Short Reads on September 2025| Public Orthodoxy
Benedict Sheehan is an award-winning musician, honored for his Akathist, Vespers, and Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. His recently composed Ukrainian War Requiem, commissioned by the Axios Men’s Ensemble of Edmonton, premiered in Canada in 2024 along with singers from Pro Coro Canada and soprano Yuliia Zasimova from L’viv, Ukraine. Sheehan’s composition is a unique... The post Benedict Sheehan’s Ukrainian War Requiem: A Review appeared first on Public Orthodoxy.| Public Orthodoxy
On Sunday, October 12th, on the grounds of St. George’s Church in Nakhabino, near Moscow, a monument to “fallen warriors” was solemnly unveiled and—who could doubt it!—blessed and sprinkled with holy water. In the diocesan bishop’s social media, the monument is called a “symbol of the spiritual connection between generations.” As is customary, representatives of... The post Death in War for Empire as a “Path to Christ” appeared first on Public Orthodoxy.| Public Orthodoxy
In my last letter, I shared my thoughts on how a secularist distinction between “ethnicity” (something “of the body”) and “religion” (something “of the mind”) disrupts liturgical kinship in the Syriac Orthodox tradition. Kinship, as I understand it, is the set of relations that makes us who we are. The post On Not Understanding the Words appeared first on Public Orthodoxy.| Public Orthodoxy
From the Editors: This essay is the first of a three-part series in which the author imagines herself corresponding directly with a recent OCSC webinar attendee who asked about advice for American Orthodox converts in ethnic parishes. To learn more about the author’s work on Syriac Orthodoxy that prompted the question, you can watch the... The post Being vs. Becoming Christian appeared first on Public Orthodoxy.| Public Orthodoxy
Considering the power of her spiritual presence and the efficacy of her prayer-life which undergirds much of Orthodox theology, descriptions of the Mother of God the Holy Theotokos, and images of her from the early centuries after Christ, can seem rather precious sparse. As Vladimir Lossky tells us: “The mystery of the Mother of God... The post Gazing at the Theotokos appeared first on Public Orthodoxy.| Public Orthodoxy
A recent announcement out of the Metropolis of Boston possibly remains under the radar for most but arguably constitutes a monumental and momentous evolution in pastoral sensibility, canonical susceptibility, and church practice. According to the announcement, a divorced clergyman received approval to remarry and continue serving in his parish. The decision of the Holy and... The post Ordination and Second Marriage appeared first on Public Orthodoxy.| Public Orthodoxy
Churches stand as living Gospels, rooted like ancient trees that proclaim the Good News to the four corners of the world. They are not merely buildings of stone and mortar, but living organisms of faith that invite us to be nourished by the life-giving Word, made incarnate within us through the Holy Eucharist. These sacred... The post The Living Gospel of Aghtamar: A Testament in Stone and Spirit appeared first on Public Orthodoxy.| Public Orthodoxy
Editors’ Note: On September 23, 2025, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited Fordham University for the second time, making Fordham the only university in the United States to receive the Patriarch twice. During this historic visit, His All-Holiness delivered the following remarks at the University Chapel following the performance of Robert Kyr’s A Time for...| Public Orthodoxy
Between the sensational extremes of an Ecumenical Patriarch appearing in the White House in Washington, DC to be greeted by the United States President and an Orthodox abbot appearing in the criminal courts of Athens, Greece to respond to allegations of corruption, few will have noticed the recent passing of Archimandrite Vasileios of Mount Athos... The post Archimandrite Vasileios (1936–2025): A Silent Revolutionary appeared first on Public Orthodoxy.| Public Orthodoxy
Panagiotis Thomas writes[1] in a time marked by violence, racism, fanaticism, and intolerance, choosing to stand beside “the weak, the powerless, the marginalized of our world.” His work raises the fundamental question of existential affirmation in the face of the Other—the alien, the ugly, the suffering. Thomas seeks the ontological foundation for sensitivity and the... The post An Impossible Resurrection appeared first on Public Orthodoxy.| Public Orthodoxy
Last fall, a post by Paul Gavrilyuk on Facebook highly resonated with my own burning thoughts on the same issue. Gavrilyuk wrote, “Russia’s war crimes have two main aims: to crush the spirit of Ukrainians and to erase Ukrainian identity. It strikes me that our present discussion of Orthodox nationalism, as valuable as it is,...| Public Orthodoxy
My recent essay on “LGBTQ+ Experience and Orthodox Tradition” provoked a strident response from Dr. Edith Humphrey, Professor Emerita of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. While I disagree with the main point of her critique—that the Church has nothing to learn from the experience of LGBTQ+ people—I am grateful for her extensive engagement with...| Public Orthodoxy
Read part one, two, and three of this four-part series. Having completed—albeit somewhat elliptically—my “itinerary” of the argument of That All Shall Be Saved, I have reserved the final installment of my report for a last, brief, bitter, even somewhat petulant and self-pitying complaint about some of the more belligerent readings the book has inspired. Perhaps...| Public Orthodoxy
In a moment of unprecedented closings and cancellations, how should the Orthodox Church and her members faithfully navigate the risks and complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic? For many Orthodox jurisdictions and individuals, the pandemic is an opportunity to show a panicked world the extraordinary steadiness of the Orthodox faith and of those who uphold it. One...| Public Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Church is generally not opposed to scientific knowledge and scientific endeavors. In fact, many early theologians and saints of the Church (including St. Basil and Ss. Cosmas and Damian) considered themselves to be scientists exploring nature and using nature’s pharmaceuticals to treat disease. When the Orthodox Church finds itself opposing science, it should...| Public Orthodoxy
This essay is part of a series stemming from the ongoing research project “Contemporary Eastern Orthodox Identity and the Challenges of Pluralism and Sexual Diversity in a Secular Age,” which is a joint venture by scholars from Fordham University’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center and the University of Exeter, funded by the British Council, Friends of...| Public Orthodoxy
What can time travel stories teach us about ourselves, the world, and our relationship to God?| Public Orthodoxy
Nestled on a hillside in the occupied West Bank, the village of Taybeh is a place of deep spiritual and historical significance. It is the last fully Christian town in Palestine, a rare sanctuary of quiet endurance amid a region marked by turmoil. Taybeh’s name appears in the Gospel of John as Ephraim, the place...| Public Orthodoxy
It has never been simple to discern the balance between new experience and received tradition. The process is messy, involves lots of questions, debate, pushback, dead-ends, wrong turns and periods of grey when the final outcome is not at all clear. And it is often slow—though not always. In my comments I’ll focus on this...| Public Orthodoxy
Short Reads on July 2025| Public Orthodoxy
