As far back as 1996, in The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Samuel P. Huntington predicted the rise of “political Orthodoxy” in Russia as a global geopolitical threat no less powerful and nefarious than political Islam. Some fifteen or so years later, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and Vladimir Putin announced the transplantation of “Byzantine symphonia” — a model of church-state “co-voice” — from 14th-century Byzantium to 21st-century Russia. The current escalation of Russian military aggression against Ukraine on the eve of the Ukrainian Church’s reception of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate leaves us no choice but to take them at their word: Church and Kremlin indeed speak with one voice in Russia. 

Russia’s New Military Cathedral Will Train War Priests — Reports

A Russian Orthodox cathedral set to be built for the country’s armed forces will reportedly train military priests, the head of a foundation in charge of collecting donations for its  construction has said.

Blueprints for the Armed Forces cathedral were reportedly unveiled at the Venice Bienalle on Thursday, two months after the Russian Defense Ministry began collecting donations to build the megastructure. Reports this year disclosed plans to train priests embedded with the Airborne Troops to drive combat vehicles and operate communication equipment. Read More

Archbishop Demetrios (L) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Metropolitan Tikhon (R) of the Orthodox Church in America

By day’s end the above photo from the funeral of President George H.W. Bush was making the rounds of Facebook and—predictably enough—drawing equal amounts of praise and condemnation from Orthodox Christians.

The former comes from those who find it only natural that the Orthodox Church should assume a visible presence in American public life; the latter, from those who lose no opportunity to condemn the “heresy” of ecumenism as a sell-out to the purity of the Orthodox faith, expressed especially in the canonical prohibition against “praying with heretics.” How dare Orthodox hierarchs attend a heterodox church service—even the funeral of a former US president?

The discerning eye will note that neither the Archbishop nor the Metropolitan is wearing any article of liturgical vestment, such as his omophorion. They are both dressed as simple monks, with the minimum possible insignia of their episcopal rank: the staff, the panagia (an icon of the Mother of God suspended from a chain around the neck), and—in the Metropolitan’s case—the white headpiece adorned with a small jeweled cross, distinctive to the Russian tradition to signify a metropolitan.  Read More

This is the second article in our On the Incarnation series for the Nativity Fast.

As we prepare for the great Feast of the Nativity, our focus narrows increasingly to our faith’s foundational mystery, the Incarnation—God become man. Like St. Athanasius, St. Maximus the Confessor explains the impetus for the Incarnation in this manner: “God became human and humanity became God unchangingly.” The reason for the whole of creation is revealed: “God became a human being and heaven and earth were joined.” This revelation is what we celebrate in the Feast of the Nativity.

For St. Maximus, the Virgin Mary is the catalyst through which this great mystery is effected. He explains that “she had been chosen by the Father and prepared by the Holy Spirit to contain in her womb the only-begotten Son…and to become the cause of the Incarnation and his dwelling among human beings.” Maximus writes all these reflections in his book, The Life of the Virgin.* He pens a high Mariology commensurate with her exalted role in conceiving the Logos in her womb. For Maximus, “She is the ladder that reaches to heaven, by which God descended to earth. […] She is the one who received the uncontainable God. […] She is the cause of divine mercy toward humanity. […] She is the tent of the Word of God.” The holy Theotokos is clearly pivotal in creation, salvation history, and the renewed creation. Read More

In the sixteen months since Orthodoxy in Dialogue went to press, our mandate has evolved from our initial vision of short, original articles to include longer articles, reprints, news, poetry, books reviews and summaries, interviews—and now videos.

We have published three videos to date: the trailer for Cassidy Hall’s upcoming film on Thomas Merton, a panel discussion on women in the Church by the Orthodox Christian Studies Center, and USA TODAY’s brief interview of an Orthodox mother who lost her son in the Thousand Oaks massacre. A fourth video is currently under discussion with its producers.

We seek original, professional quality videos of any length that have direct relevance for a mainly Orthodox global audience. You must allow us to embed the video in a post rather than simply provide the link to our readers. (For one thing, our CTR is typically very low.) You should include a brief, explanatory article that is as interesting as it is informative. With very few exceptions we will only consider submissions that come directly from the producer(s) or videographer(s).

Interviews may now be submitted in a video format.  Read More