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St. Dionysius on the Epidemic of Alexandria
St. Dionysius the Great was Pope of Alexandria from 248 to 264. During that time, the Church of Alexandria suffered horrible persecution. Just as that was dying down, an epidemic broke out in the…
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Athenagoras Didn’t Want the Hagia Sophia Returned to the Church
The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was the greatest cathedral in the Orthodox world — an architectural wonder built during the reign of St. Justinian, which, according to legend, inspired the emperor to declare, “Solomon,…
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The Cold War Origins of the EP’s Albanian Diocese
There are 13 Albanian Orthodox parishes in America, and 11 of them are part of the Albanian Archdiocese of the OCA. The other two belong to the Albanian Diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate —…
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The “Bulgarian Schism” Began 150 Years Ago
On February 28, 2020, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the creation of an independent Bulgarian Church (known as the “Bulgarian Exarchate”) by decree of the Ottoman sultan. For centuries…
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Chronology of Terror: The Anti-Orthodox Istanbul Pogrom of 1955
It’s well known that the Greek Orthodox population in Istanbul is infinitesimally small — estimates these days usually put the number at under 2,000. It’s also well known that most Greeks in Turkey were deported…
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Athenagoras: The Apostle of America to Orthodoxy
In a previous article, I shared some of Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras’ declarations of loyalty to the United States, documented in U.S. State Department files from 1950-51. Thanks to Aram Sarkisian, I have since…