Father Drago Pešikan (Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro) facing police chief in Herceg Novi

In January 2019, when the Ecumenical Patriarch granted autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church, it was clear that this would create a domino effect in other regions of the world experiencing ecclesiastical divisions and ongoing aspirations for church recognition. This is especially the case in the Balkans, where the political elites in Montenegro and North Macedonia—inspired by Petro Poroshenko’s success in Ukraine—decided to step up, develop their own strategies, and push hard for autocephaly. This prompted open conflict with the Serbian Orthodox Church, whose canonical jurisdiction stretches to both countries. Read More

With our first article on Ukraine in 2020, Orthodoxy in Dialogue continues its commitment to advocate for Ukraine’s political and ecclesiastical independence from the Kremlin and its puppet Patriarchate.

Patriarch & President: Byzantine symphonia alive and well in Russia

Ever since the outbreak of hostilities in early 2014, the undeclared war between Russia and Ukraine has had a religious dimension. Prior to the conflict, rival Orthodox churches had coexisted somewhat uneasily in independent Ukraine, with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate owing loyalty to Russia, while the numerically superior Kyiv Patriarchate remained internationally unrecognized.

However, the alleged role of the Russian Orthodox Church and its representatives in Ukraine in aiding and abetting the Russian invasion of 2014 served to amplify longstanding calls for the creation of an internationally recognized Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow. Following prolonged negotiations, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, duly granted Ukrainian Orthodoxy autocephaly in January 2019. This historic decision meant canonical independence for the newly established unified Orthodox Church of Ukraine. It also sparked a far wider crisis throughout the Orthodox world that shows no signs of abating.    Read More

Archbishop Lazar (Puhalo)

At this point, all I can say is that I fully support Father Aaron Warwick’s call in Pastoring LGBTQ Individuals in the Orthodox Church for a more open and less ideological discussion of these very important matters.

The discussion needs to be with much less pathos and infinitely less hysteria than has been the case in the past. We no longer argue that the earth is flat, that the sun rotates around the earth, that the earth is the centre of the universe and that the earth is less than 4 billion years old.

We need to discuss other issues—those that affect the lives and well-being of other human beings, since all human beings are “our neighbour” and our brothers and sisters—all in the image and likeness of God, and we all stand together under the shadow of the Cross. Read More

Deacon Gary and Melissa Braun

Dear Sayidna Joseph,

We are writing to you as members in good standing in our Church, as children  of God who love Christ and His Church with ALL our heart, and as Orthodox Christians whose hearts are breaking for so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Specifically today, we write in full support of Father Aaron Warwick. We recently read Pastoring LGBTQ Individuals in the Orthodox Church, an article that he wrote for the website Orthodoxy in Dialogue. We found his words to be a godly breath of fresh air, and he gave us hope that our Church might be able to finally have an honest, Christ-centered conversation about a difficult issue. It is a discussion that is long overdue.

The Church frequently practices “economia” in other areas, such as divorce and remarriage, birth control, no longer telling slaves to treat their masters as Christ, etc. We have been discouraged that our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters are not also granted the same mercy. So reading Father Aaron’s words gave us hope.
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