| 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 Russian Church Synod expresses strong disagreement with decision to establish “Romanian Orthodox Church in Ukraine” DECR Communication Service, 12/03/2024 On 12 th March 2024, members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church had under consideration (Minutes No. 29) the resolutions of the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church of 29 th February 2024, which had established the “Romanian Orthodox Church in Ukraine” and declared invalid any canonical punishments imposed on the clerics of the Orthodox Church of Moldova who had been received without letters of release into the “Metropolis of Bessarabia” of the Romanian Patriarchate, patriarchia.ru reports . On 29 th February 2024, the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church resolved “to bless, encourage and support the initiatives of Romanian Orthodox communities in Ukraine to re-establish communion with the Mother Church – the Romanian Patriarchate – through their legal organisation in a religious structure called the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ukraine; and “to reaffirm that all Romanian Orthodox clerics… from the Republic of Moldova who return to the Metropolis of Bessarabia are canonical clerics.., and any disciplinary sanction directed against them on the grounds of their membership of the Romanian Orthodox Church is considered null and void, according to synod decision no—8090 of December 19, 1992.” Similar deeds of the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church had repeatedly received rightful canonical appraisal from the Bishops’ Councils and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, for instance: in the resolution of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of 22 nd December 1992 (Minutes No. 105), adopted in response to the establishment of the “Metropolis of Bessarabia,” with subsequent approval of the viewpoint of the Primate and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on that matter by the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1994; |
| Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, Michael D. Peterson Скачать epub pdf Appendix Orthodox Churches of the World (1996) The Church of Constantinople His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch The Church of Alexandria His Beatitude Parthenios, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa The Church of Antioch His Beatitude Ignatius IV, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East The Church of Jerusalem His Beatitude Diodoros, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine The Church of Russia His Holiness Aleksy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia The Church of Georgia His Holiness Ilia, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtshet and Tbilisi The Church of Serbia His Holiness Pavle, Archbishop of Pech, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Patriarch of Serbia The Church of Romania His Beatitude Teoctist, Patriarch of All Romania, Locum Tenens of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, Archbishop of Bucharest The Church of Bulgaria His Holiness Maksim, Patriarch of Bulgaria The Church of Cyprus His Beatitude Chrysostomos, Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus The Church of Greece His Beatitude Seraphim, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece The Church of Albania His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania The Church of Poland His Beatitude Basil, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland The Church of Czech and Slovakia His Beatitude Dorotheus, Archbishop of Prague, Metropolitan of the Czech and Slovak Republics The Orthodox Church in America His Beatitude Theodosius, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada Autonomous Churches The Church of Sinai His Beatitude Damian, Archbishop of Sinai and Raithu The Church of Finland His Eminence John, Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland The Church of Japan His Eminence Theodosius, Archbishop of Tokyo, Metropolitan of All Japan Bibliography Contents I. General A. Bibliographies, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias B. Survey Works C. Periodicals D. Yearbooks, Annuals, and Newspapers |
| Patriarch of Romania Speaks on the Importance of Church-State Cooperation in the European Context Source: Basilica.ro Photo: Basilica.ro Opening address by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania at the International Conference on the relations between the State and religious denominations in the European Union , at the Palace of the Patriarchate, Friday, June 7, 2019. Importance of Church-State cooperation in the European context According to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon of 2007, ‘ The Union respects and does not prejudice the status under national law of churches and religious associations or communities in the Member States ’ (article 7, paragraph 1 TFEU). Thus, ‘ recognising their identity and their specific contribution, the Union shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with these churches and organisations ’ (article 17, paragraph 3 TFEU). Therefore, in the European Union there is no ‘European model’ for the relationship between religious communities and the political authority, but the legislative systems in force in the EU Member States oscillate from a radical separation to an almost complete identification between a particular religious community and a State. At the same time, the European Union aims to engage in dialogue with religious denominations so that they may express their specific contribution to the European construction. Today there are four Member States with a majority Orthodox population in the European Union (Greece, Cyprus, Romania, and Bulgaria), where Autocephalous Churches are organized and operate, while in other Member States there are important Orthodox communities organized ethnically as autocephalous (Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) or autonomous (Finland and Estonia). Also, in some Member States there are consistent Orthodox communities organized ethnically as diaspora (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Austria). Romania, with a population of 16,307,000 Orthodox believers, is the largest country of the European Union with a majority Orthodox population. |
| Скачать epub pdf History Almost two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and founded the Church, through His Apostles and disciples, for the salvation of man. In the years which followed, the Apostles spread the Church and its teachings far; they founded many churches, all united in faith, worship, and the partaking of the Mysteries (or as they are called in the West, the Sacraments) of the Holy Church. The churches founded by the Apostles themselves include the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Rome. The Church of Constantinople was founded by St. Andrew, the Church of Alexandria by St. Mark, the Church of Antioch by St. Paul, the Church of Jerusalem by Sts. Peter and James, and the Church of Rome by Sts. Peter and Paul. Those founded in later years through the missionary activity of the first churches were the Churches of Sinai, Russia, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and many others. Each of these churches is independent in administration, but, with the exception of the Church of Rome, which finally separated from the others in the year 1054, all are united in faith, doctrine, Apostolic tradition, sacraments, liturgies, and services. Together they constitute and call themselves the Orthodox Church. The teachings of the Church are derived from two sources: Holy Scripture, and Sacred Tradition, within which the Scriptures came to be, and within which they are interpreted. As written in the Gospel of St. John, «And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world could not contain the books that should be written» ( John 21:20 ). Much teaching transmitted orally by the Apostles has come down to us in Sacred Tradition. The word Orthodox literally means right teaching or right worship, being derived from two Greek words: orthos (right) and doxa (teaching or worship). As the false teachings and divisions multiplied in early Christian times, threatening to obscure the identity and purity of the Church, the term Orthodox quite logically came to be applied to it. The Orthodox Church carefully guards the truth against all error and schism, both to protect its flock and to glorify Christ whose body the Church is. |
| His Holiness Patriarch Kirill Calls Local Orthodox Churches to Not Recognize the New “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” Source: DECR A deep wound has been inflicted on the canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine and worldwide, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia wrote in the letters addressed to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches. The messages were sent to His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, His Holiness Patriarch Neophytos of Bulgaria, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada. As His Holiness Patriarch Kirill informed them, on December 15, a gathering of “hierarchs,” “clergy” and laity of two Ukrainian schismatic groups took place in Kiev with the direct involvement and under the direct patronage of the government authorities of Ukraine. The participants in that unlawful assembly at the historical Sophia Cathedral in Kiev proclaimed themselves “unification council.” That so-called unification was, in fact, a merger between two schismatic organizations which formed one. Taking part in the “council” were false bishops of the schismatic “Kievan patriarchate” and of another uncanonical structure – “Ukrainian autocephalous orthodox church.” “Meanwhile, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church led by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, recognized in the entire Orthodox world, refused, in accordance with the decision of its Holy Synod of December 7, to participate in this event, considering it an “unlawful gathering.” Despite the fact that the archpastors of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were brought under enormous pressure, out of its 90 hierarchs only 2 (one diocesan and one vicar) took part in the pseudo-council. For falling into the schism and flagrantly violating the episcopal oath they both were relieved of their posts and suspended from serving by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of December 17,” the letters said. |
| Synodal Tomos on the canonization of Venerable Saints Neophyte and Meletios from Stânioara Monastery and Daniel and Misael from Turnu Monastery Synodal Tomos of Canonization no. 1/2016, approved by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church through its decision ref. no. 2212/25.02.2016, and made public today, 28 September 2016, in the church of Saint Anthimos – Troianu Monastery, dedicated to the Life-giving Spring: The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, To the most beloved clergy, the monastics and the true believing Christians in the Romanian Patriarchate, Grace, mercy and peace from God, and from us, hierarchical blessings! Blessed and praiseworthy is it to honor the memory of those who have fallen asleep in the Lord in holiness, who have gained confidence from God for their devout lives full of good deeds. The Most Holy Trinity has foreseen from eternity that they will grow in the likeness of God, partaking of the light of the grace of the Holy Spirit and numbering them in the Church of the first-born, in the ranks of the saints. Our Savior Jesus Christ says about them that because they have listened to His word, they have become His friends (John 15:16). The Church honors these saints with praises and hymns, as the God-inspired Prophet Daniel says: But your friends, O God, were greatly honoured by me, exceedingly were strengthened their beginnings (Psalm 139:17). The saints have truly fulfilled God’s word and will, as we read in the Psalms: As for the saints who are on the earth, They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight (Psalm 16:3). Among Gods chosen ones are numbered the venerable fathers from the hermitages of Stânioara and Turnu: Neophyte and Meletios from Stânioara Monastery and Daniel and Misael from Turnu Monastery.These great ascetics and lovers of God from Cozia Monasterym founded by the renowned Prince Mircea the Great, after dedicating themselves entirely to the anchoretic life life and reaching perfection, received from the Holy Spirit the gift of counsel and of spiritual guidance on the path to salvation. Being experienced laborers of the prayer of the heart, they have been honored together with the great hesychasts of Romanian monasticism, being also named hermits. Thus, they remain in the living memory of the Church, in the devoted memory of hierarchs, priests, monastics and lay people, as examples of sacrificial love, of restraint, humbleness and diligent spiritual guidance. |
| Elder Cleopa on the Eight Sources of Temptation On the second Sunday of Great Lent,the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop ofThessalonica, the great defender of hesychasm. In order to demonstrate that thespiritual experience so beautifully described by St. Gregory Palamas continuesto live to this day within the Orthodox Church, we offer the following accountof a spiritual instruction offered by an outstanding contemporary hesychast, Elder Cleopa (Ilie) (1912-1998) of Sihastria Monastery in Romania. On the second Sunday of Great Lent, the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Gregory Palamas , Archbishop of Thessalonica, the great defender of hesychasm . In order to demonstrate that the spiritual experience so beautifully described by St. Gregory Palamas continues to live to this day within the Orthodox Church, we offer the following account of a spiritual instruction offered by an outstanding contemporary hesychast, Elder Cleopa (Ilie) (1912-1998) of Sihastria Monastery in Romania. What follows is an excerpt from an article written by His Grace, Atanasije (Jevtic) , Retired Bishop of Zahumlje and Herzegovina (Serbian Orthodox Church), entitled “Teachings of the Blessed Elder Cleopa.” In it, Bishop Atanasije describes a pilgrimage he undertook in 1976 with a fellow disciple of St. Justin Popovich , Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovic) of Montenegro and the Littoral – both bishops were then hieromonks – to visit Elder Cleopa. Following a detailed history of the practice of hesychasm in Romania, His Grace relates how, sitting on a hill overlooking the fruit orchard, with Elder Cleopa kneeling before them, he asked the Elder how to live in this world while struggling with one’s passions and the temptations of the world. This is the reply the Elder offered him, as related by Bishop Atanasije: Teaching on the Eight Means of Temptation and the Struggle Against Them The Holy Fathers say (this is how Fr. Cleopa began to express concisely his spiritual experience to us, inherited from the Holy Fathers and personally experienced by him, as every one of his words clearly confirms) that on the path of salvation one is tempted by the devil from eight sides: from the front, from behind, from the left, from the right, from above, from below, from inside, and from the outside. |
| A typical newcomer to the Eastern Orthodox Church cannot help but come to the conclusion that Orthodoxy is a culture with a vengeance. Participating in the Orthodox way of life inevitably means adopting the very specific and conspicuous set of beliefs and practices that characterize this community. In the first place, becoming Orthodox means embracing the whole ‘gesture, motion and display’ of incensing, icon veneration, vestments, chanting, processions, bowing and crossing oneself. Outside of the liturgy, Orthodox Christians are expected to fast from all animal products at regular intervals, attend special services during the week, and practice a daily and prescribed rule of prayer. In the majority of Orthodox Christian communities, the cultural expectations are additionally bound up with ethnicity—to be Orthodox means to be Greek or Russian or Romanian or some other culture where Orthodoxy is a ‘native’ religion. In many Orthodox churches—especially those where new converts or old world ideals predominate—the culture of Orthodoxy may may even extend itself into clothing and personal appearance: beards on men, headscarves on women during the liturgy are two of the most prominent examples. While the Orthodox Church does not insist that all of the above practices are equally essential to one’s salvation, there is a sense that the culture of Orthodoxy—those conspicuous practices that can seem so strange upon first encounter—is integral to the fullest possible experience of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the Orthodox Church would insist that its particular form of ‘gesture, motion and display’ is precisely what makes its understanding of Christianity fuller than those of other Christian communities. Many Orthodox Christians would take St. Vincent of Lerins’ words—’the rule of faith is the rule of prayer’—as a basic axiom. The form of our prayer is absolutely inseparable from what we believe—the essence of our faith. Only in the past half century has this assumption been tested as never before. With the flowering of historical scholarship in the West around the culture of Eastern Orthodoxy—the origins of its beliefs and practices—Orthodox believers have come face to face with an uncomfortable truth: that our culture has evolved over the centuries. Liturgy, icons, vestments, even rules of fasting and prayer have all developed and changed to the point that they bear little resemblance—at least superficially—to the practices of the first century Christians. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Western Europe, Orthodoxy in JOHN A. MCGUCKIN Orthodoxy in Western Europe remains a small, but significant, church minority and presence. Though there were earlier Orthodox visitors, the establishment of a permanent and noticeable Orthodox presence in Western Europe (chiefly France, Britain, and Germany) really came about as a result of two specific waves of Orthodox immigration in the early and the late 20th century. In both cases the Orthodox presence was in the form of “diaspora” communities. The diaspora consists of the Orthodox faithful of the patriarchal, autocephalous, or autonomous Orthodox Churches (often referred to as “the jurisdictions”) who have moved elsewhere in the world and are, in their new countries, looked after by bishops appointed by the home synods of their originating churches. Only in America has there been any move to establish an indigenous Orthodox Church out of a diaspora community (the Orthodox Church of America). Throughout Western Europe the Orthodox institutional presence entirely relates back to missionary communities of the older churches. All Greeks (including Cypriots) living in the diaspora (a large number indeed) now fall under the jurisdictional care of the patriarchate of Constantinople, which has exarchates and missions in most western countries, given that the modern Greeks (like their ancient forebears) traveled far and wide. The Russian Orthodox also had a large diaspora population, especially after the great political upheavals caused by the Russian Revolution. Its diaspora institutions have also been profoundly complicated by those political troubles. The other larger churches that had a considerable number of faithful living abroad either set up pastoral missions for them, or knew that they could be pastorally cared for by the existing Greek and Russian ecclesiastical provisions. In more recent times, following on the collapse of totalitarian communist regimes in Eastern Europe, and also on the lifting of border restrictions within the parameters of the European Union, there has been considerable mobility in Western Europe among younger Romanians and naturally an extension of the pastoral provision for Romanian Orthodox in Europe and America has followed. It has been organized by the Patriarchal Synod of Romania, with specific reference to the pastoral needs of the Romanians in the diaspora, with an archbishop in Western and Central Europe, respectively, and also one in America. All of them are members of the Patriarchal Synod. |
| On July 27, 2015, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with the delegations of Local Orthodox Churches, who came to Moscow for the millennium of the demise of the Holy Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles. Photo: http://www.patriarchia.ru/ There were delegations of the Orthodox Churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Poland, the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and Orthodox Church in America. Present at the meeting were also Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), Bishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate administrative secretariat, Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR vice-chairman, and other ROC clergy in charge of inter-Orthodox relations. Addressing the gathering, Patriarch Kirill said in particular, ‘One thousand years have elapsed since the demise of the Baptizer of Rus’, but his memory has not died away to become an exclusive property of academic science, but continues living in the hearts of millions of the faithful in all the nations who derive their sources from the Dniester baptismal font… Alien to one another and capable of indifference, strife or political union before, the nations, by their communion with Christ, became one Body of His Church, uniting in the Spirit of God with all who are near and who are far and opening up anew in brotherly love’. His Holiness said that the commemoration days of such Baptizers of nations as Prince Vladimir, King Boris of Bulgaria, Prince Rostislav of Moravia, St, Nina the Enlightener of Georgia, and others are not only national days but also the celebration of the Plenitude of the Church. ‘We see today that the commemoration celebrations devoted to the Baptizer of Rus’ have brought together representatives of Churches from all over the world who like loving brothers celebrate our unity’. Patriarch Kirill also spoke about unity as a characteristic of the Church of Christ and a value for any Orthodox Christian. ‘It is the greatest gift of God that, despite many political and other conflicts, we have preserved our unity… We are united in that together we repulse those who wish to sow discord and divisions in the Church… |
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