Byzantine, Texas

CHICAGO ( CBS ) – A Northwest Indiana priest failed to adhere to (at least) one of the Catholic Church’s ’10 Commandments’–‘Thou Shalt Not Lie’–after accusations surfaced that he made up a story about being attacked at the altar in August. Father Basil Hutsko of Saint Michael Byzantine, a Catholic church in Merrillville, has been placed on administrative leave following allegations that he lied about being the victim of a hate crime. The parish discredited his claims that he was beaten while he was praying at the altar last summer. Father Hutsko, who has since been accused of sexual abuse, claimed he was attacked on the same day Pope Francis issued a letter to Catholics around the world condemning priestly sexual abuse and cover-ups in response to a grand jury report that publicly named more than 300 “predator priests” who allegedly molested more than 1,000 children in six Pennsylvania dioceses. Since news of his alleged abuse made headlines, an attorney representing the churc...

You have to assume they spoke about the recent discomfort to the west as well... ( ROC-DECR ) - On October 30, 2018, His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Great Antioch and All the East, met with the representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarchal Throne of Antioch, Hegumen Arseny (Sokolov). In the course of the talk, which took place at the Patriarchal residence, Father Arseny informed His Beatitude about the progress made in preparations for the 60th anniversary of the Damascus representation of the Russian Orthodox Church. The celebrations are planned for the second part of this November. On the feast day, the Divine Liturgy at the church of the representation will be presided over by His Beatitude John X. The talk concerned various details of the conduct of the celebration including its program. The Damascus representation of the Russian Orthodox Church was opened in 1958. Bishop Ioann (Weyland, 1909-1989) of Podolsk (later Metropolitan of Yaroslav...

( RISU ) - In its session held on October 29, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, adopted a decision to remember the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during worship, according to the official website of the UOC-KP. “Given the circumstances, until further directions we bless the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate to issue an instruction so that separate prayer requests be lifted in their cathedrals for His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: a) at the litany of peace, after the supplication “For this holy temple...” to lift a prayer “For His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew we pray onto the Lord”; b) at the Great Entrance, the bishop with the Holy Chalice proclaims, " For His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Reverend Orthodox Metropolitans, Archbishops, and Bishops...”

According to the traditional explanation, the name Bessarabia (Basarabia in Romanian) derives from the Wallachian Basarab dynasty, who allegedly ruled over the southern part of the area in the 14th century. More information here . ( Basilica ) - During its autumn regular session, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church resolved to glorify the 20th century Bessarabian Bishop Dionysius Erhan whose relics were found incorrupt earlier this year during the consolidation works at Suruceni Monastery in the Republic of Moldova. The canonization proposal was submitted by the Bishops’ Synod of the Metropolis of Bessarabia. The worthy of remembrance Bishop Dionysius Erhan (1868-1943) is one of the most outstanding church personalities from Bessarabia of the first half of the 20th century. He was ordained to the Episcopate on July 22, 1918, the year when Romania’s Great Union took place. In 1934 he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Cetatea Alba and Ismail, which he she...

From one of my favorite bloggers and authors, a new post entitled " Death to Halloween! (Very Scary!) " It is that time of year again when Orthodox and some other Christian writers attempt to warn people about the evils of Halloween. They assert—and I have done no less in my much younger days—that Halloween is a pagan holiday, and thus everyone who participates in its celebrations by default participates in the ancient Gaelic harvest festival called Samhain (“summer’s end”). As I grew older I saw that the people who dress up as princesses and Marvel super heroes have about as much to do with devil worship (for this is often the claim) as people who send each other Christmas cards or Easter candy have to do with worshiping Jesus Christ. This is all that I will say about it, and it may be a topic for another time. For myself, I still do not see any need to celebrate Halloween any more than I do the Chinese New Year, the Parinirvana Day, Eid-al-Adha, or Yom Kippur. But I a...

( orthochristian.com ) - The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church will meet in an extraordinary session on November 5 to discuss the question of convening a pan-Orthodox Council in connection with the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to create an autocephalous Ukrainian Church , Bulgarian Church representative Archpriest Nikolai Georgiev told TASS yesterday. “At the upcoming meeting, the metropolitans will decide whether or not to support Patriarch Kirill’s proposal to convene a pan-Orthodox Council to resolve the contradictions that have arisen in the Orthodox Church, or, to publish their opinion, having previously considered the Church documents from more than 300 years ago,” Fr. Nikolai explained. Early this month, Pat. Kirill wrote to all the primates of the world’s 15 Local Orthodox Churches to inform them about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and to propose opening a pan-Orthodox discussion on the matter. The Bulgarian Holy Synod then met to discuss the matte...

( ROC-DECR ) - On 23-27 October 2018, the third meeting of the Commission for Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East took place at the Novodevichy Convent of the Holy Resurrection in St. Petersburg. The Moscow Patriarchate’s delegation included Bishop Kliment of Krasnoslobodsk and Temnikov, co-chairman of the Commission; Archimandrite Stefan (Sado), chief librarian of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy; Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), secretary for inter-Christian relations of the Department for External Church relations; and Mr. Sergei Alferov, DECR staff member. Representing the Assyrian Church of the East were Bishop Mar Awa Royel of California, secretary of the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East, co-chairman of the Commission; Cor-Bishop George Kanon Toma, cleric of St. Andrew’s Church in Glenview, Illinois, USA; Priest Ephraim Alkhas, personal assistant to the secretary of the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East;...

People have emailed asking if he went through the normal release process. No. If ROCOR considers the entire Ecumenical Patriarchate to be in schism, then what good is a canonical release from a non-canonical Church? This story started making the rounds in Russian, then in Ukrainian, then in English. I expect it to be passed around for some days to come. ( ROCOR ) - Priest Mark Tyson, Rector of Holy Dormition Church in Bluefield, WV, transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, as reported by Interfax. He writes that he celebrated his last Divine Liturgy in his former church, which is under the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchate, and “will no longer commemorate Patriarch Bartholomew.” “My conscience will not allow me to stay… I decided simply but firmly to ‘walk away’ and unite in communion with the suffering Ukrainian Church, which was marginalized by the puzzling actions of Patriarch Bartholomew… A few days ago, the Patriarch, whom I devotedly and ...

I have to say I'm a little bemused by the idea. There's already a church building and a chapel on the grounds. There's also a functioning Antiochian parish on the other side of the hill. The Metropolitan lives nowhere nearby. Can someone provide some context? ( AOCANA ) - "What is more precious to all of us than the Antiochian Village?" His Eminence Metropolitan JOSEPH asked the members of the NAB and Spiritual Advisors this question as he prepared to tell us the theme of our 2019 NAB PROJECT. The question immediately brought to mind what His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP, of Thrice-Blessed Memory, used to say about the Antiochian Village: "The Antiochian Village is the HEART of our Archdiocese." When Metropolitan JOSEPH told us of his inspiration to build a new and beautiful cathedral on the grounds of the Village, we all immediately understood why this is such a wonderful vision. Not only does the building of a new cathedral give form to Metr...

( AOC ) - Joint Statement of the Serbian and Antiochian Orthodox Patriarchates Irenic & Official visit of His Beatitude Patriarch JOHN X to the Serbian Orthodox Church from October 11th to 19th, 2018: BELGRADE – 19th of October 2018 - This historical visit, the first since Antiochian Orthodox Patriarch THEODOSIOS VI (Abou-Rjaili) visited Belgrade, was made in the context of the difficult and painful circumstances that are facing the Antiochian Orthodox Church in Syria, Lebanon and the Middle East. This visit also coincides with the crisis that is currently facing the world-wide Orthodox Church, where developments are evolving rapidly and in a disturbing manner, and could lead to the occurrence of permanent detrimental impacts on the bonds of communion, peace and unity between brothers. 1. The visit was an important fraternal occasion for the brothers to meet, and for the Serbian and Antiochian Churches to embrace themselves. It provided a chance to discuss various issues w...

Baltimore, MD ( CNA ) - A Baltimore Catholic parish announced that it will begin issuing parish identification cards, with the goal of making undocumented immigrants and members of other vulnerable populations in the city more comfortable reporting crimes and cooperating with the Baltimore Police Department. “If this identification helps one person pick up the phone and call the police, it’s done what it’s supposed to do,” Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said during an Oct. 10 press conference announcing the parish initiative. The cards will be issued by Baltimore’s Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, with the support of Archbishop William Lori and the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Applicants will need to show a form of picture ID, even if it is expired; proof of address; and have their identity confirmed in a sworn statement by a third party. Each ID card will include a picture of the holder, as well as the parish’s contact information and logo. The parish is waiting for permission from t...

( Kyiv Post ) - Constantinople remains in communion with the Russian Orthodox Church despite the severance of Eucharistic communion between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Constantinople Patriarchate, the exarchate of Russian parishes in Western Europe said in a statement on Friday. “Dear brothers and sisters, we inform you that our bishops and exarchs who are in the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate remain in full communion with the entire Orthodox Church. We also inform you that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has not severed communion with the Moscow Patriarchate and continues to pray for it in accordance with the order established in the diptych,” the exarchate said.

NEW YORK ( GOARCH ) – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, keeping with her on-going commitment to transparency and accountability, has posted on its website, the results of Phase II of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC (“PwC”) investigative report (the “Report”) regarding the rebuilding of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine (“St. Nicholas”). On October 16, the Special Investigative Committee (SIC), authorized by the Archdiocese to conduct an independent review of the St. Nicholas project, released Phase II of the Report to the Archdiocese along with a summary communication based on the Report. (see below for links) As reflected in the Report, after extensive investigation, it has been determined that: There is no evidence that St. Nicholas funds were improperly paid to any individuals employed by or associated with the Archdiocese. There is no evidence or allegation that fraud was committed in connection with the St. Nicholas project. ...

As I mentioned some days ago, Moscow would be the first to respond definitively to the Ecumenical Patriarch's blitzkrieg on Ukraine followed swiftly by ROCOR. Well, here it is. ( ROCOR ) - The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia communicates to the plenitude of her clergy and faithful, and to her fellow Orthodox Christians throughout the world, her profound sorrow at the uncanonical undertakings perpetrated by the Church of Constantinople over the past days; in particular with regard to its Message of 11th October 2018. Simultaneously we express our complete support of the position taken by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow, following its meeting of 15th October 2018 and announced in its statement of the same date. The illicit actions of the Church of Constantinople are able to suffer no canonical defence and constitute a grave and dangerous injustice against the traditions of Orthodoxy, as well as a shocking disregard for the spiritual...

Bringing in schismatic groups doesn't make a schismatic of the canonical body doing so. If that were true, none of the jurisdiction in the US that have brought in all those non-canonical organizations would be undeniably cootie-tagious. Now, walking into the canonical territory of a Church that has been guided for 300 years by a Patriarch and claiming "Shotgun!" rights without any warning is poor form, but Moscow itself has brought numerous schismatic groups back into the Church over the last few years without any apparent fear of cootie infection or being shunned by the rest of the Church by being so afflicted. Add caption ( ROC-DECR ) - On October 17, 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations gave an interview to the BBC Russian Service on the situation that has developed in connection with the anti-canonical actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the decision of the Russian Ort...

( Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ) - Eastern Catholic jurisdictions in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have confirmed that Pennsylvania officials have begun investigating them in a continued inquiry into the sexual abuse of children by priests. The Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh has confirmed that it is one of the subjects of a broader investigation. And a bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia has confirmed that his jurisdiction has received a grand jury subpoena for documents related to the investigation. Eastern Catholics are, like Roman Catholics, loyal to the pope and Catholic doctrine but have different bishops, priests, parishes and liturgies. They were not subject to a recent grand jury that investigated six Roman Catholic dioceses and that released an Aug. 14 report identifying more than 300 priests accused of sexually abusing children over the past seven decades. “We've been told that we’re part of the investigation,” said Cathy Chromulak, ge...

( ROC-DECR ) - ‘The way to returning from a schism is always open and this way lies through repentance’ said Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations , speaking in the Big Game analytical TV program about ways of coming out of the situation caused by the anti-canonical actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople because of which the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, on October 15, 2018, had to recognize as impossible to remain any further in the Eucharistic communion with it. As is known, by its decisions of October 11 the Patriarchate of Constantinople ‘revoked’ the decision made over 300 years ago to transfer the Metropolis of Kiev to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, thus encroaching upon the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church and stated its readiness to implement the project for ‘Ukrainian autocephaly’. In addition, the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in defian...

( ROC-USA ) - Deans and Parish rectors of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA Esteemed father deans and parish rectors of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, This message serves to inform you that the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia on October 15, 2018, relieved Bishop John of Naro-Fomisnk from the Administration of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and appointed Bishop Matthew of Sourozh (Pronunciation: sOO-rozh) as interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA. During the divine services after the commemoration of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the new administrator is to be commemorated as “and our Lord, the most reverend Bishop Matthew…” Until special instructions are received from the new interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, communication with the Diocesan Center will be remain unchan...

I'm biased, but I truly like St. Tikhon's. If you feel you are being called or feel someone else could benefit from going to this, please look into it. Register here .

( ROC-DECR ) - The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, at its session on October 15, 2019, in Minsk, adopted a Statement of the Holy Synod concerning the encroachment of the Patriarchate of Constantinople upon the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod members deemed it impossible to continue to be in the Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It is stated in particular that ‘to admit in communion the schismatics and a person anathematized by another Local Church together with all the ‘bishops’ and ‘clergy’ ordained by them, the encroachment upon somebody else’s canonical parts, the attempt to reject one’s own historical decisions and commitments – all this places the Patriarchate of Constantinople outside the canonical space and, to our great grief, makes it impossible for us to continue the Eucharistic communion with its hierarchy, clergy and laity. ‘From now on till the Patriarchate of Constantinople abandons its anti-...

( Assyrian Church ) - Between October 5-11, 2018, an official delegation from the Assyrian Church of the East visited Moscow, Russia to participate in a Summer Institute programme organized by the Moscow Patriarchate’s Saints Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Postgraduate Studies. The 8-member delegation visited Moscow at the invitation of the Russian Orthodox Church, Holy Synod, Department for External Church Relations and by the Apostolic blessing of His Holiness Mar Gewargis III Sliwa Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East. Assyrian delegates from Iraq, India, the United States, Sweden and Australia reflected a number of key backgrounds including ordained serving clergy, theological students, educators, youth ministry workers, parish administrators and charitable workers. The existing Bilateral Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East was first established during a meeting between His Holiness the Patriarch...

What does this mean for all the other Churches and their jurisdictions in the US? That is still to be seen. The division of these two Churches does not necessitate everyone "picking a side" as it were. Nor does even necessitate the OCA do anything because, as she understands herself to be an autocephalous Church, what Russia does is not necessarily what the OCA has to do. Still, should what has been widely reported by the news agencies today prove to be true, this is a sad day for us all. We'll hear from Moscow's Department of External Church relations directly today and I expect a stentorian announcement from ROCOR soon. Minsk ( AFP ) - The Russian Orthodox Church said Monday it is breaking ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate over its decision to grant independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which Moscow does not recognise. "A decision has been made to rupture full communion with the Constantinople Patriarchate," which means priests fro...

Moscow, October 13 ( Interfax ) - The Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate has reinstated the primate of the Kiev Patriarchate, Filaret Denisenko, as an hierarch but does not see him as the patriarch, according to a Phanar hierarch. Archbishop Job (Getcha), who represents the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the World Council of Churches, said in his correspondence with Russian Orthodox Church protodeacon Andrey Kurayev that Phanar deemed Filaret to be "the former Metropolitan of Kiev." Archbishop Job said in response to the protodeacon's question about the Church rank of Denisenko in the eyes of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, "To my knowledge, he is the former Metropolitan of Kiev." This means that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has acknowledged the legitimately of Filaret but views him as a former Metropolitan of Kiev. "Filaret said yesterday that he 'was, is, and will be patriarch', but this is just a self-presentation. His conduct already buri...

( Modern Diplomacy ) On Monday September 24th, a Turkish news website Dik Gazete published an article Erdogan’s Washington – Brunson – Ukraine game written by Adnan Cavusoglu. According to the author, there is a connection between the rumored release of Pastor Andrew Brunson on October 12, the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s decision to grant autocephaly (independence) to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the ease of Washington’s sanctions on Turkey. Despite Erdogan’s “no crisis” rhetoric the Turkish economy faces hard times under the US pressure. Turkey’s finance minister Berat Albayrak has recently introduced the so-called New Economic Program to tackle the consequences of sanctions. One of Washington’s main conditions for lifting the sanctions is Brunson’s release. However, there is another one – the autocephaly for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the author states. In April, Kyiv, which strives to break away from the Russian Orthodox Church and create an independent Ukrainian...

Moscow, October 10 ( Interfax ) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is certain that attempts by politicians to tear the Ukrainian and Russian Churches apart are doomed. "Today when certain political forces are tormenting Ukraine, when they are trying to tear the Ukrainian Church off Russia's and destroy our unity, we know: all this will end in total flop," Patriarch Kirill said during festivities commemorating St. Sergius at the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius. "All the forces of evil" are now working to separate the Ukrainian Church from the unified Russian Orthodox Church, which began in the Kiev baptistery, he said. "We should all remember that the laws by which the Lord runs the Church are not human laws, and every time politicians invade the church, they are defeated," Patriarch Kirill said. He referred to the post-revolutionary situation, which saw the Bolsheviks' provocation of the Renovationist schism in the Church, the ar...

Regularizing schismatic hierarchs and all their people is not something easily walked back from. Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος. ( EP ) - Presided by His All-Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Holy and Sacred Synod convened for its regular session from October 9 to 11, 2018, in order to examine and discuss items on its agenda. The Holy Synod discussed in particular and at length the ecclesiastical matter of Ukraine, in the presence of His Excellency Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon and His Grace Bishop Hilarion of Edmonton, Patriarchal Exarchs to Ukraine, and following extensive deliberations decreed: 1) To renew the decision already made that the Ecumenical Patriarchate proceed to the granting of Autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine. 2) To reestablish, at this moment, the Stavropegion of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Kyiv, one of its many Stavropegia in Ukraine that existed there always. 3) To accept and review the petitions of appeal of Filaret Denisenko, Makariy Maletych and their f...

Uncorroborated, but it does make sense. You can't really get the people without the leaders very easily. Accepting them in retirement is a standard way of normalizing a schismatic body, but that's not always possible in such situations. ( orthodoxia.info ) - The schismatic Patriarch of Kiev, Filaret, and the schismatic Archbishop of Ukraine, Makariy, are as of today considered canonical hierarchs of the Orthodox Church. The two clerics, who are the heads of Ukraine’s two schismatic Churches, had made an appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarchate requesting their past convictions be re-assessed. According to well-informed sources close to orthodoxia.info, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has accepted this appeal and restored them to canonical status. The exact details and conditions of the decision remain unkown, as well as the number of hierarchs that will subsequently be recognized. The official communiqué of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is yet to be issued. ...

( AOCANA ) - His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph will be offering the Keynote Address at the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology, and Religion (OCAMPR) annual pan-Orthodox Conference, being held from November 8 – 10, 2018 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Somerset, NJ. His Grace Bishop John of the Diocese of Worcester and New England will present the address on behalf of Metropolitan Joseph. Audio of the address will be available after the conference on Ancient Faith Radio​. Throughout the weekend, professionals from the healing professions will consider the theme, "Compliance and Resistance: Discerning the Spirit." Three plenary speakers, Halina Woroncow, MD,​ Renos Papadopoulos, PhD, and Helen Theodoropoulos, PhD, will address theological issues in compliance and resistance. In addition to the four plenary talks, the Conference will host twenty workshops on topics related to faith and healing, as well as twelve paper presentations. OCAMPR exists to ...

NEW YORK ( GOARCH ) – As announced at the recent Clergy Laity Congress in Boston, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, has recently engaged the consulting services of CapinCrouse and the Barna Group as part of a review of the effectiveness of the various departments, programs and ministries of the national Church. To that end, the Archdiocese is currently working closely with the Barna firm, which is a full-service research company that has been working with churches and ministries for over 30 years, to design a survey which will be distributed in the coming months to clergy and lay leaders across the country to gather their feedback. All steps will be taken to ensure the validity of the study and the anonymity and confidentiality of responses. The ultimate goal of this survey is to gauge the efficacy of resources committed to the National Ministries, and to determine how to best optimize investment in, and use of, the f...

How has Constantinople understood the granting of autocephaly in the past? How has it changed over the years? Who can grant it, when, and for what reasons? Can the Ecumenical Patriarchate act unilaterally? What do the other patriarchates and theologians think about the topic? It is not light reading; so you aren't going to find many (any?) bumper sticker slogans to put on your car. ( Orthodox Synaxis ) - Orthodox Synaxis is a project of the Institute for Orthodox Unity, a pan-Orthodox organization dedicated to preserving the unity of the Orthodox Churches throughout the world. Orthodox Synaxis was created in response to the current threat to global Orthodox unity, which is manifesting itself in a conflict between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Moscow, regarding the ecclesiastical situation in Ukraine. This website is focused on the underlying ecclesiological issues: primacy, conciliarity, autocephaly, etc., as opposed to historical and territorial claims s...

"To be read from the pulpit on Sunday, October 7, 2018, distributed through your parish email list serv, printed in your parish bulletin and posted on your parish website." I kept the original bold and italics. The Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy Honorable Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Esteemed Members of the Metropolitan Council, Esteemed Members of the Parish Councils, Philoptochos Sisterhood, Faculty and Students of the Catechetical and Greek Afternoon Schools, Directors and Participants of all Youth Organizations, and all devout Orthodox Christians of the Greek Orthodox Communities of our Holy Metropolis of New Jersey My Beloved in the Lord, For the past seventeen centuries the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has embraced all the Orthodox faithful throughout the oikoumene with faith, love, care, and pastoral sensitivity as it has aimed to ensure peace, unity, and healing throughout the Orthodox world. One of the central roles of the Ecumenic...