On Tuesday Sept. 5/18, 2012 the Holy Synod of the Hierarchy of the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece convened in its offices in Athens and after the Holy Water Service upon the beginning of the new ecclesiastical year, reached the following decisions:
13. To accept the petition of admittance of Bishop Demetrius Kyriakou, coming from the Holy Orthodox Church of North America, leader of a group of monastics, clergy and seven parishes of North America. The petitioner appeared before the meeting and he answered various questions put forth by the members of the Synod. After the confirmation of the petitioner's correct faith, he was elected unanimously, suffragan Bishop of Metropolitan Pavlos of America, with the title Bishop of Boston and it was also decided that his canonical restoration take place at the Holy Monastery of the All-Immaculate Virgin (Panachrantou) in Megara, on Friday, September 8/21 of the current year. The further details concerning the incorporation of the Parishes, Clergy and Monastics will be arranged by the Holy Eparchial Synod of America with the participation of His Beatitude, Archbishop Kallinikos during his scheduled visit to New York on Sunday, September 17/30 of the current year.
Translated from the Greek.
In the early 20th century, the idea of promoting the union of Churches (Orthodox and heterodox) began to gain ground among circles in the Eastern Orthodox Church by establishing a "Communion of Churches" modeled on the League of Nations.
The Patriarchal Encyclical of 1920 foresaw a series of steps toward the “union of the Churches,” of which the first was the change of the calendar for the simultaneous celebration of feast days by all the “Churches.” The content of the encyclical was kept secret from the faithful and only after a few years became known. Read more...
Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church is a beautiful mission parish near downtown Tucson, a city in southern Arizona. It was started in 1997 by Father John Bockman, who was a missionary Priest formerly serving missions in Tennessee and Massachusetts since 1990. Father John served the faithful in Tucson and the surrounding area in his home Chapel until his repose in November of 2000. His wife, Presbytera Valerie, continued to make her home Chapel available for the mission, with clergy from Saint Nectarios Orthodox Church in Seattle and His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Toronto (then of Portland), visiting to provide the Divine Services.
Read more...2026 Youth Conference
Please join us for the 2026 youth conference in Upper Marlboro, MD! To learn more, visit the this page.
Q. There seems to be a lot of variation in how people observe fasting, but my confessor told me to fast from oil on Wednesday and Friday. Oil is a pretty vague category, though, and I was wondering if I could get a more explicit description of what kinds of food and drink are excluded on strict fast days. Read more...