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Russian religious expert Sergei Chapnin explains why the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has every reason to grant the status of autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church In an op-ed published by Vedomosti, Chapnin noted that the issue of Ukrainian autocephaly dates back to the early 20th century, while those associated with the status of the Kyiv church goes back to the late 17th century. "But if the Patriarch of Constantinople preserves the continuity of his institutions for almost 1500 years, the Moscow Patriarchate, after the total destruction of all church institutions in 1917 and the re-emergence of some of them...

At a gathering of Orthodox leaders last week, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople insisted that he, as Ecumenical Patriarch, has the authority to approve a bid for autocephaly (self-governance) by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Patriarch Bartholomew, in his address to an August 31 summit meeting of Orthodox prelates, said that the bid for Ukrainian autonomy was not a new development. On the contrary, he said, the Orthodox Church in Kiev—which was established before the Orthodox Church in Moscow—has frequently requested such a move: Already from the early 14th century, when the See of the Kievan Metropolis was moved—without the canonical permission...

The Russian Orthodox Church threatened to break off relations with Orthodox Christianity's leading body - the Patriarchate of Constantinople - if it endorses the new self-governing, or autocephalous, Ukrainian Church. In an interview in Moscow on Saturday, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, said that the Russian Orthodox Church wil sever ties with Constantinople if a decision is made there to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, according to TASS. "The Russian Orthodox Church will not accept this decision," the cleric said. As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ecumenical...

The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has decided to allow a second marriage for Greek Orthodox priests in the event that they are widowed or abandoned by their wife, religious news website Romfea.gr says. The decision, that is considered historic in the Orthodox Church, specifies that a second marriage will not be allowed if the priest wishes to leave his wife and marry another woman. It is underlined that each case will be examined separately and the bishop of the priest’s parish will be sending the specifics to be judged by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Also,...

Ukraine can’t reclaim territory annexed by Russia or held by its proxies – but it’s increasingly likely to deprive its larger neighbor of something arguably as valuable: Its power over Ukraine’s Orthodox Christian believers, and with it Moscow’s claim to a central role in eastern Christianity. Moscow Patriarch Kirill went to Istanbul late last month to meet with Bartholomew (of Constantinople). A bishop who was present said that while no final decision was made on Ukrainian autocephaly, the process has now gone too far to reverse it. Russian clerics have warned that granting independence to the Ukrainian church could cause...

In the past five or six years, I have known several people who have left Reformed Christianity for Eastern Orthodoxy. Their reasons for making that decision varied. Some were mesmerized by the beauty of the Divine Liturgy. Others found Eastern Orthodoxy (hereafter EO) to offer a greater appreciation for mystery and religious experience than what they had known as a Protestant. All of them, however, were attracted by and eventually convinced of EO’s claim to be the original church founded by Christ. While I do not agree with their decision, I sympathize with their desire to be part of the...

As Kiev and Moscow clash on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, a new front has opened up in the religious sphere. ...A campaign to persuade Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to grant Ukrainian clerics full ecclesiastical independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. Ukrainian politicians see such a declaration, known as a "Tomos of Autocephaly," as a key step in consolidating their country's national identity. To hear the religious leaders in Moscow tell it, separating the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Russia would spark the worst schism since Orthodox and Catholic Christianity parted ways nearly 1,000 years ago. More immediately, the move would...

"The Patriarchate of Constantinople is struggling with the Russian Church for influence in the Orthodox world. The Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates are in tense relations today because of Ukraine.” Russian Orthodox priests are complaining they are unable to obtain Schengen visas for EU travel through Greek missions as relations between Athens and Moscow worsens... In a report carried by the BBC’s Russian-language service on Thursday, a source from the church in Constantinople claimed this Greek “policy” is because “Russian priests … are perceived as potential spies and agents of influence”. Several priests told the BBC they had either been refused...

In the ancient world, four major cities became centers of Christianity: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem. Though Rome was initially most prominent, Constantinople, now Istanbul, Turkey, rose in stature after it was named the capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine in 330. “For almost a thousand years the Patriarch of Constantinople presided over the church in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire and its missionary activity brought the Christian faith in its Byzantine form to many people north of the imperial border,” said Paulist Father Ronald Roberson in his book The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey. However, over...

Most Catholic Americans, I realize, rarely pay attention to the debates among the world’s Orthodox believers. Those debates are constant, and we Catholics have enough problems of our own. But the future of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church could have enormous implications for the cause of Christian unity. The question, stated simply, is whether the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should be recognized as autocephalous—that is, self-governing—rather than as a province of the Russian Orthodox Church. Bear in mind that Ukraine is now engaged in a struggle to preserve its independence from Russia—a struggle with obvious implications here. In Ukraine, about 70% of...

Your Beatitude! Your Excellence and Your Eminence! Dear fathers, brothers, and sisters! I congratulate you all on the Lord’s Day! By historical circumstances, we had the opportunity to celebrate a Divine Liturgy here and consecrate the church in honor of the Theodore Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos which is associated with the Romanov dynasty: this church was built next to the site of the death of the Holy Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna, Nun Barbara, and other representatives of the royal family. Looking at this place, this nearly buried mine, it is hard to imagine that fear and terror that engulfed...

July 4, 2018 Independence Day To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As we commemorate Independence Day, we are gathered in Boston for our 44th Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress. We are meeting in a city that has deep historical connections to the struggle for independence, a...

“Today, Russia ranks among the worst violators of religious freedom and human rights,” Ambassador Callista Gingrich said during a roundtable discussion on Ukraine held at the US embassy in Rome. “There is no sign that its persecution of religious minorities and foreign missionaries is coming to an end.” “Russia routinely conducts sham trials to persecute Ukrainians,” she explained. “Religious freedom also remains heavily constricted in areas of Ukraine under Russian occupation and control." The ambassador is married to former House of Representatives Speaker, Newt Gingrich, an adviser and ally of the president, who has repeatedly stressed there is no evidence...

A unique monastery--Russia's own Holy Land, founded by the controversial Patriarch Nikon in 1656--has finally been rebuilt in MoscowThe breathtakingly beautiful, architecturally unique and historically significant New Jerusalem monastery has occupied a place of unique veneration among Russians during its 350-year history. A few years before the Revolution, it was visited by about 35,000 people annually. It was originally founded in 1656 by Patriarch Nikon, who built it to imitate structurally and thematically the Church of Christ’s Tomb in Jerusalem. This was done so that Russians who could not make the long pilgrimage to Jerusalem could get a taste of...

The theme of Monday night’s Met Gala, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” served up a whole procession of looks inspired by the church. Rihanna channeled the Pope, Katy Perry donned angel wings, and Sarah Jessica Parker had an entire nativity scene perched on her head. For fashion fans, it was a smorgasbord of over-the-top eye candy and designer creativity. For many Catholics, however, it was blasphemy. Gucci designer Alessandro Michele (left) dressed Lana Del Rey and Jared Leto for the occasion. (Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images) More Although quite a few former Catholic schoolgirls — including Madonna and Kim...

Old Believers, the strictest adherents of ancient Christian traditions, are finally returning from 100-year exile in the West to RussiaThis fascinating news story offers an update about the Old Believer communities that have been steadily returning to Russia from an almost 100-year exile in Alaska, Uruguay, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina and setting up communities in Russia's Far East. Old Believers are Russian Christians who did not accept the reforms of the Official Russian Church in the 1600s. Since then, they have retained strict staunch loyalty to old traditions. They live in communities, farming the land, have traditional large families, don't...

A Statement Issued by the Patriarchates of Antioch and all the East for the Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, and Greek-Melkite Catholic Damascus, 14 April 2018 God is with us; Understand all ye nations and submit yourselves! We, the Patriarchs: John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and Joseph Absi, Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, condemn and denounce the brutal aggression that took place this morning against our precious country Syria by the USA, France and the UK, under the allegations that...

Happy Ester everyone. Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!

Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You! (Ps. 119:11) Years ago, I heard a statement from an American monk: “The contemplative need go no further than his own heart to find the source of all violence in the world.” It struck me as true then and has only seemed more so as the years have passed. At the time (not long after the Vietnam War) this monastic was remarking on the many young people whom they had visiting his monastery who were “so deeply angry about peace.” The statement echoed an experience...

Unity with Orthodox? Msgr. Charles Pope Question: What is it that separates the Catholic Church from our Orthodox counterparts? What led to these divisions? — Name withheld via email Answer: The separation between the Orthodox Churches of the East and Western Churches united to Rome is a complex issue rooted in culture, language and politics as much as theology or authority. The modern tendency to fix the Great Schism on one event or year is misleading. The first cause of the division was the gradual estrangement of East and West. The East and West increasingly grouped themselves around different centers...