Author: Matthew Namee
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A Tour of the Orthodox World at the Turn of the 20th Century: The Church of Russia
In 1908, a Roman Catholic priest and writer, Adrian Fortescue, published his landmark book The Orthodox Eastern Church, presenting Orthodoxy to the English-speaking world through the eyes of a very well-informed but also very papist Roman Catholic from England. In one section of the book, Fortescue surveys the Orthodox world, telling the recent history and then-current…
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A Tour of the Orthodox World at the Turn of the 20th Century: The Ancient Churches
In 1908, a Roman Catholic priest and writer, Adrian Fortescue, published his landmark book The Orthodox Eastern Church, presenting Orthodoxy to the English-speaking world through the eyes of a very well-informed but also very papist Roman Catholic from England. In one section of the book, Fortescue surveys the Orthodox world, telling the recent history and then-current…
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The Legacy of Father Nicola Yanney
Ancient Faith Publishing recently released a wonderful biography of Fr. Nicola Yanney, the remarkable Syrian priest from Nebraska who died in 1918. I can highly recommend it — the title is Apostle to the Plains — but I’m hesitant to review it because I’m a bit conflicted, as I wrote the afterword for the book.…
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The Nine Years that Almost Destroyed the Orthodox Church
Back in March, I published a 9-part series on the global Orthodox crisis of 1917-1925. I’ve made a few revisions to that account and added an Epilogue and a partial bibliography. Today, I’m publishing all of that — 9,000+ words, altogether. Orthodoxy is currently facing a global crisis of unity. While we might be tempted…
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Why Fr. Raphael Morgan Should Not Be Venerated or Canonized
On September 3, I published the documents from the divorce of Fr. Raphael Morgan and his wife Charlotte. The documents are tragic and disturbing. Charlotte accused Fr. Raphael of physical abuse, verbal abuse, and infidelity. The Morgans’ former landlady corroborated the abuse allegations in her testimony. Fr. Raphael himself was a no-show at the hearing,…
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The Fr. Raphael Morgan Divorce Documents
Fr. Raphael Morgan was the first black Orthodox priest in American history. He was ordained in Constantinople in 1907 and lived in Philadelphia until his death in 1922. He’s an incredibly fascinating historical figure who has captured the imaginations of many people who have learned about him. He’s also not a saint. I first discovered…
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The Massive Growth of the Orthodox Episcopate Since 2006
In 2006, there were 668 active, canonical Orthodox bishops in the world. Today, there are 947. That’s a net increase of 279 bishops, or 42% — and most of that growth is coming from the Moscow Patriarchate. Last week, I published an article estimating the number of Orthodox bishops in the world. (I’ve received updated…
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How many Orthodox bishops are in the world?
As best I can tell, there are 941 active, canonical Orthodox bishops in the world right now. Give or take. Compared to the 19th century, that’s a big increase — in 1859, we had just 278 bishops worldwide. But at the time of the First Ecumenical Council, there were a reported 1,800 bishops in the…
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The Forgotten Greek Archbishop
Last week, I wrote about the remarkable pan-Orthodox youth festival in Pittsburgh in 1963. In that article, I mentioned in passing that the youth ministry alliance that put on the festival — CEOYLA — was, itself, organized with the blessing of Archbishop Michael, primate of the Greek Archdiocese in from 1949 to 1958. Archbishop Michael…
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The Biggest Pan-Orthodox Event in American History
In 1963, between 11,000 and 13,000 Orthodox youth, from seven jurisdictions, came together for a pan-Orthodox festival in Pittsburgh. Ten bishops and more than 150 priests celebrated Vespers in an arena, and a thousand-person pan-Orthodox youth choir sang. This was the biggest pan-Orthodox event in American history, and most Orthodox Christians today are completely unaware…