IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: DECEMBER
DECEMBER 2019
PSA: The Union of Orthodox Journalists ≠ Journalism
Moscow Patriarchate Not Interested in Protecting Abused Children and Women
Memory Eternal: Priest Pavel Florensky (+December 8, 1937)
Theological Conference in Toronto: Call for Papers
Science Fiction: Bearer of Faith Images
UNESCO: Byzantine Chant Part of Humanity’s “Intangible Cultural Heritage”
January’s Coming: Call for Articles on “Pro-Life” and “Christian Unity” Read More
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ON SAME-SEX LOVE by Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware)
The following excerpt is taken from Metropolitan Kallistos’ Foreword in The Wheel, Issue 13/14, Spring/Summer 2018, Being Human: Embodiment and Anthropology. The links to the full text and order form for the hard copy of this issue are provided below.
In reproducing His Eminence’s reflection on same-sex love at this time we hope to bring it directly into conversation with Metropolitan Nathanael (Symeonides) on Same-Sex Orientation, Priest to Priest: An Open Letter to Fathers Damick, Farley, Jacobse, Parker, and Trenham, Bishop to Bishop: Straight from Confession to Suicide, Letter to a Young Gay Orthodox Camper, Protodeacon Theodore Feldman’s LGBTQ+ in Our Churches, Father Aaron Warwick’s Pastoring LGBTQ Individuals in the Orthodox Church, and the anonymous Continuing the Conversation: A Response to Father Aaron Warwick. We also hope to embolden other like-minded hierarchs, priests, and deacons to speak out openly. LGBTQI Orthodox Christians are craving to hear from you.
Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware)
…With regard to homosexuality, the Orthodox Church today has undoubtedly to confront a series of difficult issues. Without accepting everything that is said by the three authors of the text “Jesus Christ and Same-Sex Marriage,” I fully recognise that they are dealing with genuine problems. I can see at least three anomalies in our current treatment of homosexuals. First, until recent times, Orthodox thinkers did not make use of the concept of sexual orientation, as this is understood in contemporary psychology. More precisely, they assumed that there is only one orientation, and that is heterosexual. They considered that persons of homosexual inclination were such because of personal choice and were therefore willfully wicked. Nowadays Orthodox writers would normally prefer to make a distinction between orientation and action. Homosexual orientation, we would say, is indeed contrary to God’s plan for humankind, being one of the consequences of the fall (incidentally, I am surprised that more is not said about the fall in the course of this issue of The Wheel). But homosexual men and women are not personally guilty of their orientation, because this is not something they have chosen; they only become guilty if by deliberate choice they decide to live out this orientation in their actions. They can choose to be celibate. Read More
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A SILENT PATRIARCH: KYRILLOS VI, LIFE AND LEGACY reviewed by Bavly Kost
A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI, Life and Legacy
Daniel Fanous
Yonkers, NY: SVS Press, 2019
The latest volume in SVS Press’ Coptic Studies Series examines the life and legacy of Pope Kyrillos VI. The book is divided into two parts: the first looks at Kyrillos’ life up to his patriarchal ordination, and the second examines his tenure as patriarch. Throughout, history and biography are interwoven, and aligns the Patriarch’s life with current events as they played out.
The author of the book, the Reverend Father Daniel Fanous, is the current Dean of St. Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Seminary in Sydney, Australia, where he is also a Lecturer of Theology and Biblical Studies. The book is based on his doctoral dissertation which he completed at the University of Newcastle, Australia. In it we see, for the first time, manuscripts and telegrams that had not been published or brought to the public. Many of these telegrams and messages were hidden at the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor in Upper Egypt, or they were provided to Fanous through Pope Kyrillos’ living family members.
This is the first scholarly biography of Pope Kyrillos to be published. Previous scholars have published minor works (John Watson, Patriarch and Solitary; Nelly Van Doorn-Harder, Kyrillos Sixth: Planner, Patriarch, and Saint), but these pale in comparison to this current edition. I would recommend reading this book to obtain a clearer picture of the man who, for the most part, is only known for his miraculous acts.
Here I aim to analyze how Fanous addresses history, conflict, and personal issues that arose for the Patriarch.
ORTHODOXY IN DIALOGUE 