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Met. Jonah Leads Prayer at March for Life

January 26, 2012 1:18 PM
march-for-life-jonah-2012-thumb

Source: Koinonia As reported earlier on oca.org, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah offered the opening prayer during the program that preceded the March for Life here on Monday, January 23, 2012. “Roman Catholic Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, who is in charge of pro-life activities, invited the Orthodox bishops to stand together with the Roman Bishops, as we are of one mind in regards to Life, and for us to begin to alternate giving the opening prayer for the March,” Metropolitan Jonah said, reflecting on the March. “This year, they gave the honor to me to bless the opening of the March for Life on their behalf, as well as on behalf of the Orthodox. With me at that podium, at my request, was Cardinal-elect Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York. “This is a significant ecumenical event, a strong gesture of unity, and a great symbol of the respect of the Roman Catholic Church for the Orthodox Church in America,” Metropolitan Jonah continued. “We are of one mind in opposition … [Read more...]

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WAPO: Eastern Orthodox believers hit the streets

January 25, 2011 6:08 PM
March for Life 2011

Source: Washington Post | Julia Duin | HT: Byzantine, TX To be on the Mall around noon Monday was to be confronted with a vast crowd of what appeared to be mostly Catholics assembled for the annual Right to Life March. There were students wearing hats and scarves bearing the name of seemingly every Catholic academy on the Eastern seaboard; crowds of nuns clad in all manner of habits and scores of dark-suited priests and seminarians waving banners and signs. Closer to the stage one could spot several Orthodox Jews and several who appeared to be evangelical Protestants. Then the crowd parted and up on the stage marched a phalanx of black-cassocked Eastern Orthodox clergy led by Metropolitan Jonah, leader of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Carrying a bejeweled walking stick and wearing a white crown-shaped miter, the metropolitan and the five bishops lined up beside him provided quite a contrast to the informally dressed crowd. Talking with these Orthodox afterward, I … [Read more...]

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Orthodox Priest to Conduct March for Life Benediction

January 24, 2011 11:23 PM
Fr. John Kowalczyk

Source: The Times-Tribune An Orthodox priest from Jermyn will have a key role at Monday's annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. The Very Rev. Archpriest John Kowalczyk, pastor of St. Michael's Orthodox Church in Jermyn and chancellor of the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania, will conduct the benediction preceding the anti-abortion march. The Rev. Kowalczyk said Thursday he was humbled that organizer Nellie Gray asked him to participate and called it the "surprise of my life." He will give the benediction - the final message before the march starts - on stage at the Ellipse facing the Washington Monument. "I pray that whatever message is sent out there, that it will resonate into the hearts of people," he said. The annual March for Life marks the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion. About 300,000 to 400,000 people are expected this year because the political climate has shifted to the conservative side, the Rev. … [Read more...]

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Met. Jonah: Message for Sanctity of Life Sunday

January 17, 2011 9:27 AM
Metropolitan Jonah

January 23, 2011, Sanctity of Life Sunday The Orthodox Church is like St John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness, or Jesus baptizing by the Jordan. We, like them, preach a message of repentance and the remission of sins in the new desert, the decadent culture of the modern West, mired in the chaos of moral collapse. The Orthodox Church’s message is a message of hope, of healing, of the transformation of one’s life, of attaining to the fullness of personhood, of the realization of the divine potential in each human being. Yet, this message requires not only acceptance, but a voluntary cooperation by those who accept this message. The Church demands a serious discipline of all who would be members, all who would follow this straight and narrow difficult path that leads to salvation. It is a way that demands that we be crucified to the world and its desires, dead to the flesh and its demands, so that we can be focused solely on God. The culture of this world … [Read more...]

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If you are going to the March for Life this week…

January 18, 2010 6:47 PM
St. Nicholas Cathedral (OCA)

...consider attending the "Pilgrimage to Prayer" at St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, DC (get map). Peter and Helen Evans, members of St. Nicholas have organized a prayer vigil on January 21, 2010 that starts after Vespers and continues until midnight. Come by yourself or with a group and read some Psalms aloud or just offer some silent prayer. Some people will be preparing for the March for Life, others will be giving thanks and offering gratitude to God, and some will be asking for a relief of troubles for themselves or their loved ones (See: All I Can Do Is Pray). Orthodox or non-Orthodox, members of St. Nicholas or not -- all are welcome. As the church is softly lit with candles only, the proper atmosphere is fostered to "lay aside all earthly cares" and to pray, to walk around and make a prayerful connection with the Saints in the icons, or to make prostrations before the relics and experience their power. If you would like to read the Psalms, email Peter … [Read more...]

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Metropolitan Jonah urges faithful to join DC March for Life

January 1, 2010 12:26 PM
Met. Jonah at the March for Life in 2009

WASHINGTON, DC [OCA] -- Orthodox Christians everywhere -- especially those within driving distance of the US capital -- are being encouraged to bear witness to their faith at the annual March for Life on Friday, January 22, 2010. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah has issued a special invitation encouraging youth and young adults to join him in proclaiming that all life is indeed a gift from God. The faithful are asked to gather by noon under the "Orthodox Christians for Life" banner to the left of the stage at the Ellipse, between the Washington Monument and the national Mall. Metropolitan Jonah will be the first of several speakers to address the public at the pre-March program. At the conclusion of the March, Metropolitan Jonah will offer prayers for the victims of abortion. On Thursday, January 21, the eve of the March, the faithful are encouraged to join Metropolitan Jonah for Vespers at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, 3500 Massachusetts Ave. NW, at 7:00 p.m. A reception will … [Read more...]

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Bishop Savas to head GOA Office of Church and Society

February 28, 2009 9:02 AM

Greek Orthodox Archbishop Demetrios announced yesterday that Bishop Savas of Troas, most recently the chancellor of the archdiocese, has been named director of the Office of Church and Society. The bishop will be charged with developing "programs and ministries that promote a creative Orthodox Christian engagement with contemporary societal and cultural realities." Readers of this blog will recall the effusive praise with which Bishop Savas greeted the election of Barack Obama, rejoicing that "this is the day that the Lord has made!" Yesterday, the Obama administration moved to rescind a Bush administration regulation, put in place in December, that cuts off federal funding for medical facilities that would force doctors, nurses and other health care workers to participate in practices, such as abortion, that "they feel violates their personal, moral or religious beliefs." The move to lift the so-called "conscience rule," which is subject to a 30 day public comment period, was … [Read more...]

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Orthodox Church of America at March for Life

January 9, 2009 12:38 PM
March for Life, 2008

SYOSSET, NY (OCA Communications) - On Thursday, January 22, 2009, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah will join Orthodox Christian clergy and faithful from across America for the 36th annual March for Life in Washington, DC. On the evening of Wednesday, January 21, 2008, Metropolitan Jonah will celebrate Vespers at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Washington, DC, at 7:00 PM. The following day, he will take part in the March and will be one of the first religious leaders to give a message at the rally on Capitol Hill. That evening, Metropolitan Jonah will give the invocation at the March for Life's annual Rose Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Washington. … [Read more...]

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