Category: Global Orthodoxy

The Ecclesiology of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Over Time

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is undoubtedly one of the most consequential figures in modern Orthodox history – not only the longest-tenured Patriarch of Constantinople ever, but also a man whose leadership has proven decisive for Orthodoxy around the world. It is for this reason that, in my article on the political...

Athenagoras: The EP is not an Orthodox Vatican

For a while now, I've been documenting the close relationship between the U.S. government and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in the early years of the Cold War. It was thanks in large part to American influence that Athenagoras attained the throne in Constantinople, and he relished the idea that he was...

Meletios Metaxakis’s Support for St Tikhon

The 1923 Pan-Orthodox Congress is most (in)famous for proposing the Revised Julian ("New") Calendar, which was subsequently adopted by many (but far from all) of the world's Orthodox Churches. The Congress occurred at one of the most tumultuous moments in church history (you can read all about the crazy year...

A Non-Chalcedonian Bishop Converts to Orthodoxy in 1912

The following is a translation from Asad Rustum's History, vol. 3 pp. 357-362. It is not only interesting in terms of the description of the ceremony, but also because the conversion seems to have occurred through the Syriac bishop's contact with Russian pilgrims. Recalling this moment of hope for Christian unity...

St Raphael Hawaweeny vs the Pope of Rome

In 1894, Pope Leo XIII issued a papal encyclical on the "Eastern Rites" -- that is, the Uniates, those groups who use ancient Orthodox liturgical rites but submit themselves to the Pope of Rome. In 1898, St Raphael Hawaweeny, then an archimandrite in New York, published a response in a...

Patriarch Bartholomew’s Enthronement Speech

On October 22, 1991, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was enthroned in Istanbul. As far as I can tell, his enthronement speech has never been published in English, although a broadcast of the enthronement -- available on YouTube -- conveniently includes an English voiceover. My research assistant Cassidy Irwin transcribed that voiceover....

Amazing 1915 Letter on Jurisdictionalism in American Orthodoxy

The following remarkable letter appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on March 18, 1915. It offers a well-informed but obviously partisan perspective on the Orthodox reality in America and globally in 1915 -- in the midst of World War I. There's so much happening in this letter, so many layers. It...

Freemasonry and the Orthodox Church

A quick bit of self-promotion: In January 2025, I’ll be teaching a live, 4-week course on American Orthodox History for the Orthodox Studies Institute at Saint Constantine College. I hope many of you can join me — you can learn more and register for the course by clicking here. ***...

How Did Orthodoxy Get Into This Mess?

It almost goes without saying that the Orthodox world is a mess right now. The situation in Ukraine alone is a disaster: a Russian invasion of the country backed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by the state, and a recognized-by-only-some Orthodox Church of...

The Condemnation of Unauthorized Orthodox Teachers in 19th Century Greece

The history of Orthodoxy in 19th century Greece is extraordinarily complicated. Beginning with the Greek Revolution in 1821, the Church of Greece began to detach itself from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, declaring itself autocephalous in 1833 -- a status that was not recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate until 1850. This newly-independent...