August 22 will mark Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s first anniversary of contributing—to the best of our ability—to the conversation on an unlimited range of topics within and beyond the Orthodox Church.

We’d like to hear from you.

Where have we done well? Where could we have done better? Where have we frankly done badly or even failed? What would you like to see, or not see, during our second year of publication?

We invite you to respond to these questions by way of an article, a letter to the editors, or an email not meant for public viewing. Check our Submission Guidelines if you would like us to consider your response for publication. Read More

The recently enacted Basic Law: “Israel, the Nation-State of the Jewish People” is a cause of great concern. Seemingly enacted for internal political reasons, while defining Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, the law fails to provide any constitutional guarantees for the rights of the indigenous and other minorities living in the country. Palestinian citizens of Israel, constituting 20% are flagrantly excluded from the law.

It is beyond conception that a Law with constitutional effect ignores an entire segment of the population, as if its members never existed. The law might not have practical effects, yet it sends an unequivocal signal to the Palestinian citizens of Israel, to the effect that in this country they are not at home. The Arabic language has been downgraded from an official language to a language with “a special status”, and with the commitment to work on the development of Jewish settlement in the land, with no mention of the development of the country for the rest of its inhabitants.

This Basic Law is exclusive rather than inclusive, disputed rather than consensual, politicized rather than being rooted in the basic norms that are common and acceptable to all fractions of the population. Read More

For the context of Mr. Rizkalla’s addendum see our letter to the editors of August 2, of which the writer is but one of several who voiced similar questions. Rightly does Mr. Rizkalla remind us that it is precisely through the united acclamation of the local faithful that God begins to manifest His saints and glorify those who are His own. God reveals them to the Church as saints precisely because we on earth need them, their witness, their holy example.

Forty-Nine Holy Martyrs of Scetis (AD 444)

There seem to be a number of concerns that the title martyr was given hastily, or unjustifiably, in my “Anba Epiphanius the Neo-Hieromartyr,” since “[t]he identity and motive of the murderer are unknown as of yet, despite the speculations of many.” Perhaps an explanation of its use here is in order to assuage concerned readers.

Those who have lived under the yoke of persecutory regimes and in antagonistic milieus are all too familiar with cases of people who suddenly disappear or die inexplicably. Enquiries into what happened may follow, but ultimately get swept under the rug as unsolvable, much to the sorrow of those impacted, who desire closure. Despite the mystery that surrounds the details pertaining to these injustices, people somehow know deep inside what happened.

It is certainly not prudent, or desirable, to speculate on what happened to Anba Epiphanius. However, his troubled environment is known to most who are familiar with the situation in Egypt and the Church there. My eulogy may have given a mere passing glance at what the bishop had to endure personally, and could have seemed as nothing to the casual reader. Nevertheless, those who have similarly suffered—directly, or indirectly—simply knew what had happened. That would explain the widespread sharing of Anba Epiphanius’ murder on social media and elsewhere. Read More

Anba Epiphanius the Neo-Hieromartyr
June 27, 1954 ~ July 29, 2018
Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great in Scetis, Egypt

Introduction

It is not at all easy to find adequate words to do justice to a servant of God, particularly one such as the Right Reverend Anba (Arabic, from Coptic apa, abba, from Syriac abbā, meaning father; a title for a Coptic bishop or saint) Epiphanius, Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great in Scetis, Egypt, who so loved God to the point of offering his life wholly to Him as a sacrifice. No matter what is said or written, it cannot capture the depth that underlies such a person. Even so, I thank Orthodoxy in Dialogue for so graciously affording me with the opportunity to eulogize the Church’s neo-hieromartyr and to introduce him to the blog’s readership.

A Life in Few Lines

Anba Epiphanius was born on June 27, 1954, in Tanta, Egypt. He received a baccalaureate in medicine and surgery from the University of Tanta in 1978, having specialized in otorhinolaryngology. On February 17, 1984, Anba Epiphanius entered the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great, whose Spiritual Father was Hegoumen Mattá al-Miskīn (Matthew the Poor: 1919-2006), himself an affluent, well-educated pharmacist who imitated St. Anthony the Great, selling his possessions in response to the Lord’s call, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, give it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come, and follow me!” (Mt 19:21). Anba Epiphanius received his monastic tonsure on April 21, 1984, and was ordained to the priesthood on October 17, 2002. Read More