The next stop on my whirlwind Paschal Pilgrimage (seven countries in 18 days) was Beirut and Lebanon, my first time in any Middle Eastern country. A few months ago, when Patriarch Gregorios contacted me about a book of pastoral letters I was publishing for him, he insisted that I should come and visit him in Lebanon or Syria. I replied that Syria was more dangerous for Americans and is even listed on the US State Department “do not visit” list. So I suggested I could visit the next time he would be at his residence in Beirut. Although his “see” is Antioch and All the East, Alexandria and Jerusalem, he splits his time between two residences in Beirut and Damascus, for the most part.

So we agreed that after my appointed audience with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, I would be “in the neighborhood” and could get a flight from Istanbul to Beirut for a short visit. Then he also told me of a pilgrimage he was leading to Rome with his Synod of Bishops, clergy and lay persons from around the world to meet Pope Benedict XVI and have a Divine Liturgy at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, in honor of the anniversary of Saint Paul this year. I asked if I could join his group in Rome, and he readily agreed. So the schedule was set and he agreed to have a driver and car waiting for my on my arrival at the airport, and that I could stay at the seminary/residence that the Patriarchate has north of Beirut in Rabweh.

Unfortunately, the Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Beirut leaves at 11:00 PM and arrives in Beirut at 1:15 AM. So I decided I should stay in Istanbul for the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning and travel to Beirut that evening, arriving early Monday morning. I faxed my flight details to the Patriarchate in Beirut and hoped for the best.

All went smoothly, no problems with the flight or entering Lebanon (not even a visa is required any more for Americans), but then I got a little nervous when I could not find my name on any of the signs held by drivers waiting for passengers. After searching about 15 minutes, I decided there must have been some problem and I was “on my own.”

In the arrivals area there was a larger poster for the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Beirut. So feeling this was the safest place for an American alone in Beirut to “hide out” until I could make contact with the Patriarch, I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. The driver tried to get me to use another less expensive place nearby, but I insisted on the Intercontinental. It was five star, quite nice, a great large room with all the amenities, and a great view of the Mediterranean Sea that I found the next morning. I was on the 19^th floor. Well, a little “R&R” never does any harm!

After sleeping in a bit (I finally got to sleep about 3 am), I started my phone search of the Patriarch. The cell phone number I had for him did not seem to work (I had an extra 3!), and I had difficulty finding the Patriarchate office numbers. But after a few hours of tracking down, I finally got through in Beirut. The Patriarch was still in Damascus, so I then called that number and was told he was in a meeting. I called back later in the afternoon and finally spoke to His Beatitude. Indeed, there was a misunderstanding – they thought my flight arrived at 1:15 PM not AM – they had misread my fax. So arrangements were made for a car and driver to pick me up the next morning – I offered to take a taxi but His Beatitude insisted it would be too complicated to explain how to get to the seminary to a taxi driver who would not understand any English. I agreed.

Beirut is a city in transition, for sure. My hotel was quite modern and clean and somewhat of an oasis in the center of the city, just above a modern marina. But it also was next to several other hotels and apartment buildings under construction, and even a few bombed out buildings left over from the years of civil war. As with many cities, there are nice new, clean neighborhoods and buildings right next to old, dilapidated and dirty ones.

The drive northward from the hotel into the hills took about 30 minutes, and after winding through a number of twists and turns – even on the same road – and a climb of several thousand feet elevation, we arrived at a very large curved building that sits atop a mountain. It is the Patriarchate’s seminary, chancery and residence in Lebanon. Patriarch Maximos IV purchased the entire hillside decades ago, and development still continues with several construction projects underway. It seems the building can house about 100 students with a great view of Beirut and the sea. I’m not sure about the students’ rooms, but mine had a private bath and shower, with a great balcony and view. One wing is the patriarchal offices and another is his residence. The chapel is tremendous with icons decorating every square inch of wall and ceiling space.

After settling in, I had an hour’s meeting with His Beatitude and we discussed many projects. I presented him with copies of his book of pastoral letters in presentation form for his own library and one for the Pope for him to present, and also a specially bound edition of We Are All Brothers/3, the festschrift I published last December in honor (and now in memory) of Archbishop Vsevolod, to which Patriarch Gregorios made a major contribution. We also discussed another book project of his in English on the liturgy on which we are working, and the status of Orientale Lumen TeleVision (he is our patron), as well as other future OL Conferences. After a wide range of discussions, we had a light lunch in the faculty dining room near the large refrectory.

Then the he told me the news – because of anticipated trouble the next day, we would be leaving VERY early in the morning for the airport. He and the bishops would be on a private plane and I and some of the other priests and staff going to Rome would be on a commercial flight that would leave at 6:40 AM. We had to leave from the seminary at 3:30 AM for security reasons. So I laid down to sleep at 9 PM, but could not get even 10 minutes of sleep, constantly worried that I would wake at 3 to be ready on time! It was like being on an overnight flight without any sleep, except I wasn’t on the plane yet.

So at 3:30 my bags were brought down to the front courtyard and to my surprise there was a whole caravan of vehicles ready to leave. One Cadillac was for the Patriarch and his secretary, another sedan for a few bishops who gathered at the seminary for the trip, two other vehicles for me and the staff, two more carrying nothing but luggage, AND a military escort front and rear with about 8 soldiers in two cars. With no traffic at that time of the morning we made our way to the airport easily, checked in, and then had to wait about 2 hours for the flight to leave. After we arrived in Rome, we learned of the violence that broke out in Beirut a few hours after our departure. In fact, we passed another military convoy on the road to the airport which included several armored personnel carriers with tank tracks, and I suspect that unit might have been the one first attacked with two soldiers killed. The airport has been closed since we left, and now many on the trip are uncertain when they can return to Lebanon from Rome. Although I was a little inconvenienced to not get any sleep and leave so early, I am now VERY glad we did, or else we may have been stuck IN Lebanon indefinitely!

My only regret is that because of all the scheduling issues, and the preparations that His Beatitude and staff were making for the trip to Rome, I was not able to see much of the city or of Lebanon itself. I was hoping to see at least a few functioning churches, but that will have to wait for another visit – whenever that might be possible!

Next Part 5 – Rome and Home

Just as it is complicated to get TO Uzhgorod, it is likewise complicated to leave FROM Uzhgorod.  However, the next stop on this journey had some extra time built in – after Pascha my next appointment was a private audience with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Saturday, May 3.  That allowed almost a full week to get from point A to point B.

Father Taras Lovska and his brother, Father Joseph Lovska, both wanted to travel with me to Constantinople to see the city and meet the patriarch.  So with three of us traveling together, we considered driving through Romania and Bulgaria to get to Istanbul.  Unfortunately, both countries still require visas for Ukrainians and there was not sufficient time to obtain them.  So, in the end, Father Joseph cancelled going on the trip and Father Taras and I decided to fly from Budapest rather than Kosice.  This was for two reasons – there is a non-stop direct flight to Istanbul and two other priests who spent Pascha in Sub-Carpathia were returning to Rome from Budapest on the afternoon of Bright Tuesday.  So on Tuesday morning the four of us loaded up the seminary van and with Father Joseph driving, we crossed the border into Hungary (only took 1 hour) and drove to Budapest.  The total trip took about 4 hours.

After dropping the two priests at the airport (one was Father Joseph Mai, SJ whom I’ve know for ten years since the first visit to Rome I made with Archbishop Vsevolod to see Pope John Paul II), we went hunting for a hotel nearby.  Travel advisors at the airport gave us the name of a four star hotel, but no real directions except the name of the nearby village where it was located.  After 45 minutes and 5 inquiries of folks on the street, we finally found the place.  It was a nice, modern and new hotel with all the amenities.  We all had a great lunch of chicken paprikash and Father Joseph headed back to Uzhgorod. 

The next day, after a relaxing breakfast, Father Taras and I headed to the airport and boarded our flight to Istanbul.  The flight was delayed leaving Budapest because of air traffic control problems in Istanbul and so we did not arrive until about one hour late.  Our van and driver arranged by the travel agent I use in Istanbul for all the OL Conferences met us and we made our way into the city.  Unfortunately, with our delay, we were in the middle of rush hour and took over an hour to get from the airport to our hotel.

On Thursday, we had planned some shopping and touring, but it was May 1^st and local workers arranged a demonstration in Taksim Square to protest low wages and to commemorate a 1977 shooting on the square.  The Turkish government was trying to prevent the demonstration, and so all the streets leading to and from the square were closed.  Being only a few blocks away, we could not get a taxi to leave our hotel so we were pretty much trapped.  Father Taras wanted to see what was going on, so he ventured out and walked to Taksim.  He was in the middle of some spectators when the police launched tear gas on them to get them to disperse.  One canister landed a few yards from Father Taras and he kicked it back, but still got a good dose of gas.  He came running back to the hotel and up to our room where he tried to wash out his eyes as quickly as possible.  He said he never experienced anything like it since he was in training with the Ukrainian Army some 20 years ago.

On Friday, taxis were operating again and so we ventured out toward Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.  We had lunch at a local Guest House that I have come to know over the years and did some carpet shopping there as well.  In particular, I wanted to buy a new carpet for the ambon of the new chapel at the Uzhgorod Seminary and let Father Taras make the selection.  We found one, a nice dark blue and light tan design that fits well with the rest of the red marble flooring.  That evening we met Paul Gikas, a lay person from the US who is in charge of the English Correspondence Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.  He has also served as a liaison for our Orientale Lumen Conferences, and so dinner was also a bit of preparation for the audience and planning meeting the next day with His All Holiness.

Shortly after lunch on Saturday, May 3^rd, we got a taxi from the hotel with plenty of time to spare.  Unfortunately traffic was quite congested, even on a Saturday, and the 15 minute journey took over 45 minutes.  We arrived just in time for our 3:30 meeting to catch our breath.

After waiting a few minutes in the group audience room on the third floor of the Patriarchate, His All Holiness arrived and invited us into his working office.  We exchanged greetings and I introduced Father Taras.  I presented a special white leather edition of We Are All Brothers/3, a festschrift of essays that I published in honor of Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos.  His All Holiness contributed the Preface to the book, which we were able to complete in time to present to the archbishop on his 80^th birthday last December, one week before he fell asleep in the Lord.  We talked briefly about how we shall all miss the archbishop.

The main purpose of our meeting was to discuss details for the Orientale Lumen Conference in 2010 that His All Holiness has invited us to conduct once again.  In particular we reviewed several options for dates, themes, the agenda and possible speakers.  It was a very interactive and lively discussion, and His All Holiness took a genuine interest in the conference and made several very welcome suggestions.

We agreed to move the date from May (the month of the first two conferences in Constantinople) to July – July 7 will be the anniversary of the repose of Patriarch Athenagoras, and His All Holiness invited us to join him in a memorial service at his tomb in the Baloukli Monastery.  Also, the hotel staff we met with on Friday suggested that early July is not yet too hot, and that it is considered “off season” with much lower rates for hotel rooms.  So subject to further confirmation, the dates for Orientale Lumen EuroEast III will be July 5-8, 2010.  This will also be the Fourth of July holiday weekend in the US, and so Americans will have an extra day to use for taking their vacation for the conference.

Of the three topics I proposed, His All Holiness preferred “Church Councils of the East”, the same theme that I preferred.  So we agreed that’s what it will be.

We developed a long list of possible speakers – hierarchs, theologians, academics, etc.  So I will be contacting various people to invite them as speakers in the coming months, and will try to get a good mix of Church traditions, both Catholic and Orthodox, and a balanced blend of academic levels for our mixed audience of lay persons and clergy.  I think the theme will be a great opportunity to learn about the first councils of the Church, all of which were held in or near Constantinople (Ephesus is the furthest away, but still in Asia Minor).  We also discussed that the optional tour after the conference would be to try and visit both Ephesus again and charter a short trip to the island of Patmos.  Although it is part of Greece, Patmos is just off the coast of Turkey near Ephesus.  Metropolitan Kallistos is a professed monk of a monastery on Patmos, and we hope he will escort us on our tour.

The Ecumenical Patriarch also relayed to us his personal joy with his recent visit to Rome for the anniversary of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, and his fraternal lunch with Pope Benedict.  He also said he accepted the pope’s invitation to come again and celebrate Vespers to the beginning of the Year of Saint Paul on June 28, and also to attend and give an intervention at the meeting of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in mid October, and unprecedented event that again demonstrates the closer relations that are developing between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

At the conclusion of our audience, His All Holiness gave us two red Paschal eggs and a small Greek cross as gifts.  He also gave Father Taras booklets about the translation of the relics of St John and St Gregory to Constantinople, and gave me a booklet with an English and Italian version of his speech in Rome in March at the Oriental Institute.

After the meeting, which lasted more than 40 minutes, we went down to the Cathedral of Saint George and attended the last half of Vespers.  We said goodbye to Paul, our host who came to work on Saturday afternoon for our visit, and made our way back to the hotel.

On Sunday, we attempted to attend the Divine Liturgy at Saint George Cathedral, but some large gathering was taking place along the Golden Horn, and the road to the Patriarchate from both directions (about a 5 mile length) was closed to all traffic.  Not being able to walk the 2-3 miles to get there, we went back to our hotel and attended Mass at the Roman Catholic Cathedral across the street.  It was disappointing, but another example of how the local situation of the Patriarchate is so restrictive.

Next Part 4 – Beirut and Lebanon

The flight from Bratislava to Kosice was uneventful on Monday April 21, except for having to pay extra for the overweight baggage that was traveling with me, containing various books, presents and video recording equipment. Uzhgorod is right next to the border with Slovakia and its airport only services domestic Ukrainian cities. So the most direct way to get there from the West is via Kosice in eastern Slovakia and then make an hour’s drive eastward to cross over into Ukraine. Unfortunately, Father Taras was 3 hours crossing the border from Ukraine into Slovakia to pick me up, and so I had to wait about an hour for his arrival after my flight landed.

While I was in Bratislava that morning, Metropolitan Babjak had arranged for me to visit the Jesuit school and monastery in Kosice where he was director before becoming bishop, and so we were welcomed and shown the facilities and taken out for dinner. After dinner we headed for the border and even though late at night, it took two hours for us to cross over into Ukraine. The crossing involves both passport and customs checks for both leaving Slovakia and entering Ukraine. Nothing but paperwork!

Father Taras and I arrived late at the Blessed Theodore Romzha Seminary and I was assigned Father John Zeyack’s former residence room for my stay – quite comfortable with a private bath and shower, sitting area, desk and bed. Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week were relatively quiet except for attending the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts with the seminarians in the evenings. I video recorded both for future OLTV programs.

On Holy Thursday morning we went to the Cathedral where Bishop Milan Sasik served an Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, blessed the Holy Chrism for the eparchy, and performed the “washing of feet” ceremony with 12 of his priests. I had never before seen this service since I was never around a cathedral or bishop during Holy Week. It is one of the most humbling services I could imagine and it brought tears.

Toward the end of the Liturgy, twelve priests sit in front of the iconostasis and remove one shoe and sock. The bishop partially unvested and with an apron to cover his sticharion, he went down the line washing with water and then kissing the foot of each priest. The last of the twelve was Father Taras, the seminary rector but who is also the Protosyncellus of the eparchy. With a deacon saying the “narrator” parts, they concluded the service from scripture with the bishop saying the words of Christ and the priest saying the words of Peter. I only hope the video captures the spirit of that moment. As usual, the singing in the Cathedral by the choir and congregation was great. I hope all the video comes out.

That afternoon, evening and most of the next day, I worked with the seminary choir in making a series of video recordings (that we will also make into audio CDs). We recorded Marian Hymns, Eucharistic Hymns, Lenten Hymns, and Paschal Hymns. We also recorded selections from the Divine Liturgy, Vespers and the Panachida. Finally the lead member sang the eight tone Plain Chant music for the tropars, kondaks, Psalm 140, and the Glory … stichera. These will form a whole series of recordings for OLTV to go along with the Christmas Hymns from last year.

On Friday evening, the seminary chapel filled with over 100 local residents who now consider the seminary their home parish, and about 20 seminarians who stayed for Pascha rather than going home. It was again reassuring to hear the familiar melodies of our Holy Friday Vespers but with Church Slavonic words. Somehow it felt comfortable but interesting at the same time.

On Holy Saturday morning, the Liturgy of Saint Basil was celebrated (I skipped Jerusalem Matins!) including all the readings. We found an English Bible and I chanted the last reading from the Book of Daniel. The only other time I remember attending that service with all the readings was when I visited Athens for Pascha once or twice many years ago with Father Serge Keleher.

After an afternoon rest to prepare for the evening of services, we gathered at the seminary chapel about 11:30 pm and Father Taras and a few other priests started Resurrection Matins with the ceremony to move the shroud from the tomb in the center of the church to the Holy Table. Then candles were lit and we started the procession around the building. At the end, Father Taras sang the prayers and the first “Christos Voskrese!” rang out in front of the chapel doors. About 200 people had arrived by then, most then went back inside the chapel with some remaining outside with their baskets of food.

All sang with vigor the Canon of Saint John Damascene and then the Paschal Divine Liturgy. The Gospel of Saint John was proclaimed in Greek, Hungarian, Church Slavonic, English and Ukrainian. At the conclusion, we moved back to the front doors and by now, another 200 people had appeared outside and two sets of double lines of baskets stretched from the chapel doors in two directions. To see the lines of baskets and candles lit in the darkness, and then watch as the priests walked among them blessing with water going everywhere, was a very moving experience. Again, tears of joy and pride filled my eyes, to see such piety and spirituality.

When all was finished, the people went home and the seminarians and staff went into the refrectory for a sumptuous late, late night snack of pascha bread, spiced sausage, hrutka (egg cheese that I made myself earlier in the day!), hrin (beets with horseradish to which I added extra!), died eggs, butter, and plenty of liquid refreshments. Rather exhausted, the party concluded about 4 am and we all slept until noon the next day!

Early in the afternoon on Pascha, a group of Americans who were touring with Father Ed Cimbala arrived for a festive banquet at the seminary. It was a real joy to see some people that I knew, including Fathers John Cigan and Tom Wesdock, and talk about all our experiences of Pascha in the “Old Country.” They had attended Resurrection Matins at the Cathedral the night before, and Pascha Liturgy also at the Cathedral that morning.

The rest of Pascha was truly a day of rest with somber but joyous Vespers that evening.

Next Part 3 – Budapest and Constantinople

After last December’s success of the Christmas Hymns recording I made of the Uzhgorod Seminary Choir of the Eparchy of Mukachevo, Ukraine (over 300 CDs and 100 DVDs were sold in one month!), I thought that more recordings of Plain Chant (Prostopinije) singing from the Carpathian Mountains by that choir could also be successful. So I decided some months ago to schedule a return visit to Sub-Carpathian Ukraine. Since Pascha (Easter) was celebrated five weeks apart between my home parish in Virginia and the Uzhgorod region this year, it seemed the right time to visit would be for Holy Week and Pascha and also make video recordings of some of the Holy Week services in the “Old Country” along with the seminary choir.

Then, it seemed other opportunities presented themselves to extend the trip before and after, and thus a three-week journey started when I left home on Friday April 18, the day after attending Pope Benedict’s Mass at Nationals Park in Washington.

My first stop was Vienna, Austria where I landed on Saturday the 19th to get to Bratislava with the intent of visiting my cousin, Jan Figel, Slovak Commissioner to the European Union, who usually spends weekends in Bratislava, and to visit a friend and former parishioner from my home parish, Vince Obsitnik, newly appointed United States Ambassador to Slovakia. Unfortunately, both were away for the weekend, but Mark Northrop, Jr. (son of the videographer from the OL conferences) now lives in Bratislava, was recently married there, and attends the new Greek Catholic Cathedral. So, a few days visit to Bratislava seemed to make sense, before I traveled to Uzhgorod for Holy Week.

About two weeks before my journey started, Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun of the External Affairs Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, was giving a lecture at Villanova University for the class of my friend, Father Joe Loya. Since I travel to Philadelphia on business regularly, I scheduled a trip to be at the lecture and we all had dinner afterward. Father Cyril had been a speaker at an OL Conference in Washington a few years ago, and so it was good to “catch up” with him. When I told him of my upcoming trip, he offered to introduce me to Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Vienna, a former classmate of his, and possibly schedule a short “get-acquainted” meeting on my way through. The appointment was arranged through emails, and I had very friendly meeting with His Grace. He speaks fluent English and so I also gave him a copy of our recently published festschrift honoring Archbishop Vsevolod, of blessed memory, We Are All Brothers/3. We discussed his possible participation in a future Orientale Lumen Conference, and he agreed to favorably consider a formal invitation. Although very brief, I’m sure our encounter will only be the first of many in the future.

Another friend from Bratislava arranged for a parishioner with a car to meet me in Vienna, and we then crossed the border into Slovakia. With Slovakia now in the EU, the crossing was effortless without even showing a passport – much different than 24 years ago when I first crossed that same border on that same highway and it took over an hour!

It was also arranged for me to use a guest room at the chancery of the new Greek Catholic Eparchy of Bratislava, and Father Rastislav Cizik, the rector of the cathedral, was very hospitable and welcoming. On Sunday morning there are two Divine Liturgies in the new cathedral church – the first in Church Slavonic and the second in modern Slovak. Both were well attended, with a few more over-flowing the church for the second. But I was pleasantly surprised at the number of young people and even children who attended the first Liturgy in Church Slavonic. The singing was good with old familiar melodies of my childhood. I video recorded the Church Slavonic Liturgy for a future OLTV program. More details about the parish can be found on their excellent website at: www.grkat.nfo.sk/Bratislava/english.html

After Liturgy, Mark Northrop and his wife took me to a local “character” restaurant called the Slovak Pub. It was walking distance from the cathedral and near the university, so it was a students’ hangout. Located in a very old building (one floorboard under our table bounced up every time someone walked by!) it had great ethnic food and local beer. By that evening I was ready to crash and slept quite well!

On Monday morning, the new Metropolitan of Slovakia, Jan Babjak, came from Preshov to Bratislava for a meeting that he and the other two Greek Catholic bishops – Bishop Peter Rusnak and Bishop Milan Chatur – had scheduled with the president of Slovakia. Over breakfast, and continuing well into the morning, Metropolitan Jan and I had a wide ranging conversation about the new Metropolia of Slovakia, some of the recent publications he had produced, and how we might work together to make them available in English for distribution in America. I also invited him to attend our next OL conference in Constantinople in 2010 that we are already planning. He was enthusiastic and positive. Our conversation continued with the other two bishops when they returned from their meeting. We all had lunch together with several other priests.

That afternoon, I finished the layout and design of the next batch of parish bulletin covers (I didn’t quite get them done before I left on the trip, and fortunately the chancery office had a high-speed internet connection that allowed me to upload the PDF files to the printer in Virginia even from Bratislava!). I then flew from Bratislava to Kosice where Father Taras Lovska, rector of the seminary in Uzhgorod, was to meet me for the border crossing into Ukraine.

Part 2 Next – Holy Week and Pascha in Uzhgorod.

A plenary session of the International Theological Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is taking place this week in Ravenna, Italy.  Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, frequent speaker at Orientale Lumen Conferences, is a member of the dialogue and is participating in the meeting, along with Fr. Paul McPartlan from CUA in Washington, another recent OL speaker.  More details about the meeting were recently published by Vatican Information Service:

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RAVENNA: DIALOGUE BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND ORTHODOX
VATICAN CITY, OCT 8, 2007 (VIS) - From October 8 to 15, the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox is holding its 10th plenary assembly in Ravenna, Italy, according to a communique issued by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. This session is the second to be held since the reactivation of dialogue during the 2006 plenary in Belgrade. The commission was established in 1979 by Pope John Paul II and Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I, and held its first assembly in Patmos-Rhodes in 1980. The document to be analyzed by the commission at its current gathering is entitled “the ecclesiological and canonical consequences of the sacramental nature of the Church - conciliarity and sinodality in the Church.” The study of this document, the communique reads, “was part of the program agreed at
Patmos-Rhodes in 1980″ but was “suspended to make way for questions concerning the relationship of Orthodoxy with the Oriental Catholic Churches following the collapse of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe. With the plenary of Belgrade, the commission reactivated its normal theological agenda.”
The commission is made up of 60 members, 30 Catholics and 30 Orthodox, and is jointly presided by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and His Excellency Ioannis (Zizioulas), metropolitan of Pergamo. The Catholic members are cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and lay experts in various fields. The orthodox members represent - in the order indicated by Fanar - the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Moscow, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Serbia, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Romania, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Bulgaria, the Orthodox Church of Georgia, the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, the Orthodox Church of Greece, the Orthodox Church of Poland, the Orthodox Church of Albania, the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and of Slovakia, the Orthodox Church of Finland, and the Orthodox
Church of Estonia.

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Metropolitan Kallistos gave an extraordinary talk at the OL conference held last May at the Orthodox Seminary on Halki, Constantinople on the subject of Church structure, known as “ecclesiology.”  This talk directly relates to the subject of the Ravenna meeting, and I believe His Eminence will have a good deal of influence in their deliberations.

OLTV has just completed editing and converting that presentation from OL EuroEast II into a viewable set of eight video clips on the website at www.oltvweb.com.  They can be found under EVENTS/OL PLENARIES/OL EuroEast II: Liturgical Worship of the Eastern Church, which was the theme of that conference.  You will need to register online (which is free) to obtain a userid and password to view the clips.  This talk is also available for purchase in DVD form for $20.00 from Eastern Christian Publications (www.ecpubs.com).

Given the timeliness of his talk and the meeting of the international dialogue, I hope everyone will have a chance to listen to Metropolitan Kallistos’ thoughts about his views of three levels of church organization.  Let us all pray fervently that the Holy Spirit will guide the members of the International Commission and that their deliberations this week will continue to lead the One Church of Christ toward the unity that He desires.

On Sunday, October 21, 2007, Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim, Chaldean Catholic Bishop of Detroit, will speak at a special event being held in Chicago.  The event will include a presentation by Bishop Ibrahim, a banquet of Iraqi foods and a marketplace of crafts and other religious items for sale.  It will take place at The Nativity of the Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, 8530 West 131st Street, Palos Park, IL from 12:30 to 3:30 pm.  This is a fund raising event and tickets must be purchased in advance — $25.00 per person or $50.00 per family. 

All proceeds will benefit a Catholic hospital in Baghdad and produce catechetical materials so that Christian families can teach the faith to their children at home since going to church and attending liturgy can be life threatening.

For reservations and further information, call 630-479-6125 or email:  beoneinchrist@sbcglobal.net.

There is also a website of further information:  www.thattheyallbeone.com.

Go and learn what you won’t hear on the evening news about the the plight of Christians in war-torn Iraq.

I am pleased to announce that an organizational and planning meeting for the Society of St. John Chrysostom will meet on Saturday, October 6, 2007, beginning at 10:00 am at St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church at 38 Elton Avenue, Watertown, MA. The meeting will begin with an ecumenical prayer service to the Holy Spirit, and then move across the street to the Hellenic Cultural Center.

We will have video highlights from OLTVweb of Pope Benedict’s historic visit to Constantinople last November, with commentary, and a discussion about holding an Orientale Lumen Conference in Boston next year. I will also show highlights of past OL conferences for everyone to get a sense of what happens at them. The meeting will include lunch and conclude with the Akathist Prayer Service to the Mother of God.

ALL are invited to attend — clergy and lay persons — Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholics and Oriental Orthodox. With the recent pilgrimage of Catholics and Orthodox led by Cardinal O’Malley and Metropolitan Methodius, and the possibility of Pope Benedict visiting Boston next April, it seems fitting to organize a new chapter of the Society in Boston and possibly hold an OL Conference to coincide with the pope’s visit.

Please download the PDF flier about the meeting, and pass the word among your friends and colleagues — anyone interested in the unity of the Church of Christ — and join us in Boston on October 6.

When I was growing up in Pittsburgh decades ago, we referred to Europe as the “old country” where my grandparents came from, and whose food specialities included pirohi (pierogis for some), halupki, kolbasi, halushki, etc. We always had these foods at family gatherings, weddings & funerals, church events, and of course, regular family meals intermixed with modern American food.

At my parish here in Annandale, Virginia — Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church — we try to keep these traditions at least once a year for ourselves and others in the neighborhood, namely the Washington Metropolitan area. We host an annual Slavic-American Festival on the Sunday after Labor Day and a few thousand people show up. We have all the ethnic foods, as well as a beer truck on the grounds (to keep the supply going!), bingo all day long, rides for the kids, and even a LIVE polka band that we import from Pennsylvania — which has become the “old country” for us!

Having to feed so many, we try to make as much of the food as we can ourselves with many working sessions beforehand. But alas, we have to import the several thousand pirohi that we need from a parish in Pennsylvania that is happy to make the money. Sorry Mrs. T’s!

Finally, we also import the source of my specialty, the freshly made batter for homemade potato pancakes! Every year I drive up to Kingston, PA (outside of Wilkes-Bare) and pick up the batter from Mr. P’s Potato Pancake shop. He has trucks and grilles that travel all around NE Pennsylvania for various festivals, but Virginia is too far for him to come.

I run the potato pancake stand every year now, after the previous chairman had to retire due to health and age. He has “blessed” my running of his operation, and this past weekend my crew made about 2400 pancakes from 12 buckets of batter. We ran out of batter about 5:30 pm having started cooking non-stop at 10:00 am!

At least a dozen or so folks stopped by and said “I come to this festival just for your potato pancakes” and so another successful year has past, and a small contribution has been made to our church building fund.

If you will be in the Washington DC area, in early September next year, please stop by the festival.  I think you will enjoy the food, festivities and fellowship — and terrific potato pancakes.

His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, hosted a unique ecumenical symposium and prayer service this past week in Greenland, calling attention to the fragile planet on which we live. He and religious leaders from around the world gathered on a ship off the coast of Greenland near a large glacier that seems to be melting faster in recent years than experts expected.

Not only has His All Holiness brought attention this specific issue, but for ten years he has held other such conferences on the Black Sea, the Adriatic Sea, and in the Amazon rain forest. He connects our necessary concern for the environment with our responsibility as Christians to properly manage the resources of creation entrusted to us by God.

More details about this meeting and other aspects of programs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the arena of environmental issues can be found on the patriarchate’s website: www.ec-patr.org/

Let us all hope that it is not too late.

Eastern Christian Publications announces a new two-book catechesis for families entitled The Twelve Great Feasts: A Handbook for the Domestic Church.

Part 1 is a Handbook of more than 100 pages of instructional information about the 12 major feasts of the liturgical year. Part 2 is a Toolkit of over 100 pages of activities and exercises in a workbook format for a family to use in conjunction with the Handbook. The following is my Publishers Preface for this new book:

“For many years, I have felt that we Eastern Christians, both Catholic and Orthodox, should provide more educational material for families. The family is truly the foundation of our Christian faith, and is the place where all aspects of a young person’s life are formed. The family is the smallest element of the Church and of society.

“I remember growing up in a loving family with two younger sisters, and parents who nurtured us in many ways. My mom would feed us a good breakfast every morning before school; she would be there when we returned home in the afternoon; we always had a lively discussion as a complete family around the dinner table; we often gathered on the basement steps for “family meetings”; there was always a special time for prayer as a group; we sat together in church on Sundays at the Divine Liturgy (except when I was serving at the altar). Much of who I am today comes from that environment, and I wish that more resources had been available to us back then with an Eastern perspective. We did the best we could with what we had.

“With this Handbook for the Domestic Church, Eastern Christian Publications is proud to begin to offer a series of resources – printed, multi-media, electronic – that will help parents raise their children in a loving, Eastern Christian home environment. We also believe much of the content of this material can be utilized by any family, Eastern or Western, Catholic or Orthodox or Protestant. This two book program – handbook and toolkit – is the first in a series of educational programs for the Domestic

“They will join other material we have already produced – prayer booklets for children, coloring books of icons, etc. – and become a product line labeled Domestic Church Resources. We are very excited about this new focus, and we sincerely thank Daniel G. Dozier for suggesting it to us. We pray that all of these, and many other ideas for future material that we have planned, will provide the resources for families to grow together with a solid foundation in their faith.

“May God bless and grant many years in health and happiness to everyone who uses this material, and may their faith in Jesus Christ, Our Savior, be strengthened by it.”

The two books can be ordered on our website, www.ecpubs.com, or by calling 703-691-8862. They are $20.00 each, printed in full color, and tape bound for ease-of-use.