Byzantine, Texas

( Catholic Herald ) - The Iraqi government has officially declared December 25 a public holiday to mark “the birth of Jesus Christ”. All citizens of the majority Muslim nation will now mark the date as a national holiday, as opposed to just Christians. “Happy Christmas to our Christian citizens, all Iraqis and to all who are celebrating around the world,” the government said on Twitter. “We extend our warmest wishes to Christians in Iraq and around the world for a very happy and peaceful Christmas,” it added. The country’s Christian population has been decimated in recent years following the chaos surrounding the withdrawal of Western troops and the rise of the Islamic State terror group. In 2003, there were around 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, however numbers have now fallen as low as 300,000. The country is now 95 per cent Muslim.

Kyiv ( RFERL ) – Ukraine’s parliament has approved a bill that would force the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to change its name. A total of 240 lawmakers voted for the legislation on December 20, as hundreds of people opposed to the bill held a mass prayer next to the parliament’s building. After the vote, the UOC-MP urged President Petro Poroshenko to veto the text, calling it unconstitutional. The proposed law would require a religious organization whose governing center is based in a country waging war against Ukraine or occupying Ukrainian territory to change its name to reflect its affiliation. The bill would force the UOC-MP, which remains subordinate to Russia, to add "Russian" to its name. Moscow forcibly annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2014 and supports separatists battling Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine in a conflict there has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014. "There is no question that t...

( ROC ) - A deep wound has been inflicted on the canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine and worldwide, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia wrote in the letters addressed to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches. The messages were sent to His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, His Holiness Patriarch Neophytos of Bulgaria, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada. As His Hol...

( ROC-Sourozh ) - English and Greek -language versions of the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church have officially opened.

With the creation of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine by the Ecumenical Patriarch... Patriarch Kirill of Moscow does not commemorate the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople Met. Epiphaniy of Kyiv does not commemorate Patriarch Kirill of Moscow Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople commemorates Met. Epiphaniy of Kyiv in Constantinople and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow

( EP ) - It is with praise to God, great joy and satisfaction that the Ecumenical Patriarchate announces the successful completion of the work of the Unifying Synod (Sobor)—foundational of the new Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Ukraine—which was convened in Kyiv today, December 15th, 2018. Metropolitan Epiphanios of Pereiaslav and Belotserkovsky was elected as its Primate. His Beatitude, the newly-elected Primate, contacted His All-Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch, expressed his respect and asked the wishes and blessings of the Mother Church for fruition of his primatial ministry, which starts under good auspices. In this context, it is announced that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew invited His Beatitude Epiphanios to concelebrate the Divine Liturgy at the Phanar on the great feast of Theophany and to deliver to him the Tomos of establishment of the new sister Autocephalous Church. At the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the 15th of December, 2018 From the Chief Secretariat of...

( ROC ) - On December 17, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has held an extraordinary session at the Kiev-Pechersky Laura of the Dormition. The Synod has adopted the following message to the archpastors, pastors, monastics and faithful: Your Eminences and Graces, Beloved in the Lord Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, On December 15, 2018, at the Sophia of Kiev National Preserve, the so-called uniting council was held to declare the establishment of a new church organization called ‘The Orthodox Church’. Its emergence resulted from the unification of the two uncanonical structures: ‘The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church’ and ‘The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate’. Thus, this gathering represents a union of schismatics and has nothing to do with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. For our Church, nothing has changed as the schismatics have remained in schism while the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has remained the true Church of Christ in Ukraine. Nobody...

It is going to be exhausting if I start "air quoting" my way through articles of the UOC-KP, UOC-MP, etc. "Primate." "Canonical." "Autocephalous." I could go on forever. I'm going to stick with leaving what terms I can uneditorialized. Please don't take this as endorsement or condemnation of the EP, Moscow, et al. It's not - I just don't have the patience to narrate and contextualize the source material.

Note that Met. Epiphaniy's name has not been regularized in English yet. So far I've counted 5 different spellings in use (iy, ius, ios, etc.). Time will tell which the Anglophone press will settle on. ( RISU ) - Metropolitan Yepiphaniy’s first divine liturgy as primate of the new autocephalous Orthodox church in Ukraine was celebrated today in Kyiv, Orthodoxia.info reports. The service, which attracted the attention of all the country’s news agencies, was broadcast live, with the cathedral being packed with worshippers. No mention of the Russian patriarch As is custom, the newly elected primate commemorated the names of the heads of the other Orthodox churches during the liturgy, beginning with the name of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Yet when the time came to commemorate the patriarch of Russia, Metropolitan Yepiphaniy made no mention of Patriarch Kirill, proceeding instead to the next name in the diptychs, that of the patriarch of Serbia. This moment can be seen ...

( orthochristian.com ) - The Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church met today in the Kiev Caves Lavra under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine to discuss the grave challenges facing the Church and the faithful in this time. Among the Synod’s resolutions today was the decision to dismiss from their dioceses and defrock the two metropolitans who departed from the canonical Church to join the new nationalist church created by Constantinople on Saturday, reports RIA-Novosti. “The Synod dismissed Metropolitan Simeon of Vinnitsa and Bar and the bishop of the Kiev Metropolia Metropolitan Alexander of Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky and Vishnev from their dioceses and forbade them from serving,” the decision reads. His Eminence Archbishop Clement, the Chairman of the Synodal Information and Education Department, stated that Metropolitans Simeon Shostasky and Alexander Drabinko “went into schism.” The abbot of the Kiev Caves Lavra His Eminence Metr...

The entire Church needs to get together on this. People need clear teaching on this and on assisted reproduction techniques. ( Sophia Globe ) - The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has issued its position on organ transplants, a day after Health Minister Kiril Ananiev met faith groups and asked them to declare support for state policy on the matter. The governing body of the church, to which the majority of Bulgarians declare themselves to be adherents, said that it gave its blessing to the performing of organ transplants, subject to a number of conditions. These include “strict and regulated observance of fundamental bio-ethical principles”, establishment of brain death according to strictly defined clinical criteria, and written informed consent by the donor or his closest relatives. “The entire clinical transplantation process needs to be co-ordinated and carried out by well-established national transplantation centres that have the trust of society and ensure as...

( Archons ) - With immense gratitude to our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has announced that the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Ukraine has, on Saturday, December 15, elected a Primate. In a communiqué issued Saturday from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Chief Secretariat of the Holy and Sacred Synod announced: “It is with praise to God, great joy and satisfaction that the Ecumenical Patriarchate announces the successful completion of the work of the Unifying Synod (Sobor)—foundational of the new Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Ukraine—which was convened in Kyiv today, December 15th, 2018.” At the Unifying Synod, “Metropolitan Epiphanios of Pereiaslav and Belotserkovsky was elected as its Primate. ” His Beatitude, the newly-elected Primate, immediately contacted His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in order to express “his respect and asked the wishes and blessings of the Mother Church for fruition of his primatial ministry, wh...

( New York Post ) - Two Long Island nuns have become defiant “#ChurchToo” activists, posting public messages to end abuse in “faith communities” at the same time their convent supervisor, a priest accused of sexual misconduct, was allowed to return to his Brooklyn church. The Greek Orthodox sisters, shown in their habits, began their Instagram and Facebook campaigns in October as Rev. Gerasimos Makris was reinstated to the pulpit at Holy Cross Church in Bay Ridge. Makris — an imperious figure who insists on his parishioners kissing his hand (... as does every other priest. I know it makes good copy, but it lacks understanding of normal Orthodox practice.)  — confessed to “inappropriate interactions with two adult women” and an archdiocese “spiritual court” recommended he be banned. But church higher-ups put him back anyway. The scandal is the latest black eye for the Greek Orthodox church and the Holy Cross parish, whose former leader, the Rev. George Passias, was defrocke...

Kyiv, December 7 ( Interfax ) - The Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church said that the Patriarch of Constantinople "has no canonical right to convene any meeting in Ukraine" and has banned its clergy and laypeople from attending the so-called unification gathering, the Church's information and enlightenment department said. "The Holy Synod also stressed that Patriarch Bartholomew does not have the right to summon to such meetings the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's archbishops. The planned 'unification gathering' is an illegal meeting because it will involve representatives from schismatic groups," the UOC Synod said in a statement after its meeting in Kiev on Friday. In view of this, and on the basis of the November 13 resolution of the Bishops' Council the UOC episcopate, clergy, monks, nuns and laypeople are not being blessed to attend the so-called unification gathering, the statement said. "No [UOC] priest or layperson is auth...

Let me be blunt and say that the Deacon Chryssavgis' videos put out when the Crete event was in full swing, filled with sweeping hand motions, grandiose delivery, and sometimes farcical statements were possibly my least favorite part of covering the kerfuffl-o-council. They reminded me of the videos of Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf (aka "Baghdad Bob") the Iraqi Information Minister famously claiming victory while the US blew through his forces and took the country in a matter of days. The Crete videos sought to give people some context for what was going on during the meetings in Crete, but often served to either enrage detractors or amuse them. Chryssavgis, a contributor to the reviled Public Orthodoxy blog, has returned to YouTube with videos (see an example embedded below) on the Ukraine situation that describe what is going on in a way that I think will have an equally insalubrious response from many of the same people who opposed his viewpoints during the "Pan-Or...

( Greek Reporter ) - An agreement called “The Charter for the Protection of the Byzantine Heritage Monuments” was unanimously ratified this weekend after a three-day meeting held in the city of Thessaloniki. Representatives from twenty-one countries agreed on a framework of principles for the protection of Byzantine heritage for all areas comprising the former Byzantine Empire. The Empire spanned three continents, and its monuments are now spread out among 23 countries with different cultures, languages and religions. The Byzantine Empire outlasted that of the the Romans, flourishing for over eleven centuries. The creation of the Charter was the culmination of a lengthy process conducted over four meetings held in 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2018. The Charter of Thessaloniki meetings were organized by the European Centre of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments. We welcome the charter of Thessaloniki. The charter for the protection of Byzantine heritage monuments was Approved this ...

( OCMC ) - The Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria convened last week, presided by His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa. During the synod, they made a number of major updates in the hierarchy of the Church of Africa. Firstly, they established one new metropolis and five new dioceses throughout Africa: Metropolis of Kananga Diocese of Malawi Diocese of Gulu and Eastern Uganda Diocese of Toliara and Southern Madagascar Diocese of Goma Diocese of Kisangani Additionally, they elected several new bishops: Metropolitan-elect Daniel for the Metropolis of Axum Metropolitan-elect Theodosios for the Metropolis of Kananga Bishop-elect Fotios for the Diocese of Malawi Bishop-elect Sylvestros for the Diocese of Gulu and Eastern Uganda Bishop-elect Prodromos for the Diocese of Toliara and Southern Madagascar All of these changes and developments reflect a growing Orthodox Church throughout Africa, and so we are very excited to hear about...

( UNIAN ) - Participants in the unification council will elect the head of the newly created independent autocephalous local Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said the Orthodox churches in Ukraine will gather for a unification council on December 15. Earlier it was reported that participants in the unification council would elect the head of the newly created independent autocephalous local Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Its head that is to be elected will be given a tomos on autocephaly. As UNIAN reported earlier, a decision was announced after a meeting of the Holy Synod on October 11 that the Ecumenical Patriarchate proceeds to granting autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine. In addition, the legal binding of the Synod's letter of 1686 was abolished, thus taking the Kyiv Metropolis from under Moscow's canonical jurisdiction. Also, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) Filaret and head of the Ukrainian Aut...

Egypt, throughout all the government regimes of modern times, has used certification of churches as a means of stopping church growth. Christians still build churches and occupy spaces all over the country, but they have historically faced government pressure, forced closures, and even the bulldozing of buildings when they do. If you combine control over church planting, the impossibility of conversion from Islam to Christianity, and the numerous deadly attacks on women and children you get a clear picture of the hostile environment with which this cradle of the Church is confronted. Cairo ( AsiaNews ) – The regularisation of more than a hundred new churches and Christian places of worship "is a positive step" and confirms that the government intends to "put into practice" what is in the “law on irregular places of worship approved a year and a half ago," said Fr Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Egyptian Catholic Church, who spoke to AsiaNews about 168 churc...

( Daily Wire ) - The Egyptian government voted down a referendum to remove religious affiliation from their citizen ID cards earlier this week, a move that many believe will usher in further persecution of the Christian minority living in the African nation. Egypt has forced its citizens to identify their religious affiliations since the 1950s, a move that many have suggested makes it easier to target religious minorities. The proposed bill would have ended that requirement. It received widespread support from human rights groups within the country who were disappointed by its defeat. The head of policy for the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms Sherif Azer told the Morning Star News, “Whenever there is a situation that requires showing your ID … you would be categorized right away.” Azer added he thinks it was voted down out of fear of inter-faith marriages and other ‘societal’ problems perceived by the mostly Islamic legislature. “This is something no … conservative...

Patriarch Bartholomew traveled to South Korea for the 50th anniversary of St Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Seoul and give the opening speech at the Environmental International Symposium ‘Ecology, theology, and human dignity in Orthodox Christian tradition.'

( OCA ) - A new book, Mixed Marriage: An Orthodox History by Priest Anthony Roeber, Professor of Church History at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Yonkers, NY, “will surely become a standard work on the subject,” according to Archpriest John A. McGuckin, Visiting Research Professor at Oxford University and Emeritus Professor of Byzantine Christian Studies at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary. The volume—now available through Saint Vladimir’s Seminary [SVS] Press—explores historical documentation of incidents and practices regarding mixed marriages throughout the history of the Orthodox Church. “Father Roeber’s excellent book offers a lucid and fascinating history of marriage and its relationship to the Church, the authority of the bishop, pastoral practice in relation to the administration of the Mysteries (how can a couple sharing in the sacrament of Orthodox marriage not be allowed thereafter to share in the Eucharist from which it flows?) an...

From the Palamas Institute, a post entitled “ The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation is Therapeutic Not Legalistic! ” Unfortunately, Orthodox Christians tend to overemphasize the therapeutic nature of salvation at the expense of our own moral and legal tradition. This is unfortunate because Holy Tradition is deeper, broader and richer than that can be captured in a slogan. We have a rich, legal tradition. Not only canon law to govern the internal life of the Church but also of legal theory to guide the Church in its relationship with the State. We also have well-developed moral theology that offers Orthodox Christians objective moral standards on which to base our lives. To all this, we have an ascetical and liturgical tradition that seeks to heal the soul of the consequences of sin, foster a life of Christian virtue and deepen our relationship with God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But none of this makes any sense if we neglect our moral and legal tradition....