When I first set out to write something for Great Lent about humility and vulnerability, I had something entirely different in mind as an example. It had to do with things I learned while preparing to write a book.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and all the remarks I made about what I’d learned seemed to become rather pointless in the face of this crisis that is thrusting us all into the realm of vulnerability. It makes for a different Lent than we’re used to, because we usually draw together during this time in preparation for the Feast to follow. Even if this forced isolation also offers opportunities for the reflection and prayer that are a part of every Lent, we Orthodox are very much community-minded people when it comes down to it. Read More

In the endless and often unedifying intra-Orthodox debates about the possibility or impossibility of getting sick from what is truly the Body and truly the Blood of Christ; about the suitability or unsuitability of watching livestreams of the local priest and two or three self-proclaimed “lucky ones” receive Holy Communion when we “unlucky ones” cannot (instead of, say, using the opportunity of social distancing to imitate St. Mary of Egypt and the Desert Fathers of old by increasing and intensifying our rule of prayer at home); about how local priests might or might not provide pastoral care and access to the Eucharist without undue risk of contagion to their flocks; about same-sex marriage as the cause of COVID-19 (yes, we’ve heard this now from Ukraine’s pseudo “Patriarch” Filaret); we have seen very little—if any, frankly—attention given to the most fundamental of all ascetical disciplines for us who aren’t hermits: almsgiving and feeding the hungry from our own pockets.  Read More

Brother hierarchs and beloved children in the Lord,

From the Phanar, from the heart of the Queen of Cities, from the City of the Great Church and of Haghia Sophia, we are communicating with each and every one of you—women, men, and children—because of the unprecedented conditions and tribulation that we are facing as a human race as a result of the global threat posed by the pandemic of the new coronavirus, called COVID-19.

The voice of the Church, of the Mother Church, cannot be silent in such times. Our words, then, take the form we have learned through the ages: through the liturgy and through instruction, with encouragement and consolation. Read More

In response to widespread disagreements on how Orthodox synods, individual hierarchs, and clergy have reacted, and should react, to the coronavirus crisis—especially as pertains to attendance at liturgical services and partaking in Holy Communion—Orthodoxy in Dialogue offers this space to share your thoughts and concerns.

Send your comments of no more than 200 words to editors@orthodoxyindialogue.com. Include your full name and city/state/province/country of residence. If you are a hierarch or clergyman, also include the jurisdiction to which you belong. Read More