June 19, 2013

You are here: Home / Archives for Observer

A Priest Needs Our Help

October 19, 2012 5:31 PM
Fr. John Peck

Fr. John Peck was unceremoniously thrown out of his parish some months back for no justifiable reason. This is a blight in our Orthodox Church and happens more often than many people realize. Sooner or later this problem must be addressed. Priests with families should not have to suffer this kind of arbitrary abuse. It causes considerable hardship on the priest and his family especially if no severance or other help is offered (Fr. John received no severance). Keep in mind that a priest not only loses his income, but also insurance and any other benefit that goes along with the salary. In order to make ends meet, Fr. John designs websites for Logos Web Services (we are partners), writes books and articles, serves as a substitute when openings are available, and other jobs. Presently he is between assignments and has no reliable income. Most people don't realize that the Church does not offer any help to priests in this predicament. Currently business is slow. Also, his truck … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer Tagged With:

Pulpit Freedom Sunday is a Gimmick says Fr. Preble

October 11, 2012 6:16 PM
peter-preble new-thumb

Fr. Peter-Michael Preble posted the following essay on his blog a few days ago about preachers and politics. He lays out some important points. I've got my own ideas, but what do you think? Sunday, October 7th, was a time when preachers from coast to coast took to their pulpits to try and pull the IRS into a court battle. In 1954, then Senator Lyndon Johnson pushed a bill through the United States Senate forbidding churches to endorse candidates for public office.  On this Pulpit Freedom Sunday, some 1,586 pastors defied this law by endorsing candidates for office in this political cycle.  I would be interested to see how many of those who participated endorsed President Obama and how many endorsed Governor Romney. I am not one for faulting anyone who preaches but to use the pulpit for political reasons is irresponsible.  Those of us who have been called, by God, to preach his word are called to rise above these worldly pursuits.  We are called to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer Tagged With:

European Civilization – From the Edict of Milan to Christianophobia

October 8, 2012 10:04 AM
met-hilarion

On October 2, 2012, the DECR chairman spoke at the opening of an international reflection-action conference on ‘Spiritual Feat of Sts Constantine and Helen Equal-to-the-Apostles – the Beginning and Triumph of Christendom in Human History’, which took place at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dear Participants and Guests of the Conference, Allow me to greet you on behalf of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. In his statements, His Holiness has often addressed the theme of Christian values which have formed the European civilization and become the spiritual foundation of our people. It is an important theme to be constantly revisited. The Christian world is approaching a remarkable date, the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, which entered the world history as a most important legal document dividing the two eras – those of heathen Roma and Christian Europe. As far back as 1675 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer Tagged With:

Dn Brian Patrick Mitchell — Thomas Hopko on Same-Sex Attraction: Speaking the Truth with Love?

October 4, 2012 4:35 PM
Fr. Thomas Hopko -- Christian Faith and Same-Sex Attraction

Fr. Thomas Hopko has done the Church a great service with his book "Christianity and Same-Sex Attraction argues Dn. Brian Patrick Mitchell, a Deacon in the Orthodox Church of America. He is faithful to the moral tradition, approaches the topic with compassion towards the person struggling with same-sex attraction, and teaches how struggling with the passion can become a means of sanctification and movement towards greater communion with Christ, and affirming the possibility that healing exists for the same-sex attracted person. Alongside these strengths however, also lies weakness. Dn. Mitchell argues that Fr. Hopko has also inadvertently opened the door to activists within the Church who want to soften the prohibitions against homosexual behavior by positioning themselves "slightly left of Hopko." The weaknesses in Fr. Hopko's approach include 1) narrowing the categories of unacceptable homosexual behavior; 2) discouraging preaching and teaching that is offensive to homosexuals; … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer Tagged With: , ,

Get Religion: Failing to Cover the Christ Our Savior Video Riot

September 29, 2012 5:07 PM
christ-the-savior-cathedral

Source: Get Religion As you would imagine, I have received a few notes seeking my take, as a journalist and as an Orthodox Christian, on the events involving that crudely named feminist band in Russia. You know, the one that drew this headline the other day in The New York Times: “Anti-Putin Stunt Earns Punk Band Two Years in Jail.”What? The band’s actual name didn’t rate large type?Before I address the journalism issues related to this, I would like to note that, from my point of view, this matter has at least three layers and it has been easy for folks to go rather bonkers (Hello, Madonna, and you too, Sir Paul) without really separating out the layers. So, before people get confused about where my loyalties are in all of this, let’s walk through a few specifics.So, raise your hand if:* You think Vladimir V. Putin is a corrupt political thug who continues to feed on Russian nationalism.Mine is up.* You think that, in the complex post-Soviet Russian Orthodox … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer

Is Islam a Religion, a Political Ideology, or Both?

September 26, 2012 7:42 AM
muslim-day-parade

The video below records Islamic speakers during the Muslim Day Parade held recently in New York City. They argue that the United Nations should pass blasphemy laws protecting Islam. It also shows a New York state senator who could not take the assault against free speech and religion and walked out. Democratic values grew in the soil of Christendom, especially religious tolerance. That's because the knowledge that man was born to be free is inherently a Christian insight. Secularists have appropriated the insight as their own and turn it against religious faith, but their notions of freedom are skewed and thus they are powerless to answer the challenges posed by the Islamic speakers with any coherence. Islam can't harbor the insight because they cannot perceive of a God who allows man the freedom to reject his own Creator. This rejection is not without consequences of course, but that is the risk inherent in love. If God truly loves man and desires that the love be returned, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer

Church Relieved as MPs Vote No to Gay Marriage

September 24, 2012 9:57 AM
neoskosmos.com

The Orthodox seem to understand the ramifications of the marriage issue more clearly in Australia. Source: neokosmos.com The (Australian) Greek Orthodox Archdiocese were delighted to hear the decision by Australian MPs. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese were delighted to hear the decision by Australian MPs to vote no to a bill in the Senate for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia. The church - who are opposed to same-sex marriage as they say it "will erode the sacredness of marriage and the family" - went as far as setting up a website to allow the community to lobby their local parliamentarian. The church, under the name Speak up for Marriage Group, created a website (http://marriage.greekorthodox.org.au/get-involved/) that gave members of the Greek Orthodox community an online letter that would be automatically sent to their local MP or Senator opposing same-sex marriage and imploring they do the same. On the website the church stated: "As you would … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer

Minnesota Orthodox Clergy Stand for Traditional Marriage

September 20, 2012 5:18 PM
minnesota

I can see the Minneapolis Star Tribune has not changed much and manages, as always, to couch their bias in the basest sentimentality. One day there might be a class in Journalism School called "The Oprahization of Print Media" and the Star Tribune would be Exhibit A. I grew up in Minneapolis so I learned how to sift the wheat from the chaff, a skill many conservative Minnesotans acquire in a one newspaper town. I notice that the paper tries to strike a balance between 'yes' and 'no' forces. That means the 'yes' side is stronger and has a much broader reach than the Star Tribune lets on. Orthodox clergy joined the Catholics and others to secure that legal definition. Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | Baird Helgeson | September 19, 2012 Both sides in marriage fight appeal to faithful The two sides slugging it out over the marriage amendment took their battle to the pews Tuesday, with both sides making bold, public pleas to people of faith. Minnesotans United for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer Tagged With: ,

Islam and the Closing of the Secular Mind

September 20, 2012 4:42 PM
american-spectator-logo-150x150

Source: The American Spectator By Samuel Gregg The "enlightened" Western mind can no longer think seriously or coherently about religion. Given the decidedly strange response of the Obama Administration and much of the Western commentariat to the violence sweeping the Islamic world, one temptation is to view their reaction as simple incomprehension in the face of the severe unreason that leads some people to riot and kill in a religion's name. But while the Administration's response has plenty to do with trying to defend a foreign policy that has plainly gone south, it also reflects something far more problematic: the Western secular mind's increasing inability to think seriously and coherently about religion at all. This problem manifests itself in several ways. The first is the manner in which many secular thinkers seem to regard all religions as "basically the same." By this, they often mean either equally irrational or as promoting essentially similar values. A … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer Tagged With: ,

AXIOS! Seminary Pro Life Group Gears Up for Busy Year

September 19, 2012 8:35 PM
Orthodox Seminarians at the March for Life

AXIOS! AXIOS! AXIOS! The story about the St. Vladimir's Seminary Pro Life Group (below) gives me hope. The OCA has always been clear about the intrinsic, God-given, value of unborn life much to their credit. So have the Antiochians, ROCOR and every other jurisdiction. The moral tradition is quite clear: all human life holds inestimable value and when we devalue the life of one, then we devalue the life of all. Yes, Christendom has not always be faithful to the precept, but there is a world of difference between hypocrisy and retooling the tradtion. Hypocrisy still tips the hat to virtue. Moral relativism however, erodes the authority of the tradition and blinds the mind to the sufferings that inevitably result when the tradition is weakened, or worse, abandoned. This, perhaps, is why the Fathers were so strong (some would say strident) in the condemnation of abortion (see: The Fathers of the Orthodox Church on Abortion). Were they as condemnatory in their face to face dealings … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer Tagged With:

Bishop to Critics: Shut Up!

September 19, 2012 4:44 PM
Bp. Demetrios of Mokissos

By John Couretas I listened to "Interview with Bishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America" posted on AFR on Sept. 10, in which he talks about the Assembly of Bishops. If I had been assigned to write the headline for this podcast, it would have gone something like this: Bishop to Critics: Shut Up! The Chicago bishop says that the chief obstacle to the work of the Assembly is the cynicism and negativity of critics here in the "diaspora." Critics have not been privy to all of the great work already accomplished in committees, he says. How can folks be more helpful? Listen here: "The obstacle of cynicism needs to be removed," he says. "And ... if they're not going to be part of the process and part of the solution I would ask them to please remain silent and prayerful and that would probably be the best thing that could happen for us so that we can remove that obstacle. Maybe we can enlighten them too." He later recommends that the faithful offer … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer

A Movement to Restore Met. Jonah [VIDEO]

September 16, 2012 8:31 PM
met-jonah-3-thumb

Apparently, a movement is gaining steam in the OCA to restore Metropolitan Jonah as evidenced by this video recently released on Youtube. To what position he should be restored isn't made clear but presumably it is Metropolitan of the OCA. This is an internal matter to the OCA of course and you can read more details on the Monomakhos blog. As before, I will not discuss the details about the OCA imbroglio here apart from those that impact the larger American Orthodox Church. My immediate concern is the public slander Met. Jonah has had to endure, as well the shortsightedness towards his many gifts, particularly his ability to present the Orthodox faith to a larger American audience. I outlined these points in an essay I wrote a few weeks back. Unfortunately, I have seen good men slandered before as a way to justify bad administrative decisions from higher-ups. I will not sit silent when that happens. What I find encouraging about the video is that the laity is finding its voice. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Observer Tagged With: