Free Republic

All voices united against patriarchal structures Make a big cross in your calendar, because in April 2023 you can expect an unprecedented format. The BDKJ Federal Association invites you to the first nationwide anti-patriarchy conference in Wiesbaden! Everyone from the ranks of the BDKJ who wants to overcome patriarchy together is invited.

The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in his first public comments on the war in the country's Tigray region is sharply criticizing Ethiopia's actions, saying he believes it's genocide: "They want to destroy the people of Tigray." In a video shot last month on a mobile phone and carried out of Ethiopia, the elderly Patriarch Abune Mathias addresses the church's scores of millions of followers and the international community, saying his previous attempts to speak out were blocked. He is ethnic Tigrayan. The video comes as the conflict in Tigray marks six months. Thousands of people have been killed...

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expresses his disgust and outrage at the murderous attack in El Paso, Texas, USA, in which twenty of our fellow citizens were killed and twenty-six others were injured, as well as the bloodshed in Dayton, Ohio, in which several of our fellow citizens were reportedly killed and injured. His All-Holiness strongly condemns every act of hatred – racial, religious or social, and also any form of violence and fundamentalism, wherever they come from. Hate and violence, he points out, cause a great deal of pain and fear, and are sometimes the cause of further acts of violence...

When Russian president Vladimir Putin celebrated the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, he claimed the disputed peninsula was “spiritually” inseparable from Moscow. But Mr Putin’s military intervention is now threatening to undermine the “Russian world” beyond Moscow’s borders that he sought to protect. An arcane canonical dispute has become a geopolitical flashpoint after Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of Orthodox Christianity, said on Thursday that he intended to grant full recognition to a breakaway church in Ukraine that split from the Russian patriarchate in the early 1990s. The Russian church has warned it may...

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual center of Orthodox Christianity which is based in Turkey, is unable to train clergy and potential successors for the position of patriarch. The reason is that the Halki Seminary, the only school for training the leadership of Orthodox Christianity, was forcibly closed down by the Turkish government in 1971. It has been waiting to re-open its doors ever since.The closing of the Halki seminary, which was founded in 1844 on the island of Halki (Heybeliada), has made it very difficult for the Ecumenical Patriarchate to survive. The Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights...

In a message to the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Pope Francis wrote that "there is no longer any impediment to Eucharistic communion which cannot be overcome through prayer, the purification of hearts, dialogue and the affirmation of truth." The Pope's message to the Ecumenical Patriarch was timed for November 30, the feast of St. Andrew, patron of the Constantinople see. Each year the Holy See sends a delegation to celebrate that feast with the Ecumenical Patriarch, just as the Orthodox leader sends representatives to Rome for the patronal feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29. This...

By the mercy of God, Patriarch John X, The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East To my brother pastors of the Antiochian Holy Church, and my children throughout the Holy See "Heaven and Earth are made one today, for Christ is born. Today God is come upon the earth, and man is gone up into the Heavens. Today He Who by nature is invisible, for man's sake is seen in the flesh. For this cause, let us also give glory and cry out to Him: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, which Thy...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Ankara and Istanbul were gray and cold, at least compared to Rome, during Pope Francis' Nov. 28-30 visit to Turkey. And the general reception, outside of the pope's official meetings, was hardly warmer. There were none of the enthusiastic crowds that usually greet him on his trips, no masses waving signs of welcome along his motorcade route or behind police barriers at the stops. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople kisses Pope Francis as they embrace during an ecumenical prayer service in the patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul Nov. 29. (CNS/Paul Haring) Pope Francis, who...

Never before seen - Francis bows his head and asks Separated Patriarch: "Bless me and the Church of Rome" Istanbul, November 29, 2014. ... Filled of "gratitude and eagerly waiting", [the Pope] concludes [his address] by wishing Bartholomew and the Church of Constantinople the "fraternal" wishes for the feast of the patron saint to be celebrated tomorrow. In return he asked - unexpectedly - for a favor: "Bless me and the Catholic Church", bowing his head, waiting for the 'brother' to lay hands on him. And Bartholomew, without hesitation, gives him a kiss on the head affectionately. [Italian] Listening to...

Balamand, Lebanon -- The patriarchs of Eastern churches Tuesday deplored the raging violence in Iraq and Syria that has caused a massive wave of refugees, exhorting Christians to maintain their presence in the region's war-torn countries and keep hold of their lands. In a statement released at the opening of their Holy Synod in Lady of Balamand Convent in north Lebanon, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, Melkite Gregorius III Lahham, Syriarc Catholic Patriarch Ignatius III Younan, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem and Greek Orthodox Patriarch John Yazigi released a statement on local and regional developments. "The patriarchs prayed for the people...

LATROBE, PA: Anglican Patriarch J.I. Packer Still Going Strong at 87 An exclusive interview with the Rev. Dr. J.I. Packer. By David W. Virtue www.virtueonline.org June 28, 2014 The Rev. Dr. James I. Packer is the Anglican Communion’s most widely known, most respected evangelical Anglican author, theologian, churchman and scholar. He was a speaker at the recent Anglican Church of North America’s 2nd Annual Assembly meeting at St. Vincent Archabbey and College in Latrobe, PA, on the occasion of the induction of a new archbishop of the ACNA and a farewell to the Most Rev. Robert Duncan, the ACNA’s first...

Pope Francis stands with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I as they meet outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (PA) Half a century after a historic encounter between their predecessors, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met in the same place to seek inspiration for Christian unity at the site of Christ’s death and resurrection.“We need to believe that, just as the stone before the tomb was cast aside, so, too, every obstacle to our full communion will also be removed,” the Pope said during a prayer service at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre today.“Every time we put behind us...

This coming Sunday, May 25, Pope Francis is scheduled to meet the Eastern Orthodox Church’s Ecumenical Patriarch (EP) Bartholomew at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in order to commemorate the golden jubilee of the historic meeting between their respective predecessors, Paul VI and Athenagoras. According to the EP’s official website for the event, the occasion is “expected to be a strong symbolic confirmation of the commitment and determination to continue the path which the two great Church leaders inaugurated half a century ago.” Whether it will amount to anything more than that remains to be seen....

ROME (CNS) -- The Orthodox bishop who is coordinating the upcoming pilgrimage to Jerusalem by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said he hopes the patriarch's May 25 meeting with Pope Francis will give new impetus to efforts for Christian unity. But he also said the two leaders are likely to discuss a range of common concerns, including the predicament of Christians in the Middle East, conservation of the natural environment, and defense of the traditional family. "We hope that this will not just be a meeting like others, but we hope that this will give a new horizon for the...

It is hard to express how comprehensive and important this address is. Questions people have been posing for decades are discussed here. You will also see two major points that will not be discussing in the upcoming council. It is well worth reading in its entirety. (Ecumenical Patriarchate) - Your Beatitudes and most venerable Brothers in Christ, First-Hierarchs of the Most Holy Orthodox Churches, and honorable members of your entourages, Welcome to the courtyard of our Church, the martyric and historical Ecumenical Patriarchate, this humble servant of unity in Christ for us all. From the depths of our heart, we...

An official says Turkish authorities have tightened security for the Istanbul-based Orthodox Patriarchate following allegations of a plot to attack the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians. Unconfirmed local media reports said Friday police briefly detained a man following a tip that he planned to assassinate Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. Haberturk newspaper said prosecutors in Ankara were investigating the alleged plot. Police wouldn't confirm the reports, and the prosecutor's office did not immediately return calls.

Pope Benedict XVI and Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew in 2006 at the Patriarch's residence in Instanbul Tuesday will be a landmark day in the history of Christianity and ecumenical relations: the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople will attend Pope Francis' installation Mass. As if that wasn't enough, three other Orthodox bishops are coming with him! I cannot stress enough what a hugely significant moment this is in Christian history! It is the first time that such a thing has happened since the Great Western Schism in 1054. This is almost impossible to believe!!! Here's the report that is rocking...

Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople has staked out his opposition to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Once the patriarchal basilica of Constantinople, the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque when Muslims conquered the city. In 1935, Turkey’s government made the building a museum, as part of the secularizing campaign under the leadership of Kemal Ataturk. Bartholomew I says Hagia Sophia should stay a museum (ANSAMed)

(Vatican Radio) The ‘delicate historical moment’ that the ancient Chaldean Church of Babylon is experiencing and the need for unity in its leadership were the chief concerns expressed Monday morning as the Patriarchal Synod opened here in Rome. Emer McCarthy reports: Convoked by Pope Benedict XVI, under the Presidency of Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, the Synod has the task of electing a new Patriarch, Pater et Caput of the Chaldean Church, to succeed Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly.Comprised of fifteen men, the bishops come mainly from Iraq, ancestral home of the Chaldean Church, but...

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai left for Iraq Monday where he led a mass at the Our Lady of Salvation church on the first anniversary of an attack that left 58 people dead. Rai was accompanied by Bishop Camille Zaidan and Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan. “It is necessary that we go together [with Younan] to Baghdad to express solidarity with the Iraqi people, the entire Iraqi people who definitely reject violence and war,” Rai told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport prior to his departure. “And also to express our solidarity and brotherhood with our Christian brothers and...