Category: Global Orthodoxy

Stalin’s Revival of the Moscow Patriarchate

“When Hitler invaded the USSR in June 1941,” writes historian Jordan Hupka, “Stalin again changed the Soviet position on religion. All anti-religious publications ceased and some churches in major urban centres were allowed to open.”[1] Stalin was a shrewd man; as Steven Miner writes in Stalin’s Holy War, “Very early...

Book Review: Sylvester of Antioch by Mihai Țipău

The Patriarch Sylvester, who shepherded the Patriarchate of Antioch in the decades following the schism of 1724, is a complex and often-misunderstood figure who was nevertheless pivotal in ensuring the Orthodox Church’s survival during a turbulent period of its history. A recently-published book, Sylvester of Antioch: Life and Achievements of...

An 11th Century Challenge to Papal Supremacy

The belief that the Pope of Rome has immediate and universal jurisdiction has been officially part of the Roman Catholic tradition since at least the eleventh century with the proclamations issued in Dictatus Papae. In the the Roman Catholic Church’s current code of law, the 1983 Code of Canon Law...

Father Alex and the Mother Church

This is the third in a series of articles based on my interviews with Fr Alex Karloutsos. You can read the first two articles here: The Father Alex Karloutsos Origin Story Karloutsos and the Rise of Bartholomew The last article ended with the election of Patriarch Bartholomew and Fr Karloutsos’s...

Karloutsos and the Rise of Bartholomew

Earlier this year, I conducted a series of interviews with Fr Alex Karloutsos, and last week, I published my first article based on those interviews, chronicling his rise from relative obscurity to the highest echelons of power in America. Today, I will continue this series based on Fr Karloutsos’s memories,...

Romania vs Moscow, 1940

Today, relations between the patriarchates of Moscow and Romania are tense: both lay claim to jurisdiction in the Republic of Moldova, which makes up about two-thirds of the historic region known as Bessarabia. The other third of Bessarabia is now in Ukraine, Budjak (Izmail and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi). In the Republic of...

Antioch and 1054

Dr. Samuel Noble will be teaching a class on the history of Antioch beginning May 8th. For more details or to sign up, visit the link here. Below is a letter from Dr. Noble about the upcoming course.  Just to give a bit of background about myself, I’m a historian...

The Ecumenical Patriarch Snubbed Vatican I

In 1868, the Roman Catholic Church was making preparations for the first Vatican Council, which would go on to proclaim papal infallibility to be a dogma. Ahead of the council, Pope Pius IX sent invitations to the Orthodox patriarchs, attempting to summon them to participate. Italian newspapers got hold of...

Should Antioch Make Its Own Chrism?

Editor’s note: Today, nine Orthodox Churches consecrate their own Holy Chrism: Constantinople, Moscow, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, the Orthodox Church in America, the Macedonian Orthodox Church (or whatever you want to call it), and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The rest of the autocephalous churches – the ancient patriarchates of Alexandria,...