Byzantine, Texas

I will rarely mention politics (I believe this will be the second time in hundreds of posts), but I am making quick mention of Governor Sarah Palin being picked as Senator John McCain's running mate. My prayers were for either her or Bobby Jindal with a slight lead for Mrs. Palin as there is a lot of unfinished business in Louisiana. This blogger is happy.

( Directions to Orthodoxy ) - The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece yesterday condemned a government initiative that gives schoolchildren the right not to attend religious education classes without their parents having to provide a reason, saying that it is a violation of the Constitution. Meanwhile, a new circular distributed by the Education and Religion Ministry notes that schoolchildren who choose to skip RE lessons will be obliged to attend Greek language lessons or another class on a subject in which they are slacking. But the Holy Synod called for the enforcement of a circular issued by the ministry in 2006, which allows schoolchildren to skip RE classes only if their parents provide the school with a written explanation. "Religious education classes are compulsory for Greek Orthodox pupils, in accordance with Article 16 of the Constitution," the Holy Synod said in a statement. The ministry's initiative also provoked the ire of the dean of the Theology School of T...

St. Moses the Ethiopian (also commonly called "the Black") is a favorite saint of our family. His life's story is easily understandable to our children and explains the importance of contrition, right action, and forgiveness. I post his Kontakion and Troparion below. Some people consider this just fluff, but the liturgy is the wellspring of learning. You learn quite a lot about the life of the saint and about what the Church finds important. Troparion of Moses the Ethiopian - Tone 1 You made the wilderness your dwelling, O father Moses, the bearer of God. You became an angel in the flesh and wonderworker. Through fasts, vigils and pray'rs you obtained from God special graces to heal the sick and to sanctify the souls of those who come to you with trust. Glory to the One who gave you strength! Glory to the One who crowned you! Glory to the One who through your intercession grants healing to all! Kontakion of Moses - Tone 4 You upbraided your people and spat on the ...

A worthy read from Thicket & Thorp on Theodore Abū Qurrah - a defender of the faith who used the lexicon of the Muslims to articulate Christian truth (his book is available here ). The full blog post is here . Theodore Abū Qurrah was the first Christian writer whose name has come down to us to write in Arabic. As such, he is particularly interesting for his early approach to presenting Christian theology and praxis in an environment that had already become heavily Islamicized by his lifetime (755-830 AD) a hundred years after the Arab conquest and the establishment of the Umayyid state in Syria. One of the changes Abū Qurrah dealt with in his writings was the change in Christian attitude towards icons, or, more specifically, the public veneration of icons in church. In early Islam particularly, depictions of humans was, if not completely proscribed, considered with extreme suspicion if not outright declaration of being forbidden. While this attitude has hardly ever really been un...

Belgrade ( Focus ) - The Serbian Orthodox Church met Tuesday in an extraordinary session to heal a rift over a leadership dispute among its bishops in the breakaway province of Kosovo. The synod, the Church's government, unanimously decided to freeze all disputes among bishops in the southern territory until a meeting of its assembly, it said in a statement carried by Beta news agency. Tuesday's gathering was called after clashes between hardline Kosovo Bishop Artemije and his moderate deputy, Teodosije, over leadership and other scandals reportedly including corruption and links to political parties. If the conflict continued, it "might jeopardise the mission of the Serbian Orthodox Church as a whole and in particular in Kosovo," Beta quoted the statement as saying. "The key decision on this and other issues will be made in the foreseeable future" at a meeting of all bishops, added the statement, issued after a four-hour session of the Church's top body...

( Christian Today ) - An Anglican priest has finally cracked the code Methodist co-founder Charles Wesley used when writing about sensitive matters in his diary some 250 years ago. Over 1,000 handwritten pages dating from 1736 to 1756 have been deciphered by the Rev Professor Kenneth Newport, pro vice-chancellor for research and academic development at Liverpool Hope University. The transcribed pages reveal the extent of Charles’ anger with his brother, fellow Methodist founder John Wesley, over the latter’s plans to marry and disagreements over a split from the Church of England. "He was very much opposed to separation, he saw the Methodist Societies as within the established church and anything that smacked of separation was something he took a very strong view of," Rev Prof Newport was quoted by The Telegraph as saying. "At one point in the journal he is talking to the society at Grimsby and goes into block capitals and says 'I told them I would remain with them ...

( Pontifical Oriental Institute ) - The archbishop and auxiliary bishops of Milan, as well as 80 of their priests, have set off for Russia to visit Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II. Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi and Auxiliary Bishops Carlo Redaelli and Giulio Brambilla left for Russia today for a pilgrimage that will last through Saturday. They will visit cathedrals and monasteries, and participate in both Catholic and Orthodox liturgies. In addition to Alexy II, they will also be received by Archbishop Paolo Pezzi of the Mother of God Archdiocese in Moscow. The Milan priests will participate in the Divine Liturgy of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, over which the patriarch will preside in the Kremlin's Cathedral of the Dormition. In a letter to all his diocesan priests, Cardinal Tettamanzi explained that the idea of this pilgrimage was conceived after his 2006 visit to Moscow and the invitation of the patriarch. Reflecting on the Orthodox liturgy of that occasion, the cardinal said he r...

( RISU ) - Zarvanytsia-Kharkiv—On 20-22 August 2008, clergy and laity of the Kharkiv and Poltava Eparchy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) organized the third pilgrimage to the indulgenced pilgrimage center of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) in western Ukrainian Zarvanytsia, Ternopil Region. On 21 August, according to a previous agreement with the Ivano-Frankivsk Eparchy of the UGCC, the pilgrims passed to the dean of the Rohatyn Deanery of the UGCC, Fr. Dmytro Bihun, aid gathered for victims of the flood in western Ukraine. The gathered aid will be distributed to residents of the Rohatyn district who suffered the greatest damage. The pilgrims visited the cathedral of the Ternopil Eparchy of the UGCC, where a UGCC priest told the guests about the ecclesiastical and spiritual life of the Greek Catholics of Ternopil. After Zarvanytsia, the pilgrims visited Buchach, where they became acquainted with the history of the ancient Basilian Monastery of the Holy C...

( ROAA ) The Joint Dialogue Commission of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America and the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas met at St. George Cathedral in Southfield, Michigan on Tuesday, August 12, 2008. With the blessing of the Hierarchs, and as directed by their respective Congresses, the Commission met to continue its work on the proposal to establish a Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate in North America. Three major topics were discussed: (1) the deliberation and decisions of the respective Congresses; (2) reactions to certain public statements made following the Congresses; and (3) the refinement of the Proposal text. Following the direction of the Congresses, the Commission made further refinements to the text of the Proposal. This, along with the findings of various working committees appointed by our Hierarchs, will form the basis for expanding discussion on the practical aspects of unity. The Commission members noted that both Congresses took an historic step ...

( Hellenic News ) - U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has introduced legislation to urge the Government of Turkey to respect the rights and freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Christian Church, in accordance with criteria necessary to join the European Union. The Ecumenical Patriarch is the leading figure in the Orthodox Church and has suffered from discriminatory treatment from the Turkish government. "For a government to treat a revered religious institution and leader in such a discriminatory manner is an affront to human and religious rights and shows disrespect to the hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians," said Senator Menendez. "There must be fairness and freedom when it comes to the Turkish government's treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. As Turkey appeals to the European Union for membership, I would expect its treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to be a prime topic t...

H/T: A..sinner ( B92 ) - Raško-Prizrenski Bishop Artemije told B92 that he recently dismissed Lipljanski Bishop Teodosije due to a lack of discipline, accusing him of creating a dual authority in his eparchy. "There are many examples of this behavior, especially when it comes to our lawsuit at Strasbourg, against the four European states that I have sued over the destruction of our holy places [in Kosovo], then the issue of a memorandum, which he [Teodosije] supported." "Dual authority in the Raško-Prizrenska Eparchy had to end. Therefore our deeply thought-through decisions came, and then ensued open mutiny in Dečani," Artemije said. The bishop explained that he and members of his delegation who came to the Dečani monastery to deliver the dismissal notice were physically assaulted, while the monastery's leadership told him they would not obey his decision. Yesterday, the Holy Synod of the SPC said that Bishop Artemije's decision was "sudden and unexpe...

( Directions to Orthodoxy ) - Gays and women bishops could wreck relations between the Church of England and the Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church reports. On July 28 Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, the Russian Orthodox Church’s representative to European institutions met with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams and his secretary Canon Jonathan Goodall during the Lambeth Conference to discuss the state of Russian Orthodox–Anglican relations. In a report printed last week, Moscow said that its representative told Dr Williams of its distress over the July decision by General Synod not to provide legal safeguards for traditionalists opposed to the consecration of women bishops. T he consecration of women bishops would be an “additional obstacle” to Orthodox-Anglican dialogue, Bishop Hilarion told Dr Williams, adding that such a move would exclude “even the theoretical possibility of the Orthodox churches acknowledging the apostolic succession” of Anglican...

Here is the head snippet from Koinonia's post covering Senator Pelosi's ridiculous comments on abortion. Here is the page . My better half, on hearing about this story, made quick mention of the Didache, which says, "... you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is begotten." Rather explicit and almost two thousand years old. As I've mentioned here, the number of Orthodox Christians who favor few or no restrictions on abortion is terribly high (just over 60%). Given that number, I found the following from Denver's Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles J Chaput, O.F.M. Cap on abortion worthy repeating here. You can download the rest of Archbishop Chaput's statement as a PDF, " ON THE SEPARATION OF SENSE AND STATE: A CLARIFICATION FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH IN NORTHERN COLORADO " by clicking on the title. In Christ, +Fr Gregory Pelosi: "I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied f...

( UGCC ) - With deep sadness we report that on August 16, 2008, after five months of illness, Bishop-emeritus of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia Most Rev. Walter (Paska) passed away to His Lord. Pictured at right with Patriarch Lubomyr. Bishop Walter was born on November 29, 1923, in Elizabeth (New Jersey). In 1936 he entered the preparatory seminary of Saint Basil the Great in Stamford (Connecticut), from which he graduated in 1940. Consequently he studied at Saint Charles Seminary (1940-1941) and St. Basil College in Stamford (1941-1944), where he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. From 1944 to 1947 he studied theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. On May 2, 1947, in the Cathedral Church of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia he was ordained to the priesthood. (The ordaining bishop was Costantine (Bohacevskyj), Metropolitan of Philadelphia). From 1947 to 1951 he taught English language and literature at Saint Basil Seminar...

H/T: The Crescat I liked this quite a lot. The most noticeable aspect to many of Byzantine chant is the ison." Here is a summary from the Divine Music Project : The qualitative differences between Western and Byzantine music are many. The primary difference is that Western music is for the most part polyphonic (i.e., harmonized), whereas Byzantine music is monophonic, constructed of melody alone. This melody is accompanied only by a bass drone, or "ison," which enriches the chant by adding solemnity and power to it. Thus, even when many people chant together, the resulting sound seems to be coming "from one mouth," as St. John Chrysostom described the music of the fourth century. This simple combination of melody and ison is a practice that has been in use for centuries. Adding harmony to monophonic melodies is foreign to traditional liturgical music, even if in recent centuries some Orthodox churches have chosen to adopt elements either of Western-style polyph...

( HLCCC ) Most Reverend Archbishop Joseph Zrei'i took his new post as the Patriarchal Vicar for the Greek Catholic Melkites of the Diocese of Jerusalem during a holy significant divine liturgy that was held on Saturday, August 9th 2008 in the Greek Catholic Cathedral in the Old City of Jerusalem, after he came from Egypt Thursday August 7th, 2008. Fr. Jacob Abu Sa'da, parish priest of Bethlehem was there to welcome his Excellency, along with Fr. Mamdouh Abu Sa'da, parish priest of Ramallah, as well as Fr. Boulos Aramly, parish priest of Beit-Sahour, with Fr. Josef Sa'adeh, parish priest of Rafidia and Archimandrite Fr. Joseph Sughbeini. The procession was led by a group of Syriac Orthodox scouts. Attendance Rev. Elias Shakkour, Greek Melkite Catholic Archbishop of Akko, concelebrated the mass along with Rev. Yasser Ayyash, Archbishop of Melkite Catholic Church in Jordan, and Bishop Giacinto Boulos Marcuzzo, Patriarch Vicar of Israel, as well as Archbishop Anba Abarahm, ...

SYOSSET, NY [ OCA Communications ] – The Holy Synod of Bishops and Metropolitan Council of the Orthodox Church in America will gather at the East Norwich Inn, near the OCA Chancery, for meetings September 3 to 5, 2008. On September 3, the Holy Synod and Metropolitan Council will meet in a joint session. The main agenda item for the day will be the report of the Special Investigating Committee charged with examining past financial mismanagement at the OCA Chancery. On September 4 both bodies will meet in separate sessions, and on September 5, they will again meet in a joint session to discuss the upcoming 15th All-American Council in November. The Holy Synod will meet for a second fall session October 14 to 16.

Moscow, August 20, ( Interfax ) - The Russian Orthodox Church urges peoples of Russia and Georgia to remain friends and warns against kindling hatred to each other. "Russian and Georgian people have always been together. We know that Russians have saved Georgians from enslavement and extermination more than once. We know, how we helped each other in our shared trials whether it was the Great Patriotic War or hardships of the Soviet period when faith and Church were persecuted," deputy chair of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said on air of the Soyuz Orthodox TV channel. "We know how rich are our Orthodox Christian cultures, how many Russian-Georgian families live in Russia and Georgia, how many Georgians live in our country and make their worthy contribution in its economics, culture, science, and other spheres of life. Today it's very important not to waste the potential of our friendship and our mutual he...

Two stories on His All Holiness as he travels to Thessaloniki and Mount Athos ( Directions to Orthodoxy ) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was warmly welcomed Wednesday noon in Thessaloniki, northern Greece. He is due to visit Mt Athos to attend the festive events commemorating 500 years since the death of Saint Nifon, second founder of Dionisios Monastery. Upon his arrival at the Macedonia Airport, Bartholomew said he was happy to be in Greece and in the land of Macedonia. "On behalf of the Mother Church, I am here to convey feelings of affection, love and blessing to the pious people of Greece. I am praying these days for the victims of the Caucasus war and I am praying for peace in our region and in the world," said the Ecumenical Patriarch. Here is another take on his visit. ( Friends of Esphigmenou Monasstery ) August 19th, 2008 - This week, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople will travel to Mt. Athos, Greece from his native Turkey in his latest attempt to expel th...

I am glad to see this being done; please keep our persecuted brothers in Christ in your prayers. I also make passing mention of my annoyance that a patriarch is being called a cardinal. I understand his elevation as a means of giving greater visibility to the Chaldean Church and to show the Holy See's solidarity with its people, but his position as patriarch (to my mind) should have the greater prominence. Washington DC, Aug 19, 2008 / 05:00 am ( CNA ).- Next month, InsideCatholic.com will honor Cardinal Mar Emmanuel III Delly, Archbishop of Baghdad and recognize the struggle of Iraqi Christians at its 13th Annual Partnership Dinner. According to InsideCatholic.com, each year, “the Partnership Award is presented to a distinguished Catholic leader who has shown courage and dedication to his or her life and work.” Past recipients have included: Archbishop Charles Chaput, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Admiral Jeremiah Denton, Tom Monaghan, Dr. Robby George, Henry Hyde, Fr. Thomas Williams,...

H/T: Art and Faith Pondering the value of posting images I find attractive to put in breaks between lengthy posts or to fill in on slow news days. Thoughts?

For those of you not familiar with these people . They are very Latinized (part of a group that does not like the return to orthopraxis) group that claims episcopal enthronement though those details are murky and widely considered unsubstantiated. Stryi ( RISU ) — Four former priest-monks of the Basilian order who have declared themselves bishops, called the “Pidhirtsi fathers,” tried to take the Eparchial Administration of the Stryi Eparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) and a UGCC church building in Stryi, in western Ukraine’s Lviv Region, on 15 August 2008. According to the Press Service of the Stryi Eparchy of the UGCC, they were unsuccessful. According to the Press Service of the Stryi Eparchy of the UGCC, the “Pidhirtsi fathers” are trying to carry out their disruptive plans through local provocateurs. According to the press service, laypeople and civic organizations of the city of Stryi have expressed their preparedness “to counter the provocative intentions of th...

( Orthodoxy in China ) The Liturgy according to the Orthodox rite was served today with the permission of city authorities in Beijing's [Roman] Catholic church of the Archangel Michael. It was attended by Russian athletes, athletes of Orthodox confession from other countries, representatives of Russia's Olympic team leadership, and Chinese Orthodox residing in Beijing. The Liturgy was served by Archpriest Nikolai Sokolov and Archpriest Dionisy Pozdnyaev who were sent by the Moscow Patriarchate to Olympiad-2008 to spiritually nurture Orthodox athletes. At one time the Russian Orthodox Spiritual Mission was located in Beijing and several Orthodox churches operated, but they were dismantled during the construction of the USSR Embassy in the 1950s. The current Orthodox community unites descendants of the Albazinians, Russian cossacks who were in the Chinese capital in 1685 and who served in the Eighth Banner of the Qing imperial house.

This post from Per Christum is worth a read. The ancient creeds are defective? Apparently the Rev. John Beverly Butcher thinks so. He writes in Episcopal Life : Perhaps you have noticed that the creeds speak of the birth of Jesus and then of his death. There is no mention of the life of Jesus, no mention of the teachings of Jesus, no mention of the healing power of Jesus. The heart of the gospel is missing. The creeds are defective and need to be taken out of service. Instead, let us proclaim clearly the gospel of the Resurrected Jesus, “The seed of true humanity is within you. Follow it!” Gospel of Mary (Magdalene) 4:5 Butcher also omits the Nicene Creed from the worship services he conducts, saying that his congregation doesn’t even miss it . He even admonishes other clergy, saying, “I would encourage others to let go and feel the freedom.” ... Complete article here .

12 August 2008 - Tbilisi, Georgia ( Serbian Orthodox Church News ) - On 1st August 2008, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa officiated at the Divine Liturgy which was conducted by the Great Ecclesiarch of the Throne, Archim. Isidore Salakos. Accompanied by His Beatitude Ilia II, Patriarch of the Georgia Church, His Beatitude then visited His Excellency Prime Minister Vladimir Goyrgnidze at the Prime Ministerial Mansion in Tbilisi . His Excellency welcomed the two Patriarchs with respect and emotion and led them into the Meeting Hall of the Prime Ministerial Council, where he addressed the Alexandrian Primate, saying: “Your Beatitude, we joyfully welcome you to Georgia . I wish to emphasize that your visit is very significant for us, as we are going through difficult times. I know that you visited Georgia 22 years ago. You will have noted the different Georgia from that time. He country has progressed, it is constantly developing, and is making ...

H/T: Standing Athwart History Prayers to my Christian brothers in Georgia. A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. - Matthew 2:18 -

In April the Church of Russia declared their unhappiness with Constantinople expanding their metropolia to include mainland China and all of Southeast Asia (see here ). The metropolitanate has responded here . This is the principal section: It is clear that, on 9th January the Ecumenical Patriarchate proceeded to founding a new Orthodox Metropolitanate, and not to the expansion of the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong. The actions and decisions of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate are carried out within the framework of universal mission and service to the nations of the First Throne Great Church of Christ, as defined by the 2nd and 4th Ecumenical Councils with their respective wise and unambiguous decisions, which are binding for all Orthodox. The accusations launched by the Church of Russia against the Ecumenical Patriarchate, that supposedly it is impinging on the rights of the so-called "Autonomous Church of China" and that allegedly it...

Moscow TV that is. Moscow, August 11, Interfax - About 25 operators of cable television in Kiev, Sevastopol and Odessa terminated their cooperation with Soyuz. "Broadcasting of the Soyuz Orthodox TV channel is stopped in Ukraine," press-service of the Ukrainian Union of Orthodox Citizens told Interfax-Religion. The interviewee of the agency said it became a compulsory measure taken by operators "to execute decisions of the Ukrainian National Security Council on "cleanup" of informational space in the country." "These repressions will have the converse effect - people will strive to get Soyuz back, to pick up Orthodox broadcast through satellites and Soyuz will have more actual analytical programs especially on situation in Ukraine," the Union of Orthodox Citizens said. They reminded it was "not the first "Orange" act against Orthodox television: Orthodox channel Kievskaya Rus was barred from broadcasting after "the Orange Rev...

Down with real (a virus of some kind) and Olympics fever. There are quite a few embarrassing Olympics pictures swirling around the Net at the moment. This one was truly saddening. Having been to China there is this jarring juxtaposition of poverty and the newfangled that you get used to seeing rather quickly. Over the weekend, I was also lucky enough to see my sister-in-law and her husband in the stands while I watched a volleyball match - even stopped the screen for a second to take a picture of them and send it to their cellphone while the game went on.

Russian forces are moving into South Ossetia in what they are calling a reinforcement action with confused stories of civilian-targeted bombings and ethnic cleansing. May this not end up proving true. "Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst command us to love our enemies, and those who defame and injure us, and to pray for them and forgive them; Who Thyself didst pray for Thine enemies, who crucified thee: grant us, we pray, the spirit of Christian reconciliation and meekness, that we may heartily forgive every injury and be reconciled with our enemies. Grant us to overcome the malevolence and offenses of people with Christian meekness and true love of our neighbor. We further beseech Thee, O Lord, to grant to our enemies true peace and forgiveness of sins; and do not allow them to leave this life without true faith and sincere conversion. And help us repay evil with goodness, and to remain safe from the temptations of the devil and from all the perils which threaten us, in the form of visi...

You may remember (or simply scroll down a few stories) that the Patriarchate or Jerusalem recently ceded its presence to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Metropolitan Philip (Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America) was none to happy with this decision and sent off a letter on the seventh of August to the hierarchs of the Orthodox world. I have made it available here (PDF). It's short enough not to need any quoting from me.

There is a certain measure of resignation one must acknowledge when he takes five children to an evening liturgy that starts at bed time. Often (read: every time) one or more children is recumbent and driveling as we turn into the parish grounds. In military fashion I dispatch the older children implacably onward into the church to fetch books and stake a claim on seating; if two or more are asleep then to the rear, else up front. Surveying the motorcar, I find the largest slumbering mass and employ a fireman's carry to transport them - guarding against the death-rays of fading sunlight - to an empty space in the nave. Again through the breach I return until all my countrymen are safely protected inside, and then "Up shields!" I arm and lock the vehicle. Regardless of what time we get there, I am always 2 minutes late into the liturgy before I am done. Yesterday we departed from our standard maneuvers and added fruit basket placement to the process. As we celebrated the G...

Shame! Shame! They should be embarrassed at themselves. This has the effect of secularizing death for a community. I will not be surprised to see church attendance and religious observance in general slide downward as the years go by under this measure. ( France24 ) The mayor of Mangalia, a small town on Romania's Black Sea coast, has decided to ban traditional funeral processions during the holiday season stretching from early May to mid September. According to Orthodox tradition - shared by 87% of Romanians - the body of the deceased is to be carried around town by his family and relatives before burial. The procession marks several stops at road crossings, as well as a passage through church, before heading for the cemetery. "The movement of funeral processions across town affects the comfort of tourists while also generating an atmosphere of sadness and unhappiness," explains the mayor of Mangalia, Mihai Tusac. "Furthermore, these processions put peoples' li...

( GOA ) New York, NY - After a long process that began in 1993 related to the ecclesiastical status of a portion of the Palestinian and Jordanian communities in the USA, the portion connected to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, there has been a final agreed decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Patriarchate of Jerusalem concerning these communities. T he Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Jerusalem Patriarchate have agreed that the canonical and pastoral supervision of these communities and their clergy should belong to the canonically established jurisdiction in the United States which is the Eparchy of the Ecumenical Throne in America, that is, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Henceforth, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem no longer asserts any jurisdiction in the Western Hemisphere. On Tuesday, April 1, 2008, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, together with the senior member of t...