Month: December 2008

From the Toronto Star:

“The central core of Athens has been in chaos,” says Andre Gerolymatos, a professor of Hellenic studies at Simon Fraser University, who was caught in the rioting when he arrived at his hotel. “There are anarchists, students, hoodlums and thieves breaking windows of stores and looting.”

From Alexis Papachelas, writing in today’s Kathimerini:

I feel a deep sense of despair as I watch my country roll down an endless hill. A good friend put into context well: “You remember the euphoria we felt when we won the European soccer championship or in the summer of the Olympic Games? Well, today I feel the absolute opposite.”

The fatal shooting of the teenager in Exarchia and the destruction that followed struck a vein of rage and has created a wave of senselessness that has choked all reason. Teenagers are taking to the streets because they are disillusioned with the legacy they have inherited and know how hard it will be to maintain their standard of living in the future. They are also getting the message that right now, anything goes. Continue reading →

The death of Russian Patriarch Aleksy II, the man who guided the world’s largest Orthodox Church during Soviet repression and then into a period of recovery and growth, will occasion a time of deep reflection and prayer for Orthodox Christians the world over.

The Zenit News Service has published this touching account of the Patriarch’s passing by Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Vienna and Austria, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to European Organizations:

In my memory Patriarch Alexy will remain first of all as a loving father, who was always ready to listen, who was supportive and gentle.

Almost half of the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, including myself, were ordained into episcopate by Patriarch Alexy. We are all deeply indebted to him.

The years of his patriarchate constituted an entire epoch in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church. It was precisely in this time that the resurrection of the Russian Church took place, which continues to this day.

May his memory be eternal.

The OCA communications office has released the following message:

The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Church of Russia announced today that funeral services for His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy of Moscow and All Russia, who fell asleep in the Lord on Friday, December 5, 2008, at 79 years of age, will take place on Tuesday, December 9, 2008, at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Moscow.

The Holy Synod also announced that His Eminence, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, has been elected Patriarchal Locum tenens.

May the memory of His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia be eternal!

The OCA also has a detailed biography of the late Patriarch: Continue reading →

For some reason, the blog was automatically turning off the comment function when we added new posts. Not intentional. Apologies.

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit discusses Michigan’s severe economic decline — caused by the state’s close ties to the auto industry — and its effect on the state’s parishes in an interview with the Greek-American newspaper National Herald (available on the Orthodox Christian News site with free registration).

To tell you the truth, our people have been affected in some ways, but not as strongly as some other communities because the majority of our people our educated people. There are scientists working for the auto companies and also people working in the lines, but many of those people have retired so either they received a buyout or pension. Most of the young people are working as doctors, lawyers, pharmacists.

Interviewer Theodore Kalmoukos also asked Metropolitan Nicholas about the direction of the Church in America. The Metropolitan answered:

I hope we are going to God’s kingdom, but in order to get there, we have to strongly proclaim the gospel message. There was a proposition in our ballot here to increase embryonic stem cell research and I, along with Roman Catholic leadership of this area and some other Churches took a stand. We did not think it was appropriate. It was interesting because it was one of the first times where we made a short statement for the clergy to read in the parishes of Michigan and we had a number of people that came and said thank you. We wanted a statement from our Church and we had a few people asking why the Church was talking about moral issues. If we are going to be effective in this community, then we have to engage the community more strongly. I think we have to be able to witness who we are and what we are and why we have something to offer, by offering the people the words come and see.

Michigan’s Proposal 2, which voters passed 53 percent to 47 percent in November, allows the use of human embryos for research permitted under federal law.

As for the parishioners who questioned Metropolitan Nicholas about the church “talking about moral issues,” a simple reply would be — Isn’t that what churches do?

The Washington Times’ Julia Duin interviews Metropolitan Jonah who, she says, is enjoying an “Obama moment” because of his relative youth and sudden rise to prominence.

In Duin’s interview, the Metropolitan said he wants to expand outreach to youth and on college campuses.

“The thing I am most concerned about is the despair that grips so many of the young people in our culture,” he said.

“There is so much nihilism and atheism, all a result of the broken families, drugs, social and economic ills that grip our culture. So many of the young are in a state of existential despair.”

Why Orthodoxy?

“It is a very integrated way of life,” he said. “It’s a lifestyle, a way of self-denial as a way to greater fulfillment. It is a way of spiritual discipline to help people to bring themselves under control so they are not possessed by anger, lust and the seven deadly sins.”

He was persuaded to join Orthodoxy through the reading of one book: “The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church” by Vladimir Lossky.

Read the entire article here. Free registration may be required.