The present article appeared at The Armenian Weekly on November 2 and was brought to our attention by a Melkite Catholic priest sympathetic to Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s LGBTQ advocacy around the Orthodox world. While the schism that separates the Oriental Orthodox churches from the (Eastern) Orthodox Church since the Fourth Ecumenical Council persists, the modern era has witnessed the Holy Spirit renewing a bond of brotherhood between us. We wish to show our love and support for our LGBTQ Armenian brothers, sisters, and siblings by republishing the following.

Editor’s Note: The tragic suicide of a young gay couple in Yerevan last month has reignited important conversations surrounding homophobia in Armenian society. Their names were Arsen and Tigran. They took their own lives on October 20, 2022 after Arsen—a minor—shared a series of photos of their loving relationship on social media with the caption, “Happy end: we decided together to share pictures and the decision for our future action.” In light of this distressing news from our homeland, the Armenian Weekly underscores its pledge to uplift all voices across the Armenian Diaspora. The following personal essay was written and submitted to the Armenian Weekly for publication on condition of anonymity, which we will honor and respect to protect this author’s privacy and abiding love for the Armenian church.

Arsen and Tigran

May their memory be eternal.

In 2022, it is no longer a shock to readers of the Weekly that there are gay, queer and LGBT Armenians. I don’t think it will come as a shock that we continue to participate in organizations, associations and community life, or that we too date (surprisingly often) amongst ourselves, as well as outside of the Armenian community. I think to 10 years ago, when I was just coming to terms with the fact that my attraction to men was never going to go away, and when I had exactly one other gay Armenian friend. Read More

The following brief report appeared yesterday on the website of the Antiochian Archdiocese. For context see the Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 linked at the top of this page.

The fact that Joseph Al-Zehlaoui was granted the appearance of an honourable “retirement” — fooling exactly no one (the scandal attracted over a half million views to Orthodoxy in Dialogue in a matter of weeks, a number that normally takes us two and a half years to achieve) — and that all messaging from Damascus and Englewood rings of “back to business as usual,” leaves the most critical questions to emerge from these past three months unanswered. The faithful who have been in touch with us from all over the world want to know: What sort of compensation, or at least public apology, will be offered to Al-Zehlaoui’s principal accuser? Why hasn’t Al-Zehlaoui been compelled to repent publicly of his very public sins, but allowed rather to use the Archdiocese website twice to spew his nonsensical and cynical self-hagiography? Why wasn’t he deposed? Most importantly, what steps will be taken immediately to formulate and implement policies and procedures for responding to allegations of sexual and other abuse at the hands of the Archdiocese’s hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and lay employees and volunteers? What assurances do the children, youth, women, and men of the Archdiocese have that their abuse will be handled more properly than this sad episode has exposed?

There can be no more business as usual. The Archdiocese must not squander this opportunity for sweeping reforms from top to bottom of its administration.

His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East warmly welcomed a delegation from the Antiochian Archdiocese at the Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology in Balamand, Lebanon from Nov. 9-10, 2022. Read More

“Autumn Love”

AI generated image by Jamie Arpin-Ricci*

Your Eminence, Metropolitan Antonios, Patriarchal Vicar for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America,

In your recent essay entitled Holiness at a Time When Uncleanness is Made Legal, you wrote with harsh condemnation about a number of cultural currents in contemporary societies around the planet. Without minimizing the other concerns raised by your essay—human rights, women’s rights, feminism—our question focuses on the matter of sexual diversity in human nature, and especially of same-sex love.

Do we understand correctly that you consider the relationship portrayed in the illustration above to be satanic, pagan, mentally ill? Is it for such relationships that God obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah from the face of the earth? Is it about such a relationship that you wrote the following? Read More

The head of Cyprus’s dominant Orthodox Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, has died at the age of 81, according to his doctors.

A forceful character who faced down pro-Russian elements in one of the world’s oldest churches, Chrysostomos was among the Orthodox leaders who recognise the Ukrainian Church’s independence after it broke from Moscow in 2020. Read More