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( Romanian Church ) - Saint Vladimir’s Seminary has signed a concordat of cooperation with Saint Andrei Saguna Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Sibiu, Romania in an effort to encourage future student and faculty exchanges and other collaborations between the two institutions. The agreement was signed Monday at the Faculty in Sibiu by Archpriest Chad Hatfield, president of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS), and Priest Nicolae Chifar, the dean of Saint Andrei Saguna Faculty of Orthodox Theology. The signing of the agreement was attended by His Eminence Laurentiu [Streza], archbishop of Sibiu and metropolitan of Transylvania, who blessed the agreement between the two institutions. SVOTS Director of Web Services Alexandru Popovici, a native Romanian, and teachers of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology were also present. “It is important for us to understand that signing this agreement is only a beginning, and with the help of God we believe that this agreement will...

( Romanian Church ) - A delegation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) met Saturday with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at his residence in Constantinople, where they held a five-hour meeting regarding the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church. Four members of the Standing Holy Synod of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) went to the Phanar to discuss the initiatives made for the issuing of the tomos of autocephaly and to report the UOC stance on this matter. The Ukrainian Bishops presented the current situation of the church life in Ukraine to His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Participants in the meeting The UOC delegation included Metropolitan Agathangel of Odessa and Izmail, Metropolitan Ilarion of Donetsk and Mariopolsk, Metropolitan Theodor of Kamenets-Podolsk and Gorodok, and Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary. As reported by the Ukrainian Church on their website, the meeting was attended by Protopresbyter Nikolai Dan...

KOTTAYAM ( Times of India ) - The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is mired in controversy following a serious allegation that a married woman was sexually exploited by some priests who used her confessions as a blackmail tool. The church authorities have formed a committee to look into the matter. According to the PRO of the church PC Elias, the internal probe is progressing and action will be taken based on the findings of the panel. The accused priests have been relieved from their church duties temporarily till the panel completes its probe. Elias said that several versions of the complaint are being circulated on social media platforms and the church will wait for the findings of the panel. Meanwhile, the husband of the woman told TOI that he had filed a complaint with the Niranam Diocese of the church on May 7. "Since I am under the Niranam diocese, I filed a complaint here. I have marked copies to the other church heads also,” he said. He also said that based ...

People made fun of the voices that said one day we'd be trying to take George Washington's name off of things, then people started doing it . They are even trying to wipe Thomas Jefferson from of the University of Virginia among other inextricable connections of person from place. There are bands of peoples carrying rocks looking for stained windows to smash or statues to deface and instead of losing steam, they're feeling empowered because many of us are a little squeamish about our cultural history and would love a mulligan. There is this idea that, as we move towards a more perfect society, that we should constantly tidy up behind ourselves. Whatever we have left behind that embarrasses us in the least should be cleaned up, replaced with something innocuous, or - worse - something that is concocted from the values of the day (this societal Playdoh can be flattened and remolded as we continue our "progress."). And yet, we lose so much when we destroy the ol...

( AFR ) - Fr. Evan Armatas welcomes Fr. Alexander Rentel from St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary as a guest co-host. Fr. Alexander is an expert on canon law and together they tackled a variety of listener questions from calls, email, the chat room, and pre-recorded.

H/T: Ad Orientem Parents should also ask their infants how they feel about medical care, car seats, and bed times. LEICESTER, United Kingdom ( Crux ) - Baptizing babies is a violation of their human rights, according to the former president of Ireland. Mary McAleese, who served in the largely ceremonial role of president from 1997-2011, also said she would not attend the Aug. 22-26 World Meeting of Families taking place in Dublin. She told the Irish Times the event, which Pope Francis will attend Aug. 25-26, will only serve as a “political rally” for the “reinforcement of orthodoxy.” McAleese told the newspaper that by baptizing children before they have reached the age of reason, the Church is creating “infant conscripts who are held to lifelong obligations of obedience.” “You can’t impose, really, obligations on people who are only two weeks old and you can’t say to them at seven or eight or 14 or 19 ‘here is what you contracted, here is what you signed up to’ because ...

( National Post ) - A new Supreme Court ruling that Jehovah’s Witnesses are free to banish and shun any member they wish, regardless of how they decide to do it, offers a powerful precedent for religious independence in Canada. It follows years of uncertainty of just how deeply into the waters of faith and doctrine Canada’s judges are willing or able to wade. Now the limits are clear, thanks to the case of Randy Wall, a Calgary real estate agent and longtime Jehovah’s Witness whose “disfellowship” destroyed his client base and led him to seek redress in the courts. He did not dispute the right of the Highwood Congregation to banish him, but claimed they did so unfairly, without telling him detailed allegations, or whether he could have counsel or a record of proceedings. The top court’s decision rejects that view, bluntly refers to his “sinful” behaviour, and says it has no business making legal decisions about it. At issue were two episodes of drunkenness, one in which Wall “...

( SOPA ) - On June 21st 2018, Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East: His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark Episcopate, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia, held their twelfth meeting at the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Residence in Atchaneh, Bikfayya – Lebanon. The meeting was attended by the members of the standing committee, their Eminences: Anba Bishoy of Damiette, Kafr El-Sheikh, Barary and the Monastery of Saint Demiana, Anba Martirios, bishop the Diocese of Railways, from the Coptic Church; Mor Theophilus Georges Saliba, Archbishop of Mount Lebanon and Tripoli, Mor Clemis Daniel Kourieh, Metropolitan of Beirut, from the Syriac Church; Sebouh Sarkisian, Armenian Orthodox primate of the diocese of Tehran, Nareg Alyemezian, Director of Ecumenical Relations in the Catholicosate, from the Armenian Church. ...

Rome (01.06.2018) ( BCC ) - The Holy Father Francis has appointed Bishop of Parma of the Ruthenians (U.S.A.) S.E. Monsignor Milan Lach, S.I., until now Apostolic Administrator, vacant office of the same, transferring it from the head office of Ostracine. S.E. Mons. Milan Lach, S.I. S.E. Msgr. Milan Lach, S.I., was born on November 18th 1973 in Kežmarok, in the Archieparchia of Prešov dei Bizantini (Slovakia). From 1992 to 1995 he attended the Greek-Catholic Theological Faculty of Prešov and in 1995 entered the Jesuit novitiate in Trnava. After his theological studies at the Theological Faculty of the University of Trnava (1997-2001), he was ordained a priest in 2001 in Košice. From 2001 to 2003 he worked in the scientific area of ​​the East-West Spirituality Center of Michal Lacko in Košice and later (2009-2011) was Superior of the same Center. In 2009 he obtained a Doctorate in Eastern Ecclesiastical Sciences at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. At the same time ...

An important voice in bioethics, gifted speaker and teacher, and ardent defender of Orthodoxy has reposed in the Lord. For those in the area: Trisagion Prayers will be at 6:00pm Sunday, June 24 at St. George Orthodox Christian Church (5311 Mercer Street, Houston, TX 77005). Visitation will follow the Trisagion until 8:00pm. The Readings from the Psalter will follow the Visitation. Funeral Service will be at 10:00am Monday, June 25 at St. George Orthodox Christian Church. Interment will be at Holy Archangels Greek Orthodox Monastery (2191 Twin Sisters Drive, Kendalia, TX 78027). ( OCL ) - With hope in the resurrection, we share the news of the falling asleep of renowned bioethicist and SVS Press author H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr, also known as Reader Herman in the Orthodox Church. Dr Engelhardt (pictured on the right) passed away Thursday morning due to complications after a long battle against two different cancers. He was 77. He was professor in the Department of Philos...

( Mitropolia ) - In the presence of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae and His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian, Hieromonk Atanasie Popescu, Rev. Fr. Vasile Tudora, Rev. Fr. Ion Gherman and Rev. Fr. Daniel Ene, thirty-four delegates from thirteen parishes of the Metropolia gathered at the Faith and Heritage Center, the future Protection of the Mother of God Monastery from Allegan, Michigan between 15 and 17 of June 2018 for the AROLA’s Conference. Guests joined together Friday evening serving the Akathist of Protection of the Mother of God followed by greetings words from His Eminence Nicolae. Saturday morning, we gathered to pray with the Akathist of Ss. Joachim and Ana followed by a service for the departed members of AROLA. His Grace Ioan Casian talked about the Myrrh Bearing women, who were the apostles to the apostles, encouraging us to become like them, unafraid, eagerly working the deed. With the occasion of “Celebrating 80 years of existence” Ileana Dascălu presented a short hist...

( Preachers Institute ) - This is a short post on changes in the book “The Orthodox Church” by Kallistos Timothy Ware regarding the Orthodox teaching about contraception. Natural family planning is acceptable, because it simply involves abstinence from sex during times when fertility is likely. Such is the teaching of the Church of Greece as expressed in her encyclical of October 14, 1937. Timothy Ware’s book, The Orthodox Church, an extremely well respected book in Eastern Orthodox circles. The alterations which have been made through the various revisions tell us an interesting story, and paints a rather troubling picture concerning recent developments within Eastern Orthodoxy: 1963 Version “Artificial methods of contraception are forbidden in the Orthodox Church” 1984 Version “The use of contraceptives and other devices for birth control is on the whole strongly discouraged in the Orthodox Church. Some bishops and theologians altogether condemn the employment of such m...

( Catholic Herald ) - Relations between the largest of the eastern Catholic Churches, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), and the Holy See have been frayed in recent years, as the former has found the latter’s support lacking in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine in general and the UGCC in particular. Ukrainian Catholics believe that the Holy See wants to maintain good relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which is strongly allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The consequence is that the Holy See does not protest too strongly against Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. Two events in May suggest that those frayed relations are not going to be repaired soon. First, there was the consistory for new cardinals announced on Pentecost Sunday. Leading the list of 11 new cardinal electors was Louis Raphaël I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon and head of the Chaldean Church, Iraq’s principal eastern Catholic Church. Creating the patriarch a cardinal was widely seen ...

( EP ) - The four-day works of the 8th International Conference of Orthodox Theology, organized by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, were completed on Thursday, May 24, 2018, with a large number of speakers, delegates and students on the theme: “The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church. Orthodox Theology in the 21st Century “. The international academic theological community, with one hundred and twenty elected speakers, clergy and lay people, from 15 countries and 25 Theological Schools, Institutes and Research Centers, has responded to its duty to assist in the work of the Church with theological thought and research and concrete proposals. The 8th Congress gave a creative present and expressed a theological discourse in relation to irresponsible slogans and unfair public attitudes at the expense of truth. The Theological Faculty of the Aristotle University, consistent with its constant aim, which ...

( Arab Orthodoxy ) - Given the recent round of reactions from throughout the Orthodox world to efforts to have the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognize schismatic groups in Ukraine as an autocephalous church, the following passage from the (never-translated) communique issued by the Holy Synod of Antioch on April 30 of this year is of interest. This translation is, of course, unofficial: The fathers of the synod examined developments occurring in the Orthodox world, where ethnic and nationalist disputes and conflicts are being inflamed and efforts are being made to change the boundaries of patriarchates and autocephalous churches, something that the Church of Antioch experienced and continues to suffer from, on account of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem's violation of her canonical borders and the establishment of a so-called "diocese" for it in Qatar. In this context, she calls for a return to the principle of the unanimity of the autocephalous churches in taking critical...

The Timothy Ware that wrote The Orthodox Church that brought so many to the Church so many years ago is hard to find in the Metropolitan Kallistos who pens things today. ( Pappas Post ) - One of the world’s foremost Orthodox Christian theologians has published a provocative commentary that has already sparked debate in Orthodox Christian circles throughout the world. In The Wheel Magazine, which calls itself a “journal of Orthodox Christian thought and culture” that seeks to share stories and commentaries “intelligently and constructively for the 21st Century—a pluralistic era which presents Christianity with new and unique challenges, demanding a creative re-imagination of its social identity and role in public discourse.” Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia penned a multi-page foreword for Spring/Summer 2018 edition of the magazine in which he outlines and analyzes the Church’s approach towards homosexuals in the context of the Orthodox Church’s rules and how they are trea...

Moscow, June 18 ( Interfax ) - The Moscow Patriarchate believes that the creation of "a unified local church," for which the country's administration is calling, may have fatal consequences for the global Orthodox Church. "Our unity with the Orthodox Church worldwide is real and undoubted for all its children. I am certain that the hierarchs, the clergy and the flock of the Constantinople Orthodox Church, like all other local churches, understand that and feel the same way. And our common duty now is to make every effort to prevent this unity from being destroyed and to prevent the attempts of healing the schism from leading to a new, deeper and more serious schism, which will cut into parts the whole body of the global Orthodox Church," Metropolitan Hilarion, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, said in an interview with Interfax-Religion. For those who are outside the Church, who are already divided from it, ...

( Chicago Mag ) - His Eminence Metropolitan Nathanael (Symeonides) was chosen to lead the Greek Orthodox Christians of the region this year, formally assuming his role on March 24. Supervising fifty-eight parishes and two monastic communities spread across Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, Metropolitan Nathanael follows a predecessor who led the Metropolis for 38 years. Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1978, he served as a priest in New York City-area parishes and as Director of the Office of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. I sat down with Metropolitan Nathanael to talk about his particular background and interests, and what he envisions for the role of his church in the region. What are your impressions so far of the city and the region? Chicago is kind of a smaller version of New York. Much cleaner. People are friendly like people in New York. It’s a big city that has everything that y...

Tsilisi, June 5 ( Interfax ) - The Georgian Patriarchate is awaiting the Constantinople Patriarchate representative's visit to discuss the recent events related to the future of Ukrainian autocephaly. The Constantinople Patriarchate has already informed the Patriarchate about his representative's upcoming visit, the Georgian Patriarchate secretary Archpriest Mikhail Botkoveli told reporters on Tuesday. This visit is expected in mid-June, he said. The Ukrainian church's issue was discussed at a meeting between Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia and the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who is visiting Tbilisi, on Monday, he said. Metropolitan Hilarion briefed Ilia II of the Russian Orthodox Church's stance on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's autocephaly, the priest said. As to the Georgian Orthodox Church's stand, "it is a very complicated issue" determined by can...