Byzantine, Texas

I'm reminded of Colossians: "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." Yet again the Church of Albania speaks in prayerful wisdom on the events of the day. A Church that has risen from the ashes of Communism to become a beacon of faithfulness and Christian love embodied in her primate, Archbishop Anastasios. ( Church of Albania ) - This appeal-supplication was sent to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and to all other Orthodox Autocephalos Churches on November 20th, 2019. It was given to the media on the 24th of November, 2019. † Anastasios Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Alban...

I had originally posted a section of an article from a website rather condemnatory of the Metropolitan of Chicago. It explained some recent prohibitions on priests announcing who could or could not receive communion either before distributing it or in bulletins. Given the perceived calumnies interwoven with information in the articles, I've unlinked it. At the same time the Metropolis of Chicago would not be alone historically in telling clergy not to make additional announcements about worthiness to receive (at large feast days, at funerals, etc.). It has been done before and I expect bishops to do it in the future. If anyone has any first-hand information on this occasion of such a directive, I think everyone would like to get additional context. My intent was not to "bash" anyone, but to highlight a local decision and foster discussion.

( ROC ) - On 6 November 2019, a Conference ‘Transcarpathia and Mt Athos: spiritual and cultural connections” took place in Uzhgorod, Ukraine. Taking part in the forum were fifty scholars from nine countries: Ukraine, Hungary, Greece, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Serbia and Czechia. The conference was timed to the 120th anniversary of the birth of hieroschemamonk Avvakum (Vakarov), an elder of Transcarpathia and Mt. Athos. Greetings from the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, were read out at the opening of the conference. He reminded the participants of the dozens of ethnic Transcarpathians who were spiritual fathers and abbots of the monasteries on Mt. Athos and of many canonized Athonite zealots. Also read out were greetings from His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav, Primate of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. Metropolitan Antony of Borispol and Brovary, chancellor of the Ukrainian Ortho...

( Orthodox Times ) - Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem announced earlier today in Moscow, his decision to invited his fellow leaders of the Church to meet together in Jordan to discuss the unity of the Church. “We would like to host, in our home as the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, our brothers, the Primates of the Orthodox Church, to gather in the spirit of fellowship – koinonia – so that counsel will be taken together for the preservation of our unity in Eucharistic communion,” the Patriarch said. It is unknown if the Patriarch of Jerusalem has contacted other Primates to examine their intentions, but in any case it is a move of high importance and risk to many.

Russian pilgrims to the Holy Land are a substantial source of revenue to the Hagiopolite patriarchate. I posted some years back about a Russian bishop leading a large group of pilgrims into a church there who said something to the effect of "We had to tell the man at the door that we were pilgrims and not a mob. There were so many of us and he was nervous!" Post-Soviet tourism is a real thing. At the same time Jerusalem relies on Hellenic ties for much of their clergy. The ties to both Moscow and Constantinople cannot be overlooked. ( ROC ) - On 20 November 2019, H.E.Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, met with His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The meeting took place at the Patriarchal Chambers of the Moscow Kremlin. The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem has arrived in Russia to attend the awards ceremony of the International Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox C...

I have degrees in engineering and theology. If I have learned one thing, it is that neither my post-nominal titles nor the titles of others should afford us any gratuitous gravitas. Really, if my opinion leans on my acronyms more than on sound thinking, I haven't done enough to deserve to posit it. The Orthodox idea that something is not definitive until it has been successfully "received" has been an importance defense of the faith for centuries. At the same time the immediacy of electronic communications means silly ideas receive outsized approbation. The role of the synod in this new digital age should be a vocal counterbalance to ideas the seemingly spring from the head of Zeus. In America we need our bishops to be a bulwark between the flights of fancy of "theologians" and a laity that consumes more ideas online than in brown study thumbing through dusty books embossed in obscure titles. Ideas floated and broadcasted across the Internet without condemnation...

( Forum 18 ) - Worship is banned in all Protestant churches and Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Halls, as the unrecognised Luhansk People's Republic bans exercising freedom of religion or belief without permission. Courts punish those leading unapproved worship. Prosecutors are investigating an Orthodox priest on "extremism" criminal charges. With no permanent resident priest, Catholics hold Mass by Skype. With bans on clergy visiting, many communities suffer isolation. The unrecognised Luhansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine has banned many religious communities – including all Protestants, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses – from exercising freedom of religion or belief, including bans on meeting for worship. "Our churches lie empty," one Protestant lamented to Forum 18. The rebel authorities have also banned many religious leaders from outside their territory from visiting their fellow believers. Officials have barred access by the Greek Catholic...

( Orthodox Times ) - The Patriarch of Georgia calls on the Patriarch of Russia to not intrude on the canonical territory of the Georgian Orthodox Church. According to yesterday’s letter released by the Patriarchate of Georgia, Patriarch Ilia expressed his concern both about the expansionist tendencies of Russian troops in the Tskhinvali region and about the alleged intention of the Patriarchate of Russia to send priests to this region in order to minister. “According to canon law, it is unacceptable that the clergy under our jurisdiction be sent without our permission as ministers to the military bodies and the laity place. This act is worsening the situation,” wrote in his letter Patriarch Ilia of Georgia.

( ROCOR-GB-WEU ) - The Diocese of Western Europe is pleased to announce the first pan-European Orthodox liturgical music conference, which will take place in London from 23rd – 26th January 2020, based at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God and the Holy Royal Martyrs. The theme of this first conference is ‘The Russian Church—Musical Diaspora: Past, Present and Future’. Co-sponsored by the Diocese and the Synodal Liturgical Music Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the conference is specially blessed by the First Hierarch of the Church Abroad, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, and is aimed at all who are interested in the rich musical tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, especially in its life in the Diaspora — singers in Church choirs, conductors, readers, and others. The conference will feature lectures and workshops by renowned international specialists in the field of choral singing and Church musicianship. Special the...

( STOTS ) - St. Tikhon’s welcomed Taylor Hostetter who informed us of an exciting opportunity for young adults in Serbia during the summer of 2020. For decades, Mr. Hostetter has been a missionary overseas, and over the past several years, he has been overseeing mission teams in Serbia. Communism spiritually decimated the traditionally Orthodox Serbian land. However, after communism’s fall and the Balkan Civil War (1991-2001), many people began searching for spiritual answers that the atheistic, post-communist society could not fulfill. While the Serbian Church has found success reaching adults over thirty years of age, there are few young adults and youth in the Church. Mr. Hostetter has found great success with reaching the younger generation in Serbia through his program. His “Summer in Serbia” brings Orthodox young adults (between the ages of 18-25) from all over the world to live in a community home and fellowship with young Serbians, conduct Bible studies, and evan...

Moscow, November 13 ( Interfax ) - Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria and the archbishops of the Churches of Alexandria and Cyprus were given envelopes following a liturgy service in Limassol, Cyprus, where Patriarch Theodoros mentioned the head of the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) Yepifaniy; the envelopes contained letters with pictures of Theodoros and Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev, a fragment of the fresco Kiss of Judas, and the text "Onufry is a metropolitan, Yepifaniy is a schismatic, and Theodoros is a Judas," Orthodox Christian blogger Alexander Voznesensky wrote on Facebook. "The situation is as follows: Theodoros personally mentioned Yepifaniy in a liturgy in Limassol, despite the requests of the Cypriot clergy. After that, all the bishops and priests received an envelope containing this picture," Voznesensky said. A senior priest of the Alexandria Patriarchate tore the letter up in the street and Theodoros "escaped to avoid the atten...

( OCA ) - The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, meeting under the presidency of His Beatitude at its Regular Fall Session, Tuesday, November 12, 2019, elected Archimandrite Alexis (Trader) as Bishop-elect of Bethesda, Auxiliary to the Metropolitan for Stavropegial Institutions, and Hieromonk Andrei (Hoarste) as Bishop-elect of Cleveland, Auxiliary to His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel of the Romanian Episcopate. He's a bishop of institutions? To what location is he affixed? Archimandrite Alexis [Trader] is a Great-schema hieromonk who has returned from Greece to the United States on His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon’s invitation and with the blessing of his abbot, Archimandrite Philotheos, in order to serve the Orthodox Church in America. He was received into the Orthodox faith at the Monastery of Saint Tikhon where he became a monk and lecturer in patristics. After ten years at the monastery, he went to the Monastery of Karakallou on the Holy Mountain ...

( Vatican News ) - Gunmen shot dead an Armenian Catholic priest and his father as they were traveling in a car in northeastern Syria. The attack was claimed by the so-called Islamic State group. Father Hovsep Bedoyan, the head of the Armenian Catholic community in the the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli near the border with Turkey, and his father, Abraham Bedoyan, were heading to the province of Deir Al-Zor when they came under attack on Monday, November 11. The two men were reportedly due to oversee the restoration of a church in Deir Al-Zor. A third man, a deacon from the town of Al-Hasakeh, was reportedly wounded in the attack. The Kurdish-controlled area in eastern Syria is overseen by US soldiers who have still to pull out from the oil-rich territory, which lies east of the Euphrates River. Also on Monday , two separate bombings in Qamishli, one of them close to a Chaldean church, reportedly killed at least six people and wounded twenty two others. The Armenian ...

( ROCOR-WAD ) - On November 6, 2019, Bishops, clergy and faithful of various Orthodox jurisdictions gathered in San Francisco, California, to celebrate the Patronal Feast of the Diocesan Cathedral of the Western American Diocese in honor of the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” The solemnity of the Feast was especially auspicious as on this day a new auxiliary bishop of Western American Diocese was consecrated – His Grace Bishop James (Corazza) of Sonora.

( ROMA ) - Sunday, November 3, 2019 represented the fulfillment of a great and beautiful dream for the Romanian Orthodox community of San Antonio, Texas. HE Metropolitan Nicolae along with several priests officiated the service of the blessing of the water and the Divine Liturgy for the first time in the new church of the parish, placed under the protection of St. John Cassian. The Romanian parish of St. John Cassian of San Antonio continued the mission started in 2002 by a group of Romanian and American Orthodox Christians from ​​San Antonio area under the pastoral care of Fr. Julian Aniței. The new St. John Cassian Mission was registered and started operating in February 2014. From February 2016, Father Valentin Ilieș received the blessing of HE Archbishop Nicolae to serve at this Mission. Surrounded by a handful of faithful and courageous people, Father Valentin set out for the pastoral and administrative organization of the Mission. The services began in a space rented from a Pr...

( RISU ) - The Sixth Court of Appeal of Kyiv approved to continue the liquidation of the UOC-KP. According to the correspondent of Religiyna Pravda (Religious Truth) who is in the court, the respective decision was made at meeting on November 11, despite pressure from supporters of Filaret who attacked the court, broke the doors, furniture and had a fight with law-enforcement. As noted, the court decided to cancel the previous decision to secure the claim, that is, fully sided with the Ministry of Culture and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Supporters of Filaret gathered in the morning of November 11 in the center of Kyiv to protest against the liquidation of the UOC-KP. From the European square, they went to the Cabinet of Ministers where transferred the address then moved to court where there was a fight. They then headed to Bankova street for the office of the President.

When two Carpatho-Rusyn priests under the EP left for ROCOR it was widely seen as laudable. When two ROCOR priests leave for GOARCH it's “betraying the trust and love of his archpastors" apparently. Regardless of where you stand on these jurisdictional shifts, it's received as a scandal by the faithful. ( orthochristian.com ) - Last month, the Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia announced that Archimandrite Alexander Belya, “betraying the trust and love of his archpastors, led the Cathedral of Blessed Matrona of Moscow in Dania Beach, FL, and St. Nicholas Monastery in North Fort Myers, FL, out of the structure of the canonical authority of the Russian Orthodox Church.” Belya and his brother Ivan were under investigation for a number of serious accusations, and it is known that Alexander attempted to get himself confirmed as a bishop of ROCOR by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, despite the fact that he had not been no...

( Orthodox Times ) - Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria notified by letter the members of the Hierarchy of the Alexandrian Throne that he recognised the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The letter was sent today from Alexandria to all the Metropolitans and Bishops. Patriarch Theodore noted that “after having discussed the issue at length and in private with all of you, on the basis of careful consideration and much prayer […] we decided to recognise the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.” And also... ( Orthodox Times ) - After the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, who first commemorated with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew the name of the new Metropolitan of Kyiv, follows Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria who commemorated Metropolitan Epifaniy, thus recognizing the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The commemoration took place during the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy in Cairo at the Temple of the Archangels in Dahir, where Egypt’s largest Arabic-speaking Orthodox communit...

Moscow, November 8 ( Interfax ) - The recognition of the new "Orthodox Church of Ukraine" (OCU) by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa makes it impossible for Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to commemorate his name during services, the Moscow Patriarchate said. "The Russian Orthodox Church is deeply saddened by the reports on Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria's decision to recognize Yepifaniy Dumenko as the leader of the 'Orthodox Church of Ukraine' and commemorate his name in the Church of Alexandria's diptychs. This means that the name of the Patriarch of Alexandria can no longer be commemorated during patriarchal services in the Russian Orthodox Church," Deputy Chairman of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Nikolay Balashov told Interfax on Friday.

Dear Orthodox Twitter, Did you see the 12+ round tweet contest between @FrJohnWhiteford and @atpapanik on sex, sodomy, and other Church stuff? Read it tell us who you think had the better / more persuasive arguments and why (but be nice in your comments please). — The Orthodox World (@WorldOrthodox) November 8, 2019

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL, October 31, 2019 ( GOARCH-Chicago ) – The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago announced today a new ministry for high school graduates called Lighthouse. Lighthouse aims to prepare campers for the social, emotional, practical, and spiritual challenges they will encounter in their college experience and beyond. Named “Lighthouse,” the ministry was developed through the Metropolis’ Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministries (Y2AM Chicago) and is intended to be the natural next step for campers who attended both St. Mary’s Orthodox Camp and Fanari Camp. The ministry was created to address and respond to the troubling reality that approximately 60 percent of youth are leaving Christianity (including the Orthodox Church) in America today. Specifically, Lighthouse will organize, promote, and execute an annual camp staffed with clergy and laity trained to proactively engage the age group and foster an authentic sense of community among campers as Orthodox Chri...

( STOTS ) - On the first weekend in November, over forty visiting guests from Orthodox seminaries across North America descended on South Canaan, Pennsylvania. Representatives from Saint Herman’s, Saint Vladimir’s, Christ the Saviour, Holy Trinity, and Hellenic College Holy Cross gathered for the biannual Orthodox Inter-Seminary (OISM) Retreat, hosted by Saint Tikhon’s. According to the group’s constitution, OISM exists “in order to create a closer fellowship among students enrolled in Orthodox Christian schools of theological education of all jurisdictions, to affirm our common traditions and gain an appreciation of other cultures and traditions, to promote understanding and unity among all Orthodox Christians, to build a network for future clerical and lay cooperation.” The organization was first gathered over half a century ago, participating in what were usually called “Encounters” by the seminarians in those days. OISM’s recent reinstitution was the fruit of the efforts of ...

( ROCOR ) - On Saturday, November 2, 2019, in the Church of St Thomas in Jakarta, Indonesia, with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, an assembly of clergymen of the Indonesian Mission was held. Chaired by His Grace Bishop George of Canberra, Vicar of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand of ROCOR, the meeting included by invitation the Patriarchal Exarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Sergy of Singapore and Southeast Asia. Bishop George began the meeting by relaying the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Metropolitan Hilarion. During the meeting, Bishop George explained the state of affairs in the mission and announced the establishment by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of a Patriarchal Exarchate of Southeast Asia, consisting of four dioceses: Singapore, Korea, Thailand and Philippines-Vietnam. The Republic of Indonesia i...

Moscow, November 1 ( Interfax ) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has signed a patriarchal and synodal document restoring the unity between the traditional Archdiocese of Russian parishes in Western Europe and the Russian Orthodox Church at the Throne Hall of the Patriarchal Residence at St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow on November 1. The document was signed in two copies. One is to be handed to the Archdiocese leader Archbishop John (Renneteau) on November 3, while the other will be deposited in the archives of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church website stated. The ceremony was attended by the head of the Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion, the patriarchate's manager Bishop Dionysius and his deputy Bishop Savva, and head of foreign missions Metropolitan Antonius. The event will be marked by festivities in Moscow on November 2-4, to be attended by an Archdiocese delegation led by Archbishop Jonn (Renneteau) of Dubna. Fo...

( Orthodox Times ) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, after having stopped commemorating Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, did the same thing for Archbishop Ieronymos as well. The Head of the Church of Russia, at today’s Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, did not commemorate Archbishop of Athens during the Liturgy of Preparation. So, his threat that he would sever full communion with Archbishop of Athens in retaliation for the recognition of the Metropolitan of Kyiv was true. The fact that he did not commemorate the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece has already received the widest publicity in the Russian media. The Patriarchate of Moscow has imposed a range of sanctions against the Church of Greece, such as unprecedented travel bans, according to which Russian pilgrims are not allowed to visit six “undesirable Metropolises” in Greece. However, the Patriarchate of Moscow has not imposed sanctions against the Church of Greece as a whole, but only against...