Orthodox Christianity

Crisis in Indonesia

NEWS FROM THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN MISSION CENTER (OCMC)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Crisis in Indonesia – March 19, 2007

The Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia (Ecumenical Patriarchate) wishes to issue the following statement, concerning situations in Indonesia.

The Orthodox Christians in Indonesia have joined the list of those attacked by Muslim extremists. Father Methodios Sri Gunarjo, his family and other Orthodox were terrorized and threatened this past weekend. Although there are no reports of physical harm at this point, the verbal, psychological and other forms of abuse continue. At one point, a knife was put to the throat of Father Methodios, as his attackers demanded that he close the Churches in the Boyolali area of Central Java. It should be noted that there is a thriving ministry in this area.

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A Journey That Will Come Full Circle and End With a Ring

New York Times (free registration required) Sergei Kivrin March 21, 2007

Danilov Monastery bellsAt the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, Hierodeacon Roman, a bell ringer, may be able ring the tower’s original bells by next year.

MOSCOW, March 20 — The bells of Lowell House at Harvard — so much a part of the university’s tradition that they have their own society of bell ringers — will soon return to the Russian monastery from which they were sold more than 70 years ago.

The Russian Orthodox Church and the university announced a final agreement on Tuesday to move the bells next year to Danilov Monastery, the residence of the Russian patriarch, after a replacement set for Harvard is completed.

The bells have become a symbol for the resurgence of the Orthodox Church and its drive, much like Russia’s, to reclaim its former glory.

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Panorama of Constantinople

Why not “Istanbul”? Because the name Istanbul is really an Arabic derivative of the Greek. If you live near New York City for example and are heading into Manhattan, you don’t say “I am going to New York City.” Instead, you say “I am going to the city.”

Well, the “Istanbul” means the same thing. “Ee steen polee” is the Greek way of saying in the city (in this case the “city of Constantine” or Konstanteen-oupolee — Constantinople in English). Change the the Greek hard “p” to the Arabic hard “b” and you end up with “ee-stan-bolee” or Istanbul. The Arab speakers in Turkey know this of course. Non-Arabic speakers think the name of Constantinople actually was changed.

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Islam gets concessions; infidels get conquered

LA Times Raymond Ibrahim December 5, 2006

What they capture, they keep. When they lose, they complain to the U.N.

IN THE DAYS before Pope Benedict XVI’s visit last Thursday to the Hagia Sophia complex in Istanbul, Muslims and Turks expressed fear, apprehension and rage. “The risk,” according to Turkey’s independent newspaper Vatan, “is that Benedict will send Turkey’s Muslims and much of the Islamic world into paroxysms of fury if there is any perception that the pope is trying to re-appropriate a Christian center that fell to Muslims.” Apparently making the sign of the cross or any other gesture of Christian worship in Hagia Sophia constitutes such a sacrilege.

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Orthodox Priest Beheading and Recent White House Omission

Religious News Service October 13, 2006

Lead to Call for American Protection of Pope and Ecumenical Patriarch Meeting in Turkey

Yesterday’s reported beheading of an Orthodox Priest and a recent White House omission during a meeting between President George W. Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan increased concerns about protecting the spiritual heads of the two largest Christian denominations, while in Turkey together. Catholicism’s Pope Benedict XVI and Orthodoxy’s Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will be meeting in Turkey in late November. Turkey is the first Muslim country that Pope Benedict will visit. Until the year 1054, the Pope and Ecumenical Patriarch were presiding Patriarchs of the then-undivided Christian Church, in Rome and Constantinople.

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Desert Prayer With Egyptian Roots

Los Angeles Times David Kelly July 3, 2006

Life at North America’s only Coptic Orthodox monastery is rigorous and strictly for worship. It draws those who seek a deeper insight into Christianity.

NEWBERRY SPRINGS, Calif. — Down an unpaved road, past brooding icons and swaying stands of mesquite, lies St. Antony’s Monastery, a place of scorching winds and emptiness that perhaps only a holy man could love.

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Many black Christians join move to Orthodox traditions

Gannett News Service June 24, 2006

After a lifetime in traditional black churches, Robert Aaron Mitchell discovered the sights, smells, sounds and ancient traditions of the Orthodox church.

“I discovered Orthodoxy while I was on the Internet one day back in 2001, and I was so drawn to it that I had to go attend a liturgy,” Mitchell says. “I had no frame of reference for these traditions, but suddenly, I felt like this void was filling in my life. I felt like I was finally coming home.”

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