Byzantine, Texas

Moscow, July 29 ( Interfax ) - Archbishop Job (Getcha) of Telmessos, representative of the Constantinople Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches, received an invitation from Ukrainian schismatic leader Filaret Denisenko to participate in the procession with cross of the 'Constantinople Patriarchate', however he refused. The Ukraine's Union of Orthodox Journalists reports on Friday with reference to their sources that on the eve during celebrations of the anniversary of the Baptism of Russia on the Vladimirskaya Gorka, Denisenko twice suggested the archbishop to march with representatives of the 'Kiev Patriarchate' along the streets, but he met polite refusal. On the same day, Archbishop Job co-celebrated the Liturgy with the primate of the canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine Metropolitan Onufry in the Kiev Laura of the Caves.

( Vatican Radio ) - The Holy Father on Thursday, has erected the Eparchy of Great Britain of the Syro-Malabar Church based in Preston and has appointed Dr. Fr. Joseph (Benny Mathew) Srampickal, a member of the clergy of the Eparchy of Palai, until now Vice-Rector of the Collegio De Propaganda Fide in Rome, as the first bishop of the Eparchy. Msgr. Joseph (Benny Mathew) Srampickal was born on May 30, 1967 in Poovarany, in the Eparchy of Palai. He entered the minor seminary and he studied philosophy at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor, and theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in biblical theology. He continued his studies at Oxford (England). He knows: Malayalam, English, Italian and German. Ordained a priest on August 12, 2000, he has held the following positions: Professor at the minor seminary and Ephrem Formation Centre of Pala; Director of the Mar Sleeva Nursing College, Cherpumkal; Director of the Evangelization Progr...

From the Greek Archdiocese blog website, a post entitled " Preparing Our Youth for College Life ." “Six or seven out of ten young people will leave the church in college and never return.” This quote, or others like it, has been used by anxious youth workers and campus ministers for at least the past decade. For parents who want their kids to stay connected to the Church, this sounds terrifying, and it is. But there is a caveat. In a 2011 report, the Barna Group--who conducted the original research to which people are usually referring--clarified a few things. Perhaps most surprisingly was this observation: College experiences are generally not the main reason young people disengage from church life or lose their faith. David Kinnaman, the director of research for the Barna study, says that it is not the experiences of anti-Christian academic courses, Saturday night parties, or even the casual hook-up culture alone that draw students away from the Church. ...

Orthodox nuns walk to prayer in downtown Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, July 27, 2016 in observance of the holiday marking the adoption of Christianity by what is now Russia and Ukraine in the 10th century. They are to commemorate the day at the hillside monument in central Kiev to Saint Volodymyr, the prince who enacted the adoption of Christianity. ( AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov )

What I think is interesting is that the Pope of Rome is saying one thing about the causes of this fighting, but the actual Patriarch on the ground very clearly disagrees with him. Recent news coverage from Rome: The Pope told journalists traveling with him that the world is not only insecure, it is at war. “But it’s a real war, not a religious war,” Francis said. Recent news coverage from Syria: “And since they understand their Quran literally,” says Younan, “we’re going to have, forever, those fanatic, radical people, who say ‘this is the word of God who asks us to fight the unbelievers, the infidels and we do the right thing.'” This is the root of the problem. It has nothing to do with culture, it has nothing to do with politics, it has nothing to do with whatever crisis there is in the world. So what is the real problem? If the Koran says to do something and the people who actually do what it says to do are necessarily violent, then the problem is a religious one. Because...

From Oleg Shurkus .

Will it work? Remember, priests don't answer emails (see here and here ). ( BBC ) - The Russian Orthodox Church is to launch a new messaging app in order to help priests to keep in touch with believers. It's being made by the same designers behind the Church's dedicated social network, Elitsy, which was launched in 2014. The app, which is currently in development, will "satisfy the needs of the faithful for interaction and continuous contact between parishioners and the Church", according to Elitsy's press service, cited by Tass news agency . It adds that the app has the blessing of the Church's leader, Patriarch Kirill. As well as standard tools such as sending text, audio and video messages between users, the app will also allow priests to contact a whole parish, diocese or even the entire Church. It's come about due to requests from Elitsy users, Tass says. The number of registered users of the Elitsy network now tops 100,000, according to...

( TruNews ) - Greece on Monday unveiled plans to revise its constitution, formally proposing a clearer distinction between the state and the powerful Orthodox Church , changes in how the president is elected and limiting terms of lawmakers in parliament. Left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the proposals were aimed at transforming a system full of “pathogens”, and public feedback would be sought from September before the plans are put to parliament for further consultation. “We aspire to see a process of active participation of citizens, and not something which is restricted within four walls of parliament,” Tsipras told state officials during a presentation. Under the proposals, the president - now a ceremonial role - would be elected in a national vote if there were a lack of consensus among members of parliament, who currently pick the head of state. There could also be a “moderate” increase in the powers of the country’s president on issues such as having the right...

Kyiv ( RFERL ) - Ukraine's interior minister has ordered police to bar a major religious procession from entering the capital on foot after police said explosives were found planted along the planned route. Arsen Avakov said on July 26 that participants in the procession would not be allowed to march into Kyiv because of security concerns after two grenades and several fake mines were found on the marchers' route in the Svyatoshinsky district on the western outskirts of Kyiv. "The fake mines and real grenades discovered this morning made it clear for us that the threats and provocations are real," Avakov said on his Facebook page. "The safety of citizens is more important than religious rituals," he said. Authorities said the participants would be ferried from Svyatoshinsky to their destination on buses. More than 1,000 people, divided into two columns, have been marching since the beginning of the month toward Kyiv from the country's west and ...

( OSV ) - Gathering Orthodox hierarchs from around the world, the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church wrapped-up on the Greek island of Crete on June 26. In the works for over a century, the event was historic to say the least. But what did it accomplish? Our Sunday Visitor spoke with His Eminence Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia — renowned Orthodox theologian, based in Oxford, England, and invited member of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s delegation at the council. Metropolitan Kallistos shared some of his insights on the meeting and the next steps to bringing about stronger unity within Orthodoxy worldwide. Our Sunday Visitor: Your Eminence, how was the Holy and Great Council successful? Metropolitan Kallistos: The first and main reason is quite simply it was a success because it took place .... I say that because there had not been a council of this kind in the recent history of the Orthodox Church. Some people would say that this is the first time since the s...

There are several details in this story that are cause for extreme concern. The failure to monitor known terrorist who went on to behead a priest, the stabbing of a nun, and then a gun battle in a church. It's a tragedy of epic proportions. The martyr Fr. Jacques Hamel ( Daily Mail ) - Francois Hollande says France is at war with ISIS after two Islamist knifemen butchered a French priest and left a nun fighting for her life before they were both shot dead by police in Normandy. One of the men who stormed into the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray near Rouen during mass was a local man, who was being monitored by electronic tag after being jailed for trying to join fanatics in Syria. They ANKLE TAGGED a terrorist. The 84-year-old priest, named as Jacques Hamel, had his throats cut while a nun is critically injured in hospital following the raid which saw five people held hostage by ISIS assailants shouting Allahu Akbar. This afternoon it emerged that the murdered clergyma...

Fr. John speaking at St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Kensington, VIC, Australia, at the invitation of Bishop Suriel, on the topic, “Standing by the Cross, Putting on Christ.”

( Al Arabiya ) - A Canadian priest was charged this week for stealing more than half a million dollars (US$400,000) intended for the resettlement of Syrian refugees, and then gambling it away. Amer Saka, 51, a clergyman of the Chaldean Catholic Church – based in Baghdad – had allegedly collected the funds from more than 20 donors to support refugees arriving from the war-torn nation, according to local police. “This investigation spanned throughout the province of Ontario, the United States and other countries where refugees were attempting to come to Canada,” police in London, Ontario said in a statement on Thursday. Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Canada, told The London Free Press that Saka had called him to say he had gambled and lost all of the money. The priest had been involved in a sponsorship program for refugees for several years. He was suspended by the diocese of Hamilton, Ontario after police opened an investigation in February. S...

My daughter Magdalena's New Calendar name day is today so, before we feasted a little, I did my normal hagiographic reading. The word isapostle came up. It makes perfect etymologic sense (think of isosceles from ἰσοσκελής equal-legged), but is not a word I had noted at all before. Isapostle - Equal to, or contemporary with, the apostles; a name given in the Greek Church to bishops consecrated by the apostles, and to other persons eminent in the primitive church. Etymology: ecclesiastical Greek ἰσαπόστολος equal to an apostle

( Patriarchate of Jerusalem ) - On Wednesday, the 7th/20th of July 2016, H.B. Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, performed the tonsure of novice Georgios, deacon at the Holy Cave within the Basilica of Bethlehem, giving him the name of Gabriel and offering paternal and patriarchal advice for his Hagiotaphite and venerating labour. The tonsure took place at the Pentecost Chapel in the presence of Primates and Priests of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood and His Eminence Theophylaktos, Archbishop of Jordan.

H/T: English Russia Add caption

( Londinoupolis ) - The role of women in the Orthodox Church is of increasing interest. What is evident in a number of publications and conferences is the fact that we need to hear not only what the Church proclaims on this issue, but how women themselves understand the theology and the tradition of their role in Orthodoxy.[1] Quoting verses from Holy Scripture such as Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” can only take us so far. In order to understand the role of women in Orthodoxy we need to go further; we need to establish their role today, identify the true Orthodox Tradition and examine the history of this matter, practically, historically and theologically. Here we will examine the role of women by looking at women hymnographers in the Byzantine Tradition... Complete article here .

I, along with almost anyone else who has read his works, am quite indebted to Met. Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios for the depth and breadth of his scholarship. A lot of what he has written is in English and is required reading in our seminaries. Enjoy the below podcasts! ( AFR ) - Held at Antiochian Village in Ligonier, PA, Metropolitan Joseph invited as his speaker His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios (also Ierotheos) He serves the Metropolis of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios in the Church of Greece. The them of his three lectures was Theology, Pastoral Care, and Psychology. The interpreter is Anastasios Filippides, Economist (B.A. Yale University, M.A. Georgetown University). Secondary interpreter is Dr. Christopher Veniamin – Professor of Patristics St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, PA. Also Founder and President of Mount Thabor Publishing. Orthodoxy Theology and Western Theology Orthodox...

I'm really sad that I couldn't go this year. It's a great experience that I recommend to everyone. Canton, OH ( OCA-DMW ) - Fifty-four individuals representing parishes from five dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America, as well as the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, participated in the Small Parish Forum at Holy Assumption Church here July 14-16, 2016. Small Parish Forum attracts over 50 participantsJointly sponsored by the Orthodox Church in America’s Diocese of the Midwest and Diocese of Western Pennsylvania, the Forum — the third in a series initiated in 2014 — had as its theme “The Small Parish: Possibilities and Opporunities in Worshipping, Caring, Teaching and Sharing.” The program was facilitated by Joseph Kormos, Parish Development Ministry Leader for the Diocese of Western Pennsylvania. His Eminence, Archbishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania and His Grace, Bishop Pa...

I just finished reading a new book from Ancient Faith Publishing entitled Blueprints for the Little Church: Creating an Orthodox Home . I'm of course all for families finding a way to develop their domestic churches and so my bookshelves are full of books on the topic. Even considering the venerable age of some of these titles, they have held up well over time. There's an immutable quality to the Church that makes bringing a family together in prayer a timeless and priceless enterprise; the true wisdom of one decade is often the wisdom of the next for those who have ears to hear. Blueprints of the Little Church begins with a discussion of why praying at home is important but also points out that prayer alone is insufficient. As the authors put it, "These three foundation stones for your little church are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving." With this expanded framework the book then walks unearths and then carefully places one stone after another in an organized manne...

What one has to remember is that for Constantinople, autocephaly is completely determined by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The EP decides who is autocephalous. Not Russia, not the Pentarchy, not the body seeking autocephaly itself. So, while a move to establish autocephaly in Ukraine without Russia or some "coalition of the willing" consensus from other Churches is possible from a Constantinopolitan perspective, it would turn the current crack formed by the Crete Council into a vast chasm. ( Pravoslavie.ru ) - The Patriarchate of Constantinople has reacted to the appeal of the Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) deputies on granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reports Interfax-Religion. The Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople has not turned down this appeal but, instead, has charged a special synodal commission with examining it, reports the Romfea Greek Church news agency. As was earlier reported, the Verkhovna Rada recently called upon Patria...

( mospat.ru ) - On 15 July 2016, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church met for a regular session under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at the Patriarchal and Synodal residence in St Daniel’s Monastery. The meeting began with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in Nice. The list of permanent members of the Holy Synod includes Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine; Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna; Metropolitan Vladimir of Chişinău and All Moldova; Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, head of the metropolitan area in the Republic of Kazakhstan; Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the metropolitan area of Central Asia; Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus; and Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patr...

( CBC ) - Officials with Winnipeg's Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral are scrambling to come up with another plan for Sunday's service after a fire Thursday evening caused extensive damage to the north Winnipeg church. "I went down to the church [last night] and surprise, surprise, there was about 15 fire trucks and smoke billowing out of the south side of the cathedral," said Cathedral president Greg Palaschuk. The fire, which investigators say was arson, started around 9:30 p.m. Thursday at the Main Street and Redwood Avenue building. No one was hurt. Damages are estimated at more than $1 million. Palaschuk and others suited up in protective gear Friday afternoon to look at the damage. He said it's extensive and is going to take many months to repair. "It's going to take months and months of renovations because of religious artifacts and the stained glass materials.… It's horrible, that's what it is; it's hor...

While this may be a shocking screen capture or simply an amusing one, this process of declaring a "job opening" is consistent with Canadian law requiring a fair chance for local people to get a job when an immigrant is in the mix. Archbishop Gabriel (Chemodakov) of Montreal is going through this immigration process and ROCOR has to jump through this hoop. I'd post the link, but the ad has been pulled: I expect this caused no small consternation to the faithful. Thanks to the reader who forwarded this entertaining link to me. It was good while it lasted.

Fr. John Whiteford has announced the below. I can only say that this is one of the best things to happen to the American Church in recent history. Not only is he a gifted scholar he is also a pastorally adept cleric with a strikingly refreshing and powerful verve for evangelism. A simple search of this blog for his name will show how much he has accomplished as will even a perfunctory Google search. Axios! Axios! Axios! The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church just approved the election of Archimandrite Irenei (Steenberg) as bishop. Here is a machine translation of the Russian text. JOURNAL № 52 CONSIDERED the approval of the decision of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on election Archimandrite Irenaei (Steenberg) bishop of Sacramento, Vicar of the Western American Diocese. Reference: In accordance with paragraph 17 of Chapter XI of the Constitution of the Russian Orthodox Church, the norms of the Charter apply to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia ...

The savagery of what was done in France - to strike and drag people with a truck - is beyond my imaginings. I think everyone has struck something with a car and had that moment of panic about it. Whether it be a squirrel or even some inanimate object on the road, the event is still jarring. And of those people I know who have had the great misfortune to have struck a person with their car even at low speeds in a parking lot, there is a haunted look in their eyes when they recall the moment. So it is shocking to think of purposefully plowing into men, women, and children with the express purpose of killing them. Merciful God, save us.

Why why why isn't the Assembly of Bishops in on this thing. If there's one thing the episcopal assembly is good at it is making lists and then putting them up somewhere. They don't necessarily do anything with all this information on legal frameworks, parish locations, monastery numbers, pastoral and liturgical practices, or what have you, but they do have the official data from the jurisdictions on which parish buildings exist where. So I personally had quit using the Orthodoxy in America website in favor of the Assembly of Bishops parish finder but when traveling a phone app would be quite handy. ( OCA ) - Priest John Parsells, Rector of Christ the Savior Mission, Berlin, MD, and his associates at Orthodox Web Solutions have developed a new free app—“ Orthodoxy in America ”—for smartphones and tablets. “This app is much more than just a church locator,” explains Father John. “It brings together news, social posts, daily audio, and trending photos, as well as v...

It's hard to overstate how much of a force for good Orthodox summer camps are. I'm rather late in my annual "Send your kids to camp!" entreaty, but please do consider the special opportunities our camps provide. You can find something near you at the Orthodox Christian Camp Association website here . The below picture is from St. Tikhon's Summer Camp (more pics and updates available here ).

( Reuters ) - Israel’s military has nominated a new chief rabbi who seemed to imply in a past religious commentary that its soldiers are allowed to rape non-Jewish women in wartime. Rabbi Colonel Eyal Karim’s remarks 14 years ago stirred controversy at the time and remain on an Israeli religious website today, along with a link to a clarification he published on the same site in 2012 in which he said his words had been taken out of context and rape is forbidden “in any situation”. Karim’s appointment, which still has to be approved by the defence minister, drew criticism on Tuesday from women’s groups and a prominent female politician. They pointed to a reply Karim gave in 2002 to a question about the Bible’s attitude towards rape during war, in the “Ask the Rabbi” section of kipa.co.il. He responded that in the interests of maintaining warriors’ morale and fighting fitness during armed conflict, it was permitted to “satisfy the evil inclination by lying with attractive Genti...

" Idolatry, then, is when do not see through the veils of created things. Idolatry is when we see the created thing only in itself, and instead of seeing the power and glory of God in what is created, we invest the creation itself with power. This is what we see in much pagan religion. And in pornography we specifically see the flesh and we don’t see through the veil of the flesh to the deeper reality behind. So we do not see an image-bearer of God, but rather flesh for our own satisfaction. "And we can go further. We can see that this “Wrong way of seeing” is actually theft. We steal from God when we take his image and separate it from its physical manifestation: we steal the image of God. We also steal from the other person when we close our eyes to the person’s true ultimate significance and regard just the flesh, which we manipulate for our own purposes. And finally, this is also theft from ourselves as we steal from ourselves the relationship we are supposed to find wi...

( Pravmir ) - The first Russian Orthodox monastery could be opened in the US capital of Washington D.C. or in its vicinity, Metropolitan Jonah, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) told. The first Russian Orthodox monastery could be opened in the US capital of Washington D.C. or in its vicinity, Metropolitan Jonah, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) told. “In the area, not necessarily in D.C… It will be Russian tradition, of course, you know, the services will also be in English, as well as in [Church] Slavonic… [The monastery] has a very specific outreach [program] to educate people about Orthodoxy and Russian culture and Russian spiritual culture,” Metropolitan Jonah said, answering a question about his plans to establish a monastery in Washington D.C. The monastery would be designed for educating people and would become the first Russian monastery in the vicinity of the US capital, as the only existing Orthodox monastery i...

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." - Romans 10:11-13

( SVOTS ) - On July 6, 2016, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary sent $15,000 worth of theological books on a 7,000-mile journey to the Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School of Makarios III in Nairobi, Kenya. The African seminary is the recipient of a tithe of St. Vladimir’s most recent #GivingTuesday Campaign, which took place on December 1, 2015. The Campaign raised a grand total of $148,764, and St. Vladimir’s pledged 10% of that sum to supply the African seminary’s library with much needed books. “We are thrilled to share the blessing God has given us with our sister seminary in Nairobi,” said the Very Reverend Dr. Chad Hatfield, CEO at St. Vladimir’s. “Our #GivingTuesday donors gave generously to support our campaign, and we want to thank them and others for helping us to spread this blessing abroad. “For example,” he continued, “we soon realized that including books from other Orthodox publishers—besides our own SVS Press—would greatly benefit the African semi...

( National Right to Life ) - The Ministry of Health in Russia has signed an agreement with the Russian Orthodox Church that includes prevention of abortion and provision of palliative care . The agreement signed by Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Churchwas published on the website of the Synodal Department for ROC Church Charity and Social Service. Article 9 of the 21 article agreement establishes cooperation “on the protection of maternal and child health, including reproductive health, promotion of family values and prevention of abortion.” The agreement includes joint actions with medical institutions for the “creation of crisis pregnancy centers at hospitals with the participation of psychologists and participation of representatives of religious organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church in advising women who are planning to terminate the pregnancy, in medical institutions” and for the provision of space for “...

A picture made available on July 7, 2016 shows Ukrainians jumping over a fire during the traditional Slavic celebrations of Ivana Kupala in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 6, 2016. Ivana Kupala is celebrated, during the Summer Solstice, on the shortest night of the year, marking the beginning of summer and is celebrated in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Russia on the night of July 6. People sing and dance around bonfires, playing games and performing traditional rituals. Young people jump over bonfires in order to test their bravery and couples holding hands jump over the flames to test their love for each other, if the couple does not successfully manage the jump over the fire, it is predicted that the couple will split up. Traditionally children and young unmarried women wear wreaths of wild flowers around their heads to symbolize purity. EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY

( Fox News ) - Congregations across the state of Iowa are in grave danger of having their pastors silenced in the pulpit over LGBT public accommodation rules, according to a federal lawsuit filed against the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. Fort Des Moines Church of Christ filed what is known as a “pre-enforcement challenge” – arguing that a portion of the Iowa Civil Rights Act is a threat to First Amendment freedoms. Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal firm that specializes in religious liberty lawsuits, is representing the church in its fight against the commission. “Churches should be free to teach their religious beliefs and operate their houses of worship according to their faith without being threatened by the government,” ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb said. “That is a foundational First Amendment principle.” The issue involves the commission’s interpretation of the 2007 Iowa Civil Rights Act – specifically about public accommodation. The law includes a facility us...

( BBC News ) - An amateur archaeologist has unearthed what is believed to be evidence of one of England's earliest Christian monasteries in a dig on Lindisfarne. The rare grave marker, thought to be from the mid 7th-8th Century, has been described as a "stunning find". A £25,000 project off the north-east coast was crowd-funded by 200 donors, including 60 who took part in the dig. Project leader Lisa Westcott Wilkins said the name stone was "absolutely fantastic diagnostic evidence". "It was a spectacular moment and, even better for us, is that...it wasn't found by one of the team leaders or experts, it was found by a member of the public who had helped to fund and make the project possible," she said. The name on the stone, ending in the common Anglo-Saxon "frith", is half visible and the team is waiting for experts to decipher the rest. Project co-director Dr David Petts, of Durham University, said it was a "stunnin...

This may sound absurd at first glance, but it makes sense. If you paint yourself into a corner, don't start painting your feet. If you get divorced then get married in a secular setting, quit sinning. Some people will say, "That's crazy talk. They're married! Of course they're going to have sex." No. What they did was the equivalent of parking their old car somewhere, getting a new car, failing to register it, and then driving it around without registration. What is the first thing the state would tell you to do if they found out about it? Stop driving your car and go get some license plates and state inspection. So "Ha ha, you silly Catholics" is a convenient joke, but this is the exact same advice I would give (and have given) Orthodox people who got divorced and then got married on a beach somewhere. You knew what you were doing, it's not on me to put Humpty Dumpty back together again for you after you climbed up on that wall and took a fl...