Recent vandalism to the exterior of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Due to how the situation has developed over the last few days, the parish council of the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in Amsterdam made an announcement to the parish. For those of you who do not know, this is the parish Jim Forest belonged to, who was cofounder of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship. The  announcement by the parish council is followed by a letter by the clergy that explains the details. At the same time it gives interesting historical information about the parish.

Also the clergy made a list of answers to possible questions that may arise. These answers again give many interesting details. The letter of the clergy also reveals some more shocking details of what took place during the last few days, some of which were unknown to me until now. I have been so shocked and worried over all this over the last few days, and feel relieved that it has come to this decision. This decision will cause pain, people will leave because of it. And it causes pain to everyone. I am deeply saddened by the fact that the letter is not signed by one of our deacons whom I consider to be a good friend. At the same time, I am proud to be a member of this parish, where I can continue to feel spiritually safe. One of the most poignant phrases in the letter by the clergy for me: There is no longer a persecuted Church, but a persecuting Church. Read More

The present interview by Dmitry Zlodorev was published under News on the official website of the Montreal and Canadian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia on March 1, 2022. Most appalling is the equivalence Archbishop Gabriel draws between the vandalization of the exterior of a single Russian church in all of Canada and the wholesale slaughter of Ukrainians and their cities—including babies, the disabled, the terminally ill, preteens, teenagers, young adults, mothers and fathers and their children, grandmothers and grandfathers under the Moscow Patriarchate .

Archbishop Gabriel serves as ROCOR’s locum tenens during the illness of Metropolitan Hilarion. Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s readers will recall +Gabriel’s bizarre interview with anti-Semite Nathanael Kapner, who was condemned by ROCOR’s Synod of Bishops at a time when +Gabriel was already a bishop and member of the Synod.

You may share your thoughts on this interview with Archbishop Gabriel at bp_gabriel@yahoo.com. 

ADDENDUM 3/14/22: An attentive reader has brought to our attention that this interview vanished mysteriously from the diocesan website within days of Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s broadcasting it around the world. Someone might want to inform His Eminence that it can still be found on the Wayback Machine.

Archbishop Gabriel (Chemodakov) of Montreal and Canada (ROCOR)

In Canada, where, as is known, there is a very large Ukrainian diaspora, against the backdrop of new events in Ukraine, one temple of the Russian Church Abroad was subjected to an act of vandalism, and a protest action was held next to another during the liturgy. But, according to Archbishop Gabriel (Chemodakov) of Montreal and Canada, the Church must unite people in the name of Christ and call for overcoming divisions.

—Vladyka, how does the Russian Church in Canada feel about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine?

– I think it is common knowledge that there are many Ukrainians living in Canada, many of whom came here before the 1917 revolution. There is, I would say, an influential Ukrainian lobby in parliament, and this is why we need to be extremely careful in our assessments of what is happening now. Read More

CALL FOR PAPERS

Toronto School of Theology Graduate Students’ Association (TGSA) Conference
Spring 2022

Traversing Schemas of Normativity: Methodological Concerns in Theology
Friday, June 10th, 2022

Discussions on the effectiveness and potential limitations of critical theories in theological discourse have begun to receive an increasing amount of attention. These theories, which may seek to recontextualize, supplant, or dispel normative and archaic structures of thought, present new motivations, possibilities, and potential conclusions to the theological project. Normative claims can be defined as a specified judgment of value that acts as a controlling standard in a larger structure of thought typically enforced as a hegemonic ideal. “Traversing Schemas of Normativity: Methodological Concerns in Theology” seeks to be a forum where graduate researchers can present their work regarding the use and reception of normativizing and hegemonic claims regarding scripture, spirituality, and/or theological understanding. Presentations may demonstrate the pragmatic need for normative schemas or illustrate their cognitive and affective limitations. Normative schemas are laden in all forms of knowing; however, what we wish to ask is, how can recognition and critical engagement with normative structures/claims in the theological context inspire new methods for theological contemplation? The conference will also set out to examine how emerging critical perspectives (decolonial, feminist, contextualist, ecological, et al.) can engage with and recontextualize normative claims.

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Patriarch Kirill of Moscow (L), Priest Seraphim Holland of ROCOR (R)

Father Seraphim Holland (ROCOR) addressed the following comment to editor Giacomo Sanfilippo on his Facebook timeline in response to Patriarch Kirill’s justification of the joint Kremlin-Patriarchate invasion of Ukraine due to Kyiv Pride. Father Holland expresses no regret for the invasion or mentions it at all.

You are spending too much energy hating and too much energy for things which are unclean.

Because you are obsessed with those things, you hate those who teach Orthodox Doctrine regarding them.

Somehow I think you have a good heart, but you’re blinded by your obsession with LGBTQ.

And by the way, I don’t know exactly what [Patriarch Kirill] said. He might have said things that were not good to say; however you loathe anyone, it seems, who teaches Orthodox sexual ethics. Read More