Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America

On July 4 one of Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s readers reached out to me for pastoral support. Let’s call him “John.” I share the following publicly with his permission in the hope that it may help others.

John is a cradle Orthodox, middle-aged, married, and the father of children. Prior to marriage, he had only been intimate with men. His priest convinced him to give up men and marry a woman. Five years into marriage, he began to see men intermittently behind his wife’s back. He continues to do this to the present time.

Over the course of several emails in one day, in which I asked questions to get a better sense of the situation but said nothing judgmental, it became clear to me—and was no surprise to me—that John sought emotional fulfilment more than sexual gratification in the arms of men. Read More

St. Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833) is arguably the most beloved of modern saints anywhere in the Orthodox world. We have seen his icon even in Greek churches. He is remembered for his gentleness, his relationship with wild animals, his visions of uncreated light, his conversation with Nicholas Motovilov on the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, and his practice of calling all his visitors my joy as he greeted them every day of the year with Christ is risen, my joy! 

A less likely candidate for patron saint of Russia’s nuclear arsenal there could not be.

The following short excerpts are taken from Russian Orthodox Church Considers a Ban on Blessing Weapons of Mass Destruction, which appeared yesterday at Religion News Service. We encourage you to take a few minutes to read the whole report at the source. 

St. Seraphim of Sarov

As police officers stood guard [in May 2018], two Russian Orthodox priests wearing cassocks and holding Bibles climbed out of a vehicle and began sprinkling holy water on the stationary Topol and Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Priests have sanctified S-400 surface-to-air missiles, nuclear submarines, tanks and fighter jets.

Vsevolod Chaplin, an influential priest and former spokesman for the patriarch, told the Vzglyad newspaper that nuclear weapons were the country’s “guardian angels” and necessary to preserve “Orthodox civilization.” Read More

In sending our Open Letter to the bishops of the United States and Canada this morning we invited them to send responses which we would be happy to publish. 

Archbishop Mark (Maymon) of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania

Orthodox Church in America

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Our LGBTQI Listening Tour: An Open Letter to Our Bishops in the USA and Canada was sent with the following letter this morning to approximately forty episcopal email addresses across the United States and Canada.  In case your bishop’s email address was unavailable to us, you may wish to forward this to him.

It is not too late to sign our Open Letter. Instructions are found at the link above.

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