Phyletism: The Problem of Bigotry in the Orthodox Church In our contemporary era the Orthodox Christian world is, sadly, once again grappling with violent conflicts involving ethnic, religious and political identities in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as the Orthodox churches in the United States, Canada, and Australia engage in heated jurisdictional disputes…
Continue readingEthnicity Tears the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church Apart
Prime Minister Ahmed forced to talk to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church
by Habtom Yohannes | ελληνικά | Русский What initially seemed an internal conflict between the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church (EtOTC) and an Oromo breakaway synod of 28 bishops, has developed into an open clash between the Ethiopian government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the EtOTC. The current struggle is actually…
Continue readingThe Russian World and the Hellenic World
by Christopher Howell | български | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски We are in the midst of a few anniversaries of note in the Greek world. Last year, of course, was the bicentennial of the war for independence. This year, it’s the centennial of the July 1922 founding of AHEPA, in Atlanta, and…
Continue readingA Statement of Solidarity with the Orthodox Declaration on the “Russian World” (Russkii Mir) Teaching, and against Christian Nationalism and New Totalitarianism
This statement was originally posted at Religion in Praxis and is reposted here with permission. Also available in Russian and Ukrainian (pdf). Following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February 2022, Orthodox voices have thoroughly rebutted the use of the “Russian World” (russkii mir) teaching, which claims that there is an organically…
Continue readingA Declaration on the “Russian World” (Russkii mir) Teaching
“For the peace of the whole world, for the stability of the holy churches of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.” (Divine Liturgy) This text is also available in pdf format in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Ukrainian, Croatian, Estonian, Hungarian, Portuguese, and…
Continue readingThe End of Post-Soviet Religion
Russian Orthodoxy as a National Church
by Kristina Stoeckl | ελληνικά | ру́сский As of 4 July 2020, the amendment to the Russian Constitution—first proposed by President Vladimir Putin in January, smoothly approved by the State Duma and Constitutional Court in March, and confirmed in a nationwide referendum with 78,56 per cent of votes—has taken effect. As widely reported, the main…
Continue readingRoma Inclusion in Romanian Orthodoxy: Too Little Too Late?
by Maria Alina Asavei April 8 is celebrated worldwide as the International Roma Day. Romani people both honour their culture across the world and commemorate the centuries of persecutions and mistreatment in light of present Romaphobia and persistent discrimination against the most vulnerable ethic group in Europe. On this occasion, the Archbishop Andrei of Cluj-Napoca…
Continue readingGive Us This Day Our Daily Portion of Nationalism…
by Davor Džalto I tried to stay away from publicly expressing my thoughts on the current church/autocephaly crisis in Ukraine, for many reasons. First of all, there are much more competent people who know the situation better than I do. Second, the issue of autocephaly of the church in Ukraine has, by now, escalated so…
Continue readingThe Problem with the Kosovo “Solution”
by Fr. Sava Janjic | српски For most Christians residing in the West, the Kosovo “question” has long been forgotten. But for Serbs and other non-majority communities who live in Kosovo, the march of the international community toward ethnic zones in an independent Kosovo presents a genuine risk to our sacred shrines and our lives. The…
Continue readingBrexit and the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church: The Return of Nationalism
by Lucian N. Leustean During the last weeks of June 2016, two major international events took place, namely the ‘Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church’, on the island of Crete (June 16-27), and the British referendum that narrowly voted to leave the European Union (June 23). At first sight, the two events are…
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