Recently in Eastern Church Category

On January 8th, a new archbishop of Mossul, Iraq, was ordained: 42 year old Emil Shimoun Nona, a priest since he was 23, succeeded Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, killed on March 12, 2008. 

Last week the Lord called to Himself Orthodox Church of America's Archbishop Job. After a serious of religious services in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, where he was buried. Since hearing of the archbishop's sudden death of pulmonary embolism, I've kept +Job in prayer, and I urge you to do the same.

Those interested the roots of Christianity ought to watch the 60 Minutes story on Patriarch Bartholomew. Don't neglect watching the 3 extra video pieces located to the right on the 60 Minutes' page.

Wonderful news: Moscow's Patriarch Kyril visited Patriarch Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. This is Kyril's first foreign trip since being elected Patriarch of Moscow in January 2009.

As I noted a few weeks ago, Jesuit Father Cyril Vasil, 44, was nominated by the Pope to be Secretary for the Congregation for the Eastern Churches serving the Church with Cardinal Leonardo Sandri. He was ordained a bishop today in the papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, across the street from where he resided and taught Eastern Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute. Today, is also the Archbishop's 22nd anniversary ordination as a priest and both ordinations were done by the same bishop.

Great News! Today, the Holy Father nominated Reverend Father Cyril Vasil, SJ, until now the rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, as the Secretary to the Congregation for Eastern Churches, raising him to the dignity of archbishop.

Archbishop-elect Cyril Vasil was born in 1965 (in Slovakia), ordained a priest in 1987, entered the Society of Jesus in 1990 taking solemn vows in 2001. In 1994 he earned a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Oriental Institute. He has a working knowledge of 11 languages.

In 2002, Cyril Vasil was elected dean of the faculty of Oriental Canon Law and in 2007 he was named rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. He is the first rector of the PIO to be of the Byzantine Catholic Church.

Among his responsibilities for the Church he is a consultor for the Congregations of Eastern Churches, Doctrine of the Faith and Pastoral Care of Migrants. Moreover, he was an expert for the 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. And he's been active in the International Union of Scouts of Europe being named a spiritual advisor in 2003.

I can say that this is an excellent choice for the Church: he's affable and competent. With Archbishop Vasil's appointment there are now two Jesuits in prominent positions in the Roman Curia, both are archbishop secretaries. It is also interesting to note that the new archbishop is the first in history working as a Vatican official to be the son of a married Catholic priest of Slovak Greek-Catholic Church, the vast majority of whose clergy are married family men in accord with the age-old (and fully salutary) tradition in the Byzantine East, Catholic and Orthodox. His father, Michael, was ordained by Blessed Vasil Hopko.

Happy Easter to our Eastern brothers and sisters! May the risen Lord lead all of us to greater freedom through His mercy.

The President of Fordham University, Fr. Joseph M. McShane, S.J. announced Tuesday Feb. 17, a Jaharis Family Foundation gift establishing the Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture as part of the Orthodox Christian Studies Program of this renowned Roman-Catholic Jesuit University.

 

The announcement came at the conclusion of the Sixth Annual Orthodoxy in America Lecture given this year by Fr. Stanley Harakas, ThD, who is the Archbishop Iakovos Professor of Orthodox Theology Emeritus at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. Fr. Harakas' topic "The Future of Orthodox Christianity in America: A Normative Approach" captivated his diverse audience of academics, clergymen, students and laymen. He outlined the threats and pitfalls but also the opportunities of the social and cultural reality in America and suggested ways of what we need to do and ought to do, as Orthodox.

 

Following the lecture President McShane announced the establishment of the Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture through a generous donation of two million dollars by the Jaharis Family Foundation. Fr. McShane welcomed Michael and Mary Jaharis as he expressed his great joy and gratitude. He further said that naming the chair after Archbishop Demetrios is a most deserving honor and that the University was "thrilled that his name (the Archbishop's) and the name of the Jaharis family will forever be associated with Fordham."