"Ethiopian Liturgy"

A fascinating survey of the services of the Ethiopian Rite in comparison with its mother, the Alexandrian Rite as used in the Coptic Orthodox Church, can be found here. The article is unfortunately limited in that it only discusses the Ethiopian and Alexandrian Rites. It would have been nice had the author more intensively studied the liturgics of the West Syrian Rite - it could be that more than one or two of the pecularities he ascribes to Ethiopian custom are actually Syriac Orthodox practices brought by the Nine Roman Saints or later Syrian (or even Indian?) visitors to Ethiopia.

"Liturgical Renewal"

The first part of David Petras' survey of liturgical changes and reforms within Ukrainian and Ruthenian Catholicism can be found here. Petras is a Ruthenian Catholic archpriest serving in the Metropolia of Pittsburgh.

Pictured is St. Mary's Ruthenian Catholic Church in Sheppton, Pennsylvania. Its iconostas is a good example of the latinizations formerly (and currently?) common in Byzantine Catholicism, although it is more substantial than was often the case in pre-Vatican II Ruthenian Catholicism.

Bishop Thomas "Locum Tenens" of Midwestern America

So Metropolitan Philip has formally removed Bishop Mark from his responsibilities as his auxiliary in the Midwestern region. There were two things notable about the memo he sent out. The first was Seyidna Philip's appointment of Bishop Thomas of Charleston as "locum tenens" of the Midwestern region. Since there is only one diocesan hierarch in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America there is absolutely no need for a locum tenens (fill-in diocesan hierarch) anywhere in the Archdiocese unless Metropolitan Philip himself dies, in which case his faux "Local Synod" will be overlooked completely by the Patriarchate of Antioch when it appoints the Archdiocese's locum tenens. Metropolitan Philip may like calling the regions/districts/whatever dioceses, but they are not distinct dioceses and as such have no need for a locum tenens when they don't have an auxiliary supervising them. The second was Metropolitan Philip's institution of the normative practice concerning the commemoration of auxiliary bishops in the Midwestern region (which is to not unless they are physically present). The Midwest is the only region that has been told to follow standard procedure - every other region/former diocese has been instructed to commemorate the metropolitan as well as the auxiliary bishop supervising their area.