Bridging the Ecclesial, the Academic, and the Political
by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko The Orthodox world is buzzing with the recent news report on the ordination of deaconesses in the Patriarchate of Alexandria. To the best of our knowledge, the ordination occurred after the Divine Liturgy in the nave of the temple, and appears to resemble the rite used to ordain subdeacons. This…
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History was made on February 17, 2017 when five women were consecrated deaconesses in the Orthodox Church. For many of us, this is a welcome but shocking development. Speaking for myself, I expected the reintroduction of a female diaconate to occur in Greece, or elsewhere in Europe, or, even more likely, the United States; say,…
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by Lena Zezulin As expected, President Putin signed the law decriminalizing family violence, shifting certain offenses from criminal to administrative proceedings. Ostensibly this was done to bring the law into compliance with changes to the criminal code that had redefined assaults that do not result in “substantial bodily harm” from criminal to administrative violations. The…
Continue readingIt is commonly understood in the Orthodox Church that the bishop represents the Church, particularly within its conciliar life. But can he truly represent the Church, in its diversity, in every way and context? The bishop represents the Church in at least two ways: (1) He distinguishes the local manifestation of the Universal Church from…
Continue readingby David J. Dunn On the sixth of October 2016, His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America sent a letter to the clergy of his former diocese of the West, informing them that a man convicted of sexual assault would be their new interim bishop. Over a decade ago, Bishop Demetri…
Continue readingAs preparations continue for the Great and Holy Council set for Pentecost 2016, we eagerly look for the inclusion of women in the Council proceedings. Voting delegations of the Great and Holy Council are exclusively comprised of hierarchs from each of the fourteen local autocephalous Orthodox Churches and are appointed by each of these Churches….
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Public Orthodoxy is a publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University
