For context see the Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 linked at the top of this page.

ADDENDUM 10/3/22: Within an hour of our publishing the following report, the petition was taken down. A diligent reader obtained the deleted petition in Google Cache: Home _ The Antiochian Diocese of Los Angeles and the West

Disgraced Former Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

Early this morning, October 3, a website with the deceptive appearance of being the official organ of the Antiochian Archdiocese’s  Diocese of Los Angeles and the West — Al-Zehlaoui’s own diocese as a diocesan bishop and for the duration of his metropolitanate — and created in 2005 with his “support, encouragement, and trust,” launched a petition to reverse Al-Zehlaoui’s retirement. The website legitimizes itself by claiming in December 2020 that it “finds new life on Antiochian.org and the Archdiocesan Facebook page” (where there is actually no trace of it).

It seems entirely plausible that Al-Zehlaoui himself is steering this shameless initiative. The Holy Synod of Antioch under the presidency of Patriarch John, the Temporary Operating Committee under the presidency of Bishop John, and the “independent investigating committee” of mysterious identity must include this new development in their deliberations on Al-Zehlaoui’s final fate. Read More

TOTAL AS OF 10/27/22

$978 of $1500

23 Donations

Visit GoFundMe to help out today!

I’ve befriended a homeless gay married couple here in Toronto, Bobby and Lawrence (not them in the photo), and their dogs Parker and Ritz. I buy them coffee and a sandwich as my limited resources allow. I’ve offered, once the weather turns cold, to have them stay over once a week, do their laundry, shower and shave, enjoy a home-cooked supper, sleep in my queen-size bed while I sleep on the daybed in the living room, and start the next day with a hot breakfast in the morning.

My reason for turning to you with yet another GoFundMe is that my friends are approaching our frigid Canadian winter months wearing little more than spring jackets and crocs. I need your help getting them into boots, parkas, mittens, toques, and sleeping bags of a quality as good as we more fortunate people buy for ourselves. Any money left over after we provide these basic needs will be handed to them as cash to be used at their discretion. Read More

For context see the Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 and the adulterous ex-Metropolitan’s hagiography on the Archdiocese website. Clergy and laity alike are beginning to lose faith in the Patriarchate’s handling of this matter.

Read More

Orthodoxy in Dialogue has published previously on the emerging focus of Orthodox theology on disability, especially with attention to people with autism. (See Monica Spoor and Charlotte Riggle in the alphabetical section of our Archives.) We applaud the clergy and laity of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Southampton NY for this wonderful and inspiring initiative. We have also published on St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church‘s homeless ministry in Wichita KS. Both of these projects reflect a Gospel theme so central to the writings of the Fathers and Orthodox spirituality, that of serving Christ by meeting the needs of our brothers, sisters, and siblings who bear His image. May these two parishes serve as a model for other Orthodox parishes, monasteries, and institutions around the world.

The present article appeared yesterday at Religion News Service with a different title.

Dimitri Donus, second from left, processes as an altar server during a service at

Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons in Southampton, New York,

on Sept. 11, 2022. (RNS photo by Adelle M. Banks)

US Autism Homes provides an extended circle of friends through a private-public partnership involving the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons.

Dressed in the yellow robes of an altar server, Dimitri Donus dutifully held the tall, golden sacramental fan as he processed with other acolytes during the Divine Liturgy on a recent Sunday at his Greek Orthodox church in this resort town on Long Island’s east end.

Later, he joined other church members for a meal, munching on fried chicken, corn on the cob and cornbread. Then, along with his housemates and their caregivers, he traveled a half-hour by van and set out on a small boat for an afternoon sail.

Donus is one of a handful of residents of a house run by US Autism Homes for young adults with autism through a private-public partnership involving the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons. At the 5,000-square-foot house a six-minute walk from the church, he has a place to live and an extended circle of friends beyond his immediate family. Read More