Russian Orthodox Church Plans to Established More Metropolias, Dioceses

In his sermon during his recent visit to Moscow's New Savior Monastery Patriarch Kirill (Gundyayev) of the Russian Orthodox Church spoke at length on the work of the Russian Orthodox Church in creating new dioceses, noting that it is grounded in the decisions of the All-Russian Council of 1917 and 1918 and done to reestablish the diocesan church as a family known and truly cared for by its shepherd in fact and not only in theory. The patriarch also touched on the All-Russian Council's call for the establishment of regional metropolias to organize and oversee the life of the Russian Orthodox Church at an intermediate level. More (in Russian) here.

Greek Orthodox Metropolitans Debate Mandatory Retirement Age

The announcement of Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Zakynthos that he will retire this 1 September at the age of seventy-two has reignited a debate within the Greek Orthodox Church about whether a mandatory retirement age should be introduced for the Church of Greece's ruling metropolitans. Some support a retirement age, saying that the metropolitans need to be able to actively shepherding their flocks to remain the heads of their metropolises, while others defend the traditional system of leaving ruling metropolitans in place until their retirement or death because of the role of the metropolitan as the icon of Christ in the diocesan church. More (in Greek) here.

Antiochian Orthodox in North America to Choose Three New Auxiliary Bishops

It was announced today at the ongoing convention of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America in Chicago that not two, but three auxiliary bishops will be "elected" by the "Local Synod" of the Archdiocese. Two will be appointed to the Midwestern and New England regions, whilst the only region without an auxiliary, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, will be passed over so that an auxiliary can be assigned to assist Metropolitan Philip (Saliba) of New York in his pastoral duties. More here.

Quote of the Day: From the Life of Patriarch Paul of Pech

Once, approaching the Patriarchate, His Holiness Paul noticed many cars near the entrance and became interested in whose they were. He was told that these cars belonged to hierarchs. To this the Patriarch replied with a smile: "If they, who know the Savior’s commandment about unacquisitiveness, have such cars, just imagine what kind of cars they would have if there this commandment did not exist!

Metropolitan Varsanufiy On Smaller Dioceses, Regional Metropolias

In an interview recently published in The Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Varsanufiy (Sudakov) of Saransk has responded to questions on the ongoing division of the Russian Orthodox Church's existing eparchies into smaller ones, noting that it is impossible for a hierarch to be an effective shepherd of his diocese when it consists of 300 parishes or more as is often the case today.

As stated by Metropolitan Varsanufiy in the interview, the Russian Orthodox Church's long-term goal is to raise the ratio of churches to people (currently at one for every ten thousand Russians) and enable the Church's episcopate to better oversee their flocks through the creation of smaller, more manageable dioceses. (Metropolitan Varsanufiy's own Eparchy of Saransk included over four hundred parishes prior to its recent division into three eparchies.) In the interview Metropolitan Varsanufiy also discussed the possibility of devolving some central authority to regional metropolias, as has already occurred in the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan.

The full interview (in Russian) can be found here.

Greek Orthodox Hierarchy Divided Over Greek Economic Crisis, Disestablishment

As Greece continues to struggle through its economic and debt crisis there are growing calls within the hierarchy of the Greek Orthodox Church for its disestablishment to preserve the institutions and finances of the Church and free it from government regulation. A committee has been established to discuss how the crisis will impact the Church, but the hierarchy lacks a united voice as to how the Church of Greece in general should respond to the ongoing issues in Greek life, with some opposing any change in the status quo and others calling the crisis an opportunity for the Church to escape being part of the state. More (in Greek) here.

Photo of the Day: Members of the North American Episcopal Assembly in Chicago

The hierarchs of the Orthodox Churches in North America at the ongoing session of the Episcopal Assembly of North America in Chicago. More pictures can be found here.

Greek Orthodox Holy Synod Meets in Athens

On the agenda of the current session of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece is the increasingly divided state of the hierarchy over ecumenism. In recent years the split between metropolitans in favor of involvement in ecumenical bodies and those opposed to such involvement has become more apparent as traditionalists and conservatives in the Church of Greece have renewed calls for its withdrawal from the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical organizations. More here.

In Memoriam: Vladyka Job

It's been a year since Vladyka Job's death and it's still hard to believe what happened. I still feel that if I went to Chicago I could just give him a call and meet up with him at Christ the Savior or Holy Trinity or have dinner with him at his apartment near the Moody Bible Institute. He was such an incredible, loving man. I had met bishops before I moved to the Midwest and found myself in the American Orthodox Church's Midwestern American Diocese, but for me he exemplified what a bishop was supposed to be. He was truly Christ's icon in our midst.

I remember waking up in Addis Abeba not feeling well and finding out later that morning that Vladyka had died. I was unable to go to his funeral because of being out of the country, but when I returned to the States I made a pilgrimage to his grave in Black Lick. I do not know what his fate was, but because of changes in certain issues in my life that I brought to him and the continuing strengthening of our Diocese of Chicago I feel that he is still with us, praying for us. May his memory be eternal! Fr. John Matusiak has posted a lovely tribute to Vladyka Job on the website of the Midwestern American Diocese here.

Shepherd and Flock?

A large Ukrainian Orthodox parish in the Midwest just received its first hierarchical visit in twenty years. It's roughly five hours away from its diocesan see and is part of a diocese that comprises only twenty-five communities. It's also by no means the most geographically isolated of those communities - the local parish here in Portland, for example, definitely has it beat. And to be clear, we're talking about a visit from the diocesan bishop, not the First Hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA or anything like that.

My question is this: Is this the average experience of Orthodox parishes in North America? Our parish was rather spoiled under Archbishop Job (Osacky) of thrice blessed memory as we got yearly visits from him, but I know he had a rotation set up to ensure that he visited all the communities in his diocese at least once every two (or three?) years. The Midwestern American Diocese currently consists of eighty-two communities, so that's quite a lot of travel considering that such visits usually last a couple of days. Was his emphasis on knowing his diocese an exception to the rule though? How sad if it was :-/.