Prayers asked for Bp. Daniel

By all accounts Bishop Daniel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA is one of the country's most beloved hierarchs. He's a tireless worker both in this country and in Ukraine. You can see his most recent trip abroad to care for refugees here.

He has just been released from the hospital after having complained of chest and arm pain. More tests are scheduled and he is resting at home.

O Christ, Who alone art our Defender: Visit and heal Thy suffering servants, delivering them from sickness and grievous pains. Raise them up that they may sing to Thee and praise Thee without ceasing, through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Thou Who alone lovest mankind. Amen.

Josephus on the Execution of John the Baptist

Antiquities of the Jews - Book XVIII - Chapter 5

HEROD THE TETRARCH MAKES WAR WITH ARETAS, THE KING OF ARABIA, AND IS BEATEN BY HIM AS ALSO CONCERNING THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

1. About this time Aretas (the king of Arabia Petres) and Herod had a quarrel on the account following: Herod the tetrarch had, married the daughter of Aretas, and had lived with her a great while; but when he was once at Rome, he lodged with Herod, (15) who was his brother indeed, but not by the same mother; for this Herod was the son of the high priest Sireoh's daughter. However, he fell in love with Herodias, this last Herod's wife, who was the daughter of Aristobulus their brother, and the sister of Agrippa the Great. This man ventured to talk to her about a marriage between them; which address, when she admitted, an agreement was made for her to change her habitation, and come to him as soon as he should return from Rome: one article of this marriage also was this, that he should divorce Aretas's daughter. So Antipus, when he had made this agreement, sailed to Rome; but when he had done there the business he went about, and was returned again, his wife having discovered the agreement he had made with Herodias, and having learned it before he had notice of her knowledge of the whole design, she desired him to send her to Macherus, which is a place in the borders of the dominions of Aretas and Herod, without informing him of any of her intentions. Accordingly Herod sent her thither, as thinking his wife had not perceived any thing; now she had sent a good while before to Macherus, which was subject to her father and so all things necessary for her journey were made ready for her by the general of Aretas's army; and by that means she soon came into Arabia, under the conduct of the several generals, who carried her from one to another successively; and she soon came to her father, and told him of Herod's intentions. So Aretas made this the first occasion of his enmity between him and Herod, who had also some quarrel with him about their limits at the country of Gamalitis. So they raised armies on both sides, and prepared for war, and sent their generals to fight instead of themselves; and when they had joined battle, all Herod's army was destroyed by the treachery of some fugitives, who, though they were of the tetrarchy of Philip, joined with Aretas's army.. So Herod wrote about these affairs to Tiberius, who being very angry at the attempt made by Aretas, wrote to Vitellius to make war upon him, and either to take him alive, and bring him to him in bonds, or to kill him, and send him his head. This was the charge that Tiberius gave to the president of Syria.

2. Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God's displeasure to him.

AFR has a new call-in show

(AFR) - Ancient Faith Radio is pleased to announce the debut of its third live call-in program. Titled “Faith Encouraged Live with Fr. Barnabas Powell,” the program will replace “Ancient Faith Today” on the second and fourth Sundays of each month beginning September 14. Kevin Allen, host of “Ancient Faith Today,” retired on August 11, ending his show’s two-year run.

“Faith Encouraged Live” will have a slightly different format and focus from “Ancient Faith Today.” While still featuring interviews with prominent Orthodox individuals on contemporary topics, it will also contain reflections and commentary by host Fr. Barnabas Powell, as well as readings from Scripture and the Church Fathers.

“The show will be much more varied and eclectic than ‘Ancient Faith Today,’” says Bobby Maddex, Operations Manager of Ancient Faith Radio. “The interviews will represent only a small portion of ‘Faith Encouraged Live,’ and what occurs on the program will change from broadcast to broadcast. We knew we could not replicate what Kevin Allen did with his excellent program. Fr. Barnabas has his own unique strengths, and this new show will play to them. It’s going to be a different sort of radio call-in program, but just as insightful and entertaining as ‘Ancient Faith Today.’ We couldn’t be more excited about its premiere.”

Fr. Barnabas Powell is priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, Georgia, and the host of the Ancient Faith Radio podcast “Life Encouraged.” He will also soon host the podcast “Life Encouraged Daily,” likewise on Ancient Faith Radio.

Listen to the debut of “Faith Encouraged Live with Fr. Barnabas Powell” on September 14, 2014, at 8/7c on Ancient Faith Radio’s streaming talk station.

Questions for the Assembly of Bishops

Let me preface this by saying that The Sounding doesn't like it when I post entire articles (their original post by Andrew Estocin entitled "Ten Questions for the Assembly of Bishops" here), but to answer these questions I can't do so without posting the below. Sorry.

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(The Sounding) - In all of God’s earthly creation, only the human person has the ability to ask questions and seek answers. Asking questions reflects the fact that men and women are created in the image and likeness of God. Asking questions is also part of the gift of reason and therefore needs to be cultivated with virtue and compassion. In America’s highly charged political climate, every question asked is considered suspect for its motives. However, questions in the Orthodox Christian Tradition are not viewed with suspicion but are instead welcomed with open arms.

Orthodoxy does not view posing a question as an act of disobedience but as an act of fidelity to the Church. Questions are part of a healthy faith. Orthodox Christians are faithful to their inheritance when they ask questions and seek truthful answers. Jesus Christ himself learned by asking questions: The Gospel of Luke tells us that “Three days later they finally discovered Jesus in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions.” (Luke 2:46) Throughout his earthly ministry, Christ responded to questions from all those around him with love, often using the questions of others to teach eternal truths (John 9:1-5). A healthy Orthodox Faith is not one of mindless obedience, but one of endless loving inquiry. Questions about our faith know no bounds because God in his love knows no bounds.

The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America will be holding a question and answer session on Monday, September 15, 2014 in Dallas, TX as part of their annual meeting. America’s bishops will be present for this occasion to respond to the questions of their spiritual children with paternal guidance. This event is a blessing, for it is an opportunity to collaborate with our hierarchs and grow the Church in America. It is also an occasion to more deeply discover our vocation as Orthodox Christians and answer the call of Christ to “Go and make disciples.”

In the spirit of this invitation to ask questions of the Church, here are ten questions on the subject of work of the Assembly of Bishops and the historic Great Council of the Orthodox Church that will be held in 2016.

1) Does the Assembly’s vision of Orthodox Unity in America include ecclesiastical autocephaly or an alternative vision of unity such as the possibility of all jurisdictions uniting under a single mother Church? This has been pretty well answered. The Chambésy process is very explicit. What has been equally explicit is a contrary answer by ROCOR and others that oppose this process. Does that mean that the rest of Orthodoxy in America will keep moving on separate from the opposition. That is to be seen.

2) Does the canonical planning of the Assembly include establishing a diocese for the majority of member bishops? In the future, will bishops of one ethnicity govern parishes of a different ethnicity? This has also been answered. There are three separate plans on the table (one of which is an ethnocentric model, one is regional, and the other a hybrid).

3) What challenges do the changing marriage laws of the United States present to the Church in America? This was answered in 2012 (see here) and multiple times using similar language by many hierarchs (e.g. GOARCH and OCA). 

4) For the purposes of understanding a variety of contemporary human life issues: When do human rights/human personhood begin? This has been answered (see here) and is repeated every single year in speeches and declarations.

5) In areas where parishes are extremely close geographically and efforts are often duplicated, does the work of the assembly include merging parishes much like the case of the Holy Trinity and Holy Resurrection parishes in Tennessee? That doesn't seem to be happening right now. Jurisdictions are still building missions almost right across the street from each other all over the country. Your question two will inform how this progresses I would think.

Read more »

Utah continues creeping towards polygamy

(Aleteia) - The cast of “Sister Wives,” a hit television show featuring a polygamous family, has something to celebrate today. On Wednesday, Federal Judge Clark Waddoups finalized his December order striking down a key part of Utah’s statute banning the practice of bigamy.

Kody Brown, his four “wives” and their 17 children are Lehi, Utah, residents and members of the Apostolic United Brethren, a fundamentalist Mormon sect that continues to practice polygamy, which in 1890 was formally eschewed by the official Mormon Church, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). That decision was critical to the recognition of the Utah territory as an American state in 1896. The ban on polygamy is written into both the Utah Constitution and statutory law.

In 2010, the television network TLC began broadcasting a reality show that examined the lives of the Brown family. The day after the program debuted, Utah Attorney General Jeff Buhman directed police in Lehi to investigate the Browns for a possible felony violation of the state’s bigamy statute. A criminal case was never brought, but the Browns hired celebrity lawyer Jonathan Turley and sued the state on the grounds that the investigation had violated their constitutional privacy and religious rights.

At issue in Brown v. Buhman was a key provision of Utah’s bigamy statute. In the Brown family there is only one legal marriage license, the one between Kody Brown and his original wife, Meri. According to the family, the other three “marriages,” while not legal contracts, were validated according to the rites of the Apostolic United Brethren and Mormon tradition. Though “spiritual,” the family claims, they are no less marriages than the legal one between Kody and Meri.

The problem is that the Utah statute anticipated these sorts of claims by polygamous families. In addition to obtaining multiple concurrent marriage licenses, it includes those who “purport to marry” or “cohabitate” with multiple partners as bigamists and therefore felons. It was on this basis that Utah defended its statute, and it was also on this basis that Judge Waddoups ruled.

In his 91-page judgment, Waddoups notes “the incongruity between criminalizing religious cohabitation but not adulterous cohabitation, or rather selectively prosecuting the former while not prosecuting the latter at all, demonstrates that the cohabitation prong is not narrowly tailored to advance a compelling state interest.” In other words, the state has no real interest in cohabitation apart from marriage, or else it would be investigating and prosecuting all couples who live together. Instead, the state only acts when cohabitation is practiced as marriage in a religiously-motivated polygamous family...

Complete article here.

Diocese of the Midwest to hold assembly for new bishop

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, OH (OCA-DMW) — The 53rd Assembly of the Diocese of the Midwest will be held at Archangel Michael Church here on Tuesday, October 7, 2014.

Immediately preceding the Assembly, a Special Diocesan Assembly will be held for the sole purpose of nominating a candidate for the vacant See of Chicago and the Midwest. The name of the nominee will be presented to the Holy Synod of Bishops for canonical election. This Special Assembly will be followed by the regular Assembly, during which the business of an annual Diocesan Assembly meeting will be addressed.

Regular, special Diocesan Assemblies to convene Tuesday, October 7, 2014It is suggested that delegates from outside the Cleveland area arrive on Monday evening, October 6. If possible, return flights should be scheduled no earlier than 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 7.

A block of rooms has been reserved at a group rate at a nearby hotel. Detailed information concerning hotels, the schedule and agenda, registration, and related matters will be posted on the diocesan web site in the coming weeks.

On Monday, October 6, the Bishop’s Council will meet at noon, while the Diocesan Council will hold a dinner meeting at 5:00 p.m. On Tuesday, October 7, the opening Service of Prayer will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m., followed immediately by the Special Assembly, as noted above.

Why you need a confessor

Salt Lake City divisiveness ends in... division

I've been following (and posting on) this story since it first hit the newspapers. I did not foresee the way forward for a parish that couldn't meet its current financial obligations would be to make another parish. To call it "church growth" is also a bit of a stretch. Maybe "church mitosis."

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MURRAY (Deseret News) — A group labeling itself "progressive" voted Saturday to create an additional parish in the Salt Lake Valley.

A little more than 100 people gathered at Hillcrest Junior High, 156 E. 5600 South, to create the Greek Orthodox Mission Parish Saturday. The majority voted in the affirmative.

"This is your chance to do it right, to do what you've learned over the years and to do it with a fresh start," Father Luke Uhl, chancellor for Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver, told those gathered.

If contentions arise, "Resolve them in love," he advised, possibly alluding to the strife that has cropped up in the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake in recent years.

The parish will function under the Metropolis of Denver, distinct from the current Salt Lake parish meeting at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, 279 S. 300 West, and Prophet Elias Church, 5335 S. Highland Drive.

“People of goodwill have come together and expressed themselves as faithful Christians and expressed themselves as people united in love, in harmony, in oneness of mind and heart. That can’t help but inspire all us,” he later told the Deseret News.

Eleven members of the new parish were called to serve on a parish council, six until December 2015 and five until the end of 2014. An interim priest or priests will fill in until a full-time priest can be appointed by Metropolitan Isaiah.

“We want to focus on the Orthodox faith and growing in our faith together. That’s our sole purpose. We’re not complaining. We’re not griping about anybody or anything. Sometimes you know, you have to be forced out of your comfort zone to go do something that becomes a good thing later,” said Charles Beck, newly elected parish council president.

Read more »

How many loaves is too many or too few?

The number of loaves used in preparation of the Gifts is a debated topic that is often oversimplified. The blog Classical Christianity has presented the below in an article entitled "On Multiple Loaves for the Divine Liturgy." Even the shortest study of the topic will show that the number of loaves used, the organization of the particles, and the prayers said have gone through alterations in different times and in different places so that it is impossible to trace a single "pan-Orthodox" process that would be agreeable to all. "Five loaves is the ancient process" doesn't hold up under any scrutiny but neither does proclaiming a single loaf as the truest form while disdaining the use of five loaves show respect for natural changes that permeates Orthodoxy.

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In our Russian Church, we use five Prosphora loaves for the Proskomide [the Service of Preparation, or Prothesis, also called Proskomedia, and despite the clear derivation from the Greek, ("proskomizo") or "to offer," Prokimidi and Proskimidia]. In other traditions, they use one with five seals on it. Also, some use two layers for the loaf, others one. Can you explain this?

The use of more than one Prosphoron (plural, ta Prosphora) (loaf) for the celebration of the Eucharist is not the very ancient practice of the Church and departs from the Scriptural symbolism of the “one bread” in St. Paul’s commentary on the Divine Eucharist (1 Cor. 10:16-17). Nonetheless, early on in the liturgical texts we find references to a number of Prosphora, as in the fourteenth-century Diataxis of Patriarch Philotheos. St. Symeon of Thessaloniki (+1430), the noted liturgical expert, also describes the Proskomide service in some detail, noting that “one” of the loaves on the Table of Preparation is used for the initial blessing service (St. Symeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Ta Apanta, Thessaloniki, 1983, p. 110) — though there is no indication that more than one loaf was actually used for the Eucharist. Nonetheless, the use of a number of loaves is part of what some scholars call a clear development from about the tenth century on. (See, for example, Father Lawrence Barriger, “The Legacy of Constantinople in the Russian Liturgical Tradition” [Greek Orthodox Theological Review, Vol. 33 (4), pp. 387-416], whose curious view of such things as the “Litany of the Catechumens” may, however, impugn his general expertise in Orthodox liturgical matters.) Others see this trend as the result of a possible confusion among less-educated clergy of the Proskomide with the blessing of the Five Loaves, or Artoklasia. On Mt. Athos, the Eucharist is usually celebrated with two Prosphora, the triangle honoring the Theotokos and the particles for the Saints and other commemorations coming from the second loaf...

Complete article here.

When the baby is evidence... get rid of the evidence

An article by Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig entitled "How Tennessee incentivizes abortions: We need legislation that protects pregnancy and mothers, not just unborn infants." This is an important trend that I fear will have implications for the unborn around the country.

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(The Week) - August has witnessed a bombardment of bad news for America's most vulnerable mothers and babies.

First, lawyers for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a breakdown of the pregnancy discrimination cases they handled in 2013 — and the big finding was quite distressing. Women in low-income jobs — like food service, retail, and manufacturing — are the most likely to seek help dealing with pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, they found. That's especially alarming when you consider that low-income workers tend to need their work the most, a reality made more grave by pregnancy.

Second, there's already been an arrest in Tennessee under a new law that turns newborns addicted to or harmed by drugs during pregnancy into evidence in their moms' prosecution for assault. Despite the fact that there is little evidence to support the idea that such a measure would dissuade drug use during pregnancies, the law passed with overwhelming support from the Tennessee legislature.

What these two scenarios — the absence of solid labor protections for pregnant workers and the Tennessee punitive legislation — have in common is that they both unintentionally form push factors that make abortion an attractive option.

If fair accommodations for pregnant workers are not legally guaranteed, then women have a great deal to lose from pushing employers to provide them. When a low-income pregnant worker loses her job, she very suddenly loses access to any number of supports, chief among them insurance and income. Faced with these repercussions, it is not hard to imagine how abortion begins to look better than carrying a child to term with no way to care for it.

The same abortion-incentivizing result can be found in Tennessee's law. The possibility of imprisonment for giving birth to a drug-addicted baby basically encourages women in dire straits to pursue abortion instead of carrying their babies to term. If ultrasounds are imagined to be a substantial enough nudge to put women off of abortion, then surely the prospect of jail time — or poverty and lost insurance — is substantial enough to do the opposite.

And that's the problem with current thinking about abortion: A culture of life — one that is truly hospitable not only to the birth of children, but to pregnancy, motherhood, and family life — must be outfitted with legislation that protects pregnancy and mothers as strenuously as it does infants.

Our policy regarding abortion cannot rest on punishment; each mother that is thrown in prison represents one child bereft of a natural parent, a circumstance antithetical to the purpose of a culture of life. Instead of threatening to imprison pregnant women who use drugs, it would be wiser to provide free and reliably accessible health care to treat addiction and the problems that give rise to it. Likewise, rather than presuming companies produce family-friendly cultures on their own, legislation protecting the rights of pregnant workers seems an intelligent investment in moms and their infants.

When Pope Francis remarks on abortion, he often speaks of a "throwaway culture" that "wastes" human life. I believe this to be an equally accurate assessment of the social circumstances that turn abortion into a grim but ordinary reality. It's not only infants whose lives are thrown away by cultures that provide insufficient support for pregnancy and childbearing, but mothers' and would-be mothers' lives as well. A culture of life that prevents the throwaway tendencies Pope Francis rightly condemns should recognize that the relationship between mother, infant, community, work, and care is a thick and irresolvable one. To support infants, we must support mothers in all their capacities, from healthcare to work to child-raising itself.

California *shock* persecuting Christians

(One News Now) - Romanian Christians are familiar with persecution in their home country but they didn't expect to encounter it in America.

The Holy Resurrection Romanian Orthodox Church struggled to find a place to worship in California. After finding a place in the Rio Linda area of Sacramento, church members discovered their biggest stumbling block is city government.

Brad Dacus, founder of Pacific Justice Institute, says one reason Sacramento gave for refusing permission was the location was near a bar, so the location might not be compatible with the neighborhood.

"Another reason given was that they said there were too many churches already," says Dacus, whose law firm is representing the church. "You know, it's not the business of government to dictate how many churches we need."

Church members were shocked at the city's attitude and observed that it reminded them of the hostilities they experienced in Romania, which had been ruled under Communism for almost 30 years during the Cold War.

The country's most infamous leader was Nicolae Ceausescu, whose reign of terror included spying on and imprisoning churchgoers.

Dacus explains: "They recognized clear similarities of the hostility that they had experienced in Romania, being persecuted as Christians, and they were having some of the same kind of resistance to be able to have a place to worship here in the United States."

The law firm reported in a press release that PJI attorney Kevin Snider spoke on the church's behalf at a planning commission meeting, where a 5-0 vote approved the church's plans.

Prayers, please.

This may be the second or third time I've asked for prayers in the seven years I've run this blog. I'll be short and sweet. I'm awaiting a final answer on a parish assignment and the money to make housing and such work isn't there right now. So, in your kindness, please remember my family and me as we go forward. Moving with school starting in three days is not ideal but I'm trusting in kairos over chronos here.

Antiochian Archdiocese adds missions

This might not be newsworthy if I were talking about ROCOR or the OCA, but the Antiochians and the Greeks take a very different approach to missions. I've looked at the Greek requirements for a mission and most Slavic parishes wouldn't qualify. Time will tell as to which model (OCA missions and mission stations or the high hurdles of Greeks) will prove most fruitful. I've been to Greek parishes in the rural South that have money but few people on a Sunday morning and OCA parishes that started with neither and are now thriving. I've also seen men out of seminary put into missions that couldn't support them, forcing young families to go on government assistance and putting them in dangerous situations where a rather pedestrian healthcare emergency bankrupts them. A few hundred years in and we're still feeling our way through how best to effect the Great Commission to the New World.

But, returning to the missions at hand, I'll be in both areas in the near future and hope to make a visit (and take a few pictures). If you, dear reader, visit these or any mission send me photos!

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(Antiochian.org) - His Grace Bishop Thomas announces two new mission parishes being formed in the Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic.

Beloved in Christ,

The Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic, of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, is pleased to announce that we are beginning to establish two new missions.

The first is a mission station in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For information about this mission endeavor, you should contact Paul Abernathy (p.abernathy12@gmail.com; 412-334-0917).

A second mission endeavor is being attempted in Talbot County, Maryland. An advertisement offers information (PDF) about our first meeting, which I plan to attend.

I would appreciate it very much if those of you who are on the East Coast would regularly remind your faithful about both these movements. Those of you who are not in this area, but know people who might live in or travel to this area, please pass this information on.

On triple immersion

Fr. John Whiteford's blog, a post entitled "Stump the Priest: Triple Immersion." The video added is my own.

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Question: "I am not opposed to triune immersion, but I do want to question the idea that triune immersion is the ONLY way. Why isn't there a single mention of triune immersion in the New Testament? Other than the Didache, I see no explicit support for triune immersion from the writings from the first and second century. Tertullian speaks of thrice immersions as being "an ampler pledge" than what is found in Scripture. Ampler means greater. Therefore, he is saying that triune immersion is somewhat greater than what Jesus described in Matthew 28, and therefore something beyond what Christ commanded."

There is no explicit mention in the New Testament of either single or triple immersion, and so we have to look beyond the New Testament for answers here. You say "other than the Didache", as if the fact that the Didache does mention this is a small matter. The Didache is the earliest Christian writing that is not part of the New Testament, and was highly regarded in the early Church, as can be seen by its mention in St. Athanasius' famous Paschal Epistle of 367, in which he provides the earliest complete list of the New Testament canon, as the Church has received it. Most of the writings that we have from the second century are Apologetic writings, directed towards those outside of the Church. The internal teachings of the Church were still intentional left unwritten, until the time that the persecutions in the Roman Empire ceased...

Complete post here.

How the world should feel.

Annual Chicago Synergy conference announced

CHICAGO, IL (OCA-MW) — Chicago’s Orthodox Christian Synergy will hold its annual Symposium at Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, 5701 North Redwood Drive, Chicago on Saturday, October 18, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

The theme of the annual gathering is “Operation Thy Kingdom Come: How Do We Live Our Faith in a Secular Age?” The theme will underscore how the Kingdom of God has power to take back His People from the secular world and fill the empty secular heart.

His Grace, Bishop Anthony of the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest will be the keynote speaker. Born and raised in Ironwood, MI, he attended the University of Michigan, where he received his BA in Literature, Science and the Arts, having a double major in History and English literature. He attended Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Yonkers, NY.

Registration and payment prior to October 9 is only $35.00. (Husband and wife couples: $50.) From October 10 –18, the cost is $40.00 per person. High School and College Students will receive a discounted rate of $20.00. Registration includes coffee service and lunch.

For more information, please visit Synergy’s website or call 847-647-8880 or 630-230-0079. A flyer in PDF format may be downloaded here.

Orthodox Christian Synergy includes clergy and lay representative of Chicago-area Orthodox Christian parishes who seek to project awareness of Orthodox Christianity to the public at large. Synergy works together with its parent organization, the Orthodox Christian Clergy Association of Greater Chicago, and with the blessings of the Chicago area Orthodox hierarchs.

Enthronement of Met. Onufry, primate of Ukrainian Church

Met. John of Pergamon on the regional assemblies of bishops

How to spend the Dormition Fast

(Pravmir) - The Dormition Fast is preparation for the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The Theotokos was immaculate, pure, and led a very temperate way of life. Tradition even tells us that she led a life-long fast. Thus, the meaning of this fast is to participate in the pure and immaculate abstinence of the Mother of God in preparation for the Feast of her Dormition.

According to the Typicon, this fast is considered strict. From Monday to Friday only xerophagy [literally, “dry-eating,” i.e., food prepared without oil] is allowed, and on weekends oil may be added to food (in our case, vegetable oil). Fish is permitted only on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. In terms of strictness, this fast is not inferior to Great Lent, the only difference being that the Dormition Fast is short: two weeks in all. Moreover, it is not spring, when all that is available is melted snow, but August, in which we rejoice in an abundance of vegetables and fruits.

During the Dormition Fast there are three feast days in honor of the Savior: in Russia they are called “Saviors.” On these days the blessing of the fruits of the earth take place. The “first Savior” is the feast in honor of Christ’s Cross, which takes place at the beginning of the fast, on August 14. On this feast there is a blessing of honey. The “second Savior” is the Feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration (August 19), which includes the blessing of grapes (since Russia is not grape country, these fruits are replaced by our fruits and vegetables, such as apples). The “third Savior” is the feast of the translation of the Icon Made-Without-Hands from Edessa to Constantinople (August 29), which is celebrated on the day following the Dormition of the Most-Holy Theotokos. On this day bread of the new harvest is blessed.

The services that take place in churches during the Dormition, Apostles’, and Nativity Fasts, unfortunately, do not differ much from one another. Unfortunately, this external similarity leads to a spiritual devaluation of the fasts, with many people thinking of them only in terms of a limitation of food. Great Lent is, in this sense, a pleasant exception. Even children think of it not just as a time when one cannot eat certain things, but in terms of the new services that go on in church every week.

Strictly speaking, there are in fact some particularities in terms of the divine services, only they are not performed in the average parish, or even in monasteries. These particularities are common to all three fasts. For example, on certain days the Divine Liturgy is not served and one should read the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, “O Lord and Master of my life…” with full prostrations. However, in our minds this prayer is firmly connected with Great Lent, so it seems somehow unusual to perform it during other fasts.

In order that the external similarity of the divine services of these fasts be not devalued, the priest must disclose the uniqueness of each fast during his sermon. During the Apostles’ Fast, he can tell of the Apostolic preaching; during the Nativity Fast, he can create an atmosphere of expectation for the coming into the world of Christ, such as reigned during Old Testament times. And during the Dormition Fast, he can appeal to the purity, immaculateness chastity, and continence exemplified by the Virgin Mary.

The prosperity gospel meets real Christianity

From Syria even unto Rome I fight with beasts, both by land and sea, both by night and day, being bound to ten leopards, I mean a band of soldiers, who, even when they receive benefits, show themselves all the worse. But I am the more instructed by their injuries [to act as a disciple of Christ]; "yet am I not thereby justified." May I enjoy the wild beasts that are prepared for me; and I pray that they may be found eager to rush upon me, which also I will entice to devour me speedily, and not deal with me as with some, whom, out of fear, they have not touched. But if they be unwilling to assail me, I will compel them to do so. Pardon me [in this] I know what is for my benefit. Now I begin to be a disciple, and have no desire after anything visible or invisible, that I may attain to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let breakings, tearings, and separations of bones; let cutting off of members; let bruising to pieces of the whole body; and let the very torment of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ.

All the ends of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing. It is better for me to die for the sake of Jesus Christ, than to reign over all the ends of the earth. "For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul? "I long after the Lord, the Son of the true God and Father, even Jesus Christ. Him I seek, who died for us and rose again. Pardon me, brethren: do not hinder me in attaining to life; for Jesus is the life of believers. Do not wish to keep me in a state of death, for life without Christ is death. While I desire to belong to God, do not ye give me over to the world. Suffer me to obtain pure light: when I have gone thither, I shall indeed be a man of God. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of Christ, my God. If any one has Him within himself, let him consider what I desire, and let him have sympathy with me, as knowing how I am straitened.

- St. Ignatius of Antioch
Letter to the Romans, Chapters 5 & 6

An odd choice for a church supply company

I have made known some of my pet peeves in the past (e.g. trends in Orthodox photography), so here is another one. There seems to be no end of photos or paintings serving as the background for quotations from the Fathers or Scripture posted on the Internet daily. When someone quotes St. Basil the Great and puts an icon of him above a quotation it makes sense. Heck, it is not uncommon to put the quote IN the icon by use of a long scroll or the like. That sort of thing seems to be the minority these days though. What is more common is some quite egregious dissonance between photo and caption. If A is pretty and B is poignant, then A and B should go together goes the logic.

I found the photo below to be more amusing than unsettling. I would have expected maybe something like Psalm 25:8 (26:8) "O Lord, I have loved the beauty of thy house, and the place of the tabernacle of thy glory." or maybe Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's reference to Dostoevsky saying "Beauty will save the world." They capture the idea that beauty is important and that someone in a position to do so might think about donating something to beautify his church. The below quote might well give a priest pause in buying that new chalice set or replacing a sun-faded icon. Certainly not the intended effect.

A new primate for the Ukrainian Church - Met. Onufry

(RISU) - Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church elected its Primate. Present Locum Tenens of the Kyiv Cathedra Metropolitan of Chernivtsi and Bukovina Onufry will lead this Church.

The results of the elections of Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine was announced on August 13, the same day the elections started. 48 Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church out of 78 voted for this candidate.

There were two rounds. After the 1st round vote leaders were Metropolitan of Chernivtsi and Bukovynskiy Onufry - 36 votes , Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary - 24 votes, and Metropolitan of Vinnitsa and Mohyliv-Podilsky Simeon.

And also...

I also thought it might be interesting to see what the voting process looked liked.

Lamentaciones de la Dormición de la Madre de Dios

New podcast from St. John the Compassionate Mission

Stories of the lives of the people who come to St. John the Compassionate Mission, an apostolate of the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese located in Toronto, Ontario.

Canada and the murdered children who aren't

(Life News) - On July 25th, a car reversed into a Costco store in Ontario, Canada and struck a pregnant mother, Dana McKinnon-Bozek, and her other children, Addision Hall and Miah Bozek. Because of the crash, McKinnon-Bozek immediately underwent an emergency caesarean section a month before her due date.

However, her infant died a week later from her injuries. The tragic accident injured six other people including the newborns older sister, Addison Hall who died at the hospital. Their mother, Dana McKinnon-Bozek and her younger daughter, Miah Bozek survived the crash and are in fair condition.

The driver, a woman in her 60′s, suffered injuries as well, but has been released from the hospital. Currently, an investigation is underway to uncover the reason for the crash. So far, intoxication has been ruled out, but the authorities are looking into other factors such as a mechanical or driver error.

While this case of fetal death should be considered vehicular manslaughter, unborn babies die in Canada from homicides without justice ever being served. For example, in 2007 a 25-year-old pregnant woman, Charlene Knapp, was attacked by her boyfriend, Alan Bryan, and stabbed with a sword. Later her baby was delivered as a stillborn. Bryan was charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault, but was not charged in any way for the death of Knapp’s child.

In Canadian law, under section 223 of the Criminal Code of Canada, a unborn baby is a “human being … when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother whether or not it has completely breathed, it has an independent circulation or the navel string is severed.” This differs from the law in the United States that protects the unborn in cases of fetal homicide.

In April of 2004, George W. Bush signed into lawThe Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which makes it a crime to harm an embryo or fetus at any stage of pregnancy during an assault on a pregnant woman. While 31 states already had similar laws in place, the 2004 bill states “Whoever engages in conduct that violates any of the provisions of law… and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child, who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense under this section.”

This law passed after the highly publicized murder case of Laci Peterson, who was seven and a half months pregnant when she went missing and was killed by her husband. Her unborn son Conner was also killed in the attack. Now in the United States the legislation is referred to as Laci and Conner’s Law. The legislation also clarifies that it is still considered a separate offense even if the perpetrator had no knowledge of the woman’s pregnancy.

It is critical that Canada passes a law like The Unborn Victims of Violence Act to protect unborn babies who die in homicides. In the death of a pregnant woman there are always two victims that deserve justice, the mother and her unborn child.

U.S. Govt. repeats request to reopen Halki Seminary

(Foreign Policy Association) - In an annual report released by the Department of State this week, the Obama administration has yet again pressed Turkey to live up to its commitment as a democracy to ensure religious freedom, citing the need to reopen an Eastern Orthodox seminary that’s been closed for decades.

Turkey is a “tier 2″ country according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), meaning it’s not a “country of particular concern” (i.e., a country, according to the Department of State, “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom” that are “systematic, ongoing and egregious”) but there are certain worrisome tendencies. According to USCIRF, these include: listing one’s religion on ID cards, the troubled religious freedom climate in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, a failure to officially recognize certain minority groups such as the Alevis, rising anti-Semitism, and an overall deterioration of both online and off-line privacies and freedoms throughout the past year.

In other words, Turkey is no Burma, but it’s not behaving well either...

Complete article here.

Loeb Classical Library going digital!

Syrian Orthodox hierarch on genocide in Mosul

Mosul Archbishop Nikodimos Daoud: ISIS Perpetrates Genocide against Iraq's Christians.

Oriental hierarchs demand fatwa against continued violence

(Naharnet) - The bishops of Oriental Churches on Thursday demanded Muslim religious authorities to issue fatwas banning attacks against Christians and “other innocents” in the East, urging also parties financing terrorist organizations “to immediately stop arming” these extremist groups.

“We call on Muslim religious authorities, Sunnis and Shiites, to issue fatwas banning attacks against Christians and other innocents,” Beirut Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar said after a congregation of the bishops of Oriental Churches at Diman, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's summer seat.

The conferees discussed the situation of Christians in Iraq and Syria, amid the rising threat of extremist jihadists who are occupying large parts of these neighboring countries and persecuting Christian minorities there, giving them a choice between converting to Islam or leaving their lands.

“The conferees discussed the rise of takfiri groups that are violating the sanctity of churches and attacking citizens,” Matar said.

He continued: “The situation reached a stage in which Christians were wrongly exiled from the lands of their ancestors without any justification. The expulsion of Christians from Mosul and Nineveh Province in Iraq is not an accident or a forced migration out of fear, but it is a decision taken by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and which is contrary to international charters.”

“We strongly deplore the expulsion of our sons from Mosul and Nineveh, regions that were known for religious coexistence,” the bishops said.

Commenting also on the suffering of Christians in Syria, the clerics slammed as a “violation of human rights” the “assassinations and the attacks against religious minorities in the village of Maaloula.”

"ISIL's decision is shocking and it is considered discrimination,” the bishops' statement declared.

They then called on the international community and Muslim and Arab leaders to deplore the treatment of Christians in Iraq and Syria, adding that “it is a shame that the Islamic and Arab stance is still weak in this regard and that it does not reflect the religious diversity of the region.”

Read more »

The punk drummer who preserved Syrian chants

(NPR) - Before the civil war in Syria destroyed ancient religious sites — and scattered some of the oldest Christian communities in the world — Jason Hamacher made several trips there, taking photos and recording ancient Sufi and Christian chants.

The project got its start when Hamacher read in a book about "the world's oldest Christian music." He tracked down From the Holy Mountain author William Dalrymple, who told him there were no recordings of the music — and that "it's not a monastery in the desert; it is a Syrian Orthodox church in the middle of the city of Aleppo." Hamacher ended up staying at that church as a guest of the archbishop, who has since been kidnapped by rebels.

As Hamacher tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross, he is planning a series of albums called Sacred Voices of Syria. The first, which was released this summer on his own Lost Origin Productions, is called Nawa: Ancient Sufi Invocations and Forgotten Songs From Aleppo. Hamacher isn't coming at this from the perspective of a musicologist, or as a member of a religious community. He's a drummer who's played in several punk bands in the Washington, D.C., area, including Frodus, Decahedron and Regents. You can hear their conversation at the audio link.

Not a fake brochure

Yes, this is real. I took it out of a narthex brochure stand in Ohio. It is also not an outlandish question as I've heard different versions of it over the years. Still - great title.

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Pan-Oriental Orthodox Council proposed

Beirut (OCP) - Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch and All East received high level Oriental Orthodox prelates at his residence on 5th August 2014.

Bishop Anba Bishoy, Bishop of Damietta of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Archbishop Nareg Alemezian – Bishop of Cyprus of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Lebanon, Mor Theophilus George Saliba, Archbishop of Mount Lebanon & Secretary General of the Holy Synod of the Syriac orthodox Church.

Also were present Mor Dionysius Yuhanon -Director of Patriarchal Office, Mor Chrysostomos Michael Shimon – Director Patriarchate charitable institutions, and Mor Thimotheos Mathews- Patriarchal Secretary for Indian Affairs.

Prelates from Coptic and Armenian Churches conveyed greetings from Pope Tawadros and Catholicos Aram I respectively to Patriarch Aphrem II.

Talk on Oriental Orthodox Unity

Discussions were held on the progress of the Oriental Orthodox Council in Middle East, reports were submitted to the Patriarch and dates of the upcoming meetings were informed.

They also discussed with Patriarch Aprem II various plans to organize a meeting between the heads of Oriental Orthodox Churches. The idea is to develop a Pan-Oriental Orthodox Council which will benefit member Churches of the Oriental Orthodox communion.

Assembly of Bishops to meet in Dallas next month

I'll actually be in town then. I wonder if I should go? :)

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(AOB) - The Assembly of Bishops will hold its fifth annual meeting September 16-18, 2014 at the Grand Hyatt Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. This year’s agenda includes a session on evangelism and outreach with presentations by the Assembly’s Agencies (see the list of agencies here). Canonical regional planning and a national youth rally are other key topics of discussion. The full agenda can be found here (PDF).

The hierarchs of the Assembly request the prayers of all clergy, monastics, and laity for a spiritually fruitful meeting.

On the proskomedia

Today I was happy to receive two related works. The first came in the mail: Economia and Eschatology: Liturgical Mystagogy in the Byzantine Prothesis Rite by Fr. Stelyios S. Muksuris. The second was a notification of Fr. Thomas Hopko's (so far) three part podcast series entitled "The Proskomede - Preparing the Bread and the Wine."

The Prothesis Rite (aka Proskomedia, Proskomede, Office of Oblation, Preparation) is something that many people frankly don't know anything about. Some people I've met have absolutely no idea any preparation is done and assume that everything is taken care of inside the Divine Liturgy. Altar boys are not immune to this ignorance as it is not at all uncommon for a priest to perform the ceremony long before other people arrive at the parish. Then again, some parishes have such an exhaustive commemoration configuration that much of an altar boy's early morning might be in ferrying pieces of paper back and forth from the altar to the back of the church.

On the other end of the spectrum are people familiar with the preparatory ritual who have decided opinions on issues related to it. For example, should clergy remember non-Orthodox in the Proskomedia? The issue is certainly not a settled one and my anecdotal experience is that it is a decision left to the individual priest himself (though some pan-Orthodox uniformity in America from the episcopate down would certainly be worthwhile). As a priest, one of the first things you are faced with figuring out is whom to commemorate both living and dead every Sunday.

Some seminaries tackle the Proskomedia in a formal class, others as a last year add-on, and still others leave it to a priest to explain shortly before ordination. Additionally, the Slavic, Greek, and Antiochian practices are not uniform so that what I do might be markedly different in some ways from what my father's priest might do. The framework of the ritual is the same, but noticeable differences become apparent if you read some of the individual prayers or look at how a finished diskos looks when the process is complete.

Back to today's works... Fr. Hopko's podcast are always light affairs. They remind me of buzzing bees flitting from flower to flower softly touching on this topic or that and then eventually returning back to the hive. I never know when he is going to end his foray into his topic and I suspect (after years of listening to him) neither does he. He once went on a tangent about the proper color of sticharia for no fewer than 20 minutes. Fr. Stelyios S. Muksuris' book looks like something I am going to need multiple highlighter colors for and a bit of brown study between chapters. So, whichever is your cup of tea, I do hope you enjoy one of them.

On reading this blog, the 2014 update

To make sure this blog is still on the right track - that it is topical and holds interest for readers - I do an annual review of the traffic this blog receives. About half a year has passed since the last review and as this blog just had its two millionth view today, I thought it a good time to do the annual statistical round-up. If you're interested, here's the data.

• Of traditional readers (people who visit the blog through normal web browsing) the last full month (July) shows 44,000. Total visits since the beginning of the blog is a little over 2 million.
• Google Friend Connect has reached 287 - up from 272 readers last year.
• The number one referrer (after removing search engines from the mix) continues to be my good friend at Ad Orientem.
• Although not much publicized, this blog has a Twitter feed with 1,046 followers, last year's total was 913.

Put together, the data would seem to report that this blog is faring rather well. I am, of course, always happy to receive comments, tweets, or emails on ways this blog could improve.

As you might expect, my years in seminary slowed the blog down a bit and I hope post-seminary posting will show a marked increase in posting frequency and depth.

The monastic ordination rites of the Copts

(Youtube) - The monastic rites of ordination start of with the evening prayer with the monk will be ordained into monasticism. He will receive his name in this evening and he will also take his vow in front of the altar and his father of confession.

Pornography: an obsession with sex... or death?

(First Things) - Pornography degrades women (those cocksure feminists who claim otherwise have fallen for the biggest male confidence trick of all time). It alters the neural pathways of the brain and literally changes the way its consumers think. It hinders men from developing mature emotional relationships with women. It reinforces and supercharges the notion that sex is a commodity over which the consumer has complete control. Further, if an article by Cosmo Landesman in this weeks Spectator is to be believed, it is impacting the middle-aged as badly as it is affecting the younger generation.

The strangest thing about the article is that the author clearly takes personal advantage of the phenomenon which he claims to find so disturbing. Yet perhaps we should not judge him too harshly on this score. Maybe the honesty, the refusal to gloss selfish sleaze as virtue or freedom, is refreshing even if the attitude itself is disturbing.

One might take the article as more evidence that sex has lost all meaning, becoming divorced not only from procreation but from any relationship. Yet the article also suggests that in a certain sense sex has gained greater meaning than ever...

Complete article here.

Staying Orthodox in an anti-Christian environment

From the blog The Morning Offering...

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The summer months are coming to a close and many young people will be facing the prospect of heading off to college, some for the very first time. A scripture passage comes to my mind as I think of these wonderful young people preparing to leave home: "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16)." College professors almost universally enjoy challenging young college students to question authority, yet are taken aback when their own authority is questioned. They know they are addressing a class of impressionable minds and almost make sport of attacking the positions of their students.

My advice to Orthodox students is to refuse to be intimidated and don't be discouraged. Most of these professors took years to acquire the knowledge and the skill to successfully defend their belief system, or lack thereof, including atheism. These professors usually only ask you to question the authority of those who have instructed you thus far, such as your parents or your religious leaders, but are highly indignant when someone questions their authority. Their pattern of teaching is nothing new, for there have been antagonists like them from before recorded history. Furthermore, their arguments are nothing new, for there were teachers of atheism and other false teachings who confronted the Apostle Paul when he was preaching the gospel in Athens. The arguments may be new to you, but suffice to know these challenges to your faith have been answered by a great many apologists since the beginning of Christianity.

Textbooks, be they geared towards history, science, or philosophy, have always tended to expound anti-Christian viewpoints, and it is important to remember that publishing companies produce textbooks that will sell to such academic mindsets. Christianity may be ridiculed as being closed minded and backward looking, but academics can not claim to be insulated from the same unhealthy trait. Some of the most closed minded individuals I have ever known were academics. I find it interesting that Christian writers expounding the Christian Faith are often accused of being biased, while secularists thinkers expose their own arrogance, hypocrisy and narrow mindedness, disallowing others their freedom of opinion. Dismissing the faith of young people, these pompous academics move to crush that which they themselves do not understand.

The best advice I can offer the young Orthodox Christian heading off to college is this: know from the moment you enter the classroom that the professor is a better debater than you, so don't place yourself in his scope. If you do, expect to be blown out of the water. Secondly, don't be embarrassed by your commitment to your Orthodox faith. My experience teaching on both secular and religious campuses is that most students are secretly wishing to find a spiritual basis for the meaning of life. They may secretly envy you for your faith. My final advice, "Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2)."

Build a support system for yourself by gathering together with other college students to form a chapter of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship. Meet on a weekly basis for worship, study, and networking. Get to know your faith to the degree that you can stand up to the best of them when defending your beliefs. If you do, you may one day be the reason an atheist professor finds Christ, and becomes an Orthodox Christian.

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example...in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Potamitis Publishing putting out Dormition book

To be out Wednesday from Potamitis Publishing. Timely and beautiful.

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Greek ligatures in icons

From the blog Icons and their Interpretation, a post on the often hard to read iconographic "ligatures."

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Today’s post is going to be very boring for all except those few who want to learn more about reading icon inscriptions. Though it may seem a dull topic to many, it is essential to the real student of icons. Inscriptions commonly tell us who a saint in an icon is, which is a great and important aid, given that so many saints are very generic in appearance.

Let’s take another little step in the reading of Greek inscriptions by looking at a short and rather messily-written example that nonetheless has something to teach us. It does not have all the accent marks, but for our purposes at the moment it will do...

Complete article here.

Moscow Patriarchal parish in Mexico City

(Pravmir) - In compliance with an agreement between Archbishop Justinian of Elista and Kalmykia, authorized by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, and the Catholic Primate of Mexico, Archbishop Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City, the 17th century Catholic Church of the Conception of the Virgin Mary was handed over for the free temporary use to the Russian Orthodox Church’s parish of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God. The agreement was reached during a meeting of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, with the Catholic Primate of Mexico in January 2014.

On 27 July 2014, Archbishop Justinian and Archbishop Alejo of Mexico City and All Mexico (Orthodox Church in America) celebrated the first Liturgy in the church.

Among those present at the service was Rev. Eduardo Losano, dean of the Catholic diocese of Mexico City’s central area, rector of the Catholic seminary in Mexico City.

After the Liturgy, Archbishop Justinian greeted Fr. Eduardo and on behalf of the Russian-speaking Orthodox community expressed his gratitude to the Primate of Mexico for his help in establishing the Moscow Patriarchate’s parish in the centre of the capital of Mexico.