Category: Global Orthodoxy
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Fraternal Gathering in Amman Exposes Truths in Global Orthodoxy
by Evagelos Sotiropoulos The late February fraternal gathering of six local Orthodox churches in Amman was instructive and at the same time disheartening. Instructive because the gathering exposed truths in global Orthodoxy; disheartening because it was a sad showcasing of Orthodoxy to the world (for the presumably relatively few outsiders who are still paying attention […]
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Is There a “Frozen Conflict” in Orthodoxy?
by Regina Elsner During a conference on the crisis in Orthodoxy caused by the establishment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, several participants used the concept of a “frozen conflict” to describe the “stable unresolved conflict” (Georgij Kovalenko). Given that the term is commonly used for several deadlocked conflicts on the territory of the former […]
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Religion and Politics in Brazil: Orthodox Influences
by Graham McGeoch The recent elections in Brazil have once again placed religion and politics at the fore of public debates. Not surprisingly, the election of President Jair Bolsonaro has focused attention on the growing influence of Evangelicals in Brazilian politics. This factor is now frequently touted alongside the affirmation that Brazil is the largest […]
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The IOTA Moment
by Irina Paert Just when we all thought that global Orthodoxy was in a state of deep crisis, God had a surprise for us. Indeed, when four member churches of the Orthodox global family rejected the invitation of Patriarch Bartholomew to attend the Holy and Great Council of Crete, which had been in preparation for […]
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The International Orthodox Theological Association: Conciliarity from Below
by Paul Gavrilyuk | ελληνικά | ру́сский The Holy and Great Council of Crete (2016) demonstrated that pan-Orthodox gatherings are possible in our time. The Council also made manifest global Orthodoxy’s enduring tensions and divisions. The delegation of the Patriarchate of Antioch did not attend the Council primarily because of its broken communion with the Patriarchate […]
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It’s Time for an Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church
by Evagelos Sotiropoulos | ру́сский Ukraine achieved independence in 1991, and since then (and before, as well, dating back one hundred years) there have been efforts among the Orthodox faithful and their leaders—political and religious—to establish an independent (autocephalous) Ukrainian Orthodox Church. And since 1991, the Moscow Patriarchate has been unable or unwilling to settle the […]
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The Heresy of Papism
by George Demacopoulos | ελληνικά | ру́сский The three-way dispute between Ukrainians, Russians, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate over the possibility of Ukrainian ecclesiastical independence is shaping up to be the greatest challenge to Orthodox Christian unity of our generation. From a purely political perspective, Ukrainian autocephaly would represent an unmitigated disaster for the Russian Orthodox […]
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The Kremlin Hacks the Patriarchate: Is the Church Under Surveillance?
by Evangelos Razis The Kremlin has a long history of interfering in the life of the Orthodox Church. Tsars, General Secretaries, and Presidents have seen in the Church a partner, a source of legitimacy, and a threat to their authority. We learned last week that Vladimir Putin has brought this Russian tradition into the digital […]
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The Church in Modern Ukraine: Information Literacy and the Narrative
by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko “A Tomos of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate would legitimize the schism in Ukraine. We must support the canonical church.” “Autocephalists are not ‘church people’. They are nationalists who seek to exploit the Church, and autocephaly will sever communion with the Orthodox Church.” “The schism in Ukraine began in 1992 […]
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Russia and Ukraine: The Empire’s New Old Clothes
by Fr. Bohdan Hladio The historical path of the Church in Ukraine is controverted and complex: both Moscow and Constantinople claim Ukraine as their canonical territory. As a result, one of the largest Orthodox Churches in the world has experienced schism for over twenty-five years. In April 2018 the Government of Ukraine officially requested a […]