On Friday morning, August 31, 2018, following his communicated desire, His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, accompanied by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the Reverend Protopriest Nikolai Balashov and the Reverend Presbyter Anatoly Churyakov, interpreter, arrived at the Phanar in order to deliberate with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on matters of inter-Orthodox concern.

Patriarch Kirill was greeted at the airport by His Eminence Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima and the Very Reverend Grand Archimandrite Vissarion, Archivist of the Patriarchate.

His Beatitude proceeded to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, where he was greeted by Their Eminences Metropolitans Emmanuel of France and Bartholomew of Smyrna, as well as the members of the Patriarchal Court, led by the Very Reverend Grand Chancellor Andreas. After paying his respects at the Venerable Patriarchal Church, he was received by His All-Holiness in the Chamber of the Throne, in the presence of members of the Holy and Sacred Synod and other Hierarchs, who had traveled to the Phanar to participate in the Synaxis of the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne on the feast of Indiction. Read More

AUGUST 2018

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Approximately thirty priests and laypeople gathered at Kyiv’s Open Orthodox University of Saint Sophia-Wisdom last week to discuss the future of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. They produced this declaration of their hope for reconciliation and cooperation among all Ukrainian Orthodox jurisdictions. 

Metropolitan Onufriy (L), primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, and Patriarch Filaret (R), primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate. July 28, 2016. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

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Statement of the Initiative Group of the Open Orthodox Network
Kyiv, August 23, 2018

Gathered together by the initiative of the Open Orthodox University of Saint Sophia-Wisdom, we, the clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, began a dialogue on the future of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and its place in society.

The majority of us are determined and consistent supporters of the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. We are open to dialogue and call upon Orthodox Ukrainians who belong or will belong to different Orthodox jurisdictions, to refrain from the language of hostility and violence to anyone in solving any issues, including matters of administration and property.

We propose peaceful coexistence, cooperation, and concelebration instead of war between jurisdictions. Read More

The following is excerpted from a report released yesterday by the Associated Press. Well-known priest and scholar, Archimandrite Cyril (Hovorun), served as one of the sources. The original contains a screen shot of a Russian phishing attempt on Father John Jillions, chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). We strongly urge you to read the report in its entirety at the link provided below.

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Nothing Sacred: Russian Spies Tried Hacking Orthodox Clergy

by

Raphael Satter

The Russian hackers indicted by the U.S. special prosecutor last month have spent years trying to steal the private correspondence of some of the world’s most senior Orthodox Christian figures, The Associated Press has found, illustrating the high stakes as Kiev and Moscow wrestle over the religious future of Ukraine.

The targets included top aides to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who often is described as the first among equals of the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christian leaders.

The Istanbul-based patriarch is currently mulling whether to accept a Ukrainian bid to tear that country’s church from its association with Russia, a potential split fueled by the armed conflict between Ukrainian military forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The AP’s evidence comes from a hit list of 4,700 email addresses supplied last year by Secureworks, a subsidiary of Dell Technologies. Read More