Author: Matthew Namee
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The Phanar vs. the French Revolution
In 1797, revolutionary France conquered the Republic of Venice, and, with it, the Ionian Islands, which were a Venetian possession but were inhabited by Greek Orthodox Christians. The next year, the Russian, British, and…
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The 1821 Massacre of Greeks in Cyprus
In October 1818, Archbishop Kyprianos of Cyprus met with representatives of the Filiki Eteria, the Greek secret society that was preparing to launch a war for independence. While some sources claim that he was…
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“To Arms, For Our Country and Our Religion!”
What follows is the text of Alexander Ypsilantis’s call to the Greek people to revolution against the Ottoman Empire. The proclamation is dated February 23 (Julian March 7), 1821. It was published in English…
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A Letter from Constantinople, March 24, 1821
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the Greek Revolution. The traditional date for the beginning of the Revolution is March 25, 1821 — the Feast of the Annunciation. That was…
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How Are Orthodox Patriarchs Chosen?
Last week, the Serbian Orthodox Church elected a new Patriarch, Porfirije. This was the result of a fairly complex process — three rounds of nominations, followed by the finalists’ names being placed in a…
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The U.S. Government & the Election of Athenagoras
In the mid-20th century, the Skouras brothers — Charles, Spyros, and George — were among the most powerful men in the booming film industry. Charles was president of Fox West Coast and funded the…
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How the State Dept. Got Interested in Orthodoxy
In recent days, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul. After the meeting, Pompeo tweeted that the Ecumenical Patriarchate is a “key partner” of the United States. This is…
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A Disappointing First Chapter of The Greek Orthodox Church in America
This summer, Alexander Kitroeff’s new book The Greek Orthodox Church in America: A Modern History was published by Northern Illinois University Press. It’s an ambitious book, attempting to span 150 years of history in a…
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The Position of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Orthodox Church (1924)
The remarkable article that follows was written by then-Metropolitan Christophoros of Leontopolis (future Patriarch Christophoros II of Alexandria) in 1924, and was published in Paintanos, an official organ of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and…
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A Brief Life of Meletios Metaxakis
In the early 20th century, no fewer than seven of the world’s Orthodox Churches had succession crises (Cyprus, Greece, Constantinople, Moscow, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem). Meletios Metaxakis was involved in five of them. Meletios…