Category Archives: News

Which Vaccine Should I Receive?

by Catherine Creticos, Gayle Woloschak, and Hermina Nedelescu

Syringe and vial
Photo: Hermina Nedelescu

As more Covid-19 vaccines begin to be made available to the public, Orthodox Christians are asking important questions regarding vaccine safety, efficacy, the differences between the various vaccine technologies and/or which vaccine they should receive.

In a document published by the Orthodox Theological Society in America (OTSA), Drs. Hermina Nedelescu, Catherine Creticos, and Gayle Woloschak provide answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Covid-19 vaccines, including how they are made and how they work to prepare the immune system to fight the virus. The goal of the document is to provide bio-medically accurate and timely information.

Vaccination against Covid-19 has become an urgent priority because vaccinating a significant portion of the population as quickly as possible will (1) save lives, (2) reduce illness, and (3) potentially help stop the spread of the virus.

The authors of this document hope that by providing accurate and up-to-date information about Covid-19 vaccines, Orthodox Christians will be able to make informed decisions regarding vaccine options for themselves.

Read the document on the OTSA website

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Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century

Concentrated in Europe, Orthodox Christians have decline as a percentage of the global population, but Ethiopian community is highly observant and growing

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 8, 2017) – Over the last century, the Orthodox Christian population around the world has more than doubled and now stands at nearly 260 million. In Russia alone, it has surpassed 100 million, a sharp resurgence after the fall of the Soviet Union, according to a new Pew Research Center report.

Yet despite these increases in absolute numbers, Orthodox Christians have been declining as a share of the overall Christian population – and the global population – due to far faster growth among Protestants, Catholics and non-Christians. Today, just 12% of Christians around the world are Orthodox, compared with an estimated 20% a century ago. And 4% of the total global population is Orthodox, compared with an estimated 7% in 1910.

The geographic distribution of Orthodoxy also differs from the other major Christian traditions in the 21st century. Today, nearly four-in-five Orthodox Christians (77%) live in Europe, a relatively modest change from a century ago (91%). By contrast, only about one-quarter of Catholics (24%) and one-in-eight Protestants (12%) now live in Europe, down from an estimated 65% and 52%, respectively, in 1910.

Orthodoxy’s falling share of the global Christian population is connected with demographic trends in Europe, which has lower overall fertility rates and an older population than developing regions of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Europe’s population has long been shrinking as a share of the world’s total population, and, in coming decades, it is projected to decline in absolute numbers as well. Continue Reading…