy in North America. The next meeting of the group will be held in Magdeburg, Germany, in November 2010.

Shooting from the hip

I enjoyed this bit of commentary found by Leitourgeia kai Qurbana from the comment box of The Ochlophobist. Saints preserve me should I fall into such foppishness.

There is a certain type of young man who generally pursues the priesthood. We dance around it, but in my mind it is unequivocally true. In Orthodoxy there are certain forms and postures that are, aesthetically speaking, humble, but which are easily practiced and replicated, and do not necessarily reveal the inner heart – soft, slightly effete voice, a way of walking in the cassock, a way of mentioning the contrary opinions of others and pleading one’s ignorance on matters even as it is quite clear you’ve got a strong opinion and you want it to be deemed the right one, a slightly affected, sentimentalish manner of being around icons, prayer ropes, the altar &nave, and so forth, a slightly affected manner of quoting sayings or hagiographic tidbits of the saints, etc. But beyond all that, you spend some time with the fellow and you realize that he loves and is naturally given to didacticism – here is a man who likes to be in a position of teaching others. It is also clear that he has a hunger to be in a position of spiritual authority over others. In my opinion, keeping in mind that opinions in Orthodoxy are worth as much as wax stains on nave carpets, a desire to teach in the Church and have spiritual authority over others is usually, but not always, instigated by demons.

Funeral service of Patriarch of Serbia Pavle

Patriarch Pavle and Public Transportation

From Mystagogy:

Patriarch Pavle was often referred to by some as a "walking saint" based on his simple lifestyle and humility. Whereas bishops around the world are often wrongly criticized for the cars they drive and despite the fact that every bishop in Serbia owns a car to travel around their diocese, he did not. When asked why he never obtained an automobile, he replied: "I will not purchase one until every Albanian and Serbian household in Kosovo and Metohija has an automobile."

Below are two other stories regarding the way Patriarch Pavle preferred to travel:

The deacon of Patriarch Pavle of Serbia once learned the following lesson while in Belgrade as they were going to a church in Banovo Brdo.

He asked the Patriarch: "With what shall we go, with a car?"

"No, with the bus!" said the Patriarch emphatically.

"But the bus is always crowded and the heat is esphyxiating. It is not even nearby."

"This is how we are going", said the Patriarch.

"Your Holiness", said the deacon in an effort to convince him otherwise, "it is summer time and the people are going swimming to the small island of Tsigalia and the majority of people are nearly naked. It isn't right?"

"Father", said the Patriarch silently, "each person sees whatever he wants."

And also...

The residents of Belgrade frequently saw the Patriarch in the streets, on the train and on the bus. One day as he was walking to the bus, a Mercedes of the latest model pulled up next to him. It was a priest of one of Belgrade's richest churches.

The driver of the Mercedes told the Patriarch as he was getting on the bus: "Your Holiness, please allow me to take you wherever you want."

"Father, to whom belongs this fabulous car?"

"It is mine, Your Holiness."

"Stop right there immediately!" said the Patriarch. He got down off the bus, went over to the priest, blessed him with the sign of the Cross, and told him: "May God protect you!"

ROCOR and OCA work towards establishing dialogue

(ROCOR) - On Monday, November 16, 2009, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion met with His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah at the Syosset, NY, headquarters of the Orthodox Church in America. Greeting the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia at the main entrance, His Beatitude invited His Eminence to St Sergius of Radonezh church for a joint funerary litiya to commemorate His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, who had died the day before. At the end of the service, His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah noted that the entire Orthodox world considered the newly-reposed hierarch “a living saint,” and “a great spiritual leader of the 20th century.”

His Beatitude then gave a warm welcome to His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, wishing him Divine assistance in his difficult archpastoral labors. In response, His Eminence Vladyka Hilarion expressed his joy at the joint prayer for His Holiness, the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which in the last century had provided safe harbor for the Russian emigre bishops, blessing their service to God and mankind in the difficult circumstances of the Russian diaspora, and tended for their unity. Since then, the Russian Church Abroad and Serbian Orthodox Church have shared fraternal bonds, said the President of the Synod of Bishops.

After venerating the cross, the two Primates discussed questions relating to establishing official dialog between the two Churches to study the origins of their division and correcting the problems which hinder the fullness of ecclesiastical communion. Also participating on behalf of the Orthodox Church in America were Archpriest Alexander Garklavs, Chancellor of the OCA; Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky, Director of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations, and Archpriest Eric Tosi, Secretary of the OCA. Representing the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia were also Archimandrite John (Magramm) and Protopriest Serafim Gan, Chancellor of the Synod of Bishops and Personal Secretary of the First Hierarch.

During its September session, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad decided to appeal to His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah with the proposal to enter into official dialog on the aforementioned questions. There had already been a Synodal Commission established with this goal, which has met twice and is chaired by His Grace Bishop George of Mayfield. See here. During the meeting of November 16, Metropolitan Jonah reported that a similar commission would be established by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America.

Say it ain't so

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Pick better godparents

I added the otherwise unrelated photo for emphasis. Imagine the godparent thinking, "I don't believe any of this rubbish. Wonder what sort of food they'll have at the reception. Hopefully not potato skins. I really don't like how much green onion she puts on them, though I do like the bacon, so, hmmm... bacon..."

(PewForum) - Thanks to a website, it has never been easier to defect from the Catholic church, and people are beginning to take up the option. Some of those who have opted out speak to KATE HOLMQUIST

FOR ORLAITH FINNEGAN, a 29-year-old atheist from Cork, defecting from the Catholic church took only a week. She used the website Countmeout.ie to apply and sent her letter on August 25th to the Cork diocese, providing the parish and year of her baptism, and received confirmation of her defection on August 31st. A note was made on her baptismal record stating that she had officially left the church.

"That was very fast when you think of how they used bureaucracy to explain the length of time it took them to respond to the child-abuse scandals," she says.

When her family heard the news, one of her sisters feared that Orlaith would no longer be considered godmother to her child, while another sister feared Orlaith would be barred from her new baby's baptism. "I told them that the defection is symbolic. Of course I will continue to be godmother and I will be at the next Christening – I won't be standing outside the church or going up in a puff of smoke," she says...

Complete article here.

Watch the funeral of Patriarch Pavle online

(spc.rs) - Thanks to the Serbian Broadcasting Service (RTS) , the official website of the Serbian Orthodox Church www.spc.rs will broadcast directly the Divine Liturgy, the funeral service and the burial of Patriarch Pavle of blessed repose.

The backlash against banning the Cross

November 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Poland's president, Lech Kaczynski and the leadership of the Greek Orthodox Church have both hit out at a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) attempting to ban the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools. At the same time, a general revolt against the ruling in municipalities all over Italy has been started by public officials, who are now ordering the display of crucifixes in schools, and levelling fines for non-compliance.

The November 3rd ECHR ruling, made in response to a complaint by an Italian secularist campaigner, said that the display of crucifixes violated the religious rights of pupils.

During Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday in Warsaw, Poland's Kaczynski said that "nobody in Poland will accept the message that you can't hang crosses in schools."

"One shouldn't count on that. Perhaps elsewhere, but never in Poland," Kaczynski said.

The reaction from Poland has touched a national nerve in a country where crucifixes and other religious symbols were banned under the atheistic communist rule and are now a prominent symbol of national sovereignty.

Read more »

"Called to the Holy Mountain"

Next month National Geographic will have a piece on Mount Athos (available in electronic form here).

The Manhattan Declaration

From Mere Comments...

WHAT:

Orthodox, Catholic & evangelical Christian leaders will release the Manhattan Declaration at a Washington, D.C., press conference. Addressed not only to Christians, but to the president, Congress, and civil authorities, the 4,700-word document - signed by more than 100 religious leaders - addresses the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious liberty.


WHERE:

National Press Club, Lisagor Room
529 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20045


WHEN:

Friday, Nov. 20, at noon ET


WHO:

Manhattan Declaration Drafting Committee:
Robert George, Professor, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
Timothy George, Professor, Beeson Divinity School at Samford University
Chuck Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship and BreakPoint
Signers of the Manhattan Declaration scheduled to attend include:
Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, Diocese of Philadelphia
Donald William Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, Diocese of Washington, D.C.
Harry Jackson Jr., Bishop, Hope Christian Church
Ron Sider, Professor, Palmer Theological Seminary and Director of the seminary's Sider Center on Ministry & Public Policy
George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center and Founding President of the James Madison Foundation
Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council

Read bios here.


MEDIA NOTE:

The 4,700-word text of the Manhattan Declaration with a list of the 125+ signers will be posted at noon on Friday, Nov. 20, at DeMossNews.com/ManhattanDeclaration.

Fr. Hopko lectures update

I received an update on the upcoming Fr. Hopko lectures in Fort Worth on December 4th, 5th, and 6th.

A registration form is available here. More details are available here. The talks will be on "The Work of God’s People," “The Real Jesus," and "Christ in Orthodox Spirituality.”

They expect registration to fill up quickly so email or call to reserve a spot.

Memorial service for Serbian Patriarch Pavle

Priests perform a memorial service as Serbian Patriarch Pavle lies in repose at the Congregational church, in Belgrade, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. Patriarch Pavle, who led Serbia's Christian Orthodox Church through its post-Communist revival and called for peace and conciliation during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, died Sunday. He was 95.

Lottery system for selection of next Serbian patriarch

I have posted on this process earlier, but I thought the article well done and worth a read.

(FaithWorld) - If U.S. voters elected their president in the same way the Serbian Orthodox Church chooses it patriarch, they could have seen Ralph Nader, Ross Perot or other third place finishers taking up residence in the White House. That’s because the Church, in a move originally aimed at thwarting Communist authorities, uses a system that incorporates a lottery within the election by church elders to choose a leader.

The Holy Synod of Bishops, the Church’s top executive body, will use that system within the next three months to elect a successor to Patriarch Pavle, who died on Sunday. Pavle headed the Serbian Orthodox Church during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s as Serbs warred with neighbours of other faiths.

Pavle, 95, died at Belgrade’s Military Hospital where he had been treated since 2007 for various ailments. As his health deteriorated, although nominally still head of the church until death, Pavle had given up its day-to-day running in 2008 to Bishop Amfilohije, who is seen as a Serb nationalist on issues such as Kosovo.

The Holy Synod of Bishops will first convene the Holy Assembly which will then decide to initiate the proceedings of electing a new patriarch in a so-called Apostolic Vote. “At least two-thirds of metropolitans, active bishops, candidates for bishops who run dioceses for more than five years must attend, and those absent may delegate power of attorney to another participant,” said Jovan Janjic, a Belgrade-based analyst with the weekly NIN magazine.

Each member of the assembly votes for the three candidates and the vote is repeated until the selection is narrowed to three. After balloting, names of the three top candidates with more than 50 percent of backing are put in three sealed envelopes. “It all becomes a lottery then,” Janjic said.

The names of the three candidates are placed inside a Bible and after a holy service, a specially selected monk who prepares for the task through fasting and praying, takes the envelope from the Bible, shuffles the three names and pulls out one. The presiding bishop immediately takes the envelope, opens it in plain view of others and announces the name of the new patriarch.

The so-called “Apostolic Vote” was introduced in 1967 as a move tailored to curb the influence of Communist authorities in the former Yugoslavia on the appointment of patriarchs. At the time authorities said the Holy Spirit should lead the hand of the monk therefore excluding all human interference. This voting system dates back to 1917 when the Russian Orthodox Church used it to pick Patriarch Tikhon, its first leader after the patriarchate was restored following a 200-year suppression.

The Russian Orthodox Church did not use this method in January when it elected its new patriarch, Kirill, in a secret ballot with multiple candidates.

Insiders say the lobbying and politicking between the candidates and their supporters is as fervent as in a U.S. or European style election campaign.

Three bishops — hardline Montenegrin Amfilohije close to nationalist parties, moderate Irinej from the northern Serbian Backa diocese and another moderate Grigorije from the Serb region of Bosnia — are the key contenders. According to sources from the Holy Patriarchate, Amfilohije and Irinej are the two top candidates as they can muster backing of at least 15 bishops each. Grigorije, considered modern and pro-European, has the backing of several younger bishops, as well as from rank-and-file clergy and faithful.

“We may speculate as long as we want and it is clear that the three are the most popular. But at the end it is the Apostolic Vote that decides. And there are always dark horses in this race,” the source said.

In 1991, Patriarch Pavle was chosen after nine rounds of voting as a monk picked him over two other candidates including Amfilohije.

Orthodoxy 101 - first class held

There is still time to join in, for all who might be interested. I'm listening to the first class as I go through email this morning.

JOHNSTOWN, PA (ACROD) - The Diocesan Apostolate For Christian Education is pleased to report that the first of a seven part on-line introductory class on Orthodox Christianity, Orthodoxy 101, took place this evening, November 16, 2009.

At the time of broadcast, online enrollment numbered 138 people from 20 states in the U.S. and from the United Kingdom, Columbia, Brazil and Australia. The make up of the class is mixed with 1/3 being inquirers including pastors of other Christian Churches, 1/3 recent converts, and the remainder more seasoned Orthodox Christians and Orthodox Clergy.

The class, led by Fr. Peter Paproski, will be broadcast live each week from St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Stratford Connecticut. The class will begin at 7:00 pm EST and will last approximately 90 minutes.

During the next six weeks the following topics to be discussed will include, Holy Tradition, Church History, Doctrine and Dogma, Prayer, Ethics and Morality and discovering one's vocation in life.

There is still time to register. Won't YOU join our class? If you can't make the class, you can listen to archived lectures and download class notes upon registering.

For more information and to register, please click here.

The Prosopon School

The Prosopon School of Iconology introduces students to the practice and theory of the ancient Christian art of icon-writing in the Byzantine-Russian tradition. Apprenticeship in this discipline of the hand, mind, and heart can lead beyond technical competence; the method of study promotes the incarnation of the principles of the painting experience into all aspects of one's life. In accordance with the Orthodox Church’s teaching that Icons are the ‘Gospel in light and color’, the Prosopon School welcomes inquiring students from all backgrounds. The School additionally encourages the search for a more profound experience of icons by means of exhibits, lectures, and the publication of the journal Prosopon.

On the importance of bell ringing

The Diocese of the West (OCA) has an article on Bell Ringing in Scripture and Liturgy.

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Church bell ringing is an intrinsic and permanent part of the Orthodox liturgical and musical tradition. It is deeply rooted in Scripture and thoroughly presumed in the Typikon. It’s not just “decorative”, a “nice” thing to have with our liturgy. “Church bell ringing is an integral part of Orthodoxy’s divine services, and its absence can be justified only by lack of the necessary instruments.” Accordingly, the teaching of our bell-ringing tradition is an important part of liturgical music education, and so it’s good to examine the Church’s tradition in some detail.

Bells, as such, are mentioned in the Bible in one context only: small bells are to be attached to Aaron’s vestments, which “shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he does not die” (Exodus 28:33-35). This suggests that the sound of bells is protective, presumably because they give a kind of warning. Today we attach bells to the vestments of hierarchs, in conscious reference to Aaron’s bells, but we don’t usually thing of a protective function for them; yet on a different level, numerous miracles of divine protection have taken place in connection with Church-bell ringing in Orthodox communities...

Complete article here.

Abp. Hilarion speaks on a number of issues (pt. 4)

Here is an article on the opening of the Paris Orthodox Seminary.

Une conférence de presse de Mgr l'archevêque Hilarion
by orthodoxie

(mospat.ru) - Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk led the inauguration of the Paris Orthodox Seminary on 14 November 2009, the Day of Sts Cosmas and Damian the Unmercenery Physicians.

The festivities began with the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Archbishop Hilarion assisted by Archbishops Gabriel of Comana (Patriarchate of Constantinople), Innokenty of Korsun and Antony of Borispol and Bishops Ambrose of Gatchina and Michael of Geneva and Western Europe. Among the worshippers was Archbishop Feofan of Berlin.

After the liturgy, Archbishop Hilarion addressed the congregation, speaking about the meaning and significance of the theological school in the life of the Church. He said, ‘Seminarian studies can become fruitful only if a student opens his heart for the light of the divine truth. The task of a seminarian is to be enlightened and transformed by the light of Christ Who is Himself Light born of Light. I wish that the Paris Orthodox Seminary may become a place where people will turn to the light of Christ’s truth’.

The archbishop presented Rev. Nicholas-Jean Sed, the Cerf Publishing House executive director, with the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, class III. The well-known French publisher has been decorated by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in recognition for the great services he rendered to the cause of publishing and disseminating works of modern Orthodox authors.

Read more »

Abp. Hilarion speaks on a number of issues (pt. 3)

Here is an article on the Russian Church and societal problems it faces.

(mospat.ru) - During his meeting with foreign journalists on 11 November 2009, Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk answered questions concerning urgent problems of society today.

Asked about the Church’s view of some problems of bioethics, especially the use of artificial life-support systems to prolong the life of a patient, he said,

‘It is a very complicated issue. We in the Orthodox Church do not believe that one’s life should be certainly prolonged by artificial means. We believe a human being is born when it pleases God and dies when it pleases God. Complications arise when artificial life-support systems are used in a critical situation when there is a hope for one’s survival and return to normal life. But then one’s organism as if adjusts itself to these machines without one’s regaining consciousness. One continues to live in a vegetative state and here a complicated dilemma arises indeed: who can switch off these machines thus actually killing a patient? I believe there is no unambiguous answer to this question and perhaps there cannot be such, and the situation has to be resolved differently in every particular case’. He also underlined the importance of cooperation between medics and the Church in solving complicated ethical problems.

Asked to comment the statement on General A. Vlasov adopted by the Bishops’ Synod of the Russian Church Outside Russia, the archbishop pointed out that this statement provoked hot debates and sincere indignation among many faithful of the Moscow Patriarchate. ‘I believe there is no way we in Russia can associate ourselves with such a statement because a betrayal is a betrayal and no historical assessment can put on equal footing those who gave their lives for their country and those who committed high treason. See here.

‘It does not mean that we deny the crimes of the Stalinist regime’, Archbishop Hilarion remarked and reminded his audience that it was not Hitlerite Germany but the Soviet Union that was supported during the war by the United States, Great Britain and many other countries. ‘Everybody realised that Fascism was an antihuman ideology which, if triumphant, would put the countries of Europe and even the whole world in the gravest situation’, he said, stressing that any reassessment of those events was inadmissible.

Read more »

Abp. Hilarion speaks on a number of issues (pt. 2)

Here is a discussion about inter-Orthodox relations given to foreign journalists. If you follow the Russian Church at all you know that their plate is full on this front. Issues with Constantinople, Kosovo, Ukraine, China, and Georgia (to name only a sampling) are all on the patriarchate's table.

(mospat.ru) - During his meeting with a group of foreign journalists, Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, asked about the church situation in Ukraine, said,

‘We never refer to two patriarchates in Ukraine – those of Moscow and Kiev. We maintain that there is one canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine and also a group that has arbitrarily and illegally named itself as ‘patriarchate’. The point is legitimacy and illegitimacy. In no way can we put the legitimate canonical Church, which is in communion with all the other Local Orthodox Churches, on an equal footing with a group of persons who call themselves a ‘patriarchate’ and bear church titles without being a canonical Church’.

He said there was a search for a way to heal this division, and representatives of the canonical Church and non-canonical groups met to find a way out of the crisis. ‘I know that among those who belong to the so-called ‘Kievan Patriarchate’ and among its clergy there are many of those who are willing to reunite with the canonical Church’, Archbishop Hilarion remarked, adding, I believe the positions of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate are very strong today. They are not getting weaker but rather stronger and stronger’. True indeed, but it is also worth mentioning that the Kiev Patriarchate is growing in size all the time as well. 

The visit of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia was a vivid testimony to it, His Eminence underlined, saying, ‘He was welcomed not as a guest or a foreigner but as their own spiritual leader. Everywhere he went, in eastern and western Ukraine, the people welcomed him with the words: You are our Patriarch Kirill!’ The archbishop expressed hope that under the wise guidance of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, steps would be taken to heal this division, which arose for purely political reasons at a time when an absolute chaos, political and economic, prevailed throughout the post-Soviet space.

Asked about the situation of the Orthodox Church in Belarus, His Eminence Hilarion said, ‘The religious situation in Belarus is very safe. Thank God, there are no divisions there and the Orthodox Church has preserved unity. The visit of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to Belarus was a national event. He was given a very warm welcome in Minsk, in Polotsk and in Vitebsk. Therefore I believe there are no serious problems in the Orthodox Church in Belarus today’.

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Abp. Hilarion speaks on a number of issues (pt. 1)

The External Church Relations arm of the Russian Church, headed by Abp. Hilarion put out a bundle of articles on a multiplicity of topics.

Here is a discussion of Orthodox-Catholic relations with foreign journalists.

(mospat.ru) - During his meeting with foreign media people on 11 November 2009, Archbishop Hilarion spoke on burning issues of inter-Christian relations. He said in particular that considerable improvements took shape in relations with the Roman Catholic Church in recent years. ‘There is a regular mechanism of mutual consultations and high-level visits… We can state that we are moving towards the moment when the preparation of a meeting between the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Moscow will become possible. I would like to underline that we have no concrete plans concerning the venue and date of this meetings but the both sides show a desire to prepare it’, he said.

According to His Eminence Hilarion, this meeting should serve to find ‘a common platform’ for issues of bilateral relations, which are still disputable or divisive. ‘As soon as it is found and appropriate agreements are prepared to be signed by the two Churches, this meeting will become possible’, he said.

‘The most important problem in our relations is that of Western Ukraine and the actions of the Greek-Catholic structures, which destroyed the fragile inter-confessional balance in the early 1990s to create the still remaining grave situation’, the archbishop said, reminding the journalists that during the last years of the Soviet Union’s existence, the Greek Catholics began to capture Orthodox churches en masse. These actions entailed violence, bloodshed and mutual accusations as many Orthodox churches were seized to remain in the hands of the Greek-Catholics to this day. A minefield of an issue. The murder, intimidation, torture, and imprisonment of clergy (both Orthodox and Greek Catholic) at the hands of the Soviets created many martyrs. The forced conversions of Greek Catholics, the back and forth of parish ownership from one group to the other, etc. will not be forgotten easily.

‘We do not say that this process should be turned back and the Greek Catholic churches should be returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but we say it is necessary to arrange a mechanism of cooperation which could help to relieve the inter-confessional tension’, the DECR chairman stressed, adding, ‘and where the Orthodox faithful are deprived of their churches and have no opportunity to celebrate, there steps should be taken to provide them with churches for divine services.

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