| Thomas E. FitzGerald 10. HERITAGE AND VISION The visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios of Constantinople to the United States in 1990 served as an important affirmation of the significance of Orthodox Christianity in this country. While the Orthodox jurisdictions continued to look toward greater administrative unity, many signs of a mature presence and a fruitful mission were clearly visible. The Orthodox in America numbered over 3 million, gathered into over 1,500 parishes. Through their concern for liturgical and spiritual renewal, theological studies, ecumenical dialogue, and evangelization, the American Orthodox in recent decades had strengthened their own mission and witness in this country. They had also become a major influence upon Christianity throughout the world. 319 THE VISIT OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I of Constantinople, together with a delegation that included five Metropolitans made an unprecedented visit to the United States 2–29 July 1990. Among the delegation was the present patriarch, Patriarch Bartholomew, who succeeded Patriarch Dimitrios in 1991. Although other Orthodox Patriarchs had visited this country in the past, this was the first visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch. His visit had a special significance because he is viewed as the first bishop of the Orthodox Church. As such, the Ecumenical Patriarch is frequently looked upon as the spiritual leader of the 300 million Orthodox Christians throughout the world. Moreover, according to Orthodox canon law and ecclesiastical practice dating from at least the fourth century, the Patriarch of Constantinople has special responsibility for overseeing the development of the Orthodox Church in lands beyond the boundaries of other autocephalous churches. 320 When he arrived in Washington, Patriarch Dimitrios spoke of his mission: In particular as Ecumenical Patriarch entering this land, I reflect upon the fact that our Church took root here and flourished for whole generations, thus contributing also to the great and historic advance of the American people, to its attainments, in sharing its problems, its progress and its dreams for a better mankind. Today, Orthodoxy is not a strange and alien factor in America. It is flesh of its flesh and bone of its bones.... I greet warmly and without exception all the faithful children of the Orthodox in this country.... As the Ecumenical Patriarch, I convey to all the Orthodox of this country my love and blessing, and assure them that the full unity of the Church, by canonical order, has never ceased and will never cease to be my principal concern. 321 |
| Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: Our faith should not be regarded as stagnant or even obsolete Source: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Address by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew To the Scholars’ Meeting at the Phanar (January 5, 2016) AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov Beloved and distinguished scholars, We warmly welcome you all to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, to the Church of Constantinople, the Church of St. Andrew “the first-called of the Apostles” and his disciple, St. Stachys of “the Seventy Apostles,” an institution with a history spanning seventeen centuries, during which it has retained its administrative offices in this very city through times of majesty and times of martyrdom. As you all know very well and appreciate through your studies, this extraordinary region is filled with significance for our Church. It is here that St. John (the Apostle of love) wrote his Gospel; it is here that St. Paul (the Apostle to the nations) addressed the earliest Apostolic communities; it is here – in Asia Minor, not in Greece or Italy – that all of the earliest councils of the Church that defined and shaped the Christian doctrine were convened; and it is here that the spiritual treasures of Byzantium – its profound theological, spiritual and cultural legacy – have been faithfully maintained to this day. Nevertheless, as you are also aware and as you surely understand, Orthodoxy is a faith at once rooted in the past, yet at the same time a Church looking toward the future. It is characterized by a profound sense of continuity with the times and teachings of the Apostolic Church and the Church of the Fathers; but it is also a Church that draws from its rich heritage in order to respond to modern challenges and dilemmas. It is precisely this dual nature that permits Orthodoxy to speak boldly about critical contemporary issues – precisely because it is a “living tradition.” Dear friends, you are here at a critical time, a complex time, a challenging time – both for our Orthodox Church but also for the entire world. We have invited you for this personal encounter and exchange at the Phanar because we consider you as a small representative group of a much larger segment of our Church, a symbol of our loving concern for all those ministering to the Word of God in manifold ways throughout the world. You comprise theologians and historians, scholars and teachers, women and men from the United States and Europe, as well as from Asia and Australia. You educate and work with a wide range of people – Orthodox and non-Orthodox, Christian and non-Christian, academic and ecumenical – translating the fundamental principles of our faith in response to the vital challenges of our time. |
| Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology Faculty Statement on the Holy and Great Council Source: Orthodox Christian Network The Faculty of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology fully supports the coming Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church to be held at the Orthodox Academy on Crete June 16-27, 2016. The Faculty affirms the importance of this Council for the life and witness of the Orthodox Church in today’s world. His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew deserves much appreciation and gratitude for his selfless and faithful devotion to the cause of Orthodox unity and Orthodox witness to the Lord and His Gospel. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has acted wisely and judiciously to strengthen the bond of unity and to deepen conciliarity among the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches. He has exercised his own responsibility as the first bishop of the Orthodox Church while not intruding upon the proper responsibilities of other primates or the integrity of the other Autocephalous Churches. In consultation with other primates, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has led the Orthodox Church in addressing common challenges and in giving a united witness to Christ and His saving Gospel. More than fifty years ago, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras (+1972) envisioned a Council which would bring together representatives from all the Orthodox Churches to strengthen the bonds of unity and to address critical issues facing the Church. He realized that the conciliar tradition had been diminished. He saw that the tragic events and political changes of the 19 th century and the early decades of the 20 th century contributed to isolation and divisiveness among the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches. The first step in this conciliar process was Patriarch Athenagoras’ decision to convene four Pan-Orthodox Conferences between 1961 and 1968. At these meetings, the participants began to identify topics of church life which deserved discussion and common agreement. They began to respond together to the new challenges of dialogue with other churches and confessions. These discussions continued through the 1970s and 1980s. Orthodox bishops and theologians from the Autocephalous Churches actively participated in these meetings. Eventually, they agreed upon ten topics to be thoroughly studied in anticipation of a Holy and Great Council. |
| The Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church will meet in June this year, according to the Athens News Agency-Macedonian Press Agency (ANA-MPA). A decision was made as the Primates are gathered in a Synaxis at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambesy, Geneva, whose work is done under the presidency of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Of course, for the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church to meet in June, during the period of Pentecost (06/19/2016), the Primates in Geneva must definitely choose the themes and regulations. The decision to convene the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church in Crete, rather than at the headquarters (Constantinople) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was dictated by the " exceptional objective circumstances " (i.e. the recent Russo-Turkish crisis), which basically prevents the Moscow Patriarch Kyrill and his delegation from visiting the City. That is why this Synaxis of Primates is meeting in Geneva and not in the Phanar, as originally planned. The gathering in Geneva involves eleven of the fourteen Primates, with their delegations. Three are missing: Patriarch John of Antioch, Metropolitan Savvas of Warsaw and All Poland for health reason, and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece for personal reasons. The work of the Synaxis will continue until January 28th. The convocation, " barring the unexpected, " of the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church this year in Constantinople was decided in March 2014 at the Synaxis of the Primates, which had gathered at the Phanar. The themes of the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church includes the following ten topics: 1. The Orthodox Diaspora. 2. The manner in which Autocephaly is assigned. 3. The manner of the administration of Autonomy in semi-independent Churches within the limits of Autocephalous Churches, such as the Orthodox Church of Finland under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. 4. The Diptychs. This is the order of the Autocephalous Churches, according to honor and ranking, by which the Primates are commemorated. The order of the Churches may change. (For example, the Church of Cyprus, although it is one of the most ancient and was recognized by the Third Ecumenical Synod in Ephesus in 431, is tenth in the order, having been surpassed by Patriarchates, which have been granted Autocephaly in recent times by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and not by an Ecumenical Synod.) |
| Statement on the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Plans to Grand Autocephaly to Ukrainian Schismatics Source: OrthoChristian On September 17, 2018, we published the news piece, “ Greek Metropolitan Calls on Constantinople to Repent and Cease Communication with Ukrainian Schismatics ,” presenting thoughts from Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira and Antikythera on the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s ongoing dealings with Ukrainian schismatics, with the intention of granting a tomos of autocephaly and thereby creating a new Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate announced on September 7 that he was sending two exarch bishops to Kiev to oversee and facilitate this process—an uncanonical action, as no blessing was sought from nor given by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In response, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church announced on September 14 that it was ceasing liturgical commemoration of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and episcopal concelebrations, and that the Russian Orthodox Church was withdrawing from any organizations or committees chaired or co-chaired by representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Synod was also clear that this is not a break in Eucharistic communion. We now present here the full text of Met. Seraphim’s interview with Alexander Stefanopoulos, a Greek journalist in New York, for his “Greek American News Agency” and posted on Met. Seraphim’s diocesan website : I am deeply upset, dear Mr. Alexander Stefanopoulos, by the Russian Patriarch’s cessation of ecclesiastical communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch. 1 This sad and unfortunate result was brought about by the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s persistence in granting autocephaly to Ukrainian schismatics who are cut off from our holy Orthodox Church, that is, from all Orthodox patriarchates and autocephalous Local Orthodox Churches, and who represent a negligible minority of the Ukrainian people. |
| Keynote Address By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew To the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches Source: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov Your Beatitudes and beloved Brothers in the Lord, Primates of the local most holy Orthodox Churches and venerable representatives of brother Primates precluded from participating in this Synaxis, together with Your honorable entourages. Welcome to this sacred place of our most holy Church of Constantinople, this Center dedicated to the service of Pan-Orthodox unity, which has for decades hosted and continues to host numerous Inter-Orthodox and Pan-Orthodox encounters hammering out and advancing the unity of the most holy Orthodox Church. We wholeheartedly pray that Your sojourn here may prove for each of You satisfactory and pleasing in every way, while our work may be guided by the breath of the Paraclete in order to bear abundant fruit for the love and edification of the body of the Church to the glory of God. As we know, this Synaxis of ours was to be held at our see, but extraordinary objective circumstances that prevented some of our brothers from traveling there imposed the relocation of our meeting here. We thank all of You for understanding the necessity of this change and for agreeing to come here in order to realize the sacred purpose of the present Synaxis. Indeed, every Synaxis that gathers us together, as entrusted with by God’s grace and mercy with the leadership of His most holy Church, is sacred. However, this particular Synaxis has a very special character because it is bound to the fundamental ecclesiological principle of the Church’s conciliarity inasmuch as it its primary objective is to prepare the forthcoming convocation, God willing, of the Holy and Great Council of our most holy Orthodox Church. Therefore, we have assembled here to perform a truly sacred obligation, which is precisely why we have an entirely particular need for the support and illumination of the Paraclete as well as of the favorable goodwill of each of us, beyond any other kind of interests, in order that our decisions may contribute to the realization of the Holy and Great Council, which we have already announced. For it is unto us that Divine Providence has assigned the great duty and privilege to give flesh and bones to the visions of our blessed predecessors, who more than fifty years ago conceived the notion of convening this Council. To us, then, belongs the great responsibility to reduce the time, which is already much detained, in order without further delay to transform the vision into reality. After all, this is expected of us not only by our late predecessors, but also by the faithful people of God, as well as even by Christians outside the canonical barriers of our Church. This is why every further postponement in realizing the Council will only satisfy the enemies of our Church and the Enemy that rejoices in evil. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy The Extreme Inconsistency of the Behaviour of Patriarch Bartholomew Protopresbyter Ioannis K. Diotis. Theologian, social commentator, writer and publisher. Recipient of awards fr om the Academy of Sciences of Athens for his activities. It is with unprecedented hostility that the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has attacked the Russian Orthodox Church, which accounts for almost half of the world’s Orthodox population. The Patriarch’s behaviour is inconsistent. Here are a few of the ‘outpourings’ of the Patriarch’s heart as published on 2 nd February 2023 by the Ark of Orthodoxy web portal. “It is the Russian Church, which lacks a healthy ecclesiastical consciousness, and not Ukrainian autocephaly, which has widened the gulf between Ukrainians and Russians.” It is the Patriarch himself who lacks an Orthodox ecclesiastical consciousness. It is he, through his uncanonical interference in another church jurisdiction belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate, who has widened the church schism in Ukraine. It is he who granted pseudo-autocephaly to the pseudo-church that he himself instituted in Kiev made up of schismatics, the excommunicated, and self-consecrated who have no priestly rank and persons anathematized headed by the pseudo-primate and pseudo-bishop Epiphanius. He has attempted to deceive all the heads of the churches, all of the fullness of Orthodoxy by asserting that he had restored from the perspective of ecclesiology all those upon whom the Moscow Patriarchate had imposed canonical sanctions. As a journalist I asked the Patriarch to make publicly available the procedure by which he restored those placed under ecclesiastical sanctions, but he said nothing in reply, which masked his nakedness from the ecclesiological perspective. And again, the Patriarch is faced with a challenge for the simple reason that he is obliged to do this. This is a general requirement, a requirement of the whole Orthodox Church. |
| Hieromonk John (Guaita): We Hope that the Declaration Between the Pope and Patriarch Will Not Become Empty Words We hope that these words will not remain empty intentions. 27 May, 2014. PRAVMIR. On the evening of May 25, 2014, on the premises of the Apostolic delegates in Jerusalem, Patriarch Bartholomew I and Pope Francis signed a joint declaration during a private meeting. Hieromonk John (Guaita), a clergyman of the Church of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in Moscow and an historian, shared his opinion with Pravmir: “The reason for the meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew this year is the 50 th anniversary of the historic meeting of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, which took place in Jerusalem in 1964. The first meeting between the Patriarch and Pope at the time was unprecedented. Until 1964, such a meeting was not possible. “Jerusalem was chosen for the meeting in 2014 not only because it is an historic place, where 50 years ago the first meeting of its kind took place. Jerusalem was primarily selected as the city in which the Lord preached, died, and rose from the dead. “The declaration consists of ten points. The first one says that in 50 years the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches have gone a long way towards meeting one another. The historic embrace between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, after many centuries of silence, opened the way for the search for new relationships. “Briefly describing the chronology of the development of the relations of the Churches, the Pope and Patriarch notes that the objective of full understanding has not been reached. However, certain results have been achieved, chief among which is the fact that for 50 years we have come to regard one another as members of one Christian family, disciples of one Lord Jesus Christ, and begun to respect and love one another. “It is further repeated that both parties recognize that full communion, which includes full Eucharistic communion, has not yet been attained. Yet in the text of the declaration it is noted that both Churches yearn for the day when Catholics and Orthodox can receive communion from the same cup. Unfortunately, the declaration does not say when this will happen or in what way it will happen. However, it specifies the overall direction for the development of Orthodox-Catholic dialogue. |
| “To merely tolerate one another is, in reality, a process of separating yourself from the other” Source: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Greeting By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew On the Occasion of the 21st Anniversary of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy. Delivered by His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France Moscow, 26 June 2014 Esteemed Dignitaries, Dear Friends, On behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, we would like to congratulate you on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy. We especially congratulate all of the young scholars and winners of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy International Scientific essay contest, and we look forward to the contributions these young people will make in the future. It is with joy that we deliver greetings to you from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which is a symbol of unity and serves the Orthodox Church, promoting solidarity throughout the world for nearly two millennia. We thank God for each of you and your willingness to discuss the important subject of “Parliamentary Democracy – Christianity – Orthodoxy”. In reflecting upon the values of this topic in public life, the success of the twelve Apostles came to our mind, and we are humbled with the thought that from these twelve Apostles in the first century after Christ’s crucifixion, the Christian presence in the world has flourished now to over two billion Christians. This fact alone clearly demonstrates that Christianity has something to offer humanity. Of the two billion Christians in the world, 300 million are Orthodox – many of which are from the countries represented here. Εach Orthodox Patriarchate is able to trace their Christian heritage to one of the first twelve Apostles of Christ. In this part of the world, our Apostolic ancestor to some extent is St. Andrew, who was invited by Christ Himself to “come and see”. As you are assembled this week, perhaps this sacred invitation to “come and see” could serve as a basis for what parliamentary democracy can learn from Christianity – what can be learned from going out into all the world and propagating a message of peace to a variety of people? There are many values that can be shared, but the one thing that has the ability to revolutionize the world is found in the words of Christ: “You shall love the Lord your God” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” |
| Latin America: Peoples in Search of Orthodoxy His Eminence Metropolitan Archbishop Athenagoras (Aneste) of Mexico is the ruling hierarch of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Mexico, Central America, Columbia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean Islands under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Thirteen years ago, when I undertook the (then newly-established) Holy Metropolis of Mexico with only three priests and three mainly Greek-speaking communities, in Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, I would never have expected, let alone conceive the miracle that is unfolding today for our Orthodox Church in Latin America. We all lived the miracle of Cuba, when Fidel Castro's government undertook the construction of the Sacred Temple of Saint Nicholas in Havana and officially received Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who officiated the inauguration of that Holy shrine in January of 2004. In the decade that passed, we experienced the propagating of our faith in the states of Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, etc... just as we experienced - and continue to experience - the continuing drama of the people of Haiti, after the catastrophic earthquake of last January. A drama which unfortunately will heal, only after several years have passed. Greece became acquainted with Christianity and lived its own Pentecost around two thousand years ago, through the Apostle Paul and the other Apostles. Greece is the most blessed country in the world. And this is because - as I point out to our priests - whichever stone you lift, underneath it you will find the relics of a Saint, a Martyr, a holy man, a fighter for the Orthodox faith... We, however, in Latin America are living our Pentecost today. For us - with the exception of the few Greek Orthodox Communities - Orthodoxy has only just arrived in Latin America. Orthodox children of Cuba I recall six years ago, when our Ecumenical Patriarch visited Cuba to officiate in the inauguration of the Holy Temple of Saint Nicholas, there were only four Orthodox Cubans, whereas now, more than one thousand Cuban families have been baptized and have embraced Orthodoxy. |
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