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Inga Leonova
Katherine Kelaidis: The Silence of Our Friends

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”

--American Civil Rights Activist, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Amber Nicole Thurman, a Black mother in Georgia, died in August of 2022, after doctors at Piedmont Henry Hospital in the Atlanta suburb of Stockbridge refused her a routine procedure known as a dilation and curettage, or D&C, following incomplete chemical abortion. Thurman’s young son now finds himself with neither mother nor father. 

Katherine Kelaidis: The Silence of Our Friends
Inga Leonova
Alexandra de Moffarts: In Defense of Parody

In the weeks following the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, we witnessed an outpouring of criticism, indignation, sorrow, and even hatred directed at the scene, which was intended, according to many observers, to parody the Last Supper, or rather, Da Vinci's famous painting of it. Episcopal conferences from around the world expressed their views on the matter. There were endless debates (ranging from polite to aggressive) regarding whether this scene represented the Last Supper or rather the banquet of the Olympian gods around Dionysus.

Alexandra de Moffarts: In Defense of Parody
Inga Leonova
Angelos Mavropoulos: The Paradox of Good Killing

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, has been applied in human societies since ancient times. In modern times, following the Second World War, during which the phenomenon showed, not unexpectedly, a dramatic increase, the gradual abolition of the practice is considered by many as one of the greatest triumphs of the human rights movement. However, this triumph is still unfinished, as there is no global consensus, and the controversy continues to this day. It is a fact that even in those countries where the practice has been long abolished, its popular support remains high.

Angelos Mavropoulos: The Paradox of Good Killing
Inga Leonova
Priit Rohmets: Religion Instrumentalized

The position of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in justifying the Russian war in Ukraine, especially the statements delivered by Patriarch Kirill, has caused a sharp reaction in Estonia. Estonia is a neighbor of Russia and until 1918 the territory of Estonia was part of the Russian empire. It is the smallest of the three Baltic republics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), situated on the East coast of the Baltic Sea. Estonia established its independence as a sovereign state in 1918. Because of historical reasons – the Republic of Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941 and again from 1944 to 1991 – there is a large Russian-speaking Orthodox minority living in the country.

Priit Rohmets: Religion Instrumentalized
Inga Leonova
Charles Declerq: The One Who Is Different

Let’s consider the example of “the parody of the Last Supper.”  It’s not a parody of the Last Supper at all, but a parody of paintings that interpret the Last Supper, paintings that are just as far removed from what might have really happened, but also, possibly, represent a reinterpretation of Dionysian myths (let’s not forget that the Judeo-Christian tradition itself found inspiration in the mythology of other cultures).

Charles Declerq: The One Who Is Different

Open Letter to the Members of the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe

“Things that are impossible to accomplish by formal means may be accomplished by virtue of grace” 

Archpriest Nicolas Afanasiev 

My brothers and sisters in Christ! 

I am grateful to everyone who spoke during our assemblies, who expressed their views in open letters, analyzed our current crisis and proposed specific solutions. However, in the process of familiarizing myself with your opinions, I have unexpectedly come across an interesting aspect of our discussion, namely, that all of our positions polarize around one and the same dilemma, one and the same horizontal choice: Moscow or Constantinople? Why is that? 

Letter from Europe

Letter from Europe

Christian Orthodox tradition believes that between Easter and Pentecost the heavens are open. This means that if we have eyes of faith, we will be able to contemplate, in wonderment, the angels of heaven ascending and descending the ladder that unites God and men.

In this so joyous moment of our ecclesial life, however, we must humbly recognize that the Orthodox Church is going through a critical period. The Churches of Moscow and Constantinople have broken off their dialogue. This rupture is aggravated by the rupture of communion as we so sadly observe. This is experienced as an authentic drama by the Orthodox people who have no desire to see the Orthodox Church sunk in a schism. Added to that is the crisis of the Archdiocese of the Churches of Russian Tradition in Western Europe following the suppression of its status as an exarchate in November of 2018. This archdiocese is divided between those who believe that they have a future only within the Patriarchate of Moscow and those who think that a new modus vivendi with the Patriarchate of Constantinople can still be found.

Katherine Kelaidis: What Dialogue Means

Unless one is particularly interested in the politics of North American Christianity, it is easy not  to know about the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Founded in 2009, the ACNA is a schismatic group within the global Anglican Communion created by former members of the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada (the official provinces of the Anglican Communion in North America). The vast majority of ACNAs members, particularly among the clergy, broke with the Anglican Communion because of the main bodies decisions to ordain women (though this subject is treated in a variety of ways by ACNA dioceses) and extend full sacramental inclusion to LGBT people.

Viktor Alexandrov: The Choice Facing the Archdiocese

While the attention of the Orthodox community and the secular world has been focused on the Ukrainian autocephaly, another “hot spot” has appeared on the Orthodox world map - the Archdiocese of Russian Churches in Western Europe[i]. On November 27, 2018, the Synod of Patriarchate of Constantinople announced a decision to revoke the charter (tomos), by which in 1999 autonomy was granted to the Archdiocese, and its own statutes were guaranteed .

Nicholas Denysenko: After the Council: Challenges Facing the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

When Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko initially announced that the Ecumenical Patriarchate (EP) would grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the promise seemed overconfident at best, and delusional at worst. For decades, global Orthodoxy has recognized the canonicity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), and dismissed the Kyivan Patriarchate (KP) and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) as uncanonical schismatics.

The events of 2018 unfolded with one surprise after another. Clergy, laity, and students of Church history were stunned when Patriarch Bartholomew informed Patriarch Kirill of the EP’s intention to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church.

Cyril Hovorun: Ukraine, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Post-truth

A sickness which long afflicted the Ukrainian church had become chronic. That is probably the best way to describe the background to the Ecumenical Patriarch’s historic decision to take responsibility for spiritual affairs in Ukraine.

Millions of faithful have remained outside the Eucharistic communion with the world Orthodoxy and in a state of schism for decades. We are not talking about one lost sheep but an entire flock.

I have had many opportunities for personal contact with the people who have been described as schismatic, because they belong to the unrecognised Kyiv Patriarchate. They are good Christians who pray with fervour and attend church with zeal. I have not observed among them any fanaticism or ethnic prejudice. At any rate, these qualities are no more evident among them than they are among any other historically Orthodox people. Yes, they love their homeland, but they have an even greater love for the Holy Church. Which has left them in isolation for decades.

Nicholas Denysenko: An Orthodox Graveyard and the Tomos of Autocephaly for Ukraine

I have many vivid memories from my first visit to Ukraine in 1993, taken with my brother and grandfather. During our stay in Tetiiv (approximately 80 kilometers west of Kyiv), our family hosts asked us to walk with them to the family cemetery. This visit occurred after a few days of conversation that were simultaneously tense and joyous, as we learned about our family’s perspectives on faith and politics along with their concerns about post-Soviet Ukraine. All of these concerns were put aside as we walked from grave to grave, with most of the family members unable to hold back tears for the departed loved ones who were murdered during the course of the Holodomor of 1932-33. This memory reminds me how long Ukrainians have been caught in the crossfire of wars and revolutions, as the imperial powers to their West and East have fought to expand their borders and increase their power. The memory of the Holodomor united us in spite of our differences because we all felt the sting of violent murder in the name of someone else’s gain, even if it was passed on to us.

Ukraine attained statehood in 1991 following 74 years of colonial occupation. When Ukraine initially sought to establish a sovereign republic after the fall of the Tsarist regime in 1917, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine began the natural process of re-organizing its life in rhythm with the aspiring nation.

John Jillions: "Thicket of Idols": Alexander Schmemann's Critique of Orthodoxy

John Jillions: "Thicket of Idols": Alexander Schmemann's Critique of Orthodoxy

Part I of this essay will examine Schmemann’s journals for the various streams of his critique and argue that the doubts, criticisms and questions Schmemann first raised privately many years ago still need serious public attention as Orthodoxy seeks to find its voice, message and mission in the 21st century. However, if Fr Alexander’s vocation as a prophet (though he himself would have eschewed that title) led him to speak clearly, convincingly and critically about the realities he saw, he was much more ambivalent about proposing solutions. Without attempting to guess what his solutions might be today, in Part II of this essay I will suggest that Fr Alexander’s sharp critique can be channeled into positive terms by refocusing the Orthodox Church on Christ as scriptural, contemplative and self-emptying.

Jim and Nancy Forest: The Green Patriarch’s Campaign for a Greener World

Soon after his election to the throne of Ecumenical Patriarch in 1991, Bartholomew of Constantinople made clear that he saw his task not only as safeguarding the unity of the Orthodox Church but also doing all that he could to protect the world and its people in a period of extreme environmental peril. He quickly began to enlarge an initiative taken in 1989 by his predecessor, Patriarch Dimitrios, who had invited all Orthodox churches to begin the church year, the first of September, with prayer for all creation and for its preservation. In the years since, Bartholomew has repeatedly declared that “crimes against the natural world are sins….

Denis Bradley: Thoughts on "A Preliminary Response"

In his "Preliminary Response" (The Wheel, Blog, 28 February 2018) to Professor David Ford's "Open Letter on Homosexuality" (Orthodoxy in Dialogue, 8 November 2017) Mr. Gregory Tucker raises (without using the term) the issue of the "development of doctrine." That, to be sure, is a neuralgic term for the Orthodox theologians who regard it as instantiating a fundamental error, even perhaps the seminal heresy, sustaining the other deviations from "The Tradition" which they perceive in Western Christian belief, praxis, and theology. Professor Ford might well concur with the Reverend Professor Andrew Louth who contends that the idea of doctrinal development is not "a valid category for Orthodox theology," an astonishingly ironic assertion given the honoree of the Festschrift wherein Louth's remark is published [1].

Gregory Tucker: A Preliminary Response to Dr Ford's Open Letter on Homosexuality

This short essay will, with one hand, attempt to point out some of the foundational ideas that support the views expressed by Dr Ford in his open letter, and, with the other, gesture towards an understanding of how these differ from the fundamental presuppositions of those who have diverged in their conclusions on matters of sex, gender, and sexuality.

Cyril Hovorun: Ethnophyletism, Phyletism, and the Pan-orthodox Council

The Pan-orthodox Council held on the island of Crete in June 2016 established its succession to the Council held in Constantinople in 1872. Both Councils dealt with the topic of nationalism, which the majority of scholars agree is a modern phenomenon: nationalism, and even national identity, constitute an intrinsic feature of modernity. The two Councils, however, addressed this phenomenon each in their own way.

Carrie Frederick Frost: “Women Willing to Offer Themselves”: The Historic Consecration of Deaconesses in Africa

Several Orthodox women were made deaconesses in Democratic Republic of Congo on February 17, 2017. Though this is a remarkable and historical event not just in African Orthodoxy, but in Orthodoxy the world over, it took about five days for this news to travel into English-speaking quarters of the Church. This time lag is indicative of both the lack of communication channels among international theologians and hierarchs and the independent character of each of the autocephalous Orthodox Churches. The Synod of Alexandria, which had moved in November of 2016 to pursue the revival of the female diaconate, needed neither permission from, nor consultation with any other part of the Church to grant these women diaconal ministry earlier this month.

Sergei Chapnin: The Demolition of the Church Legacy of Russian Emigration: How It Is Done.

What image expresses most fully the content and character of Patriarch Kirill's visit to London? My answer may seem paradoxical or even frivolous. Yet I think it would seem so only at first glance. The image, which is a fairly accurate reflection of the inner meaning of the visit of Patriarch Kirill, and moreover, of all his multifaceted activities, is a photograph that the Patriarch had brought with him and presented to the Royal Geographical Society.

Sergei Chapnin: What are the consequences of the refusal of the Russian Orthodox Church to take part in the Pan-Orthodox Council?

The Pan-Orthodox Council, which is officially called “Great and Holy,” will not take place. It has disintegrated before our eyes just two weeks before it opens. Of the 14 local Orthodox Churches, four have refused to attend. And even those which have not refused to attend are fiercely critical of the prepared documents. What has happened? Can it be that the problems and internal conflicts in the Orthodox world are so serious that it is no longer possible to hold a Council? Theological and historical problems are here closely intertwined with church politics.