UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT BANS UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH-MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE (UOC-MP)

The following report appeared earlier today at the Kyiv Post. We at Orthodoxy in Dialogue have long known that the vaunted separation of the UOC-MP under Metropolitan Onufry from the Moscow Patriarchate following Russia’s  invasion of Ukraine was little more than a mendacious publicity stunt, belied by the fact that the Patriarchate never took canonical action against its Ukrainian branch or the person of its primate.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine calls on the world not to recognize the

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, Kyiv

Ukrainian Lawmakers Vote to Ban Moscow-Linked Orthodox Church

The measure banning a church considered in Ukraine to be aligned with Putin’s “Russian world” ideology needs to be signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelensky to take effect.

Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday [August 20, 2024] voted to ban the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as Kyiv cuts religious, social and institutional ties with bodies it considers aligned with Moscow. 

Kyiv has been trying to curb spiritual links with Russia for years – a process that was hugely accelerated by Moscow’s 2022 invasion, which the powerful Russian Orthodox Church sanctified. 

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ANOTHER FRONT FOR INVESTIGATING METROPOLITAN HILARION ALFEYEV: ARE HIS BOOKS GHOST-WRITTEN?

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Suspended Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Hungary

When Orthodoxy in Dialogue began reporting on then-Metropolitan Joseph Al-Zehlaoui’s  predatory, adulterous affair in August 2022, our inbox became flooded with a daily barrage of incriminating evidence from sources all over. We did our due diligence to sift credible information from uncorroborated gossip. Our hard work resulted in his swift, forcible “retirement.” He finished himself off by giving the Holy Synod of Antioch no choice but to defrock him and return him to lay status—precisely what we had urged from day one of our coverage.

The same snowball effect may have begun to gain traction since our report on Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev ‘s alleged predatory gay affair just three short days ago. Read More

WHEN YOUR CELL ATTENDANT BECOMES YOUR BEDMATE: METROPOLITAN HILARION ALFEYEV’S SECRET GAY LIFE

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The present report appeared with a different title yesterday, July 25, at Novaya Gazeta Europe as a translation and revision of its original exposé in Russian on July 5. Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s mandate does not include exposing the sexual sins of hierarchs and priests except when they engage in the same activities that they so virulently denounce as spokesmen of the Church. Our readers will recall that Alfeyev has served as the Moscow Patriarchate’s main anti-LGBTQ voice. (See here, for instance.) Alfeyev repeatedly went on record condemning same-sex love while engaging in non-consensual, assaultive same-sex acts. His global reputation as a theologian and composer is collapsing like a house of cards. Will SVS Press do the right thing and remove his titles from its list?
We should also note, when reading about Alfeyev’s lavish lifestyle, that Orthodox bishops are selected from among the monks and should in principle continue to live in monastic austerity.

Russian Orthodox turmoil

Allegations of sexual harassment against a once high-flying bishop have rocked Russia’s religious establishment to the core

Russian Orthodox turmoil
Hilarion Alfeyev addresses the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, Hungary, 6 September 2021.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Noemi Bruzak 

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church announced the temporary suspension of the metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary from his diocese on Thursday, pending the findings of a commission appointed to study “the situation there”. While the wording of the church statement was deliberately ambiguous, the matter being investigated is almost certainly a series of recent sexual harassment claims against Metropolitan Hilarion.

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GLOBAL EASTERN ORTHODOXY’S ROLE IN RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT RESOLUTION by Eleftherios Hazapis

Dome and Bell Tower -- Greek Orthodox Church in Fira, Santorini by Darin VolpeIntroduction: Orthodoxy as a Diplomatic Tool

Diplomatic mediation between Orthodox hierarchy, governments, and non-profits in the Russia-Ukraine conflict can bring about peace and prosperity in the Orthodox world in the 21st century. The powerful global Eastern Orthodox world should have a more active and engaged role in promoting conflict resolution and ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. Multiple actors in the global Orthodox world can play active negotiating roles in ending this conflict These actors include the governments of majority Orthodox countries, global Orthodox ecclesiastical leadership, and Orthodox deposed inter-related nobility. All can play significant roles in ending this conflict to neutralize the war path charted by Western powers waging a new Cold War against Russia’s Putin.

I will  briefly examine the history of the Orthodox world and offer a plan of action for unifying and promoting dialogue among the Orthodox spheres of influence that I define as composed by the following groups. First, we have Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia, states with Orthodox believers firmly planted within the European Union’s democratic economic and political order. Second, we have the sprawling Orthodox diaspora in North America, Australasia, and other parts of the world. Third, we have authoritarian Russia and now invaded and victimized Ukraine. Finally, we have non-state historical and non-profit actors. Read More