Top: Besties Metropolitan Tikhon (L) of the Orthodox Church in America and Patriarch Kirill (R) of the Russian Orthodox Church

Bottom: Archpriest Chad Hatfield, President of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

The so-called “Patriarch Kirill Endowment for Biblical Studies” — “in recognition of Patriarch Kirill for his role in the remarkable revival of the Orthodox Church in Russia, universal church leadership, profound biblically oriented pastoral guidance, and support for the vision of the autocephalous Orthodox Church in America” — was a sick joke and the laughingstock of the Orthodox world when it was first announced.

Now you have an endowment named after the most genocidal hierarch in Orthodox history.

Give back the rubles. Refinance and rename your biblical studies endowment.

The whole world is watching to see what you do. Read More

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

NOTE: THIS CAMPAIGN HAS ENDED

PLEASE MAKE YOUR CONTRIBUTION DIRECTLY TO INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES

In years past, Orthodoxy in Dialogue has conducted successful fundraising campaigns during Great Lent to feed the homeless on the streets of Toronto on Pascha.

This year, we propose to do the same for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters driven from their homes by the Russian invasion. Please give as generously as you can. On Holy Saturday, we will transfer all the funds collected, together with the list of donor names, to the International Orthodox Christian Charities for their humanitarian mission in Ukraine.

Send your contribution to editors@orthodoxyindialogue.com via PayPal. Include your name (or indicate if you prefer to be listed as Anonymous), place of residence, and in whose memory (if you wish) you make your offering. Names will be listed alphabetically. Individual amounts will not be publicly disclosed.

Return to this page often to see the total donations and list of names growing.

Whether you can give or not, join your prayers to ours for the suffering people of Ukraine and for the success of this year’s Lenten project.

TOTAL TO DATE: $443 CAD

✠   DONORS   ✠

Yvette Cuny
Sacramento, California

M.J.S.
St. Paul, Minnesota
In memory of James and Sandra Bergstrom and Alice Danyluk

Giacomo Sanfilippo
Toronto, Ontario
In memory of Archpriest Peter and Anna Lukashyk Turiansky

Bernard Stuckey
Indianapolis, Indiana

Anonymous
Toronto, Ontario

✠

Боже великий, єдиний, нам Украïну храни. Great and only God, protect Ukraine for us.

Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill practicing Russian-style “Byzantine symphonia”

The current invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russian forces may have come as a surprise to some, for many were probably hoping that the massive build-up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border was a bluff intended to force Ukraine to give in to Russian demands. As things turned out, however, this was no bluff, and the ensuing invasion has been rapid and fierce. For the most part, the world reacted with shock to the Russian aggression, and the field was opened for assessment and judgment of the situation.

One such judgment was made by Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and supreme head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Kirill’s comments were reported by the APF News Agency on February 27, 2022. In his remarks, he described Moscow’s opponents in Ukraine as “evil forces.” Such a statement, issued by the head the the world’s largest Orthodox jurisdiction, is nothing less than a blatant lie and statement of hate. I would even suggest that such a remark must surely be an abomination in the eyes of God Himself. If anyone should want a rebuttal to Kirill’s comment, we might note that Archbishop Yevstratiy (Zoria), speaking for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, stated that “Putin is not the messiah, but really the anti-Christ of our current time.” Read More

A family sit in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. In Ukraine’s capital, many residents hurried underground for safety overnight Thursday and Friday as Russian forces fired on the city and moved closer. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

The humanitarian and development agency International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is responding to needs created by the conflict in Ukraine. Given the enormity of the crisis, IOCC has launched a campaign to raise at least $1 million dollars in private donations to support this work.

In response to the crisis in Ukraine, IOCC is working with partners in country and across the region to help address immediate needs, while looking ahead and planning for longer-term response.

Initial efforts in Ukraine include providing generators and fuel, as well as flashlights, batteries, and candles. Families with young children will also receive baby diapers. Read More