IF KAVANAUGH WERE ORTHODOX by Patricia Fann Bouteneff

3 Comments October 3, 2018 The Editors

brett The editors at Orthodoxy in Dialogue asked me to give my thoughts about the recent Brett Kavanaugh hearing, in which the Supreme Court nominee responded to an accusation of sexual assault. The hearing was contentious and highly partisan, with the accused positing that his enemies were out to get him.

I attended the Orthodox Advanced Leadership Conference hosted by St. Vladimir’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York this past weekend. Some of the talks felt like they were speaking directly to the hearings of the previous week, especially those concerning how to talk with people who disagree with you, and how to be an Orthodox Christian in the workplace. To add to that, the Gospel readings on Sunday and today both speak about how to relate to your enemies (Lk 6:31-36 and Lk 6:24-30). In light of all of this, I began thinking about what an Orthodox Christian spiritual director might advise Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and wondered whether it might it go something like this:

· Mother Gavrilia said, “God loves your enemies as much as He loves you.” Think on this: as much as God loves you, He loves every Democrat, every Clinton, every woman having an abortion, every gay person (married or not), every Muslim, and every immigrant child being held in detention. Read More

THE CAT’S OUT OF THE BAG: MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE REJECTS UKRAINIAN NATIONHOOD

15 Comments October 2, 2018 The Editors

Inter-Orthodox Feud Deepens over Ukraine

by

Jonathan Luxmoore

According to the transcript Patriarch Bartholomew defended his plan to grant autocephaly to a new Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

A Greek Orthodox news agency has published the transcript of a three-hour summit between the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, and Patriarch Kirill of Russia over the future of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, showing that the Russian delegation angrily rejected Ukrainian self-rule and insisted the country’s current government was illegitimate.

According to the transcript, published on 1 October by Orthodosia, Patriarch Bartholomew defended his plan to grant autocephaly, or independence, to a new Ukrainian Orthodox church during the 31 August meeting at his Istanbul see, and rejected Kirill’s warning that Russian-backed separatists would soon overthrow Ukraine’s “illegal government”.

“Ukrainians do not feel comfortable under Russia’s authority – they want full freedom religiously, just as they have obtained it politically”, the Ecumenical Patriarch, who holds honorary primacy among the world’s 14 main Orthodox churches, told his Russian guests. “So they have turned to their mother church, which judges their claim fairly and will proceed in that direction… Everyone has come to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and begged for the granting of self-rule”. Read More