Byzantine, Texas

( Church of Alexandria ) - The ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria expresses its deepest sorrow at the synodal decision of the Russian Patriarchate to establish an Exarchate within the normal limits of the jurisdiction of the Ancient Church of Alexandria, a decision taken in the midst of the Nativity of Christ and the divine Epiphany, during which Christ the King of Peace is projected. The Patriarchate of Alexandria will continue to carry out its pastoral duties towards the flock which has been entrusted to it by the Lord, which fall under the spiritual legacies of the great Greek Fathers of the Church, who, according to the modern Russian theologian the late Fr. George Florovsky, left an indelible mark on Orthodox Theology and the Church. The decision of the Russian Patriarchate will be discussed at an upcoming session of the Synod of οθρ Patriarchate, at which time relevant decisions will be taken. In the Patriarchate, 30th December 2021 From the Chief Secretariat of the Holy Synod

Given the increased transmissibility of the virus, I fully expect almost every man, woman, and child to have contracted it by the end of 2022. Reception of the illness, once thought by some to be a failing of vigilance or neglect, is now just a part of life. Thankfully, the advent (and acceptance) of therapeutics has made that likelihood of infection a less jarring reality. A quick recovery to His All-Holiness! ( Orthodox Times ) - Today, Thursday, December 30, 2021, at noon, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was discharged from the American Hospital of Constantinople, where for the last six days he was under medical supervision, infected with the Omicron mutation of the coronavirus. He will remain in isolation for a few more days at the Patriarchal residence in Therapia before returning to the Phanar for the Epiphany celebrations. On Wednesday night, the Ecumenical Patriarch was contacted for the third time by the Turkish Minister of Health, Fahrettin Koca, who asked about the prog...

When dissatisfied people move from jurisdiction to jurisdiction it destabilizes things and also often emboldens people to act insufferably. At the same time, smaller communities often feel abandoned because... they have been abandoned.  I have been a firsthand viewer of communities that have moved from bishop to bishop in the span of years or even months. Sometimes the reasons are very real (clerical abuse or theft, favoritism bordering on feudal acquiescence, etc.), but more often they are the result of professional moirologists who will never be happy in any parish setting where they don't get their way in every situation. The Church is where everyone expects saints and finds the most childish infighting one can imagine as a result of diasporal shenanigans. The Assembly of Bishops, in its early years, held promise for some that we might regularize this incardination/transferal process between jurisdiction, but every year since has seen parishes split, leave unceremoniously, or lo...

The Russian Church has blown up canonical order in Africa. Had the EP not done what it did in Ukraine, I can't imagine this move would have happened as it did, but I lament this action. Even today I look at Alaska and think "There is no reason for non-OCA parishes to be there. They had one bishop, one land and then needlessly other jurisdictions moved in." We have moved one step closer to a real split in Orthodoxy. I am reminded of a scene from the West Wing entitled "A Proportional Response" wherein the US is attacked and the president is speaking with the joint chiefs on how they should respond. PRESIDENT BARTLET: What is the virtue of a proportional response? ADMIRAL FITZWALLACE: I’m sorry. BARTLET: What’s the virtue of a proportional response? Why’s it good? They hit an airplane, so we hit a transmitter, right? That’s a proportional response. FITZWALLACE: Sir, in the case of Pericles... BARTLET: They hit a barracks, so we hit two transmitters? FITZWALLACE: T...

A speech from French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour. My dear compatriots, my friends, This evening Christendom celebrates Christmas. But not only Christendom, because it is quite possible to be non-Christian and to celebrate Christmas. You just have to love the West in general and France especially. Christmas eve celebrates the birth of a civilization: ours! A civilization which has enlightened human history. A civilization which considers that Man is completely free. Whatever his birth, his past, his environment, his journey… In the Christian world, freedom is of divine nature and must be protected as the most precious treasure. A civilization which considers that all men are absolutely equal in dignity. All of them! From the prostitute to the king, the beggar, the rich, the widow, the orphan, the soldier, the leper… God's children and everyone else are therefore equal before him. There is no race, there is no class. Equality is sacred. A civilization which considers that Be...

There is value in ROCOR existing. There is value in the Archdiocese of Orthodox Churches of Russian Tradition in Western Europe existing. There is value in the OCA existing. There is of course value in the Russian Church existing. Liturgical practices differ not insignificantly between these groups as do many procedural and administrative items; they aren't interchangeable. Said another way, if you have more than a passing familiarity with liturgics you know if you are in a ROCOR parish or an OCA parish. I can't even imagine how the AOCRTWE (what a keyboard test) group has progressed over the years.  At the same time it is hard to explain "Orthodox unity" to people in a convincing way when a single Slavic origin has given rise to so much overlapping diversity. And not only diversity, but sometimes not veiled hostility or lack of trust. Once I would have said that these bodies came from historical events and would eventually fade back into a single body as those histo...