by Fr. George Morelli | 3/15/2007

Christian marriage is an exalted vocation. Marriage, as the Apostle Paul taught, replicates the relationship between Christ and the Church where Christ is the Bridegroom and the Church the Bride. Bridegrooms are called to love and care for their bride with selfless commitment. “Husbands love your wives,” St. Paul wrote, “as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:21).

Love is relational, and the icon of pure and undefiled love is the relationship between the Persons of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). We catch glimpses of the nature of this love because it overflows to mankind, particularly in the self-sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. St. Paul described this love as kenotic (self-emptying), particularly when Christ forsook the prerogatives of divinity to assume human nature in order to save mankind. The love was so certain, so sure, and so complete, that it led to His death on our behalf. more »

OrthodoxNet | by Chris Banescu | 4/13/2010

Some Orthodox leaders and scholars have argued that same-sex civil unions, while not recognized and blessed by the Orthodox Church, should nevertheless be accepted and protected by the state in the spirit of democracy. In a 2005 interview regarding debates about gay couples being able to marry, Metropolitan Gerasimos of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, expressed his views on this matter:

“They [homosexuals] should have the benefits and civil rights of the state, but this is not a sacramental union our church will ever sanctify,” he said. “But civil marriage, in the spirit of American democracy, they have the right to ask for that.”

These positions seem to present a fair and reasonable perspective that maintains a balance between the Orthodox Church’s unwavering support for traditional marriage and her absolute rejection of all homosexual unions, and the secular and democratic society we live in. more »

Orthodox Anti-Abortion Icon

by Fr. Demetrios Carellas | 3/19/2010

“And He said to them, ‘This kind can come forth by nothing, except by prayer and fasting.’” (Mark 9:29)

As a Greek Orthodox priest, I am compelled – in the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus – to rebuke and renounce this Bill as being demonic. Although there might be some good things within the Bill, they are totally negated by the presence of this ungodly attempt to make every working American culpable to the blood of these precious little ones, who are being slaughtered by the thousands– for PROFIT – everyday of the year! Would you drink a glass of the most expensive bottled water, if you knew that a drop of deadly poison had been placed in it? Of course not! You would dispose of the entire contents, and get a new bottle that contained no deadly additive. more »

American Orthodox Institute | by Fr. Johannes Jacobse | Nov. 22, 2009

On November 22, 2009 group of Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant leaders unveiled a document called “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience” that affirms the traditional Christian teaching concerning abortion, homosexual marriage, and religious freedom. The Declaration asserts that these three issues (sanctity of life, the definition of marriage, and freedom of worship) are under assault in western Democracies and call Christians into non-violent resistance against the injustices and, if necessary, non-violent non-compliance with the laws that would require a Christian to violate his conscience. (Read full text.)

The Declaration opens:

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are (1) the sanctity of human life, (2) the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife, and (3) the rights of conscience and religious liberty…We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

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