The Bible is the foundational text for the Byzantine Empire in all its political, religious, and cultural manifestations. The nine papers in the newly released The Bible in Byzantium (the introduction and three of them in English, the remainder in German, but all of them—we like to think—worth reading) explore its reception through appropriation, adaptation and interpretation.

Most of the men, women, and children in Byzantium would have encountered the Holy Scriptures predominantly in the context of the Divine Liturgy. They would have seen the preciously decorated book covers as the codex was carried from behind the iconostasis into the congregational space for the liturgical reading, they would have heard the priest recite passages from the Gospels according to the liturgical calendar of readings, and all the while, they may have noted in the church around them depictions on icons or frescoes of selected words and phrases from the Bible associated with figural or scenic representations.

The living liturgical tradition continues to shape the reception of the New Testament in the Orthodox Church to the present day. Viewed from this angle, what may come as a surprise to the scholar in search of the Urtext is perfectly understandable for the church-going believer: there exists to date no authoritative text of the New Testament in the Greek Orthodox Tradition. Karl Klimmeck (“Auf der Suche nach dem Byzantinischen Bibeltext”) contextualizes and elucidates this issue, based on his own involvement with the creation of the Byzantinische Text Deutsch, under the auspices of the Schweizerische Bibelgesellschaft, for use by Orthodox communities. He points out that in the Orthodox tradition, the Bible acquires life, meaning, and significance as it is embedded in the divine mystery which is the Liturgy. Read More

While awaiting an official English translation from the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe, Orthodoxy in Dialogue offers our own to our readers. For context see Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe/Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to Be Abolished and It’s Official: Ecumenical Patriarchate Dissolves Russian Archdiocese of Western Europe. (Note: “Rue Daru” is used for our purposes as the commonly known nickname for the Archdiocese, not necessarily with specific reference to the cathedral itself.)

Communiqué of the Archdiocesan Council – November 30, 2018

The Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches of Western Europe, which constitutes one of the oldest Orthodox ecclesial entities in our regions, was placed under the pastoral responsibility of Metropolitan Evlogy (Georgievsky) by St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, by decree of April 8, 1921. Cast into exile by the Bolshevik Revolution, the Russian emigrants established, with faith and courage, an ecclesial presence founded on the major principles of the unfinished Council of Moscow of 1917-18. Established first in Berlin, the see of the Archdiocese was transferred to Paris, to the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, where it assumed the form of an association in accordance with French law, composed of communities and parishes established in France and throughout Western Europe: thus it remains to this day. The statutes of this association—The Guiding Diocesan Union of Russian Orthodox Associations in Western Europe—were submitted to the prefecture on February 26, 1924 and are still in force today.

In 1931, to guarantee its independence and permanence, the Archdiocese requested to depend on the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which was accepted by a patriarchal and synodal Tomos of February 17, 1931, giving the Archdiocese the status of a provisional Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Read More

The month of January brings two annual events about which we invite hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laypeople to write thoughtful reflections for us: the March for Life (January 18 in the US) and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18-25 in most countries). We welcome a variety of perspectives from Orthodox contributors as well as from those of other traditions.

What does it mean for the Church to be “pro-life?” What does this require of us pastorally? What does it require of the Church politically? What has the March accomplished? What has Orthodox participation in it accomplished? What is our obligation to women who have an abortion? To children after they are born? To the hungry and the poor? To refugees at our borders and around the planet? To those sentenced to death or losing their minds in solitary confinement? How do we expand our pro-life vision to include all lives, everyone’s life, at all stages and in all circumstances of life? How do we put this expanded pro-life vision into practice individually and ecclesially? Read More

Cardinal Kurt Koch with Papal Delegation at Church of St. George. November 30, 2018.

On November 30, the Feast of St. Andrew, Pope Francis sends message to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

It has become a well established tradition: the exchange of delegations between the Holy See [of Rome] and the Patriarchate of Constantinople for the patronal feasts of SS. Peter and Paul (June 29) and St. Andrew (November 30).

This year the Roman delegation, led by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, attended the Divine Liturgy presided by Patriarch Bartholomew in the Church of St. George in the Phanar, the patriarchal See. As customary, the Swiss Cardinal conveyed the greetings of the Bishop of Rome to Bartholomew.   

In his message the Pope paid tribute to this “joyous tradition” which underlines “the profound link which unites” the two Sees despite centuries “of mutual misunderstanding, of differences, and of silence.” Read More