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Happy New Year!

With Much Gratitude to Our Readers, Writers, and Patrons for Your Interest and Support in 2019!

Since August 16, 2017 we have published 736 articles, editorials, reports, and open letters.

Without regard to year of publication, the following fifteen guest articles garnered the most attention from our readers in 2019. Have a look and see if your favourites made the cut. 

#15

Evolution and the Fall

Christopher Howell

#14

The Russian Orthodox Church’s Battle with Time: Reflections on the Patriarchate of Alexandria’s Recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

Andreja Bogdanovski

#13

Response to Our Open Letter

Archbishop Mark (Maymon)

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DECEMBER 2019

PSA: The Union of Orthodox Journalists ≠ Journalism

Today Is Giving Tuesday!

TV Review: Good Omens

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

Evolution and the Fall

UNESCO: Byzantine Chant Part of Humanity’s “Intangible Cultural Heritage”

January’s Coming: Call for Articles on “Pro-Life” and “Christian Unity” Read More

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