Month: October 2008

Orthodox bishops have announced their support for Proposition 8, known as the “California Marriage Protection Act.” The measure would amend the state constitution by adding this line: Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

More on this proposal on the Protect Marriage Web site.

Here is the message from Orthodox bishops:

A Statement of the Orthodox Christian Bishops of California in Support of Proposition 8: A Constitutional Amendment to Restore the Definition of Marriage

The decision of the California Supreme Court on May 15, 2008, unilaterally redefines the sacred institution of marriage in a manner unprecedented in human history — and alien to our Christian tradition. We, the Orthodox Christian bishops of California, were saddened by this decision which constitutes a direct attack upon the longstanding role and freedom of religion in American life. A majority of the justices declared not only that same-sex couplings must be allowed to exist at those couples’ discretion as “marriages,” but that the state of California is forbidden to refer to these couplings as anything but “marriages.”

Orthodox Christianity holds in high regard the God-ordained institution of marriage and the family. The Orthodox Church must and shall remain true to its faith and tradition, and affirm that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, given by God to one another for mutual support, encouragement, love and the ability to bear children.
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Leaders of the world’s Orthodox churches released a joint statement that touched on far ranging issues of interest to the Church, including the global economic crisis, the environment and the prospects for further pan-Orthodox consultations and a Holy and Great Council.

The primates were gathered for the Oct. 10-12 Synaxis of the Heads of the Orthodox Churches and Pauline Symposium at the Patriarchal Cathedral of Saint George in Istanbul, Turkey. His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I addressed the gathering on Oct. 10, saying that “such a Synaxis is deemed necessary and beneficial, especially in times like ours, when the personal encounter and conversation among responsible leaders in all public domains of human life is rendered increasingly accessible and essential.”

The Message from the Primates, posted on the Europaica site, also pointedly affirmed the Church’s role in the social sphere.

“Efforts to distance religion from societal life constitute the common tendency of many modern states,” the primates said. “The principle of a secular state can be preserved; however, it is unacceptable to interpret this principle as a radical marginalization of religion from all spheres of public life.”

The complete Message of the Primates follows:
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George C. Michalopulos has submitted the following in response to Harry Katopodis’ article on Orthodox Dominionists. Michalopulos is co-author, with Herb Ham, of “The American Orthodox Church — A History of its Beginnings” (Regina Orthodox Press).

Michalopulos:

It never ceases to amaze me how certain benighted and theologically inept individuals take upon themselves the task of speaking for Christ’s Church as it traverses on its voyage through history. One such individual fears that the so-called religious right has made inroads into the Orthodox Church in North America, and that it is only because of noble souls such as himself that tolerance can only be found in one remaining bastion, i.e. the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

And of what is Katapodis afraid? In no particular order: converts, “theocons,” non-GOAA bishops, and the rising tide of pro-lifers within American Orthodoxy.

The ridiculousness does not end there. In order to buttress this foolish argument, Katapodis creates a straw man –the dreaded “Dominionist theologian.” This phantom has under guise of conversion to Orthodoxy taken over the Antiochian Archdiocese and the Orthodox Church in America. Instead of what actually happened –sincere converts of all political ideologies embracing the Ark of Salvation—he sees instead a nefarious descent along a rightward political path.
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Update (10/13/08): The complete, unedited column is now available on Terry Mattingly’s site under the title, “Beyond Orthodox folk dancing.”

(10/11/08): Religion writer Terry Mattingly has a column in today’s Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera newspaper that is a must read. He looks at the controversy surrounding the publication of Fr. John Peck’s “The Orthodox Church of Tomorrow” here on the Web site of the American Orthodox Institute. Mattingly is a blogger at the GetReligion site, a syndicated columnist, and directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He recently joined AOI as an adviser.

About Fr. Peck, Mattingly said that “the 46-year-old priest wrote an article about the positive Orthodox trends in America, as well as offering candid talk about the problems faced by some of his friends. He finished ‘The Orthodox Church of Tomorrow’ soon after arriving at the Greek Orthodox mission in Prescott, Ariz., and sent it to the American Orthodox Institute — which published the article in late September on its Web site.

Bishops, priests and laypeople — some pleased, some furious — immediately began forwarding Peck’s article from one end of Orthodox cyberspace to the other. I received some of these urgent e-mails, since I am an Orthodox convert whose name is on several public Web sites.

After a few days, Peck asked that his article be pulled offline. Now the question is whether, after a scheduled Oct. 16 conference with his bishop, he will still have a job.”

Read the entire column here. Sign up for Mattingly’s weekly column here.

Mr. Harry Katopodis has sent AOI an article to further elaborate on the thinking behind his article in the Hellenic Voice, “Religious Right Must Not Set Agenda for Orthodox Church.” Which led to my post, “Where are the Orthodox Dominionists?”

The Katopodis response is published here unedited:

Dominionists or Pro-Life?

By Harry Katopodis

Several bloggers have criticized my article because I called called pro-life Orthodox dominionists, however the difference in reality is very small. The point is that whether I call them dominionists or religious right their stands are very similar, put Christian values and doctrine in the government of the United States. I was raised in the Orthodox Church, and I left the Greek Church and went to the OCA so I could hear English services. A few years later I returned home to the Greek Church when I felt I wasn’t welcome in the OCA because I am a Democrat and a proud union member that votes for Democrats because it is in my economic interest to do so. Right to Life Sunday was founded by a man I consider one of the worst presidents we ever had (anti-poor and anti-worker), Ronald Reagan, was offensive. Also having memorial services in OCA churches when Reagan died was unorthodox (will Bill Clinton be given a memorial service when he dies?-of course not he is pro-choice). When I saw all the pro-life (ie. pro-Republican) and anti-public school/pro-home schooling in OCA sources I could no longer stay there. OCA priest Very Rev. John Breck reflected an anti-public school view when he wrote “Moral discourse, like today’s public education, will be shaped by a vision of reality that is totally foreign to the Gospel.” (OCA Web site) Not only the pro-life aspect of the OCA and Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, but also the language used by many converts to talk about their “walk with the Lord” is essentially protestant reminding me of born-again meetings and Charismatic Renewal meetings I had visited. The OCA and Antiochian Churches are essentially turning into Byzantine-rite Protestant-like Churches. The difference between so-called liberal churches that support social justice is that one is not told they are sinners for voting a certain way, in the pro-life movement it is implied that voting pro-choice is a sin and that somehow pro-choice voters are not true Christians.

I don’t want to keep the Greek church for Greeks only (85% of all weddings are mixed), I want to keep the faith once delivered to the saints intact, not turn the church into an arm of the Republican Party. Orthodox right to lifers will not see this and repeat their claim that abortions must be stopped. Unless the hearts of the majority of Americans are changed, abortion will remain legal.
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