This welcome announcement appeared earlier today on the website of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, to which the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America belongs. It responds to the initiative of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem to sidestep the Ecumenical Patriarchate to resolve the matter of the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as granted in January 2019. For additional context see the extensive Ukraine section in our Archives 2017-19 and Archives 2020.

Patriarch John X of Antioch

A Statement by the Antiochian Orthodox Media Center
Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
Balamand, February 22, 2020

Following the generous invitation of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem to His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, to participate in a consultative meeting of Church leaders in Amman, Jordan, on the twenty-fifth of this month, the Antiochian Church declares that She will not participate in this meeting. Read More

Orthodoxy in Dialogue publishes this report for informational purposes and without editorial comment. You may wish to read it in conjunction with our Editorial: Orthodox Popery Comes to America? or Time for a Greek Orthodox Revolt in America? We urge you to do your own research and form your own conclusions.

Hundreds of faithful Orthodox Christians and clergy throughout the Archdiocese of America are now calling for Archbishop Elpidophoros to immediately resign as Archbishop of America.

Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

This past Sunday the Archdiocese witnessed an act of bravery by Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit, who had the courage to be transparent with the faithful about information concerning the condition and past transgressions of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. You can read more about that statement here.

Most of the information shared by His Eminence had previously been provided by the detailed reports of federal investigators who are still investigating the corruption at the GOA.

But there is now a new development.

Earlier today, Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit publicly released a letter addressed to Archbishop Elpidophoros apologizing for attempting to be transparent with the faithful in his God-saved Metropolis.

Think about this.

A Metropolitan of the Church “willingly” and unnecessarily offered a letter of apology because his transparent actions resulted him in speaking openly with the faithful about what was happening in New York. A Metropolitan wanted to be honest and instead is now being forced to offer an apology. How can we not automatically assume that this letter came at the insistence of the Archdiocese? It is classic letter of retraction to force someone back in line with the company message. Read More

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and John Catsimatidis, Vice Chairman of Archdiocesan Council

Orthodoxy in Dialogue occasionally publishes articles and letters critical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Patriarch Bartholomew, and Archbishop Elpidophoros. Are we next among the “low-life people…writing negative conversations on Web Sites about…the Archbishop, and the Archdiocese” after whom Mr. Catsimatidis will decide to “go after?” 

Read More

Bishop Thomas Paprocki

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield IL has issued a directive entitled PASTORAL GUIDE: Regarding Policy §650 Gender Identity, which became binding throughout the diocese and its institutions on January 13, 2020:

It is the policy of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois that all Catholic agencies, including parishes, schools, institutions, departments, or other entities, shall respect the biological sex with which a person is born and shall apply all policies and procedures in relation to that person according to that person’s biological sex at birth. 

We share below some of the more salient excerpts from the Pastoral Guide. Only seven pages long, it can be read in its entirety here. 

If you wish to communicate your concerns to Bishop Paprocki on this matter—whether you are Catholic, any other kind of Christian, not Christian, LGBTQ, or an ally—the contact information for phoning, faxing, emailing, and an online contact form can be found on the diocesan website. Read More