Orientale Lumen Xv
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“GLORY BE TO GOD FOR ALL THINGS.” NEWSLETTER OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, YOUNGSTOWN-WARREN OHIO CHAPTER VOLUME 10, NUMBER 3 MAY-JUNE, 2011 VITO R. CARCHEDI, EDITOR, 35 SCHENLEY AVE. STRUTHERS, OH 44471 TELEPHONE: 330-755-5635 E-MAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: www.byzcath.org/stjohnchrysostom/ FROM THE EDITOR… SPECIAL MEETING! The next regular meeting of our chapter will be Dr. Adam Deville, author of Tuesday May 24, 7 P.M. at Our Lady of Hungary “Orthodoxy and the Roman 545 N. Belle Vista Ave. Youngstown,OH 44509 Papacy” (U Notre Dame Press, Phone: (330) 799-6829 2011); editor of LOGOS: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies; a professor at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana; and a subdeacon of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church (UGCC) resident in the Eparchy of St. Nicholas of Chicago and a speaker at this year’s Orientale Lumen Conference will speak to our chapter at a special meeting Friday June 24, 7 P.M. at St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church, 7782 Glenwood Avenue, Boardman, Ohio 44512-5823. ORIENTALE LUMEN XV The conference will be held June 20-23, 2011 at the Washington Retreat House on the theme of “Rome and the Communion of Churches: Bishop, Patriarch or Pope?” Speakers: Metropolitan Jonah (Orthodox) Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia (Orthodox) Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ (Greek Catholic) Our speaker will be the pastor, Father Joseph Msgr. Michael Magee (Roman Catholic) Father Ron Rudjak. Father will speak on “The Challenges of Roberson, CSP (Roman Catholic) Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin Ethnicity for Churches Both East and West in the (Orthodox) Dr. Adam DeVille (Ukrainian Greek Twenty-First Century and the Challenge of our Catholic) Young People.” Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia will also server as moderator. Father Ron Roberson will give a summary PLEASE PAY 2011 DUES. SEND $20 ($25 of the North American Dialogue document “Vision for FAMILY) TO ADDRESS IN MASTHEAD. THOSE Unity” as the Closing Session, and the panel of speakers LISTED HAVE PAID: EOCA, B. & C. BERARDI, will discuss it, along with Q&A from the audience. In GALL, ROHAN, NAKLEY, WITMER, SCALISE, addition to several video recorded blessings and SPINOSA, S. KOLITSOS, GRAFF, PETRONY, greetings from Church leaders at the Opening Session, RENDULIC, MANNING, SLEEVER, STANISLAW, Jack Figel will also be preparing a short history of the SHAGLA, REVETTI, GAGE, CARCHEDI. conferences since it is our Fifteenth Anniversary. MCCARTHY, MATTIUSSI, BILLCHECK, D. More details about the conference and online registration LIMBERT, L. DEMIDUK, DECKANT, J. & E. can be found at the Future Conferences page of DERSHAW, ELSEY, SCHMIDT, HOPKO. www.olconference.com. (See this website for how you can watch OL conference live!) A new Maronite Patriarch in leaders allied to the Hezbollah-led “March 8″ party. After his election, Bechara Rai, 77th patriarch since the Lebanon arrival of the first disciples of St. Maron in Lebanon over 1500 years ago, declared that he intends to follow March 16, 2011 from the blog: in his predecessor’s footsteps. “I have chosen the motto http://bekkos.wordpress.com/Below is a quick, unofficial translation of an article that was published today on the website for my journey, and it is ‘Love and Partnership,’” he of the French journal, Le Point. added. The Christian camp divided While some view Bechara Rai as a moderate figure, others point out that he may be radical and combative, that the man does not mince words and has not always been a model of diplomacy. The new patriarch is, moreover, very committed to Lebanon’s sovereignty and rejects foreign interference. According to a Lebanese expert on religious affairs, Monseigneur Rai, whose surname means “shepherd” in Arabic, is a very learned man who does not compromise on principles, a man committed to Christian-Muslim dialogue, but also to the defense of the Christians of the East. Earlier this year, after the attack against a Coptic church in Alexandria in Egypt, Archbishop Rai had called for holding an Islamic summit aimed at “clarifying the real position of the Bechara Rai, 71, succeeds Nasrallah Sfeir, 91, head of Muslim world against fundamentalist currents which the Maronite community for 25 years. attack Christians under the guise of Islam.” Stressing that Eastern Christians are in danger, he called upon LePoint.fr – Posted on 16/03/2011 at 09:53 – Edited on “Arab regimes to assume their responsibilities” in this 16/03/2011 at 11:20 regard. FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN BEIRUT, EMILIE SUEUR Bechara Rai’s election also comes at a critical moment The Lebanese Maronite bishops, gathered in synod since for the Lebanese scene in general and the Maronite last Wednesday, elected on Tuesday morning their new community in particular. The “March 8″ party, led by patriarch: Bechara Rai, previously Bishop of Byblos. Hezbollah, and the “March 14″ party led by Saad Hariri, Bishop Rai, 71, takes over from Cardinal Nasrallah a Sunni, have been at loggerheads since this past January Sfeir, who led the Maronite Church for 25 years. In 12 when the national unity government led by Hariri fell January, Cardinal Sfeir, aged 91, had tendered his apart after the resignation of the “March 8″ ministers. resignation to the Vatican, which accepted it late in Appointed Prime Minister on January 25, Najib Mikati February. has still failed to form a new government. The backdrop After the election was announced, church bells began to this crisis is the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, ringing, while the faithful, some in tears, arrived at charged with trying the assassins of Rafiq Hariri. This is Bkirki, seat of the patriarchate, to celebrate the new an international tribunal which, according to several patriarch. international media reports, was prepared to point the “Love and Partnership” finger at members of Hezbollah. In this crisis, the In Lebanon, the patriarch is not only a religious Maronite community is divided between the two sides, authority. In this country made up of many communities, “March 8″ and “March 14.” a country which takes for granted the principle of political sectarianism, the Maronite Patriarch is also a PRAYER OF SOUFANIEH political figure. In 2000 the Maronite Council of Bishops, chaired by Nasrallah Sfeir, issued a call for the Unity of Hearts! withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. It would take another five years before Syrian troops would actually leave the land of the Cedars. Cardinal Sfeir did Unity of Christians! not hold aloof from tensions on the local political scene, either. In recent years, relations have deteriorated Unity of the Feast of Easter! between the cardinal, on the one hand, and Michel Aoun and Suleiman Franjieh, on the other, two Maronite 2 He was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite in 1976, and was elected by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople as Auxiliary Bishop for the Ukrainian Orthodox Diocese of America and was consecrated as Bishop on March 13, 1983. Following the death of Bishop John (Martin) in September of 1984, Bishop Nicholas was chosen as the third ruling hierarch of the Carpatho-Russian Diocese and was enthroned in Christ the Saviour Metropolitan Nicholas Cathedral by His Eminence, Archbishop Iakovos on Reposes In The Lord April 19, 1985. He was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan, by His All- Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on JOHNSTOWN, PA - His Eminence, Metropolitan November 24, 1997. Nicholas, 75, spiritual leader of the American Carpatho- Over his many years of service to Christ and His Holy Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A., reposed in the Church, His Eminence has proven to be a worthy laborer Lord today, March 13, 2011 after waging a courageous in the Vineyard of the Lord. In recognition for his labors battle with cancer. he was the recipient of the Saints Cyril and Methodius Metropolitan Nicholas was born on February 23, 1936. Award, given by the Orthodox Church of The son of the late Anna (Totin) and Andrew Smisko, he Czechoslovakia, the St Sava Award from Patriarch is a priestly vocation from Saint John the Baptist Pavel of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the honorary Church, Perth Amboy, New Jersey. After graduating Doctor of Divinity degree from Holy Cross School of from Perth Amboy High School, he entered Christ the Theology. Saviour Seminary in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to study His Eminence has been noted for his love for his flock for the Holy Priesthood. Upon graduation, he was and the liturgical services of the Church, and his ordained on January 11, 1959 by Bishop Orestes in Perth devotion to the Mother Church, the Ecumenical Amboy, N.J. His first pastorate was at Saints Peter and Patriarchate. He was well-respected in Orthodox and Paul Church in Windber, Pennsylvania, where he served Ecumenical circles as being a promoter of peace and until 1962 mutual understanding amongst all Christ-loving people. A new phase of his life began when he embarked on a True to his patron Saint, Nicholas the wonderworker, year's study at the renowned Patriarchal Theological His Eminence was perhaps best known and respected Academy at Halki, Constantinople. During his stay in for his pastoral sensitivity, generosity of spirit and the city, the young priest was assigned by the late compassion for the sick and suffering and the less Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras to serve the spiritual fortunate. needs of the large Slavic Orthodox community in the All Diocesan Clergy and Faithful are asked at this time Galata section of Istanbul. He also traveled extensively to remember the Newly Reposed +Metropolitan throughout Europe and the Middle East, visiting the Nicholas as well as his brothers George and Michael and sacred sites of the Holy Land and living for a time on the entire Smisko Family in their prayers.