Metropolitan Petros of Accra

I thought that we should talk quite openly about the proverbial ‘elephant in the room.’ It’s not a literal elephant, but it is an issue that has certainly made headlines and done its rounds within our broader Orthodox community quicker than the recent raging fires of Pendeli mountain. It’s caused sensation and it’s caused shock and scandal. It’s provided food for gossip for those prone to this diet. It’s been a cause of publishing on Facebook—for reasons that still baffle me, and that I find cruel, insensitive, judgmental, vindictive, serving an anti-Church and anti-clerical agenda. It shook the faith of some but was also an opportunity for prayer for others.

I’m talking about the recent arrest of an Orthodox priest (not of the Archdiocese of Accra) on suspicion of committing a most horrendous murder. I’m not here to defend it, or sweep it under the carpet, as the Church often has done in such situations. I’m here to talk about it, and perhaps, present you with another perspective on the issue. Bear with me, please. Read More

The following response to OCA Synod of Bishops Slams Door Shut on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Orthodox Christians was sent to the individual members of the OCA Synod of Bishops on July 27, 2022. Other LGBTQ Orthodox Christians and their allies are invited to share the spiritually devastating impact of the Synod’s “Statement on Same-Sex Relationships and Sexual Identity” in an article, open letter, or letter to the editors. Contrary to what the bishops may imagine, theirs has never been the final word in the history of the Orthodox Church.

7/27/22

To His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All American and Canada

And to the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America,

Grace to you and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ.

As someone who is both orthodox and queer, I have a request for you in light of the recent statement of the OCA Synod. Living as a layman who is also queer has been a central question my entire life. Nearly every moment is filled with thoughts of how to be thoroughly authentic, pious, and orthodox while acknowledging I am homosexual. My request comes from decades of study and prayer and is presented to you with pain in my heart as I pray for the salvation of our souls. Read More

European Bishops’ Conference of ROCOR

In which the European Bishops of ROCOR serve up a dish of pious pabulum that says precisely nothing.

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Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s readers around the planet have been introduced to Archbishop Gabriel (Chemodakov) twice: first, in Only Monarchy Can Save Russia — Restore It!, an interview he gave with an anti-Semitic monk previously condemned by ROCOR; and second, in ROCOR Archbishop of Canada Justifies Wholesale Slaughter of Ukraine, an interview removed from the Archdiocesan website as soon as we published it.

Irrepressible interviewee and Patriarchate-Kremlin propagandist that he is, +Gabriel spoke with Dmitri Zlodorev in a conversation published by Православие.Ru on July 20, 2022. In it, he makes Russia out to be the victim and blames the West’s reaction to the Ukrainian massacre and Patriarch Kirill’s full-throated support of it on “Western Russophobia.”

What follows is a Google translation of the report published on Русская Народная Линия on July 25. Read More