Byzantine, Texas

For those that have followed the Ruthenian relations with monastics in recent decades this will be a welcome change. Complete article on the eparchial website . He goes on to list an expansive number of things the bishop wants implemented. Monasticism – the "very soul of the … church" It is clear to me that the Eparchy of Parma needs the witness, example and service that only well-established and vibrant monasticism can give. This eparchy is the only one in our Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic Church without a men’s monastery/community. Our women’s monasteries/communities, because of their charism or because of the advanced age of the nuns, are restricted to a ministry of prayer. Although we are blessed with the (greatly appreciated) apostolic activity of monastics from outside the eparchy, their participation in the life of this eparchy is understandably limited. Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter "Orientale Lumen" ("The Light of the East") devotes conside...

From the Vatican Information Service: Reorganised the Greek-Catholic Slovak Church, making in a "sui iuris" Metropolitan Church and adopting the following provisions: Elevating the eparchy of Presov for Catholics of Byzantine rite (Catholics 137,203, priests 259, permanent deacons 1, religious 111) to the status of metropolitan see and promoting Bishop Jan Babjak S.J. of Presov to the office of metropolitan archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in Hazin nad Chirochou, Slovakia in 1953, he was ordained a priest in 1978 and consecrated a bishop in 2003. Elevating the apostolic exarchate of Kosice for Catholics of Byzantine rite (Catholics 81,132, priests 161, permanent deacons 3, religious 65) to the status of eparchy, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Presov, and appointing the current exarch, Bishop Milan Chautur C.SS.R., to the office of eparchal bishop. Erecting the eparchy of Bratislava for Catholics of Byzantine rite, making it a suffragan of the met...

If you have followed the history of Christians in Eritrea (tie with Ethiopia, dealings with muslims in the country, etc.) this story will not surprise you. The Patriarch was put under house arrest and then a government backed "Patriarch" was put in his place. More information here . Maybe they should get to do the Olympics next round as they seem to have some of the necessary credentials for consideration. 1/29/08 Eritrea ( International Christian Concern ) - Eritrean security agents removed Patriarch Abune Antonios from the house in which he has been kept under house arrest and moved him to an undisclosed location in order to ensure that a visiting delegation led by Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) would not have any access to the Patriarch during his recent visit to Eritrea. Ten days after Congressman Payne left the country, the Patriarch was returned to his residence. His Holiness Abune Antonios, the deposed prelate of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, has been under strict h...

Istanbul ( AsiaNews ) – Representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate and of the Estonian Apostolic Church should meet after their differences a few months ago almost scuttled the Ravenna meeting between Catholics and Orthodox when the Russians left the Italian city that hosted the ecumenical talks. The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople has in fact invited the two Churches to a meeting next month in a yet-to-be determined location to smooth over the dispute caused by the 1996 decision of the Church of Estonia to break from Moscow. The reason is that divisions are unseemly for an Orthodox world so richly endowed in traditions. The ecumenical patriarch will be represented by the Metropolitan of Pergamon, Ioannis Zizioulas, whilst the Church of Estonia will send the metropolitan of Tallinn. Moscow has yet to respond to the invitation and it is still possible that it may reject it... Entire article here .

I have been to the Fort Worth parish mentioned here. Quite sad that this was done. Probably only of significance to people near here (as I am) or Greek Orthodox, but sad nonetheless. ARLINGTON, Tex. ( AP ) -- A thief who broke into the car of Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Isaiah's made off with quite a haul, but fencing one of the stolen items could prove difficult. Among the items stolen Friday night from the Metropolitan's car was a jeweled mitre of gold and silver, which Isaiah estimated to be worth $6,000 to $10,000. Metropolitan Isaiah, who is based in Denver and is bishop for the Northwest region of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, was in Texas to visit parishes in Fort Worth and Euless. He said he was dining with others at a restaurant when the break-in occurred. He said the car was parked in a well-lit spot. "We came out at 10 o'clock, and the window was smashed," he said. The thief also made off with a copy of the New Testament, a veil, a cellphon...

Complete article and conference information here . The Orientale Lumen Conferences will be held in three different cities in the USA this coming year in Washington, DC, San Diego, CA and Detroit, MI. These ecumenical conferences focus on topics of the Christian East and are open to the public, for both lay persons and clergy. The well known presenters come from four main religious groups: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Oriental Orthodox. These conferences encourage ecumenical dialogue on a specific theme through presentations and discussions. The conferences include a variety of prayer services, music and liturgy from a wide range of Church traditions. In this way, the conferences provide a learning experience and intellectual discussion, as well as a unique spiritual experience. The theme for all three locations in 2008 will be “Feast Days of the Eastern Churches.” These special days during the calendar year were established by the Church to commemorate...

So, to get this, straight, the Catholic Church wants to invade and divide the Ukraine. It's not the three factions of the Orthodox that divide the church, it's the actions of the Catholics calling for "unity"? Can we also remember the Soviet initiative to force Greek Catholics to convert by intimidation, torture, and murder? Or how the Ukrainian government is sorting slowly through claims for return of churches forcibly removed from Greek Catholic hands? I guess the claim could be made "They want unity so they can rule!" but is that a realistic considering what Husar (depending on who you are "Major Archbishop" or "Patriarch") has said in the past? Kiev, Jan. 28, 2008 ( CWNews.com ) - A spokesman for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine has charged that the establishment of a "local" Orthodox Church serves the interests of Catholics seeking to gain hegemony in the country. "The true intent of a joint local Orthodox Chu...

Quoting from the Grieboski Report: The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church announced the death of Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece. The Holy Synod will convene at 2 p.m. Monday to discuss the election of a successor. Church law requires that the Holy Synod should set a date for the election of an archbishop within 20 days of a leader's death. Christodoulos died about 5:15 a.m. Monday (10:15 p.m. Sunday ET) at his home in an Athens suburb. He had battled liver cancer for several months and traveled to the United States in an unsuccessful attempt to get a transplant. He declined hospital treatment in the last several days. The church declared three days of mourning and said that the archbishop's body will be placed on public display before his burial in a few days. The Interior Ministry announced that all public service buildings would fly flags at half-mast, while public services and schools would remain closed on the day of the late Archbishop's funeral...

Modern day St. Gianna Beretta Molla story from the UK here in US news today. A mother made the ultimate sacrfice by refusing cancer treatment to give birth to a healthy baby boy. Lorraine Allard was told four months into the pregnancy the devastating news that she was in the advanced stages of cancer. A further blow came when doctors advised her to terminate the foetus, which was 23 weeks old, and start chemotherapy straight away. Instead, she insisted on waiting long enough to give her unborn son a chance to survive, telling her husband, Martyn: "If I am going to die, my baby is going to live."

In answer to my " Would Hillary do this? " post a few days ago I got the answer a little earlier than expected (well, ok not really). The answer is "No." Washington, DC ( LifeNews.com ) -- It's no secret that Hillary Clinton has promoted abortion at every turn as a senator and presidential candidate -- forcing taxpayers to pay for abortions and voting against a partial-birth abortion ban repeatedly. Clinton confirmed she will take her pro-abortion views to the White House in a statement on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. At the top of Clinton's agenda as president would be the appointment of Supreme Court judges who would uphold Roe and keep abortion legal for another 35 years. "When I'm President, I will appoint judges to our courts who understand that Roe v. Wade isn't just binding legal precedent," Clinton said in the statement LifeNews.com obtained. She said the judges would share her view that Roe "is the touchstone of our reprodu...

I've commented on the Turkish systemized campaign to destroy through attrition, intimidation, and murder the Christian identity of the Orthodox and Catholics still living in Turkey. Bringing His All Holiness into such an important discussion underlines the importance that the Greek government has for the Ecumenical Patriarch... or for the more jaundiced opinion it sets up a convenient roadblock to Turkish inclusion in the EU. Regardless, I'm glad the issue has gotten the visibility it deserves. From Directions to Orthodoxy - "Greek leader makes historic trip to Turkey" : ISTANBUL: In an effort to overcome decades of mutual distrust, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis arrived Wednesday in Turkey, the first official visit by a Greek leader in almost half a century. The three-day visit, which began in Ankara, Turkey's capital, was significant more for the fact that it happened than for any bilateral agreements it was expected to produce. It had been rescheduled three t...

Neither my wife or I were raised in large families, nor were we raised by our parents in any discernible way. This task was by and large the charge of housekeepers for my wife and day care for me. That said, I was recently (yesterday) thinking about how parents that want to live devout lives in keeping with the Church's teachings on the domestic church are probably not well equipped to do so. Some friends of ours come from large Christian homes; some converts to liturgical churches others raised into them. Others, like us, sprang from the head of Zeus fully formed but without Athena's Olympian understanding of our role in life. So when parents that convert to orthodox lifestyles from decidedly secular, unattached upbringings they have a whole host of unexpected issues to resolve. How does one pray as a family? What prayers are expected and what is proper behavior for [insert age here] year old? Our parents are not fond of our choices. Should there be some expectation that we...

One assumes His Holiness is speaking of alleged actions by the Ecumenical Patriarch. It would be hard to envision the Pope of Rome trying to exclude the very group it is trying to speak with (e.g. recent invitation to Rome, numerous meetings with cardinals, etc.). As has been said before by many hierarchs of both East and West the problem with ecumenical discussions today is the stumbling block of internal disputes amongst those in the Orthodox Church. History, clerical organizational structure (view of synodality, plurality of patriarchs, etc.), and other factors have brought the Church to this place and one hopes for a speedy resolution towards church unity. Moscow, Jan. 22, 2008 ( CWNews.com ) - The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has complained that the meeting of a joint Orthodox-Catholic theological commission at Ravenna, Italy in October was "deliberately orchestrated to exclude the Moscow patriarchate." Speaking to the Serbian newspaper Blic, Patriarch Alexei II...

Whitehouse.gov on January 19, 2007: America was founded on the principle that we are all endowed by our Creator with the right to life and that every individual has dignity and worth. National Sanctity of Human Life Day helps foster a culture of life and reinforces our commitment to building a compassionate society that respects the value of every human being. Among the most basic duties of Government is to defend the unalienable right to life, and my Administration is committed to protecting our society's most vulnerable members. We are vigorously promoting parental notification laws, adoption, abstinence education, crisis pregnancy programs, and the vital work of faith-based groups. Through the "Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002," the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003," and the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004," we are helping to make our country a more hopeful place. One of our society's challenges today is to harness the p...

A post from Charlotte was Both : It seems that some people are concerned about our new habit of wearing cowboy hats during academic ceremonies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The complaint is that wearing a cowboy hat is somehow undignified and inappropriate. Please realize that the mortarboard that most modern academics wear as a hat actually derives from the medieval Roman Catholic priesthood. You see, in the Middle Ages, every university student was also a cleric, in the lower orders of the Roman priesthood. The biretta/mortarboard identified one as part of the lower Roman clergy, and the birettas became more colorful as one rose higher in ecclesiastical rank (for instance, purple for bishops, scarlet for cardinals). Please realize that the long colorful cowls that we wear over our robes are actually hats, too. Yes, the cowl and the robe with the long sleeves were originally part of a monk’s habit. You see, in the Middle Ages, not only was every university student ...

Go read the entire article over at Koinonia . It is the best thing I've read this year. And for the person who will email me to ask what koinonia means: Koinonia is the anglicisation of a Greek word (κοινωνία) that means partnership or fellowship. The word is used frequently in the New Testament of the Bible to describe the relationship within the early Christian church. As a result the word is used frequently within Christian circles to describe the fellowship and community of Christians - or more frequently the idealised state of fellowship and community that should exist. ... Contemporary readers want the Scriptures to be a newspaper, a history or science textbook. We want this because we fancy our view of an "objective view" of history and current events. But what is it that we mean when we imagine that what we are saying is "objective." There is a curious pride in our attempt at a journalistic reading of Scripture. The contemporary notion of the objective ...

A repost from Mere Comments : Sometimes a picture can be breathtakingly theological. This one is for me, at least, showing Fr. Patrick Reardon of All Saints Orthodox Church lifting a newly-baptized infant above the altar, as is the custom, while the congregation sings Simeon's Nunc Dimittis. The icon, of course, shows Christus Victor trampling down the gates of hell and grasping the hand of Adam, raising him up from the dead. Notice the baby's raised arm! Helpless Adam, helpless Man, helpless infant: but now our "eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." Alleluia. by James M. Kushiner

I'm rather fond of Christendom. Primarily this is due to Warren H. Carroll, the college's founder. Three books I recommend immediately are: Founding Of Christendom: History Of Christendom Vol 1 Last Crusade: Spain 1936 ( A favorite of the wife's. ) Our Lady Of Guadalupe: And The Conquest of Darkness ( An easy and enjoyable read. I almost finished the whole thing waiting to be picked for jury duty. ) Our parish will also be participating in the pro-life march in North Texas complete with a large banner and icons. Front Royal, Va, Jan 17, 2008 / 03:00 am ( CNA ).- This January 22, the entire student body of Christendom College, as well as members of the faculty and staff, will join the hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans at the 35th Annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Christendom has cancelled classes for the day and the Student Activities Council has charted buses to transport over 400 people from its Front Royal, Virginia campus. The theme of this year’s...

The Times reports: The Archbishop of Canterbury kept a special communion service for gays so secret that he failed to tell the Bishop of London it was happening in his diocese, The Times has learnt. Dr Rowan Williams inflamed the row over homosexuality which is tearing apart the Anglican Church when it was reported that he had agreed to hold a eucharist for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clergy. But even his critics have been taken aback to learn that he did so by making an incursion on to the patch of the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, without giving notice or seeking permission. Dr Williams now risks being seen as, at best, discourteous and at worst, in breach of canon law, for sneaking into a church near the Tower of London under the Bishop’s nose. Canon law says that only a bishop can authorise services in his own diocese and infringements may result in an intruder being removed from office... Complete article here . H/T: Per Christum

"Cardinal Kasper on the State of Ecumenism" By George Weigel A succinct laundry list of the ecumenical status of today. It's located here .

Bumi Dipijak has a wonderful snippet from Schmemann. It is both enlightening and a little castigating to me at least. I'm reading so much Schmemann right now in my liturgics course that they should just rename it Schmemannology. I also endorse reading Bumi Dipijak Wei xian sheng's in general.

I enjoyed the interview a lot. Politics, sin, morality, the state of the church, and more. Complete article here . ... Kyrill : And what, in your opinion, is adultery -- something good or something bad? SPIEGEL : This decision lies within the conscience of every individual. Kyrill : We aren't talking about just any decision. We are talking about morals. They want us to believe that morality is relative. But that's completely untrue. The communists said that good is what is good for the working class. That was relative morality -- and 60 million people were exterminated. Hitler claimed that what is good is what is good for greater Germany. That too cost millions of lives. Morality is either absolute or it doesn't exist at all. If you can justify homosexuality, why not pedophilia? SPIEGEL : But that's an enormous difference! Sexuality relates to adults who can decide for themselves. Pedophilia involves children being abused and has nothing to do with human freedom. Kyril...

Maybe NPR could be placed under Slovakian government authority? Bratislava, Jan 10, 2008 / 04:02 am ( CNA ).- A Slovakian television station has been fined two-million koruna ($88,400), for making fun of a Vatican document on Christian driving, Agence France Presse reports. Slovakia’s broadcasting council said that a program on the commercial station Joj abused viewers’ religious sensibilities and was not objective. The program targeted the 2007 document issued by the Pontifical Council for Migrants “Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road,” widely characterized by media reports as teaching the “Ten Commandments” of driving. The program said that priests were “not the best experts” to give instructions on driving because the Vatican had "only two kilometers of highway and the last traffic accident was more than half a year ago." Around two-thirds of Slovakians describe themselves as Catholic.

God save our gracious Queen! (But don't let her on the plane wearing that crown.) Long live our noble Queen! God save the Queen! Send her victorious, Happy and glorious, Long to reign over us, God save the Queen. I am reminded of the Egyptian Christian practice of tattooing crosses on their arms lest they be snatched from their necks or as a reminder of children killed or snatched by militant Islam. Maybe she should do what they used to do in pre-Constantinian times and tattoo her face to mark her as a non-pagan? After the empire became Christian those tattoos were a badge of honor. London, Jan 11, 2008 / 05:02 am ( CNA ).- A British Airways employee who sued her employer after it required her to cover up a cross necklace while she worked has lost her religious discrimination lawsuit, WorldNetDaily reports. Nadia Eweida, a check-in worker at Heathrow Airport and a Coptic Christian, was sent home after refusing to remove the cross necklace. British Airways said the necklace was a v...

One of the last bastions of bigotry in the West is (not so ironically) against Christians. Bash a Jew, a Mohammedan, or a Baha'i and the bee hive has been shaken. Attack any variety of Christian and we write letters to the editor or send mass emails. Normally I leave NPR to be NPR, but they purport an equality that they don't practice. For some reason it's ok to attack a presidential candidate if his faith happens to be of the Bible Belt variety? Let's attack the marital status, sexual practices, or fashion sense of the NPR reporter and see what happens. See here for an example. Salt Lake City, Jan 11, 2008 / 10:09 am ( CNA ).- A January 7 public radio skit that made disparaging remarks about the Eucharist while attacking Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee provoked outrage from Catholics and a speedy apology from its distributor. The offensive segment was part of a show called “ Fair Game with Faith Salie ,” broadcast on Utah public radio station KCPW. In ...

In what is big news for the Latin church, the Pope of Rome celebrates his first public mass as pope ad orientem (facing East). I had heard in a dinner party just last night that it was a rumored to happen soon. The hope for the trad-Caths is that a domino effect will come into play and more parishes will do the same world-wide. Those that can anyway, as near me many altars are configured so as to make it impossible (raised on the Eastern side and a drop off on the Western side).

I know I know, not all that surprising for most of you. The part where the cartoon character shoots pro-life protestors was rather amazing. Forgive the commentator's rather game-show nasal intonation, I'm sure he wasn't paid much if anything for his efforts. Remember, Planned Parenthood is the same organization that does this:

For anyone that enjoys a good, often updated blog I recommend Unam Sanctum . Go enjoy the coverage of Orthodox (Eastern and Oriental) Christmas events around the world. A plethora of photos with descriptive captions. Orthodox Christmas Around the World Christmas in Bethlehem - Orthodox style Orthodox Christmas and Epiphany - Gregorian Calendar

The always readable Anastasis Dialogue has a post on a bright moment in the ecumenical sphere. The Romanian Orthodox and Greek Catholics had a shared procession on Theophany (Epiphany). Read about it here .

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 8, 2008 ( Zenit.org ).- Benedict XVI will receive in audience Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, who will visit Rome to mark the 90th anniversary of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity confirmed the audience is scheduled for Thursday, March 6. The patriarch will visit Rome for the celebrations of the anniversary of the foundation of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, entrusted to the Society of Jesus, and established by Pope Benedict XV in 1917. Bartholomew I himself received a doctorate from the institute. Benedict XVI visited the patriarch in Turkey in 2006, on the occasion of the feast of St. Andrew. On Dec. 6, the Pope received a delegation from the Pontifical Oriental Institute and recognized that the role the institute provides has "an effective ecumenical value, because drawing from the heritage of wisdom of the Christian East enriches everyone.” Some background on the school from Wikipe...

Google Calendar - Just do a search for Orthodox Calendar. Quite useful for me. I have 10 calendars color coded on Google Calendar and set alarms, emails, etc. quite easily. GOA Daily Readings - Get the daily reading in email. I know the Old Calendar people will snort, but I'm quite fond of this resource. The ACROD website is also good. Metropolitan Cantor Institute Liturgical Calendar - You can get a menaion anywhere, but this one has linked documents at hand. The MCI website has been redone recently so I recommend a tour of the entire site as well. The only disconnect I've still been unable to join is in linking hagiographies with calendar entries. Usually I have to look up the saint's entry in Orthodox Wiki, Wikipedia, the GOA website, or check blog entries as some bloggers do daily posts.

Words on Theophany from Abbott Joseph with complete post here ... So let us hear the words of St John the Forerunner: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” And let us reflect on just what this means, in the world and in our own lives. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and this sets us apart from unbelievers and evildoers—but we still have to live accordingly if we wish to be gathered in like good grain and not burned up like useless chaff. Baptism is not a guarantee of salvation; it is rather an equipping for salvation, granting us all we need for our pilgrimage to Paradise. So let us be encouraged—by the anointing of the Spirit, by the presence and constant companionship of the Son, and by the words of the Father, which will be our everlasting delight: “You are my beloved son (my beloved daughter); in you I am well pleased.” Normally I quote the beginning, but the summation held the most value to me.

One wonders if this will be a review of the Ravenna document (as had been earlier announced) or something more. I doubt whatever they distribute will be laced with Solovyov quotes on the matter, but as dedicated optimist I hope for something positive. Moscow, Jan. 4, 2008 ( CWNews.com ) - A Russian Orthodox theological commission met last week to discuss the question of papal primacy, reports SIR, the news agency of the Italian Catholic bishops' conference. Papal primacy was the main subject for discussion at an October meeting of the joint Catholic-Orthodox theological commission, meeting in Ravenna, Italy. But representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church walked out of that meeting, citing disagreements over the seating of delegates from the Estonian Orthodox Church, which Moscow does not recognize. At its December meeting, the Russian Orthodox theological panel also discussed a document on Lutheran-Orthodox relations. The sessions were chaired by Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk, ...