Year 2011: Less atheists, more believers

Recent studies estimate that atheism has lost 28 million followers in the space of 41 years

SOURCE:  Vatican Insider

marco tosatti rome
 
According to the annual “Status of Global Missions” study, in this first part of the millennium non-believers will lose two million seven hundred thousand members, whilst declared atheists will lose one million and 370 thousand “faithful”. "Catholicism is growing at a rate of 34 thousand people a day, while Islam is gaining 79 thousand followers per day, and Hinduism 37 thousand.

Between 2000 and 2011, the “non religious” category lost 700 members every day, while the “atheist” category lost 300 per day.

The figures published by the agency “Analisis Digital”, showed if we compare current figures with those from 1970, the height of the “sexual revolution” in the Western world and of communist atheism in Eastern Europe, we see that in 41, years atheism has lost 28 million followers.

In return, the number of non-religious individuals has gone up by more than one hundred million.

With the fall of communist regimes many of those who, for reasons of political and cultural expediency, particularly in Eastern European countries, declared themselves “atheist”, because state atheism was favoured by the various regimes (Moscow established the Institute and Museum of Scientific Atheism, to mention one example), went for the less bold option and preferred to plead non-religious.

Likewise, in China, after the devastating wave of the “Cultural Revolution” with all its human and cultural disasters, many people today prefer to declare themselves non-religious rather than atheist.

In any case, in the mid Twenty-first century, atheists and non-believers seem to be heading towards a definite decline.

In some cases they convert to a religion, albeit in a very superficial manner, (and this often seems to be the case of millions of people in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia, where there is a particular tendency to subscribe to the Orthodox faith with a return to traditional forms of worship).  Many older people die leaving practically no children and therefore do not “transmit” faith in the non-faith.

On the contrary, religions are flourishing in the twenty-first century, with no exception. Even Judaism which accounts for a tiny minority. Which had little more than fifteen million members in 1970; less than 14 million reported in 2000, but now appears to be recovering with numbers returning to what they were forty years ago.

Christianity, in all its possible variants, totals two billion three hundred million followers, and is growing more than any other faith: according to the calculations made by the study, more than 83 thousand faithful come under the sign of the Cross. Following close behind, of course, is Islam.  There are almost one billion six hundred thousand followers of the Prophet Muhammad throughout the world, and numbers are increasing at the speed of 79 thousand every 24 hours. Hinduism is in third place. Its believers add up to 952 million, who live primarily in India, but also in neighbouring parts of Asia. And this faith is growing at a rate of 37 thousand followers per day. Still in Asia, although present in statistically small numbers elsewhere, is Buddhism.  At the global level, there are about 468 million followers of various “routes”, which are increasing at a rate of 13,800 per day. Taoism is a predominantly Chinese faith, but thanks to the country’s total figures, it holds an important place among religions, coming just below Buddhism. Taoism has 457 million followers who have survived all the political and religious climates of their homeland and are increasing at a rate of 9,300 new followers every day.  Lastly, we have the planet’s countless “ethnic” religions, which encompass 269 million people from many different creeds. This category is growing at a rate of 9 thousand per day.

A total of two billion people on the planet, know nothing of Jesus Christ; in other words they were never explained the message of the Gospel.  Another two billion and 680 million, according to information in the report, have listened to it a few times, or have come to know it is some way, however they are not Christians. However, the “fertility” of the Christian message in Churches, is striking.  Even if Jesus Christ founded only one (and at that time of course tiny) Church, and prayed, not long before his death, for his followers to be united so “that all may be one”, at the beginning of the twentieth century there were already sixteen hundred different Christian denominations; but a century later, that is today, there are 42 thousand different denominations which in one way or another refer to the Galilean.

This world growth is characterized by great diversity and interest.  The Catholic Church has approximately one billion and 160 million believers, and is growing at a rate of 34 thousand per day. Particularly impressive, however, is the phenomenon of Protestant Pentecostals. The various churches on the planet, that fall into this category add up to about 612 million followers; and are estimated to grow at a rate of 37 thousand faithful each day. Pentecostals have clearly exceeded the faithful of the classic Protestant churches, which currently total 426 million, a figure that is increasing at a rate of 20 thousand per day.

Orthodox Churches, which to some extent suffer the consequences of their strong national and ethnic identity, have 271 million baptized faithful, and are witnessing a much lesser growth than other religions, for the reasons just mentioned, with 5 thousand new followers joining its churches each day.  Among other things, Russia, which is the heart of an important Orthodox Church, is a country whose birth rate shows characteristics of a crisis. This is also a result of the high number of abortions.  Anglicans have seen the demographic centre of their church move towards Africa and Asia. There are 87 million Anglicans around the world and they are growing at a rate of three thousand faithful per day. Lastly we have all those whom the study defines as “marginal Christians”. This includes Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and all those who call themselves Christians, but are doubtful about the divine nature of Jesus or the Trinity. They total 35 million and are growing at a rate of two thousand a day.

Of course it is understood that the most common criterion of growth, according to the study, is birth rate:  having many children and educating them in one’s own religious tradition.  The other form, which is certainly less “prolific”, is conversion. It is much less frequent, however it is experienced by millions of people every year. The most common and practiced form of conversion is through marriage: one spouse decides to embrace the faith of the other. In 2011, Christians of all denominations circulated 71 million Bibles throughout the world (there are about one billion and 740 million Bibles on the planet, many of which are “clandestine”).  And in 2011 409 thousand Christians will leave for foreign countries to preach the Gospel, sent by 4 thousand 800 different missionary agencies.

What Divides Catholics and Orthodox?

SOURCE:  CNEWA

Catholics and Orthodox Christians reserve today to commemorate the apostle Andrew, “the first-called.” On this feast, the successor of St. Peter sends a delegation to the Turkish city of Istanbul — the former imperial city of Constantinople — where they honor the memory of Peter’s brother with the ecumenical patriarch, who according to tradition is the successor of St. Andrew. This shared celebration between the churches of Rome and Constantinople reminds us of how much Catholics and Orthodox share.

But what divides us?

A few years ago I asked the esteemed ecumenist, Jesuit Father John Long, that very question. His response generated an article for our magazine that launched our “issues” series. In “A Century of Catholic-Orthodox Relations,” Father Long, now sadly deceased, looked back on what had been accomplished between these sister churches in the recent past. He writes:
 

For those of us who have participated in the dialogue of the Catholic and Orthodox churches these past 40 years, it has been an exhilarating experience. Sometimes a healthy dose of realism is needed to remind us that, in order to achieve reconciliation and restore full communion, we must overcome a millennium of tension, discord, prejudice and hatred.

We have learned to define ourselves by what we are not. This attitude remains common in the world at large and among Christians in particular.

The events of the last 20 years — the unraveling of the Soviet Union and the decline of its allies, the increase of violence in the Middle East and the resurrection of nationalism in the Balkans for example — have thrown this into relief by liberating many of the sentiments and feelings held in check for at least 50 years.

The Christians affected by these changes, particularly those who had once lived with some limited freedoms and those who now rise from the well of oppression, have to recognize that relations between the Christian East and the Christian West have evolved.

In Europe, the vast majority, clergy and laity alike, have been asked by their leaders (many of whom, rightly or wrongly, were perceived as collaborators with oppressive regimes) to accept ideas and participate in activities they understand as unfaithful to their traditions and faith. They fear for their national, cultural and spiritual identities, which seem threatened. And some comfortable institutions, structures that have withstood many tests over the centuries, may in fact have to be dismantled.

Daunted by the magnitude of Christian renewal and re-evangelization, and strapped for resources and personnel, some in positions of leadership have no time for ecumenism.

Catholics and Orthodox have a strong sense of the ecclesial and religious life anchored in tradition. We recognize that it is a living tradition in which the Holy Spirit is constantly at work, both in word and sacrament. The core of our disappointments in these last 15 years is our struggle to maintain the tension between “the revelation given once and for all to the saints” and to the Spirit who continues to speak. Since the end of the 19th century that Spirit has been at work as Catholics and Orthodox have progressed from estrangement to reconciliation.

The events of the past decades cannot be undone. The documents published cannot be unwritten. They challenge and inspire and, as we continue in this new millennium, they will stand in judgment upon us if we avoid them.

To read more, see A Century of Catholic-Orthodox Relations.

Number of US seminarians on the rise

SOURCE:  Catholic Culture

The number of seminarians in the United States has risen to 3,608--the highest number since the early 1990s--with some seminaries experiencing their highest enrollment in decades.

In Minnesota, the archdiocesan seminary in St. Paul has its largest enrollment since 1980, while enrollment at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio is the largest since the 1970s. Theological College in Washington is at its maximum enrollment.

“I'm tremendously impressed with the quality of the candidates, their zeal,” said Father Phillip Brown, who was appointed rector of Theological College in March. “We're seeing a real renewal of the priesthood.”

Under Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, the Church worldwide has been blessed with a priestly vocation boom. The number of major seminarians surged from 63,882 in 1978 to 117,978 in 2009, an increase of nearly 85%, outstripping world population growth (58%) and Catholic population growth (56%) during the same time period.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Catholic seminary enrollment up, but numbers seen as only part of story (CNS)
• Typical new priest: 31-year-old who prays Rosary, takes part in adoration (CWN, 4/26)

Christians the “target of every progressive thinker and half-witted comedian”

SOURCE:  beliefNet

Canadian TV commentator Rex Murphy is tired of Christians turning the other cheek.

“There is a radical inconsistency to the treatment afforded to Christian believers and that of most other religious groups,” he writes in the Canadian daily newspaper the National Post. “It would be rather nice if so many people, the Christians of the West, who offer respect, tolerance and regard for beliefs other than their own, could be treated with equal civility and courtesy.”

But he’s not expecting a miracle, he writes:

“To be a serious Christian in modern Western culture is to be the favored easy target of every progressive thinker and every half-witted comedian. It is to have your sensibilities and your deepest beliefs on perpetual call for taunts, mockery and desecration.

“At a time when all progressives preach full volume for inclusivity and sensitivity, for the utmost care in speech when speaking of others with differing views or hues,” he notes, “Christians, as Christians, are under a constant hail of abuse and disregard. There is nothing too low or too vulgar.

In our society, he notes, even Christmas TV specials must include “something determinedly offensive to Christians.” As an example, Murphy cites “Russell Peters, the Canadian joker, for his special this year has invited Pamela Anderson, pinup queen and soft porn actress, to play the Virgin Mary.
“I know — the wit, the daring, the originality — the bravery of it all. The casting is so, so clever — getting a lewd exhibitionist to play Mary, to call in a pop-culture tart to play the very Mother of God.

“But for believers to object, well that would be irksome and stuffy and high-handed and parochial — it being another of this age’s curious predisposition that Christians are supposed, if not to like the jeers hurled at them, to at least be good enough to suffer the insults, blasphemies and mockeries in silence, if not secret approval.”

Read the complete National Post article "What the tolerant must tolerate" by Rex Murphy here.

Photos: Enthronement of Metropolitan Ihor in Lviv

For more photos, click HERE

Metropolitan Ihor of Lviv: Pope's Seal Is Only Thing Lacking For Patriarchate of UGCC

SOURCE:  RISU

Today, we have come even closer to the patriarchal structure of our Church, and its proclamation is not a distant future. So stated the newly appointed Metropolitan Ihor (Vozniak) of UGCC after the ceremony of enthronement.

According to the hierarch, no changes are expected in the metropolitanate in the nearest future. Therefore, in the beginning, its eparchies will function as usual.

“One should not expect dramatic changes in the eparchies. Even though a metropolitan is vested with certain government powers, namely, to gather the clergy, participate in the consecration, etc., but I will not use that right to pass strategic decisions. At least in the beginning.”

As regards the possible time of proclamation of the Patriarchate of UGCC, Archbishop and Metropolitan Ihor of Lviv stressed that the Church has been ready for that status for a long time. Today’s enthronement and proclamation of the Lviv metropolitanate is an indication thereof. It is up to Vatican now.

Metropolitan of Lviv of UGCC Enthroned

SOURCE:  RISU

At the hierarchical liturgy in St. Yur’s Cathedral in Lviv, on 29 November, the establishment of the Lviv Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) was proclaimed and Archbishop Ihor (Vozniak) of Lviv was enthroned as Metropolitan of Lviv. The ruling bishop of Lviv will now bear the title “Archbishop and Metropolitan of Lviv.” St. Yur’s Cathedral was proclaimed to be the cathedral of the Lviv Metropolitanate of UGCC.

The Administrator of the Patriarchal Curia, Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of UGCC, Bishop Bohdan (Dziurakh) read out a letter about the establishment of the Lviv Metropolitanate of UGCC. The document deals with the whole history of UGCC, its difficult path towards the establishment and then, restoration of the structures of the Kyiv-Halych Metropolitanate, legalization of UGCC after the totalitarian regime and return of UGCC to Kyiv.





According to the letter, the Lviv Metropolitanate includes the archeparchies of Lviv, Stryi, Sambir-Drohobych and Sokal-Zhovkva. The Ivano-Frankivsk Metropolitanate includes Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomyia-Chernivtsi eparchies. The Ternopil-Buchach Metropolitanate includes Ternopil-Zboriv and Buchach Eparchies.

Artchbishop Ihor (Vozniak) of Lviv, Eparch of Ivano-Frankivsk, Bishop Volodymyr (Viityshyn) and Eparch of Ternopil and Zboriv, Bishop Vasyl (Semeniuk) have been proclaimed the first metropolitans of the new metropolitanates.




Another existing metropolitanate of UGCC, the Kyiv-Halych Metropolitanate led by Patriarch Sviatoslav has been proclaimed the heir of all the property of UGCC.

The ceremony of the enthronement of Metropolitan of Lviv, Archbishop Ihor (Vozniak) was conducted by the head of UGCC, Patriarch Sviatoslav.

In his address, Patriarch Sviatoslav called the Lviv Metropolitanate the second most important one after the Kyiv-Halych Metropolitanate of UGCC and stressed that the will of all the previous heads of UGCC, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi, Patriarch Josef Slipyj, cardinal myroslav-Ivan Lubachivskyi and Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar) has been fulfilled.

The liturgy was attended by all the bishops of UGCC led by Patriarch Sviatoslav, the Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine, Archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson, Apostolic Administrator of Mukachiv of the Greek Catholic Church, Bishop Milan (Shashik).

The metropolitanate in Ivano-Frankisvk will be proclaimed on 13 December. The metropolitanate in Ternopil will be proclaimed on 22 December.

29 листопада 2011 року в день апостола та євангелиста Матея, в Архикатедральному соборі св. Юрія у м. Львові, відбулося урочисте проголошення Львівської Митрополії та введення на митрополичий престіл Високопреосвященного Архиєпископа і Митрополита Львівського, владики Ігоря (Возьняка). Очолив Архиєрейську Божественну Літургію Глава УГКЦ Блаженніший Святослав. Разом з ним співслужили  члени Синоду Єпископів УГКЦ з України та з-за кордону, Апостольський Нунцій в Україні архиєпископ Томас Ґалліксон, представники римо-католицького єпископату, владика Мілан Шашік,  єпарх Мукачівської греко-католицької єпархії, архиєпископ Ян Баб’як, Митрополит Пряшівський, Глава Словацької ГКЦ, владика Димітріос Салахас, Екзарх для греко-католиків Греції, владика Юрій Джуджар, Екзарх для вірних візантійського обряду в Сербії та Чорногорії. В богослуженні також взяли участь представники міської та обласної влади, керівники районів, численний збір духовенства з Львівської архиєпархії, Сокальсько-Жовківської, Стрийської та Самбірсько-Дрогобицької єпархій, чернецтво та миряни.   «Дорогий наш владико, Високопреосвящений Архиєпископе і Митрополите! Від імені усіх тут присутніх єпископів, духовенства, монашества і всіх вірних вітаємо Вас сьогодні. Молимося та прикликаємо благодать Духа Святого, щоби спочила на Вашій особі, який має попровадити другий за гідністю і честю єпископський осідок у нашій Церкві після стольного града Києва. Нехай Господь Бог кріпить Вас і благословляє силою і благодаттю Святого Духа» – такими словами привітав Високопресосвященного Архиєпископа і Митрополита Львівського, владику Ігоря, Глава УГКЦ Блаженніший Святослав.   Також Глава УГКЦ подякував за присутність архиєреям, які очолюють єпархії, що увійдуть до новоствореної митрополії – Юліану Вороновському, Ярославу Прирізу, Тарасу Сеньківу та Михаїлу Колтуну. Особлива подяка від Предстоятеля УГКЦ адресувалася представникам Української Православної Церкви Київського Патріархату, на чолі з Митрополитом Львівським Димитрієм (Рудюком): «Ваша присутність сьогодні між нами є знаком пошани не тільки до нового Митрополита Львівського, Вашого співбрата, а й до всієї нашої Церкви» - зазначив Глава УГКЦ. Блаженніший також передав слова привітання для глави Української Православної Церкви Київського Патріархату Патріарха Філарета.  Владиці Ігорю також надіслав привітання Його Еміненція кардинал Леонардо Сандрі, префект Конгрегації для Східних Церков: «Сердечно вітаю Вас з такою важливою подією та значним етапом у Вашому церковному розвитку. Молюся за Вас, щоб Ви були сповнені Божих благодатей і могли ревно сповняти свою церковну місію на славу Божу та для добра душ. Бажаю Вам зберегти вірність духовній спадщині Ваших попередників в радості і стражданні за віру, щоб Ви могли бути свідками любові Христа. В такий спосіб внесете Ваш вклад у соціальне і культурне, а передовсім релігійне, відродження улюбленої української нації, яка є покликана в Європу, щоб бути носителькою справедливості, солідарності та миру» - зазначив представник Ватикану. Відсьогодні титул правлячого Львівського архиєрея звучатиме «Архиєпископ і Митрополит Львівський». Архиєпископство Львова піднесене до гідності Митрополії, а собор святого Юра у Львові оголошено архикатедральним собором Львівської митрополії УГКЦ. Прес-служба Львівської Архиєпархії

Mississauga (VIDEO): HOLODOMOR Panachyda

HOLODOMOR 1932-33 - Panachyda in Holy Dormition of the Mother of God Ukrainian Church (Mississauga) 26 November 2011

Patriarchate is adulthood, growth of church, not privilege

Bishop Benedict (R) and Fr. Chrysostomos (L) from earlier this year

SOURCE:  RISU

In an interview before the official proclamation of Lviv Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Auxiliary Bishop of Lviv Archdiocese, Bishop Benedict (Aleksiychuk) said that the preparation of today's event was a long process.

According to him, Patriarchate is the adulthood, the growth of the church, not a privilege.

"In the context of our church we decided to develop in this direction and the proclamation of the metropolitanate is a certain growth, which leads to the patriarchate of our church when we will be mature enough."

"I have no doubt that we will be a patriarchate. Patriarchy is not a privilege, but adulthood of the church. This is typical for the church, when it matures. To have a patriarchal rule is normal for the churches in the east, not something special. Therefore the formation of metropolitanates is a step toward the patriarchate. This is the normal growth of the church," said the bishop.

Regarding the position of some representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who were clearly against this step, Bishop Benedict said that this is internal matter of the UGCC. "If someone is happy with that, we will be glad, if someone is irritated, we should understand that we can not satisfy everyone. This is an internal development of our church, of our structures," Bishop Benedict said.

Consecration of the Altar & Liturgy at Holy Virgin Protection Church

Consecration of the Altar and Divine Liturgy at Holy Virgin Protection Church in Glen Cove, NY. November 26, 2011. Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. For more information click here: http://eadiocese.org/News/2011/nov/glencove.en.htm

Photo of the Day

SOURCE:  http://www.optina.ru/

Holodomor remembered at Kyiv Caves monastery (UOC-MP)

SOURCE:  Website of UOC-MP

On November 26 in Ukraine the victims of the Holodomor (the Ukrainian Famine) of 1932 - 1933 were remembered.

On this day, with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr, at St Stephan's aisle of the Holy Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at which special supplications were read for the victims of famine and political repression.

The worship was led by chief of the administrative office of the UOC Archbishop Metrophanes of Bila Tserkva and Bohuslav, concelebrating to whom was Vicar of the Kyiv Metropolis Bishop Hilary of Makariv and brethren of the monastery in the holy dignity.

The Liturgy was celebrated in Church Slavonic, Ukrainian, Greek and Romanian languages.

During the worship, Bishop Metrophanes read the word of His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr for of the victims of famine and political repression.

Pakistan rescinds ban on texting 'Jesus Christ'

SOURCE:  Catholic Culture

Authorities in Pakistan have rescinded a ban on the use of the name "Jesus Christ" in text messages, in a victory for a Christian government adviser.

Pakistan had included the name of Jesus Christ on a list of over 1,000 terms that are forbidden in text messages because they are considered obscene, blasphemous, or provocative. Paul Bhatti, a special adviser to the government for religious-minority affairs, was successful in persuading officials to end the ban.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Islamabad, victory for Paul Bhatti and APMA: Jesus Christ is no longer banned in texting (AsiaNews)

(Reported earlier:  St. Elias...TODAY!: Pakistan forbids the name "Jesus Christ" in text messages)

Photo of the Day

All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy at San Francisco's Holy Virgin Cathedral on November 5 and 6. The feastday services were celebrated by His Eminence Kyrill, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America. (SOURCE)

VIDEO: The Sash of the Virgin Mary

Al Jazeera

A sacred relic, believed by some Orthodox Christians to be the belt of the Virgin Mary, is drawing thousands of Russian pilgrims in search of a cure for a myriad of ailments including infertility. But the treasure -- a 2,000 year old cincture woven from camel fur - is also having political resonance.

Russian leaders have called the country's shrinking population a matter of national security and now the influential Orthodox church has joined the fight.

It wants to take the relic to pregnancy centres to discourage women from having abortions and save mother Russia by promoting motherhood.

Al Jazeera's Neave Barker reports from Samara.

This Week in Christian History (November 27)

SOURCE:  Christianity Today

November 27

November 27, 1095: After nine days of sessions among clerics, Pope Urban II addresses the public to proclaim the First Crusade. The goals were to defend Eastern Christians from Muslim aggression, make pilgrimages to Jerusalem safer, and recapture the Holy Sepulcher. "God wills it! God wills it!" the crowd shouted in response (see issue 40: The Crusades).

November 27, 1970: On a trip to the Philippines, Pope Paul VI is attacked by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest. Though the Vatican announced the pontiff was unhurt, he suffered a chest wound in the assault.


November 28

November 28, 1628: English preacher John Bunyan, author of more than 60 books, including the famous Pilgrim's Progress, is born in Elston, England (see issue 11: John Bunyan).

November 28, 1757: English Christian mystic William Blake is born in London. A poet, sculptor, and engraver, he was unschooled but fascinated with Milton, Shakespeare, Dante, and the Bible. He experienced visions all his life, beginning at age 4 when he saw God looking in his window.

November 28, 1863: The the first annual national Thanksgiving Day is celebrated. Back in October, President Lincoln had proclaimed the fourth Thursday of each November from that time forward as a national day of thanks.

November 29

November 29, 1898: Christian writer and scholar C.S. Lewis, one of modern Christianity's best-loved writers, is born in Belfast, Ireland (see issue 7: C.S. Lewis).

Thomas Wolsey

November 29, 1530: Thomas Wolsey, cardinal and Lord Chancellor to England's King Henry VIII, dies. Known as "a statesman rather than a churchman," Wolsey dismantled monasteries to fund Oxford University and devoted his life to king and country (see issue 48: Thomas Cranmer).

November 29, 1847: Missionary physician Marcus Whitman, his wife, and 12 others are killed by American Indians in Washington's Walla Walla valley. Whitman had recently returned from a 3,000-mile journey to convince the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions not to close down one of his three mission stations. He was successful, and returned with a fresh group of immigrants—and the measles virus. Many Indians died of the disease, some of them because Whitman gave them vaccinations. The Indians accused Whitman and other missionaries of black magic and murdered them (see issue 66: How the West Was Really Won).

November 29, 1223: Pope Honorius III formally confirms the "Regula bullata," which organizes the Franciscan Order. The Franciscans are marked by complete poverty and a mission of itinerant preaching (see issue 73: Thomas Aquinas).

November 29, 1780: The Congregational Church of Connecticut licenses Lemuel Hayes to preach, making him the first black minister certified by a predominantly white denomination. Hayes later became the first black minister to pastor a white church (see issue 62: Bound for Canaan).

November 29, 1950: The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States is founded in Cleveland, Ohio, by 27 Protestant and seven Eastern Orthodox denominations. It has been one of America's strongest religious voices for social justice.

November 30

Pope John Paul II and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I

November 30, 1554: Recently crowned Queen of England, Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII, restores Roman Catholicism to the country. Nearly 300 Protestants would be burned at the stake by "Bloody Mary," including Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley. Nearly 400 more died by imprisonment and starvation (see issue 48: Thomas Cranmer).

November 30, 1725: Martin Boehm is born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A Mennonite bishop, he was excluded from the Mennonite communion because of his liberal views and association with persons of other sects. He later joined with Philip W. Otterbein and others to form the United Brethren in Christ Church.

November 30, 1979: John Paul II attends an Eastern Orthodox service, the first pope in 1,000 years to do so (see issue 54: Eastern Orthodoxy).

December 1

ST. THOMAS BECKET OF CANTERBURY

December 1, 1170: Banished earlier by king Henry II because he sided with the church against the crown, archbishop of Canterbury Thomas a Becket returns, electrifying all of England. Henry orders his former friend's execution, and Becket is slain by four knights while at vespers December 29. (T.S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral is a fascinating exploration of the event.)

December 1, 1521: Pope Leo X, enemy of Martin Luther (whom he excommunicated in 1520), dies. Though sincere in his faith and morally stronger than some other medieval popes, Leo squandered much of the papal fortune for his own pleasure (see issue 34: Luther's Early Years).

December 1, 1917: Father Ed Flanagan founds Boys Town, a home for orphaned or delinquent children, in Omaha, Nebraska.

December 1, 1989: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II meet at the Vatican, announcing an agreement to reestablish diplomatic ties. Gorbachev also denounced 70 years of religious oppression in his country (see issue 18: Russian Christianity).


December 2

December 2, 1697: St Paul's Cathedral in London, designed by Christopher Wren, is dedicated. It replaced a medieval cathedral at the site that had burned in the Great Fire of 1666.

December 2, 1859: Militant messianic abolitionist John Brown is hanged at Charles Town, (West) Virginia, for his attack on Harper's Ferry. He was convinced that only violent action could end the horrors of slavery (see issue 33: Christianity and the Civil War).

December 2, 1980: Three American nuns and a lay churchwoman are killed by death squads in El Salvador. Some 70,000 Salvadorans are estimated to have died because of terrorists or civil war during the 1980s, including many Catholic clergy.

December 3

December 3, 1552: Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier, one of the founding members of his order and one of the greatest missionaries ever, dies awaiting admission to China. Before that, he had converted 700,000 people in Portugal, India, Indonesia, Japan, and elsewhere.

December 3, 1833: Ohio's Oberlin College, the first coeducational college in the United States and one of the first to offer education to blacks, opens. Its unique character was formed as a result of the revival movement of Charles Finney, who later served as president of the school (see issue 20: Charles Finney).

December 3, 1846: Presbyterian widow Leslie Prentice leads a pro-life rally outside the home of New York City's foremost abortionist, Anna Lohman, a.k.a. Madame Restell.

Holodomor Service in Ukraine-UAOC

Photography and Orthodoxy

November 26, 2011
Anisia Boroznova
SOURCE:  Russia Beyond The Headlines

Ivan Zhuk is something of a rarity in Russia. His working life combines two things that have been completely separate entities since Soviet times began, or maybe even before – this man’s work encompasses religion and art.

Ivan Zhuk first got his hands on a camera at the age of 15. Now he is nearly 56, and has spent 18 years of his life in a monastery. It is only quite recently, eight years ago in fact, that he became interested in religious photography and started capturing the faces of Russian Orthodoxy on film.

Most Orthodox Christians try to keep art at a respectful distance, in the belief that it often leads people astray. But Ivan Zhuk does not share this view of his brothers in faith, and he uses his work to show that art can actually serve to lead people to the true path of virtue. The photographer says that too many works of art have overt or covert references to the Antichrist, like for example in Lungin’s film “Island”. This has made Russian Orthodox Christians suspicious of the art world, even though they, like everyone else, cannot help but admire beauty and beautiful things.

Ivan Zhuk’s photography is unique. His pictures reveal an aspect of Russian life that is largely hidden. He takes pictures of people who often slip beneath the radar in modern times: the clergy, novitiates, monks and holy fools. These people are not always keen to be photographed, but Zhuk manages to persuade them, as people in the Russian Orthodox community understand and trust him. Every one of his portraits tells the story of its subject. The photographer says he chooses his subjects carefully, and will only take photographs of people he considers worthy; people with a story to tell. Ivan Zhuk works in tandem with another photographer – Igor Tyrtov, who then digitally enhances the photos using Photoshop. The pair got to know each other when working in the monastery bakery.

Ivan Zhuk sees Russian Orthodoxy as the cornerstone of Russian culture. His philosophy is quite simple: every nation should uphold its traditions. “No matter how hard he tries, an elephant is not going to turn into an antelope; he will always be an elephant and he should therefore live as elephants are supposed to”, says the photographer. “Whether we like it or not, the fact is that Americans somehow manage to make a film about a terminator much better than we can here in Russia. And this works the other way too, no one from China will be able to make a Russian Orthodox Christian of himself. We are always looking to the West, and the main problem in Russia today is that we lack a sense of our own worth, our own identity; and this is the very thing that Russian Orthodoxy gives us. If a person can feel the presence of God in his life, this will give him the strength to cope with even the most unbearable and difficult situations”.

In the future Ivan Zhuk plans to make a Russian Orthodox film, something he is very well qualified to do, as he is a trained cinematographer. His films have received many awards at Orthodox film festivals.

For more examples of the work of this remarkable  artist, click  HERE.

VIDEO: Patriarch Kirill at Pokrov Monastery

On the feast of the Mother of God "Quick to Hearken" Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill celebrates Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Resurrection of the Pokrov Monastery in Moscow. During the liturgy, the Russian Church Primate led the episcopal elevation of Archimandrite Irenaeus (Tafuni).

Москва, 22 ноября 2011 года. В праздник иконы Божией Матери «Скоропослушница» Святейший Патриарх Московский и всея Руси Кирилл совершил Божественную литургию в храме Воскресения Словущего в Покровском монастыре г. Москвы. За богослужением Предстоятель Русской Церкви возглавил архиерейскую хиротонию архимандрита Иринея (Тафуни).

Catholic and Orthodox Churches begin Theological Dialogue

SOURCE:  Website ROC External Church Relations

The Coordinating Committee of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church began its work in Rome on 22 November 2011. Taking part in the meeting as consultants on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church are Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, and archimandrite Kirill (Govorun), first deputy chairman of the Education Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church.

At the beginning of the meeting, members of the committee decided unanimously to send congratulations to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on his 65th birthday. The two co-chairmen, His Eminence Metropolitan John of Pergamon, Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Cardinal Kurt Koch signed the message.

In his address, Metropolitan Hilarion reminded the participants that a discussion of the problem of unia was a precondition of the return of the Russian Orthodox Church to the process of the dialogue. This position was espoused by the Orthodox participants in the meeting. The problems of general methodology of elaborating the document on the primacy of the Roman Pontiff were discussed at the suggestion of Metropolitan Hilarion, who believes that the methodology should reflect the centuries-old experience of the Orthodox dispute against papal claims to universal authority in the Church.

The Commission will continue its work till November 25th.

Photo of the Day

Metropolitan Christopher of Prague celebrates a memorial liturgy
for the exiled Russian historian of the Don Cossacks, Fyodor Sherbina.

VIDEO: New Wooden Church Built Withou Nails!

In Kirovohrad church fo spruce is being built. The wooden shrine is being erected using old technology, without a single nail. The material, and artists from Western Ukraine. The temple is to be completed by year's end.

На Кіровоградщині будують смерекову церкву. Саме таким місцева громада села Димитрове уявляє справжній храм. Дерев'яну святиню зводять за старовинними технологіями, без жодного цвяха. І матеріал, і майстри із Західної України. Добудують храм до кінця цього року. Потім почнуть оздоблювати його всередині. Проте вже зараз на великі свята тут правлять служби.

VIDEO: Renovations at Pecherska Lavra

A Gold-plated iconostasis, marble floors and bright colors - now greet visitors of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The iconography renewal of the Dormition Cathedral is coming to an end. Tatiana Ivanchenko one of the first saw the new face of the temple.

Позолочений п'ятиярусний іконостас, мармурова підлога та яскраві фарби - тепер дивуватимуть відвідувачів Києво-Печерської Лаври. Розпис Успенського собору - наближається до завершення. Тетяна Іванченко однією з перших побачила нове обличчя храму.

Greek Catholic Scholars Discuss Status and Prospects of Theology in Church

SOURCE: RISU

Greek Catholic theologians from the leading Ukrainian spiritual institutions gathered in Lviv for a scholarly conference “UGCC: 20 years after the underground. The achievements, difficulties and prospects of the establishment of the spiritual-theological identity.” They will have discussions on this general theme for two days, on 24-25 November at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. The event is organized by the Department of Theology of UCU.

According to the head of the Department of Theology, Viktor Zhukovskyi, the conference is aimed to review what have been done since the time of the forum of Greek Catholic theologians Kairos in 2005.

His Excellency Ihor Vozniak, Metropolitan Archeparch of Lviv

“Our review will deal with all the 20 years, which have passed since the underground time. We will discuss the issues of our theological identity not only in the academic-scholarly format but mainly, we intend to inscribe our theological theory in the specificity of actual projects, for instance, books, monographs, etc.,” said Viktor Zhukovskyi.

After a liturgy led by Archbishop Ihor (Vozniak) of Lviv, the first plenary session began. The achievements and prospects of the Biblical theology were presented by Fr. Taras Barshchevskyi in his report. Deacon Oleh Kindii outlined the status of the patristic theology. Doctor of Liturgical sciences, Mykhailo Petrovych told the audience about the achievements and problems of liturgical theologians of UGCC.

A lively discussion was held with the participation of all those present. It was focused on the practical dimension of the Theological science. The participants tried to give an answer to the question how theology formed in scholarly institutions can influence the life of the whole Church.

Viktor Zhukovskyi presented the dogmatic section. Doctor Ihor Boiko, the dean of the Philosophical-Theological Department of UCU analyzed the development of moral theology in UGCC.

The discussions continued in small groups.

VIDEO: On Metropolitan Volodomyr's Birthday - Братія пришла привітати Митрополита Володимира з ДН

SOURCE:  Website UOC-MP)  On November 23, having returned from the hospital, where Metropolitan Volodymyr stays, Archbishop Alexander of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyy and Vyshneve held a press conference for journalists, who gathered at the Refectory Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

Answering the reporters’ questions, His Eminence Alexander said in particular: “Today, Metropolitan Volodymyr is in the intensive care unit. His breathing is semi-ventilated . He gradually overcomes this state. The state is serious, so nobody hides it. But doctors give encouraging predictions.
We believe that the prayers of all believers, regardless of denomination, will help His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr resume his duties. ”

"We are non-Roman Catholics"

SOURCE:  Crisis Magazine



The first reaction of visitors to my lovely parish church is generally one of bewilderment, as they anoint themselves with air after reaching out for a holy water font inside the door and coming up empty. No statues, either. No stations of the cross. No confessionals or Rosary group either, for that matter. The first question visitors usually ask is, “Is this a Catholic Church?” Why, yes, it is. But not in the way most Catholics would expect.

A young man in my parish once summed up the prevailing assumption when he told me that he hadn’t been able to make it to our place the previous Sunday, “so I went to the regular Catholic Church.” If the Roman Catholic Church is the Regular Catholic Church, that would make my Melkite Greek Catholic Church and its twenty-two sister Eastern Churches in full communion with Rome Irregular Catholics – and so, for many, we are.

Most Catholics remain unaware that there are Eastern Churches in communion with Rome at all, or that there is any way to be Catholic other than in the Latin Roman tradition. When interacting with Roman Catholics, Eastern Catholics often spend much of their time explaining that yes, we are Catholic; yes, we are “under the Pope”; yes, we share the same faith; yes, you can receive Holy Communion here; yes, coming here on Sunday fulfills your Sunday obligation; and so on. We don’t generally call ourselves “Roman Catholic” — not because we are not in communion with Rome (we are), but because we are not of the Roman Rite. Many (but by no means all) Eastern Churches are “Greek Catholic,” i.e., not ethnically Greek any more than all Roman Catholics are Italian, but Greek in taking our worship traditions from Constantinople.

The lack of awareness of the wondrous mysteries of the East is understandable: Eastern Catholics only constitute between one and two percent of the Catholic Church as a whole, such that the theologian Dr. Seuss expressed an overriding concern of Eastern Catholics vis-à-vis Roman Catholics in his renowned treatise on the Eastern Catholic Churches, Horton Hears A Who: “We are here! We are here! We are here!”

But just as God showered His mercy upon this present dust-speck among the galaxies, so the significance of the Eastern Churches is far greater than their minuscule numbers. The Eastern Catholic Churches stand as the chief expression of the Church’s kinship with over 300 million Orthodox Christians who share traditions of worship, spirituality and theology with those Eastern Catholics. They are also the only current manifestation of Pope Bl. John Paul II’s devout and winsomely expressed hope that one day the Church would again “breathe with both lungs.” As such, every Catholic who is aware of the potential of Irregulars to ride to the rescue should know about them and become familiar with some of their particularities.

The Eastern Catholic Churches, with the exception of the Maronite Church, were born out of the failure of the great reunion councils of Lyons (1274) and Florence (1439-1445) to heal the Great Schism between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople. Giving up on attempts to unite the Western and Eastern Churches through an ecumenical council that would hammer out a theological agreement acceptable to all concerned parties, Counter-Reformation Rome began sending out missionaries to Orthodox lands (to the bitter resentment of the Orthodox), hoping to affect union with particular local churches. These efforts bore notable fruit with the Union of Brest in 1596 with large segments of the Ukrainian episcopate; the Union of Uzhorod in 1646 with a group of Ruthenian clergy; and the conversion to Catholicism of the Patriarch of Antioch, Cyril VI Tanas, in 1724.

All of these and other unions led to fresh schisms, so that almost all of the Eastern Catholic Churches (except, again, the Maronite) have Orthodox counterparts. But when these “uniate” Churches restored communion with the See of Rome, they were not required to give up their theological, liturgical, or spiritual traditions. After all, before the Great Schism the Church had featured a multiplicity of orthodox rites, devotional expressions, and approaches to spirituality, all with different emphases but no divergences on the substance of the faith; there was no reason why in the second millennium these would somehow have become illegitimate. Often, however, the adoption of Roman customs and practices became the most direct and visible way for Eastern Catholics to demonstrate their loyalties and identity – especially in areas where tensions ran high with the Orthodox.

Romanian Greek-Catholic?

This “Latinization,” however, hampered the Eastern Churches’ ability to bear witness to the catholicity of the Church to their Orthodox counterparts, who regarded the Eastern Churches’ adoption of Roman practices with contempt, as confirmation of what they regarded as Rome’s theological imperialism. The Second Vatican Council countered this directly, affirming that the various Churches and rites, including the Roman Church, are of “equal dignity, so that none of them is superior to the others as regards rite, and they enjoy the same rights and are under the same obligations, also in respect of preaching the Gospel to the whole world (cf. Mark 16:15) under the guidance of the Roman Pontiff” (Orientalium Ecclesarium 3). The Eastern Churches were called upon to “preserve their legitimate liturgical rite and their established way of life” (Orientalium Ecclesarium 6).

In most Eastern Catholic Churches there ensued a discarding of Latin practices and a recovery of their Eastern traditions. And that process, in turn, is what can lead these Churches to appear so irregular to their Latin brethren. Eastern Catholics sometimes appear indifferent to Latin practices that Roman Catholics can assume are basic to a faith rightly lived. This is not out of hostility to the West, although there is no doubt that at times Easterners do display such hostility as an unfortunate overreaction to Latinization and the incomprehension and often unconscious triumphalism of their Latin brethren. Easterners are more often jealous for their own traditions and less receptive to Latin ones out of an awareness that if they do not bear witness to their own traditions, the Eastern Catholic Churches have no reason to exist. There are already Roman Catholic churches in abundance; Eastern churches thus serve no purpose in becoming merely Roman churches with “a different mass.”

The differences are far greater than that, even as the Faith remains common. Greek Catholic or Byzantine Catholic Churches, which include the Ukrainians, Ruthenians (who style themselves, confusingly “Byzantine Catholics,” as if they were the only ones), Melkites and others, are by far the most likely Eastern Churches that a Roman Catholic may run into in the U.S. The entire emphasis of Byzantine spirituality, upon the sinner as wounded and the Church as the source of his healing, rather than on juridical paradigms derived from Roman law, diverges sharply from Latin spirituality. Churches look like Orthodox churches, featuring an iconostasis, copious use of incense, usually a sung liturgy (most often the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom), and – increasingly – married clergy.

It is the specter of a married priest that most often makes startled visitors ask, “Is this really a Catholic Church?” The Byzantine East, however, has ordained married men from the earliest period of the Church, and Eastern Catholic Churches were no different until 1929, when the Vatican decree Cum data fuerit stated that “priests of the Greek-Ruthenian rite, who wish to go to the United States of North America and stay there, must be celibates.” Although this referred explicitly only to the Ruthenian Church, it was always assumed to apply to the other Eastern Catholic Churches as well – a reasonable surmise, since Pope St. Pius X’s 1907 apostolic letter Ea semper had called for celibacy for all Eastern Catholic priests in North America.

The 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, however, takes married clergy for granted, saying that “in leading family life and in educating children married clergy are to show an outstanding example to other Christian faithful (can. 375) and that “once this Code goes into effect…all common or particular laws are abrogated, which are contrary to the canons of the Code” (can. 6).

Does this mean that the Vatican ban on married clergy was lifted by the Code? Certainly some Eastern Catholic bishops have thought so, and have ordained married men in the U.S. In any case, Cum data fuerit’s stipulation that even immigrant priests in America must be celibate is a long-dead letter, as many married priests serve here after having been ordained elsewhere. The situation, however, is unclear: in the 1990s, one high-profile Eastern Catholic ordination to the priesthood of a married deacon aroused considerable fury among the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the U.S.; subsequent ordinations of married men have either taken place outside this country or with considerably less fanfare.

The ambiguity about the legitimacy needs to be resolved definitively, as it was the ban on the Eastern Churches’ age-old practice of ordaining married men that dealt the most serious blow of all to the Eastern Catholic Churches in the U.S., and to the prospect that they would ever in significant numbers genuinely constitute the Church’s “second lung.” Those who believe that the Eastern Catholic Churches should rightly be compelled to follow Latin custom on this issue often assume that priestly celibacy is of divine origin, when in fact it is a matter of ecclesiastical discipline, or they believe that if the Eastern Churches ordain married men in the U.S., the Roman Catholic Church in this country will be bereft of young men with vocations, as all will join Eastern Churches in order to have both marriage and the priesthood.

Although that has never been true in countries where communities of Eastern and Roman Catholics live in close proximity, it was apparently the concern behind the ban in the first place. However, the obverse is actually true: the ban on married clergy certainly drives Eastern Catholics out of the Catholic Church. I will be happy to supply anyone who disputes this with an icon of St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre.

 

Alexis Toth

Fr. Alexis Toth (1853-1909) was a Ruthenian Catholic priest who came to the U.S. in 1889, settling in Minnesota. When he paid a courtesy call to the Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, John Ireland, Ireland treated him with breathtaking rudeness, denying Toth (who was a widower) permission to serve as a priest in his diocese, and doubting that Toth was really a Catholic at all. Finding that other Eastern Catholic priests in the U.S. had been treated in similar ways, Toth and several other priests contacted a Russian Orthodox bishop in San Francisco, who eventually received them all into the Orthodox Church.

With enormous energy, Toth then set out to convert Eastern Catholics in the U.S. to Orthodoxy, and was immensely successful: as many as 100,000 Eastern Catholics became Russian Orthodox in the first two decades of the twentieth century, largely because of the prohibition of married clergy, restrictions on other Eastern traditions and practices, and indifference or outright hostility from the Roman Catholic hierarchy. For his labors, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Toth in 1994 as St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre. The kontakion (a thematic and often homiletic hymn) for his feast day exults that he “called back the sheep who had been led astray and brought them by his preaching to the Heavenly Kingdom!”

The life of Fr. Alexis Toth should serve as a cautionary tale for Roman and Eastern Catholics alike, that while there is one Faith, there is a legitimate and traditional multiplicity in its expression, and to insist on one expression of it to the expense of all the others does detriment to the Church and to the hope that Christians may one day all be one, as the Lord prayed (John 17:11). The Church will only be truly Catholic, truly universal, when the Council’s words are fully realized — that all the Churches and rites are of “equal dignity, so that none of them is superior to the others as regards rite, and they enjoy the same rights and are under the same obligations.”

That goes even for us Irregular Catholics.

For an extended discussion of the role of married priests in the Church see this essay by Catholic journalist Sandro Magister.

VIDEO Link: Patriarch Sviatoslav made a Doctor of Humane Letters

To see video on Facebook, click HERE

VIDEO: Communion of the Clergy - Patriarch Sviatoslav in Philadelphia

Patriarch Sviatoslav at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia, PA on November 13, 2011. Video by "The Way" www.ukrarcheparchy.us

Pope Approves Bishop for Greek-Catholic Romanian Church

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 21, 2011 (SOURCE:  Zenit.org).-

Benedict XVI gave his assent to the canonical election of the rector of Rome's Pio Romeno pontifical college as a bishop of the major archiepiscopal curia of the Greek-Catholic Romanian Church.

Father Claudiu-Lucian Pop, 39, will take his position following his election by the synod of bishops of that Church, which the Pope has now approved.

Claudiu-Lucian Pop was born in Piscolt, Romania, in 1972 and ordained a priest in 1995. Before coming to Rome he worked in pastoral ministry in the Greek-Catholic Romanian mission in Paris, France.

Holodomor Service at St. Patrick Cathedral in New York

(SOURCE:  Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA)

On Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 1:30PM, the Ukrainian community, under the leadership of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) held its now annual requiem service to commemorate the 78th Anniversary of Ukraine’s Genocide of 1932-1933, known in Ukrainian as the Holodomor.

The clergy and hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic Churches (His Beatitude Sviatoslav,  Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; His Eminence Archbishop Antony of the Eastern Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA; His Eminence Metropolitan Stefan Soroka of the Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia; His Grace Bishop Paul Chomytsky and Bishop-Emeritus Basil Losten of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stanford, CT and His Grace Bishop Daniel of the Western Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA) led this year’s Memorial Pahankhyda for the repose of the souls of the millions of innocent victims of the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933. 
 

Following the requiem service, representatives from the United States government were offered an opportunity to deliver remarks.  Among the speakers were His Eminence Archbishop Antony, the Ruling Hierarch of the Eastern Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, Tamara Gallo Olexy, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, a newly elected Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States of America Olexander Motsyk, His Grace Bishop Paul Chomytsky, Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stanford, CT to name a few.  A statement from President Obama in remembrance of the 78th anniversary of the Holodomor was also read. The Dumka Choir, under the direction of maestro Vasyl Hrechynsky chanted solemn responses to a Memorial Panakhyda for the Famine victims.  

The Genocide of 1932-1933 is one of the darkest pages in the history of the Ukrainian nation.  Up to 10 million innocent victims were starved to death through a deliberate Soviet policy aimed at crushing the nationally conscious Ukrainian peasantry.  The Ukrainian Genocide ranks among the worst cases of man’s inhumanity towards man and is perhaps the most extreme example of the use of food as a weapon.

Republican candidates say nation must return to God

By Michelle Bauman
 
Washington D.C., Nov 22, 2011 / 06:14 am (SOURCE:  CNA/EWTN News).- America must regain its reliance on God and elect a leader who embodies this value in order to succeed as a nation, said Republican presidential candidates at a recent forum.

“Our rights come to us from our Creator,” said former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, who called this belief a founding American principle in danger of being forgotten.

Six of the top presidential contenders gathered at the First Federated Church in Des Moines, Iowa for the Thanksgiving Family Forum on Nov. 19.

The GOP hopefuls included Santorum, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), businessman Herman Cain, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Candidates Mitt Romney and John Huntsman declined the invitation to attend the event.

Unlike many of the previous debates, the forum did not focus on questions of policy involving health care, social security and the economy. Rather, the candidates were asked to speak about the importance of religion and values in their own lives and in American society.

Each contender gave his or her thoughts on the phrase, “so help me God,” which is spoken at the end of the oath of office when the president is sworn in at the inauguration.

Congressman Ron Paul said that the words show how the president is promising to “uphold the Constitution and the rule of law” and is making this promise not only before the nation but “before our God, which means the significance is that much greater.”
Herman Cain said that the phrase “means that I am ultimately responsible to God Almighty,” adding that he would literally be “asking for God to help me” in the important job of president.

Texas governor Rick Perry also weighed in, noting that the statement “so help me God” is not a part of the oath of office, but rather a plea to God. He said that being president of the United States is the “hardest job in the world,” and one with a need for the “eternal wisdom” of God.

Candidate Newt Gingrich said that the thought of having an atheist as president “terrifies” him, because such a person would “completely misunderstand how weak and how limited any human being is.”

In her remarks, Rep. Michele Bachmann said that without help from God, America has no hope of what she called getting back on track.

At the forum, the candidates shared personal stories of their own faith journeys and told about the struggles in their lives that had brought them closer to God.

Bachmann spoke of her years as a foster parent, and Rick Santorum was brought to tears as he described the difficulties of having a daughter with special needs.

Cain also expressed emotion as he explained how his battle with cancer led him more deeply into his faith.

The GOP candidates also discussed the task of regaining fundamental values that they believe have been lost in American society.

“Our civil laws have to comport with the higher law,” Santorum said, underscoring that society has a duty to live according to God's principles. As long as issues such as abortion remain legal, “we will never have rest,” he said.

Gingrich also spoke of the importance of acknowledging that rights come from a Creator. “It changes everything else,” he said, adding that losing this fundamental concept has led to an attempt to drive God out of public life, creating a “nightmare” in society.

Cain also noted that asserting “freedom without responsibility is immoral,” and added that people of faith have been “too passive” and allowed themselves to be intimidated by those seeking to eradicate religion from society.

“We have maybe pushed back, but as people of faith we have not fought back,” he said.

Pakistan forbids the name "Jesus Christ" in text messages

SOURCE:  Agenzia Fides - Palazzo "de Propaganda Fide"

Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - In Pakistan, it is forbidden to write the name "Jesus Christ" in SMS text messages, sent via mobile phones. This was established by the Telecommunications Authority in Pakistan in a measure that orders mobile phone companies to block text messages with certain words considered vulgar, obscene or harmful. Among more than 1,600 banned words, reports a local source to Fides, there are also the words "Jesus Christ" and "Satan".
 

The companies have seven days to give effect to the regulation, but the Christian Churches and organizations for human rights in Pakistan announce battle.

Fr. John Shakir Nadeem, Secretary of the "Commission for Social Communications" of the Episcopal Conference, announces to Fides: "The Catholic Church of Pakistan will make all necessary pressures on the government to eliminate the name of Christ from the prohibited list. We understand the desire to protect the minds of young people, indicating a list of obscene words. But why include the name of Christ? What is obscene? Banning it is a violation of our right to evangelize and hurts the feelings of Christians. If the ban is confirmed, it would be a black page for the country, a further act of discrimination against Christians and an open violation of Pakistan's Constitution. We hope that the government will make the appropriate corrections".

Organizations for the defense of human rights and freedom of citizens such as "Bytes For All" have announced that they will contest the order in court, saying it "violates the right to freedom of speech and expression", "it is an intrusion into the citizens privacy", and it is" not only oppressive and hegemonic, but also unconstitutional". The Telecommunications Authority said that the freedom of Pakistanis is "subject to the limitations provided by the law, in the interest of the glory of Islam". The list contains over 1,600 words most commonly considered vulgar, others of sexual nature.

*** Metropolitan of Odesa of UOC-MP Summons All Bishops to Kyiv ***

SOURCE:  RISU

Metropolitan Volodymyr

A member of the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) Metropolitan Ahafanhel (Savin) of Odesa and Izmail has sent invitations to all the bishops of the UOC-MP to come to Kyiv to attend a liturgy at the Kyiv Cave Monastery on November 23, “on the birthday of Blessed Metropolitan Volodymyr with an intention to offer to the All-generous God a joint prayer for the health of the sick head of the UOC,” the website of Archbishop Ionafan (Yeletskyi) has reported.

Metropolitan Volodymyr is now in intensive care. He was hospitalized on October 30 and his condition remains critical. The clergy of the UOC-MP repeatedly conducted services for his recovery. However, RISU learned from sources inside the church that this time the metropolitan of Odesa summons the bishops not only to pray. He allegedly plans to discuss with the bishops the possibility of electing a locum tenens and a candidate for the position of the head of the UOC-MP, who would suit Moscow. Metropolitan Ahafanhel is one of the aspirants to the position.

The head of the Synodal Education and Information Department of UOC-MP, Fr. Heorhii Kovalenko commented to RISU in this regard: “These are all informal talks, and no official talks regarding a locum tenens are being conducted. If they meet, they can raise any subjects, there is nothing prohibited about it.”

Ukrainian Catholic Leaders Welcomed into Fordham Community

Source:  Website, Fordham University

Fordham conferred an honorary degree on the new head and father of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and honored his predecessor on Nov. 20 at the Rose Hill campus.

His Beatitude Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the new 41-year-old patriarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, received a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, at a ceremony in the University Church. More than 800 members of the Fordham, Catholic and Ukrainian communities filled the sanctuary to capacity.

In the same ceremony, Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan unveiled and blessed a newly installed marble mosaic coat of arms of Ukraine's patriarch emeritus, His Eminence Lubomyr Cardinal Husar, GSAS '66, major archbishop of Kyiv-Halych. Due to ill health, the cardinal was unable to attend.

Cardinal Husar and Patriarch Sviatoslav have played key roles in the reemergence of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in an independent Ukraine; for 65 years under Communist rule, the church had been officially annulled due to government pressure.

Cardinal Husar, who shepherded the rebuilding the church after the nation gained its independence in 1991, served as prelate for more than a decade. He stepped down earlier this year and was replaced by Patriarch Sviatoslav.

"As we honor these two remarkable archbishops, we celebrate the spirit of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, both in the Ukraine and in the Diaspora," said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham.

"The history of the Ukrainian church has been rich in holiness, rich in wisdom, and altogether too rich in martyrs," Father McShane said. "In spite of the trials that it has endured, however, for more than a millennium the Ukrainian Church has borne heroic witness to the great king on whose feast we gather this afternoon."

Patriarch Sviatoslav, in accepting the honorary degree, made light of his age: He is one of the youngest prelates in the world and has been credited with attracting young, educated and invigorated believers to his church.

"One of my Angelicum professors in Rome used to joke that honorary doctorates are usually given to those people for whom it is too late to get an ordinary one," said the prelate, who holds a doctorate in theology from Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and speaks several languages.

The prelate insisted that, while such an honor hardly befitted him, it did indeed befit "the martyred church that I have been called to carry on my shoulders."

"I personally experienced this church when she was despised, scorned and humiliated," said the prelate, who grew up under Communist rule. "But despite all of this, she remained the authentic church of the Risen Christ. So it is this church, to her Christian wisdom and her intellectual life, that these honors befit."

Also speaking were the Rev. Mark Arey from the Greek Orthodox Church in America and Archbishop Antony, eparchial bishop from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the United States-a church that has been historically at odds with Catholics in the Ukraine. The speakers recognized Fordham as a place where different branches of Christianity can come together in dialogue around their common heritage.

"[Patriarch Sviatoslav] is the shepherd for the new church," Archbishop Antony said. "I see a man who has the same dedication as Cardinal Husar and the desire to build unity between our churches."

Participating in Sunday's procession were Fordham students and faculty members of Ukrainian heritage. The Fordham banners were carried by Global Outreach students who are planning a trip to Ukraine this spring.

"It means a lot to have him here in New York, and especially to have him at my university," said Fordham College at Lincoln Center senior Yuliana Kletsun. "It creates a bond and relationship with my homeland that wouldn't have existed otherwise."

At a post-ceremonial gathering at the McGinley Center, Stephen Freedman, Ph.D., provost of the University and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, announced the formation of a memorandum of understanding between Fordham and Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv.

The universities have agreed to partner on faculty research, faculty and student visits, and to foster exchange of academic publications across the arts and sciences.

With some 5.5 million members worldwide, the Ukrainian Catholic Church acts as a bridge between Eastern and Western Christianity. It is the largest sui juris Eastern church in full communion with the Holy See.

Fordham co-sponsored the event with the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation.



Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to more than 15,100 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in West Harrison, N.Y., the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y., and the London Centre at Heythrop College in the United Kingdom.
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