Author: Fr. Johannes Jacobse

In an interview posted on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarchia.ru) Metropolitan Jonah discussed the status of the autocephaly of the OCA and Constantinople’s denial of it, as well as offering some new ideas on the future of the OCA. The interview was conducted by journalist Yuri Pushcha.

Highlight:

Puscha: What outcomes do you expect from the forthcoming conference in Cyprus, during which, among other things, the unity of the American Church is to be discussed? Are you counting on the Orthodox Church in America getting a greater measure of understanding of her position by other Local Orthodox Churches?

+Jonah: The Patriarchate of Constantinople, as well as some other Local Orthodox Churches do not recognize our autocephaly. And if they want to make any decisions affecting our life, this is only possible with our consent. Otherwise, it will be a great sin against us.

HT: Orthodox Christians for Accountability

The visit to the Russian Orthodox Church of His Beatitude, Jonah, Archbishop of Washington and New York ended on May 4th.  The Leader of the Orthodox Church in America gave an interview on the outcome of the visit to Patriarchia.ru

Metropolitan Jonah

Puscha: Your Beatitude, your visit to the Russian Orthodox Church is coming to an end. How would you begin summing up the visit,  its essential outcome?

+Jonah: Most important, of course, is a personal contact with Patriarch Kyril and other representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. In addition, this visit fortified me with grace. I prayed before many sacred sites, visited many monasteries, venerated the relics of many saints.

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George Michalopulos, frequent contributor to the AOI blog and author of several articles on the AOI website, is this week’s guest on The Illumined Heart, a program on Ancient Faith Radio.

In June 2009 leaders of all autocephalous Orthodox Churches – excluding the OCA or any representatives from North America – meet in Cyprus or Geneva (undetermined at the date of this posting), at a meeting convened by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholemew I. This meeting is being called to discuss “the so-called Orthodox Diaspora, with a view to overcoming every possible influence that is foreign to Orthodox ecclesiology.” The American Orthodox situation and its disunity is at the top of the agenda. In this edition of The Illumined Heart, host Kevin Allen and author George C. Michalopulos discuss this meeting, the history and state of Orthodoxy in North America and possible outcomes of this potentially pivotal convocation.

Listen to Part 1

Listen to Part 2

An interview published in the Russian language Blagovest-Info on April 28, 2009.

Highlight:

Blagovest-Info: During the six months you have occupied the chair of the Archbishop of Washington, you had to prove yourself a leader unafraid of expressing your stance, even if, to some, it may seem not to be politically correct. Suffice it to recall your recent speech in Dallas. To what extent, in your opinion, should directness and diplomacy be combined among hierarchs?

+Jonah: I think it is time to be direct. We can be politically correct, but we will be buried. Can we afford to play Byzantine political games, in which they simply do not take us into account? And I want my voice to be heard in the upcoming discussions concerning the problem of the Orthodox Diaspora. I do not want to offend anyone – especially the Ecumenical Patriarch, – but I want my Church’s position to be heard and acknowledged. It is essential that we participate in decisions regarding our fate.”

HT: Orthodox Christians for Accountability.

Metropolitan Jonah

His Beatitude, the Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada – this is his complete title. But in person, the 49-year-old Bishop Jonah is surprisingly free of ostentation – there are no shadows nor any outward grandeur; he responds to questions – including sharp ones – directly, concretely and honestly. During his first foreign visit as Primate of the OCA Metropolitan Jonah, who was elected to the American cathedra less than six months ago, met in the OCA’s Moscow representation with a correspondent of “Blagovest Info”.

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Roman Catholic priest Fr. Robert Barron offers a sociological analysis on the emergence of the “Nones” — the people who eschew atheism but avoid churches.

HT: Frank Johnson

A well-written, thoughtful, and thoroughly engaging article on what American Orthodoxy increasingly looks like.

He looks like a regular young guy — maybe late 20s or early 30s. Head shaved to mask a receding hairline, a black goatee to offset the baldness, the gold rim of his glasses glinting beneath his dark brows. A regular guy, except maybe for his robe. Though it has the sheen of satin, it does not drape or hang; it holds its shape, stiffly framing the man beneath. Though mostly creamy white, the robe beams with patterns of yellow gold. (If we were not in church, the fabric would seem ostentatious, guilty of Louis XVI excess.) And over the robe, a stole, equally stiff and resplendent, making an X across his belly. The resulting look is old-fashioned in the extreme, reminding me of nothing so much as the priestly robes worn by long-ago Jewish characters in the Jesus movies. Yet here it is on a Sunday in 2009, on a young guy, in a brick chapel set amid the more ordinary opulence of La Jolla Scenic Drive North.

Read the entire article on the San Diego Reader website.