Byzantine, Texas

Montreal ( National Post ) – Invoking past sexual abuse scandals and the need to create a “healthy and safe environment” in its churches, the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Montreal has announced new guidelines to ensure priests and lay workers are never alone with children. “Recent events have brought to light the horrific reality of abuse of minors and vulnerable persons by members of the Church,” Christian Lépine, archbishop of Montreal, wrote in a message to the faithful dated Wednesday. “These intolerable situations have shocked and shaken the Universal Church as well as the entire population to whom we wish to proclaim the Good News of Christ.” A pilot project to begin this fall in 10 parishes and eventually extend to all 194 in Montreal will prohibit priests, staff and volunteers from being alone with minors. Following the lead of other organizations like amateur sport associations and the Scouts, the archdiocese will institute police screening of new hires and volunteers ...

Sacramento, Calif., Jun 28, 2016 / 03:02 am ( CNA/EWTN News ) - A bill that strips longstanding legal protections for religious colleges and universities is underway in the California legislature – and some say it will imperil Catholic education unless changes are made. “It’s a way of harassing and making it more difficult for those of us who are people of faith who want to live and express our ways in society,” said California Catholic Conference executive director Edward Dolejsi. “We’re being painted into a corner and constricted,” he told CNA. Dolejsi voiced concern about proposed legislation that could narrow the definition of a religious organization and compromise the ability of a school to express its identity in its curriculum, policies and faith. The California legislature is considering S.B. 1146, which would limit religious exemptions for institutions of higher education. It would bar colleges that receive state funding from making employment, student housing, admis...

( Al Arabiya ) - An Iraqi Catholic group called the Chaldean League has urged Christians to stay put in their native land, saying “ISIS terrorism will soon go away,” local media reported on Tuesday. “Christians in Iraq must stay in their land and to stop migrating,” Safa Sabah Hindi, the head of Chaldean League, said in a statement reported by Iraq-based Al-Sumaria News website. The Chaldean League, headquartered in Iraq, was formed last year to unite Iraqi Catholics in the country and abroad. He added: “Christians are one of the main edifice for building Iraq and one of its cultural civilizational pillars, who add to Iraq’s plurality.” Hindi promised that “ISIS terrorism will soon go away and Christians will be able to come back to their homes, villages and cities and will contribute like they used to in rebuilding Iraq.” He also urged the international community with the backing with the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces to liberate Iraqi cities. Iraq was recently successfu...

( AINA ) - Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II Karim of the Syriac Orthodox Church issued a statement on the assassination attempt on his life last week. On June 19, while the Patriarch was leading a commemoration service for the Turkish genocide of Assyrians in World War One, a suicide bomber attacked the service but was stopped by the Assyrian Sutoro military forces in Qamishli, Syria Here is the text of the statement. The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East Damascus, Wednesday June 22, 2016 After returning safely to the Patriarchate in Damascus following his pastoral visit to the city of Qamishly, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, offered prayers of thanksgiving and condemned the suicide bombing which took place during His Holiness' visit. On Sunday June 19, 2016 following the celebration of the feast of the Pentecost and after the inauguration of a monument for the Syriac Genocide Sayfo...

( Mirror ) - At least 36 people were killed and at least 60 people injured when three attackers detonated explosives at the entrance to Europe's third busiest airport shortly after 10pm local time. Police fired shots to try to stop the attackers just before they reached a security checkpoint at the arrivals hall of the Ataturk airport but they blew themselves up, a Turkish official said. Speaking in parliament, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told CNN Turk: "According to information I have received, at the entrance to the Ataturk Airport international terminal a terrorist first opened fire with a Kalashnikov and then blew themself up." There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but early indications suggest ISIS terrorists were behind, police sources were reportedly cited as saying. The state-run Anadolu agency said around 60 people were wounded, six of them seriously. Ataturk is Turkey's largest airport and a major transport hub for intern...

( GOARCH-ZA ) - 1. What are the historical roots of the Orthodox presence in Africa, its present and the consistency of its prospects? The beginnings of Christianity in Africa can be traced to Alexandria in Egypt, where the Apostle Mark, one of the four Evangelists and one of the 70 Apostles, preached and spread the word of Christ. He was undoubtedly the first bishop of the Church in Africa, which has been confirmed by historical research. The activities and contribution of the Apostle Mark to the spread of Christianity throughout the continent of Africa are well-noted and he has been venerated by the Christians of Africa since the very beginning. Recently, the remnants of the Basilica of St Mark were discovered in the sea near ​​Alexandria. The early Christians of Africa were of Greek, Egyptian and Jewish origin, and became the first members of the first Christian and community. Alexandria quickly developed into a spiritual centre and was originally the greatest Christian hub, wher...

( Preachers Institute ) - Theophilos II was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 1010 to 1020. For most of his patriarchate he lived in exile in Constantinople due to the fierce persecutions in Egypt by the Islamic Fatimid Caliph Al Hakim. During this persecution, many Christians became Muslims or sought refuge in other countries, but in the latter part of the reign of Caliph Al Hakim, he allowed unwilling Christian and Jewish converts to Islam to return to their faith and rebuild their ruined houses of worship. While in Constantinople, Patriarch Theophilos intervened in a dispute between Emperor Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer (975-1025) and Ecumenical Patriarch Sergios II of Constantinople (999-1019). The dispute was as follows: Sergios II became patriarch during the time that the institution of charistikion was actively used within the empire. Charistikion was a practice wherein the donation (charistike dorea) of monasteries to private individuals was made supposedly to support the ope...

( Assyrian Church ) - On Saturday, May 28, 2016, His Grace Bishop Mar Awa Royel, Bishop of California and Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East paid a fraternal visit to His Grace Anba Raphael, the Bishop of Central Cairo and the General Secretary of the Coptic Orthodox Church, at the St. Antonios Coptic Orthodox Church in Hayward, California at 12:30 pm. Bishop Mar Awa was attended by the Very Rev. Nenos Michael, Archdeacon of the Diocese of California, and the Rev. Fr. Genard Lazar, parish priest of St. Mar Zaia Cathedral and secretary to the Bishop. The Assyrian clergy were received at the end of Bishop Raphael’s Holy Liturgy and spiritual lecture to the worshipping congregation at the Coptic parish by the Rev. Fr. Bishoy Ibrahim, parish priest of the Coptic Church in Hayward. His Grace Mar Awa apprised His Grace Anba Raphael of the many attempts of the late His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV to communicate with His Holiness Patriarch Ta...

( YouTube ) - The North American Thebaid is conceived to be both pilgrimage and publication, resulting in a large-format coffee table book of fine art photographic images, with select, inspiring texts, covering as many of the monastic settlements in North America as God allows. My plan is to travel over approximately a two-year period, staying for a few to several days at a time at various monasteries and sketes, living, praying and working with the monastics, while creating numinous, compelling images of the sacred space, the grounds, the life and the worship of these communities... Learn more, and help support the Project, at Thebaid.org -- Thank You!

Way back in September of 2015 this Q&A was held. The videos were just released today so I've posted them as promised. They may post more. If they do they'll be available here .

From one of my favorite blogs Icons and their Interpretation , a post entitled " The Difference a Few Kopeks Make "The Joy of All Who Suffer 'With Coins' " on a rather unique icon and its history. In an earlier posting, I talked about the very popular Marian icon type called in Church Slavic Vsem Skorbyashchim Radost, — the “Joy of All Who Suffer.” You may also find it titled Всех скорбящих Радость — Vsekh Skorbyashchikh Radost, which is the same name in Russian. Skorbyashchim/Skorbyashchikh part means both “those who are afflicted” and “those who sorrow,” which is why some translate the title as “Joy of/to Those Who Sorrow.” Today we will look at an interesting and common subtype of that icon. It is called Всех скорбящих Радость (с грошиками) — Vsekh Skorbyashchikh Radost S Groshikami, meaning “The Joy of All Who Suffer ‘With Coins.'” The example below — which appears to have been painted in oils — bears the title: ОБРАЗ СКОРБЯЩИЯ ПРЕСВЯТЫЯ БОГОР...

This image is evocative of an oil painting. Expect the Church in Africa to continue to grow by leaps and bounds.

Moscow, June 27 ( Interfax ) - The Russian Orthodox Church reminds the Constantinople Patriarchate about incomparability of democracy traditions with taking decisions at the Council. The discussion started with the words of the Constantinople archbishop who made it clear that all decisions taken by the inter-Orthodox Council on Crete would be compulsory for all Orthodox Churches, including those who did not participate in it. "You come from a democracy. Everyone can vote. Now some people choose not to vote. Does that mean you don't live in a democracy?" Archbishop Job of Telmessos said resuming the results of the session on Friday answering the question of a Russian journalist. It should be noted that this was the most heated exchange between the media and the conciliar representatives by far. "I understand that atmosphere on Crete is tense and it is tiresome to talk to journalists. But I believe comparing a Church Council to the democratic procedure is not su...

( Crete Council ) - ENCYCLICAL OF THE HOLY AND GREAT COUNCIL OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH Crete 2016 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit With a hymn of thanksgiving, we praise and worship God in Trinity, who has enabled us to gather together during the days of the feast of Pentecost here on the island of Crete, which has been sanctified by St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, and his disciple Titus, his “true son in the common faith” (Tit 1.4), and, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to conclude the sessions of this Holy and Great Council of our Orthodox Church – convened by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, by the common will of Their Beatitudes the Primates of the most holy Orthodox Churches – for the glory of His most holy Name and for the great blessing of His people and of the whole world, confessing with the divine Paul: “Let people then regard us thus: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor 4.1). ...

This document is not that long. If we look at the encyclical which will be posted shortly the below looks positively lilliputian. ( Crete Council ) - MESSAGE OF THE HOLY AND GREAT COUNCIL OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH To the Orthodox people and to all people of good will To God, "the Father of mercies and all comfort," we address a hymn of thanksgiving and praise for having enabled us to gather during the week of Pentecost (18-26 June 2016) on Crete, where the Apostle Paul and his disciple Titus preached the Gospel in the early years of the life of the Church. We give thanks to the Triune God who was well pleased that in one accord we should bring to a conclusion the work of the Holy and Great Council that was convoked by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch. Bartholomew by the common will of their Beatitudes the Primates of the local Orthodox Autocephalous Churches. You'll say, "But these people didn't come!" To which the thinking of the Ecumenical Patr...

It is with great sadness that I see our elected officials make promises to the Armenian immigrants in our country that the blood of their relatives will not be forgotten and then, when elected, do nothing with those campaign promises. Every single president in the modern era has made such a promise to the Armenians and then broken it for the duration of their presidencies. We can't even say Islamic extremism of the actions today so I don't expect the next president will acknowledge the genocide of decades past. ( Public Radio of Armenia ) - Pope Francis says he decided to use the word ‘genocide’ in his speech at the Armenian presidential Palace, because “it would have sounded strange not to say at least the same thing I said last year.” Asked Sunday en route home from Armenia why he decided to add “genocide” into his prepared remarks, Francis said it was simply the term that he had always used in Argentina, where he was close to the Armenian community. “In Argentina, wh...

Posts will be slow into next week. My Internet service line lost a subterranean battle with a backhoe. Editorial note: This was one of the more contentious press conferences as there were a mix of repeated questions that had repeatedly already been answered and some questions that seemingly sought to make hay out of insignificant points to illicit quotable news bites. The conference ended rather explosively really with a reporter who didn't like the format. Also, blue jeans. Really? Two documents being signed. The Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World One document to be signed shortly. The Sacrament of Marriage and its Impediments - Editorial note: this document elicited a lot of discussion and reports from Pravoslavie.ru and elsewhere have stated that this document might not reach consensus so go unsigned. Two announcements in development to be sent out at the end of the Council. The ...

My worry is that the use of this directive will be unevenly applied. Will those parishes that rent their halls to non-Orthodox wedding receptions be unable to do so? What about those that rent them out for things like yoga or bingo? If the OCA is to defend itself against militant secularists or thumb-in-your-eye same-sex marriage advocates, the line must be clear, uniform, and defensible. No one in their right mind puts on sunblock and only does one shoulder. So no cut-out exclusions for parish events (because they happen to make a lot of money) should be permitted if they wish to not get burned. ( OCA ) - The following statement was approved by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America during a session of the Holy Synod on June 16, 2016 at Dormition of the Mother of God Monastery in Rives Junction, MI. It is approved for posting and use by all dioceses, parishes, institutions and monasteries of the Orthodox Church in America. General Standard The Orthodox Chur...

H/T: Again and Again ( Белешке са Сабора ) - Statement of representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church on behalf of young theologians, Orthodox youth from Serbia and the US on fasting The way we fast nowadays (when we only eat certain types of food and avoid others) has annulled all other kinds of fasting, which are found in the tradition of fasting and which demonstrate the creative nature of Christian fasting (for example, in our tradition we find: 1. complete abstinence from eating, 2. fasting until mid-afternoon, 3. eating less in order to save money for charity, or 4. abstaining not from food, but from favorite activities, etc.). What mattered was the reason for fasting, not the duration, which was directly dependent on that reason. Also, the real meaning of fasting lied not in the type of food, but on abstinence. But unfortunately, very often, delicious and luxurious dishes are welcomed by our Church as fasting food, provided they do not contain prohibited ingredients....

Editorial note: Again, these summaries aren't exact things. They're just the bits that I found interesting. Also, if you choose to watch the video itself did you also notice how the translator is quite adept at mimicking the speaking styles and intonations of the speakers? Two documents being signed. Every single bishop is signing each document in four languages. " Autonomy and the Means by Which it is Proclaimed " made it through with "very, very little amendments." " The Orthodox Diaspora " with "very little amendments" as well. Two are coming down the pike. " The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World " will be signed soon. " The Sacrament of Marriage and its Impediments " is under active discussion. Met. Job (Getcha) of Telmessos was asked what these documents means for those who chose not to come? We came not to have a meeting or anything else but to hold a Council. There was consensus that got u...

Actually, this will be more than a word. But first let me speak to the Council. You can draw a rather complete picture of my view of the Council as I've posted on it over the years. It is not what it could be. In its blandness and soft words - oddly reminiscent at times of the modern secular lexicon - it doesn't reverberate in the hearts of the faithful with topics that echo their concerns. Also, as more than a few people have noted, words matter. There are long position papers put out on things like why "man" is a much better word than "human person." We must seek after a patristic mind and flee imprecision. Still, it is a start. The inaugural event is always more fraught with trepidation and mistakes that its successors. My chief concern has always been that the Holy Spirit should be given room to act. Instead the Council has been pigeonholed to 6 topics and, as we have seen mentioned in the pressers, topics outside the agenda are out-of-bounds. And ye...

Some documents that have reached consensus are nearing release. The first two days occasioned some "stage fright" to speak that has warn off. There are a lot more hierarchs speaking during the Council. At the same time, these press briefings won't discuss amendments while they are being discussed actively in Council. What about the letter Mount Athos sent to the Ecumenical Patriarch and of their recommendations for the council. EP Bartholomew read them and took them under advisement. Has there been any discussion about the toponymics of bishops in overlapping episcopates (e.g. Can any number of bishops be called the Bishop of New York?) in the "diaspora?" No answer. Bulgaria confirmed they aren't coming. What do you think? We think that we are the Council. There are absentee Churches, but we have "moved ahead." What about ethnophyletism? Patriarch Daniel of Bucharest says we can't call our identity ethnophyletism. At the same time ethn...

( OCA-DMW ) - Fr. Steven Kostoff, Rector of Christ the Savior / Holy Spirit Church, Cincinnati, OH, recently posted to his congregation some reflections on the burial of a newborn child. They speak eloquently to this tragic yet thoroughly Paschal event. We include portions of them here for their pastoral sensitivity and their illustration of the depths and power of the theological message expressed by the burial service. Yesterday, we served The Order for the Burial of an Infant over and on behalf of a two-day old boy, who died at Children’s Hospital on Saturday. Humanly speaking, there is nothing more heartbreaking than this: a tiny infant dressed in white baptismal clothes, lying in the middle of the church in a coffin that looks more like a small box, surrounded by his grieving family and friends. With an open casket, I was deeply struck by the innocence, purity and beauty of this “ undefiled infant, ” as he was called in the funeral service. It was difficult not to keep retur...

Beirut ( AsiaNews ) - The Greek-Catholic synod due to have taken place two days ago lacked a quorum, with the absence of 10 bishops. They accuse the Patriarch of having bankrupted the Church patrimony. The faithful are scandalized. The Congregation for Eastern Churches pushes for dialogue. The Greek-Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham announced last night that he will not resign from his patriarchal seat on the back of pressure from some rebel bishops who boycotted the synod which was to have opened two days ago on 20 June in Aïn Trez (Mount Lebanon), the summer seat of the patriarchate. He also confirmed that the annual Church synod will be held around October. Out of 22 bishops in office, only 10 attended the meeting which requires the participation of at least 12 for validity. The absent bishops who have joined forces against the patriarch and boycotted the synod, are considered "in open rebellion." Of the prelates boycotting the synod, the best known is the Arc...

( Independent ) - The ghosts of massacres past haunt the Syrian war. First the Islamists scattered the bones of the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide of one and a half million Christians by the Ottoman Turks outside their memorial church in Deir Ezzour. Then last weekend, a suicide killer arrived at the Syriac Orthodox Church in Qamishli, a small Syrian town isolated on the northern border with Turkey but still held by regime troops, and tried to attack Christians at a church service commemorating the Assyrians’ own genocide of 250,000 – again at the hands of Turkish Ottomans – during the First World War. His target was clearly the patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church but the clergyman’s bodyguards, members of the Assyrian Christians’ own 200-strong ‘Sotoro’ (Protect) militia, took the full force of the explosion, protecting their church leader with the loss of three of his bodyguards who were blown apart. Five others were wounded. This armed group, whose symbol is an eagl...

( OCA-NYNJ ) - The diocese will sponsor a seminar-workshop on outreach to African-Americans led by Deacon Turbo Qualls and Father Alexei Altschul of the Brotherhood of Saint Moses the Black. The seminar includes lunch and concludes with Vespers. While designed primarily for clergy, lay ministry leaders and interested laymen are encouraged to attend. The conference is free of charge at Saints Peter and Paul Church, 605 Washington Avenue, Manville NJ on Saturday, 16 July 2016 ~ 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

KOLYMBARI ( Sputnik ) — According to Father Alexandros, the US funds have come from non-state sources only, and the US government was involved neither in organizing nor in financing the Council. "It is 2.5 million euros. All these are funds from donors, mostly from Greeks living in the United States and Greeks in Greece itself. Donors from the US have provided 1.5 million euros, from Greece — one million," Reverend Father Alexandros Karloutsos, the assistant to the archbishop for public affairs, told RIA Novosti. A significant part of budget has been allocated to communications, transport and security measures. Father Alexandros noted that the Greek government had provided the Council with police forces to maintain order, as well as with vehicles and infrastructure. The historic meeting of Orthodox Churches, which is due to end on June 26, has been on the ropes after the four churches have refused to take part in the historic council after disputes about the agenda and...

Lots of topics here. The translation system is much improved from yesterday. There is some discussion of Antioch. Also a surprisingly large amount of time on the so-called "diaspora." Amusingly, one journalist frankly explained that these "long reams of texts" are very hard to worth with. The journalists want more direct "soundbites" that they can actually use.

If you're going to watch this, be patient. There is a lot of translation work going on and brevity is not ascendent in this process.

( Pravoslavie.ru ) - In addition to discussing the six documents prepared beforehand at previous conferences, participants at the ongoing council, begun yesterday on the Great Feast of Pentecost on the island of Crete, are also to deliberate over and publish the official "Message" of the council. A draft of the document covers an array of topics including the questions of remarriage and marriage to non-Orthodox, the oneness and unity of the Church in the holy Eucharist, the importance of the Patristic Tradition, and the Church's vision of conciliarity which places no one bishop over all others, among other matters, according to a source familiar with the document. While the document mainly "states the obvious" on such topics in terms that all the Local Churches can agree on, the draft document, in large part prepared by theologians of the Greek and Serbian Churches, does contain some more noteworthy passages. In it, the current gathering is referred to as...

With the recent revelation that the Ecumenical Patriarchate knew quite well that Antioch was never coming until things in Qatar were settled (see this and image below), the narrative that Russians pulling out of the Council destabilized the entire process grows even weaker. Fr. Patrick B. O'Grady's Podcast entitled "Harbinger of Storm or Passage to Calm?" speaks to the position of an Antiochian priest on the topic of the nature of the Council in Crete. Where Antioch's signature was to go in approving the conciliar agenda: "The Church of Antioch has a contrary opinion and therefore is not signing." ( AFR ) - The so-called “Pan-Orthodox Synod” is about to convene on the island of Crete. It has been promoted with the epithet, “holy and great,” something traditionally reserved for fully ecumenical synods. Despite the hopes, this is now proving to be essentially only a partial Orthodox synod: the primatial hierarchs of some of the Local Churches have a...

The claim that Ukraine not being on the agenda makes it impossible to discuss is a bit disingenuous. There have been repeated affirmations that the Council is not just a rubber stamp for pre-written documents. There has to be room for the Holy Spirit to work after all and a discussion of one topic can easily expand into others. That said, a secular parliamentary vote is not likely to give birth to a 15th (16th) autocephalous Church. Also worth noting is the use of "forum" in this news article from Interfax. Moscow, June 20 ( Interfax ) - The meeting between the heads of the Orthodox Churches on Crete will not address the address of Ukraine's Verkhovnaya Rada to Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew and other issues associated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. "The Ukraine issue is not on the agenda of the Council, and it cannot be changed," Archbishop Job of Telmessos, a representative of the Constantinople Patriarchate, who is taking part in the Crete ...

Cardinal Koch and Bp. Brian Farrell of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Armenian clerics, and others attended the opening session of the Holy and Great Council as observers from the Vatican.

It's interesting to see how many texts of speeches, homilies, and even toasts are being released to the public in recent hours. The sheer number of them makes it impossible to have not written some or all of these in advance. As such, some of the statements read oddly in light of recent events. For example from the " Homily by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Chairman of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church at the Concelebration of the Divine Liturgy in the Metropolitan Church of St. Minas in Heraklion, Crete With Their Beatitudes ​the Primates of the Holy Orthodox Churches " we read the following: "Brothers, fathers and children, today the totality of our Holy Orthodox Church is represented here in Crete: “we have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true faith, worshipping the undivided Trinity, for the Trinity has saved us..." God willing one day our Church will truly meet together in un...

Men ordained to be Clerks. ( Holy Martyrs Armenian Church ) - Ordination of the Holy Orders is one of the sacraments of the Armenian Church. Through Ordination, men receive the power and grace to perform the sacred duties of a clergyman of the Church. Ordination is a sacrament by which the Holy Spirit offers the elected person the right to perform the sacraments and to feed Christ’s flock. The Sacrament of Ordination is always administered by a Bishop. There are various ranks of clergy within the Church, each with a special service by which each one of these ranks is granted. What is common to all the ranks is the act of “laying of the hands” (tzernatroutiun) by the Bishop onto the ordinate. By placing his anointed right hand on the ordinate, this continues the unbroken Apostolic succession of authority, granted by the Apostles to the first Bishops of the Church, and carried on today through Ordination. Before entering the major ranks of ecclesiastical order of the Armenian Chur...

The extremely influential Romfea news agency has decided to leave the council and not cover it. They cite unreasonable security measures, a system where real journalism can't take place, and a restrictive photography process that only permits photos from the official photographers. Basically, the claim is that this is a highly manufactured "vacation" where it makes no sense to waste reporters who can't properly cover the Council. Given the extremely limited reporting I have seen on the Council so far, this explains what news is coming out of the events in Crete. ( Romfea.gr ) - All these years Romfea.gr been a consistent supporter of the embodiment of the Holy and Great Council. We covered the efforts of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to become one session that will seal the unity of the Orthodox. We brought, without influences and specific instructions as some attach us to reduce our work, the differences between the Churches. The first ones we covered events a...

How would English speakers hear the voice of the Antiochian Church without Notes on Arab Orthodoxy? Here's a post from him entitled " Met Siluan (Muci): Why Antioch did not Sign the Decision to Convoke the Council ." I've omitted the Spanish for the sake of brevity. ( Notes on Arab Orthodoxy ) - This is from a series of videos Metropolitan Siluan (Muci) of Buenos Aires has done for the Patriarchate of Antioch's Facebook page in Arabic and Spanish, explaining Antioch's position with regard to the council on Crete. The Spanish original can be seen here . A transcript (which I made, so unofficial) is below the jump. In order for the council to exist, it is necessary first of all to convoke the council, to have an order of the day, an agenda for the council. Who is able to do this? The meeting of the primates of the Orthodox churches. A meeting was held in Geneva in January 2016, when the primates of all the Orthodox churches met to see if it is possible to ...