Ecclesiology

Publications: 32

Eastern Orthodoxy and Church Reform
Ecclesiology, Orthodoxy and Modernity

Eastern Orthodoxy and Church Reform

“Church reform” has always been a taboo in the Orthodox Church; it has a negative connotation in some traditionalistic circles. Actually, there are many elements that strengthen stagnation and promote anti-reform tendencies, such as the claim of unity, stability, identity, psychological and spiritual factors, catholicity and universality, synodality, solidarity and collegiality, sameness, traditionalism, and others….

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The Ecumenical Patriarchate and the “Barbarian Lands” Theory
Ecclesiology, Inter-Orthodox Relations

The Ecumenical Patriarchate and the “Barbarian Lands” Theory

by Matthew Namee | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски One of the keystone prerogatives claimed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate is its jurisdiction over the so-called “diaspora”—regions not included within the geographic boundaries of the other Autocephalous Churches. She insists that this exclusive extraterritorial jurisdiction is rooted in Canon 28…

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Episcopolatry
Church Life and Pastoral Care, Ecclesiology

Episcopolatry

We Orthodox need to ask ourselves some hard questions about the episcopal ethos that has come down to us from Byzantium and was then magnified in the Russian tradition. This was an aspect of Orthodoxy that for his entire life troubled Fr. Sergius Bulgakov (1871-1944), one of the most prolific Orthodox thinkers of the 20th…

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Bishops and Pentecost
Ecclesiology, Theology

Bishops and Pentecost

by Very Rev. Dr. John A. Jillions Bishops are regularly in the news for exercising their authority and then either coming under fire or being praised for doing so. Over the last couple months we’ve seen volcanic reactions for and against Archbishop Elpidophoros presiding at the baptism of a gay couple’s children in Greece. When…

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Dark Ecclesiology: What We Do in the Shadows
Ecclesiology, Theology

Dark Ecclesiology: What We Do in the Shadows

Speaking about human rights in Orthodoxy, we must clearly understand why we need this discourse and how it will influence theology and religious consciousness. In my opinion, it has two primary purposes: protection of the weak and inclusion. Today, the debate about human rights increasingly affects Orthodox political theology and anthropology but does not affect…

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On Throwing Stones in Houses of Glass <br><span style='color:#8D8381;font-size:18px;'>Moscow, Constantinople, and Autocephaly</span>
Ecclesiology

On Throwing Stones in Houses of Glass
Moscow, Constantinople, and Autocephaly

by Fr. Bohdan Hladio | български |  Ελληνικά | Русский  |  Српски Much breath and ink continues to be spent castigating the Patriarchate of Constantinople for its “uncanonical” bestowal of autocephaly upon the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).  Characteristic are the words of newly-elected Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia: “The actions of Constantinople in Ukraine are…

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Public Orthodoxy seeks to promote conversation by providing a forum for diverse perspectives on contemporary issues related to Orthodox Christianity. The positions expressed in the articles on this website are solely the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Orthodox Christian Studies Center.

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Public Orthodoxy is a publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University