Reopening of Theological School of Halki
United Nations' Committee calls on Turkey to reopen Theological School
of Halki
3/18/2009 - The United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD) has called on Turkey to reopen the Greek Orthodox
Theological Seminary on the island of Halki, to return confiscated
properties and to promptly execute all judgments by the European Court
of Human Rights relating to it.
"The Committee invited
various ethnic groups in the Parliament and other elected bodies, as
well as their participation in public bodies. It recommended that
research be conducted with a view to effectively assessing and
evaluating the incidence of racial discrimination in Turkey, with
particular focus on discrimination based on national or ethnic origin,
and that Turkey take targeted measures to eliminate such
discrimination," a press release by the Committee in Geneva said on
Tuesday.
The Committee noted its concern "at the particularly serious situation
of the Greek minority" and called upon Turkey "to redress such
discrimination and to urgently take the necessary measures to reopen the
Greek Orthodox theological seminary in the island of Heybeliada (Halki),
to return confiscated properties and to promptly execute all relevant
judgments by the European Court of Human Rights in that respect."
Pointing out that no country was entirely free from racial
discrimination, the Committee also urged Turkey "to investigate why
there had been no complaints of discrimination and recommended that it
verify that the lack of such complaints was not the result of lack of
effective remedies, victims' lack of awareness of their rights, fear of
reprisals, or lack of confidence in the police and judicial authorities,
among others," a CERD press release added.
The Committee also "regretted the absence of a definition of racial
discrimination in domestic law, which might impede the adequate
application of relevant legislation. It was noted that some groups, such
as the Roma and the Kurds, faced a more difficult socio-economic
situation than the rest of the population.
The Committee was concerned that the application of restrictive criteria
to determine the existence of ethnic groups (by following criteria
established in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne), official recognition of
some and refusal to recognize others, might give rise to differing
treatment for various ethnic and other groups which might, in turn, lead
to de facto discrimination.
It was further concerned by allegations of persisting hostile attitudes
on the part of the general public, including attacks and threats,
towards Roma, Kurds and persons belonging to non- Muslim minorities.
Another concern was that
to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967
Protocol, which reduced the protection, offered to refugees from
non-European States and might subject them to discrimination.
In that connection, the Committee was also concerned at reports on
deportation and refoulement (repatriation to danger zone) of refugees
recognized under UNHCR's mandate, as well as of persons registered with
UNHCR as asylum-seekers.
A remaining concern was that there were inadequate possibilities for
children belonging to ethnic groups to learn their mother tongue," it
also said.
Programs for Great Lent
Contributed by Fr. Christopher Metropulos
Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) is pleased to
announce a number of new programs to be launched during Great Lent for
our listeners in the
established a partnership with Amazon.com and The Orthodox Marketplace
of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. Listeners will find a portal to each
of these locations on OCN's website at myocn.net where they can have
direct access to the many titles authored by the guests who are featured
on OCN programs. In addition, a number of special offerings will be
featured during Great Lent to support the faithful in their spiritual
jouney to Pascha.
OCN will also be launching two new podcasts: Harmony of Thunder by the
Rev. David Smith and Beyond the Veil by Dr. Eugenia Constantinou.
Harmony of Thunder will explore the exciting history of great and
powerful preaching in the Orthodox faith! Saints from long ago and
preachers from today have challenged and inspired us to higher and
higher levels of spiritual growth. Each week Fr. David Smith will guide
listeners as he examines one of these great sermons and shares the great
blessing God has granted us through them. The title Harmony of Thunder
comes from a sermon of St. John Chrysostom in which he points out that
even though the voices of all the great preachers sound like thunder,
they all contain a unified message, and so possess a harmony that
natural thunder does not.
Fr. David Smith was born to a United Methodist family in upstate
York
Theological Seminary. While receiving his seminary degree, Fr. David
discovered the Orthodox Church, and he and his family became Orthodox in
1988. Fr. David has served churches in
York
transferred to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Fr. David is
the author of two books, Mary Worthy of All Praise (Conciliar Press,
2003), and Christianity and Pleasure (Regina Orthodox Press, 2008). Fr.
David received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Pittsburgh Theological
Seminary in 2000. Fr. David is attached to St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox
Church in
administrator in
married 25 years and have four children.
The second new podcast is Beyond the Veil which will explore the
Apocalypse in the Orthodox Tradition. The Book of Revelation gives rise
to many questions. Such as, who wrote the book of Revelation, when, and
why? What are we to make of its strange symbols, such as 666 or the mark
of the beast? Why don't we read from Revelation in the services of the
Orthodox Church? Are we living in the end times? Why don't Orthodox
Christians set dates for the end of the world but others do? Will Christ
return to rule over the earth for 1,000 years? What about "the
rapture?"
If Revelation is prophecy, does it have any message for us today?
Presbytera Jeannie discusses the Revelation of St. John and its most
famous passages in the tradition of the Orthodox Church.
Dr. Eugenia Constantinou holds a Bachelor's Degree in Religious Studies
(1980) and a Master of Arts degree in Practical Theology from the
(Th.M.) from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 1996 where
she specialized in Orthodox Theology and Patristics. She also received a
Master of Theology (Th.M.) from
she specialized in the New Testament. She had also previously earned a
Juris Doctorate degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1985
and has been a member of the California Bar since that same year. Pres.
Jeannie received her Ph.D. at
2008, writing her doctoral dissertation and the translation from the
original Greek on "Andrew of Caesarea and the Apocalypse in the
patristic commentary on the Apocalypse for the Orthodox Church. The
commentary will be published by Catholic University of America Press in
their series, /The Fathers of the Church/. Dr. Constantinou has been
teaching Biblical Studies and Early Christianity at the
College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology from 1998-1999. She
also taught a course on the Patristic Exegesis of Scripture at the
Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in
Gospel of John at the
Religions at
Fr. Costa, and is simply "Mom" to Christopher, who is 17 years old.
The /Orthodox Christian Network/ is one of the official agencies of
SCOBA, commissioned by our hierarchs to create a national, sustainable
and effective media witness for Orthodox Christianity throughout North
America. OCN produces the only nationally syndicated Orthodox Christian
radio broadcast, as well as several other outreach programs, including
DVDs and Internet-based media, in direct collaboration with our sister
SCOBA agencies (e.g. IOCC, OCMC, & OCF), as well as with various
Orthodox Christian jurisdictions and pan-Orthodox, para-church
organizations. Our goal is to engage the broader culture of
America
moral heritage, and to thereby strengthen the Orthodox Church's witness
and contribution to the culture in which we live.
Meat-Fare Sunday
To be sure, many can recite the Creed by heart, but the question is, if those who recite it, do understand the theology of its 12 Articles, which is the basis of the Christian Faith. The Creed is in capsule form, of everything we believe in, as Christians.
The 7th article of the Creed was the last article defined by the 318 Fathers in the 1St Ecumenical Council in the year 325 A.D. The remaining 5 Articles were defined in the 2nd Ecumenical Council in Constantinople, and to this day, it is proclaimed in the Orthodox Churches throughout the world.
The 7th Article as mentioned, emphasizes two basic teachings of our Church. Firstly, that our Lord Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and secondly, that His Kingdom will be Eternal, with no end. This Article was composed by our Holy Fathers, based on the many verses throughout the New Testament. Our Lord came into this world into the humblest of surroundings, but His 2nd coming is vividly described in the 25th Chapter of St. Matthews Gospel as follows: "When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the Holy Angels with Him, then, He will sit on the throne of His Glory. All Nations shall be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats."
Without this Judgment day, no moral law can stand. Among the many attributes of God, who is all-powerful and merciful, we believe that He is also absolute justice. Upon the basis of this justice, He will judge the world.
Truly, it is distressing at times to hear various laymen's "Theology." Even though they are baptized Christians, they come forth and declare that they don't believe in the resurrection of the dead during the 2nd coming of the Lord! In continuity we hear their brand of theology when they say: "It is in the life of this world that we pay or get paid for our acts. It is in this life, that we experience heaven or hell!"
These theories are personal and truly unfounded without any supporting basis, and, they are not only contrary with the Lord's teachings, but they also contradict every logic and justice. It is true, that we often see or hear of honorable people, who live by the book, who become victims to scheming and dishonorable individuals. We often hear of humble and sincere individuals, who are victimized by conniving people.
On the other hand, we see transgressors, who not only are brought to justice, but they are often lauded, as being some type of heroes! It is so heart breaking oftentimes, to see the honorable cast aside by the crooked, --- the pure, many times being taken advantage of, etc.
Very frequently honor is substituted by dishonor, --- truth by false hoods, and uprightness by hypocrisy. How then, can these inequalities and injustices be remedied? The skeptic says: "With the laws as they exist." But we recognize, that the laws are powerful only to a certain degree.
Oftentimes though, we see how weak and ineffective the laws are. The laws are powerful only to a certain degree. Many are judged and condemned. Many transgressors though, escape justice, because of loopholes or what have you, and they seem to be above the law. It is a parallel to the spider, which knits its web, and is able to trap small insects, but when it comes to anything larger, the spider as well as the web is destroyed.
I'm sure, that many of you must have heard people say: "It's not worth it in today's world to walk the chalk line." And they continue their thinking, which goes something like this: "As things are today, one has to resort to schemes to be able to survive!" To this line of thinking, the answer is rather simple, and it depends how they conceive their purpose in life, and how strong their faith is in God, and how they perceive Judgment Day and Eternal Life.
There is no doubt, that many God-fearing individuals suffer many trials and tribulations in life, while those, who exist for the material things in this world, seem to enjoy this life without any serious
happenings to them. Thus the question arises quite naturally, "where is the justice of this world?
That is why it is a veritable truth, that there will be a Judgment, separating the just from the unjust, during the Lord's second coming, and there will be eternity in God's glory for the just, as well as eternal condemnation for the great transgressors. That is why, Judgment Day is not only logical, but indeed believable.
Our Lord very graphically taught the future judgment with the Parable of the merciless rich man and the poor Lazarus. In that Parable we vividly see the condemnation of the merciless rich man and the rewarding of the poor Lazarus for his patience during his great suffering.
So many people refrain from hearing or thinking of the coming judgment Day, only because, they refuse to give up their materialistic living. They are somewhat like the proverbial ostrich, which seeing the danger approaching, buries its head in the sand, thinking that it will avoid the oncoming danger.
To sum it up, the coming Judgment Day is an undisputable truth because, 1. Our logic believes it. 2. Our heart longs for the future Glory with our Lord, and 3. while the philosophical mind spends a lifetime investigating, the mouth of the Eternal Truth, our Lord and Saviour declares it and certifies it.
Thus, being only one week away from the week, after which the 40 day Lenten period approaches, let us think seriously about the Eternal Truths, which give us all the guarantees of sharing God's glory.
Only when we honestly and faithfully seek to apply the Lord's Commandments in our everyday living, can we truly become God's children. Only then, we shall sense deeply in our hearts the Lord's words: "Come you blessed of my Father; inherit the Kingdom, which has been prepared for you, from the foundation of the world!" Amen.
+Fr. George Papadeas
Week of Greek Letters
Before I bring to you a few words about the 3 Hierarchs, the fantastic Scholars, who gave impetus to the delving into the Greek language, constituting the foundation of culture and civilization, I must mention what they were up against. There ascended on the Byzantine Throne Emperor Julian, who was known as the Apostate, meaning the drifting from what was already existing, the Christian Religion. Emperor Julian put out an edict that the Christian scholars were unworthy and should not to teach or preach in Greek, because they had totally been absorbed by Christianity, and drifted far from the Ancient Greek Traditions.
But, the 3 Hierarchs boldly stood up as pillars of Chrisianity. St. Basil the Great, who eloquently emphasized and preached, that we have much to learn from our idolatrous Forefathers, and it is up to us, with an open mind to make the proper selections, as the bees do choose the flowers, to give the best honey.
St. John the Chrysostom was a great orator and a prolific writer and commentator. His voluminous commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul, as is his book describing, as no other, the Sacrament of the Holy Priesthood. He wrote a treatise against Emperor Julian, condemning Idolatry, but underscoring that Christians do not deny the worth of our Ancient Greek Heritage.
St. Gregory was rightfully titled the Theologian, because of his profound theological knowledge. He also wrote to exposes against the Emperor chastising him by asking him: "By what right do you deny us Christians to reach our Greek culture, being that it is equal to us as it is to you? It is only the Religion, which separates us. We have full rights to not only speak Greek, but to teach he wisdom of our Ancestors." This boldness is what made these Hierarchs Great.
On their Feast Day January 30th, the main hymn of the day portrays them as follows: : "Let us all who love their preaching come together with hymns to honor the three great torch-bearers of the Triple Godhead: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and the renowned John her Golden-tongued. They have enlightened the world with the rays of their divine doctrines, and are flowing rivers of wisdom; they have inundated all creation with springs of heavenly knowledge; and for us they always intercede with the Holy Trinity. Coming back to the pre-Christian days, it isn't by chance, that Alexander the Great set out to conquer the world, --- not as we know the modern Dictators, but as a champion, to unite the peoples of the world with a common denominator, which was the teaching of the Greek language and philosophy. Besides his army, he recruited eminent educators, who were in a position to transmit the elements of the Greek language.
His overall influence all the way to India, was a feat in itself, when we consider the logistics involved. His educational conquest can be understood in terms of the common denominator, which bound so many people together.
As the Prophets of the Old Testament heralded the Events of our Lord's life 8 Centuries before He came to this world, Alexander fits into the picture of Christianity, as a type of forerunner, in that, through the general use of the Greek language, when the Lord came, the New Testament was easily preached and recorded.
The Greek language was so powerful, that the various Nations lost their language, having submitted to the Greek.
A prime example is the Hebrews. When Alexander died, his Empire was divided amongst four heirs. One of these was Ptolemy, who ruled over Egypt, which had a large measure of civilization. The Hebrews had also lost their language, having been overtaken from the Greek. They could no longer understand their Holy Book, the Old Testament.
Ptolemy then commissioned 72 Hellenistic Scholars, who were Hebrews, to translate the Old Testament from Hebrew into the Greek. This translation is known as the translation of the 70. The Roman Catholic Church uses the Latin term "Septuagint."
After the death of Alexander, his Empire weakened, and was divided into 4 Major Parts. Rome, at that time, was organized militarily, and was successful in taking over the vast Empire. Rome also conquered Greece in the year 146 B.C., and while it did subjugate Greece, in turn Rome was subjugated by the power of the Greek language and Culture. It was Cato in the Roman Senate who declared, "even though I am 80 years old, I know that I have to learn Greek, to be able to function."
Thus, Italy, as we know it today, also used the Greek as its official language. This lasted for over 4 centuries, until St. Jerome, a renowned Priest returned from Jerusalem to Rome, and was successful in re-Latinizing the Country. The remnants of Ancient Greece are still felt and especially on the Island of Sicily. The Greek Orthodox Church until today, is the only Church that reads the Scriptures in the language in which they were written. When one knows the Greek language, he or she can see basic differences in the various English translations. Sometimes they have a totally different meaning.
You may be amazed that not only in the Roman Catholic Seminaries, but also in those of the Protestant Seminaries, Greek is taught, so that the future Clergy are able to understand the Holy Scriptures better.
Today, because of the lack of proper schooling, the Greek is gradually fading, but in the larger Cities where there are full time Greek -American Elementary and High Schools, their graduates are fluent in both languages, and as matter they generally excel, because almost one half of the English language is pure Greek.
Yes, we are proud to perpetuate the Greek Culture and traditions, which surely are life enriching and edifying.
+Fr. George Papadeas