Protocol No. 335

B A R T H O L O M E W,
BY THE MERCY OF GOD
ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE,
NEW ROME, AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH,
TO THE PLENITUDE OF THE CHURCH,
GRACE, PEACE AND MERCY
FROM CHRIST THE SAVIOUR,
RISEN IN GLORY

Beloved brothers and sisters, children in the Lord,

It is with great joy that we address you once again with the Resurrectional greeting “Christ is Risen!”

This greeting incorporates and heralds the substantive content of our Christian faith: “We celebrate the death of Death”.  This message continues to be unique and daring even in our times, for, despite the two thousand years that have elapsed since the birth of Jesus Christ, who is Resurrected, humanity did not love life in the same way Jesus Christ honored it.

Unfortunately, murderous tendencies are widely spread. People obliterate their competitors in order to prevail.  Murderers kill in order to rob or destroy incriminating evidence.  Terrorists kill in order to force nations and governments to accept their demands.  Ideologues take lives in order to facilitate the prevailing of their ideology.  Nations clash for reasons of racial dominance, and thousands of people are killed from all opposing sides due to the absence of a spirit of conciliation and peaceful settlement.  Fanatics murder the ones that do not share in their fanaticism.  Believers of one faith sometimes kill others who represent a different faith.  Ruthless people kill in order to satisfy their bloodthirsty instincts.  Some commit suicide because they consider the divine gift of life to be an unbearable burden.  In general, murderous acts, which are condemned by all humanity and God, tend to become an acceptable reality and a legitimate means for the accomplishment of certain goals that are unacceptably placed above human life.

In the midst of this abundance of blood shedding, there appears the leader and Giver of life, Who was murdered by humanity, trumpeting to all that murderous acts are not signs of success.  He heralds that resurrection and judgment awaits us all, that life is stronger than death, and that the ones who build their edifices upon the death of their fellow human beings labor in vain.  Our Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ confirmed through His Resurrection His message that He is the way, the truth and the life.  He also confirmed that God did not create death, nor does He take pleasure in the loss of life (Wisdom of Solomon 1:13).  For while God created everything to last eternally, death entered the world as a result of the impiety of people.  The love of God, though, not being able to tolerate the predominance of death over human beings comes to the rescue of humanity and remedies the ills of human sin.

He was Incarnate, assumed mortal flesh and willingly suffered death on the Cross, but He came back to life on His own power, stronger than death, thus becoming the Forerunner of all who want to return to life alongside with Him.  The firstborn among the dead, first of the resurrected, Giver of life and life after death, abolished the bearer of death.  Contemporary humankind is so familiar with the catastrophic evil of humanity that he does not always understand the joy and depth of the Resurrection, the restitution and eternal life that our Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ has given us.  Those people, however, who foretaste and recognize the joy arising from the Resurrection feel exultation upon saying “Christ is Risen.”  Today, we Orthodox Christians celebrate along with the people who experience this joy of the Resurrection of the Lord, and we address one another with the victorious greeting “Christ is Risen!” 

Holy Pascha 2005
+ Bartholomew of Constantinople
Your fervent intercessor before the Risen Christ

To be read at the Divine Liturgy on the Feast of Holy Pascha, immediately after the Holy Gospel.

In his Paschal Encyclical, Archbishop Demetrios of America, spiritual leader of 1.5 million Greek Orthodox Christians in America and Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops representing over 6 million Orthodox Christians in the Americas, says:

“… By receiving Christ into our lives through the Holy Sacraments of the Church and through our daily commitment to His divine will, we are given an unfading hope of glory, of the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God, of a new heaven and a new earth that is completely filled with the life and light of our Lord."

"This hope that springs from the presence of the Risen Christ within us directs us to live each and every day preparing to receive ‘an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading’  (I Peter 1:4).  This was the way our beloved former Archbishop Iakovos lived his blessed life on earth before leaving us on April 10 to be forever with Christ in heaven.  He left us a strong message that our life here and now is a journey toward heaven.  We have been given this time to be reborn in the image of the Life-Giver, to live each day in faith, and to anticipate the fulfillment of all things and the great and glorious return of our Savior. Just as we have prepared ourselves to receive the Paschal light and affirm in joy and hymns the essence of our faith, we must use each day of our lives to prepare to receive our loving Lord, the King of glory."

Archbishop Demetrios, will officiate at the Good Friday Service, April 29, beginning at 8:00 p.m. and Resurrection Service, April 26, beginning at 11:00 p.m. at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (319 E. 74th St., New York City). The Good Friday Lamentations and Resurrection Service will be broadcast Live on National Greek Television (NGTV) Time Warner Digital Channel 509 and ANTENNA SATELLITE NORTH AMERICA. All Services of Holy Week will be broadcast live on the Cathedral and Archdiocese Websites: http://www.thecathedral.goarch.org and http://live.goarch.org.

Archbishop Demetrios will officiate at Holy Week services in the following Greek Orthodox parishes: Lazarus Saturday Liturgy at Holy Trinity, Bridgeport, CT; Palm Sunday Liturgy, St. Sophia Cathedral, Washington DC; Bridegroom Service, Sunday evening, SS. Constantine and Helen, Washington, DC; Bridegroom Service, Monday evening, Holy Trinity Hicksville, NY; Bridegroom Service, Tuesday evening, Kimisis Tis Theotokou Church, Brooklyn; Bridegroom Service, Wednesday evening, St. Demetrios Cathedral, Astoria;  Holy Thursday Liturgy, St. Paul Chapel, Archdiocese; Holy Passion, Thursday evening, St. Nicholas, Flushing; Good Friday Apokathelosis, St. Michael’s Home for the Aged and Good Friday Lamentations, Holy Trinity Cathedral; Saturday morning, Vespers/Divine Liturgy, St. Paul Cathedral, Hempstead, NY; Saturday evening Resurrection and Sunday Agape services at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.

Centuries-old religious services which recall the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ are conducted each morning and evening throughout Holy Week in Orthodox Christian Churches including: Greek, Russian, Romanian, Antiochian, Bulgarian, Carpatho-Russian, Albanian, Serbian and Ukrainian, which serve some 6 million faithful in the Americas.

On PALM SUNDAY at the Divine Liturgy, palms are blessed and distributed to the faithful commemorating Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem.

On PALM SUNDAY EVENING, as well as on the evenings of Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the faithful gather for the Nymphios or Bridegroom Services that include readings, hymns, and commemorations that anticipate the Passion of Christ.

On HOLY WEDNESDAY, the faithful participate in the Sacrament of Holy Unction and are anointed with blessed oil, which cleanses, renews and strengthens both spiritually and physically.

On HOLY THURSDAY MORNING, a Divine Liturgy is held and Holy Communion given in commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist by Christ.

On HOLY THURSDAY EVENING, the Service of Holy Passion takes place, during which the Twelve Lessons of the Gospel are read. After the Fifth Gospel a solemn litany begins. A large crucifix is carried in a procession led by the clergy as the mournful hymn of Crucifixion is sung.

On GOOD FRIDAY AFTERNOON, the Vespers of the Descent from the Cross are offered. The Body of Christ is taken down from the Cross, wrapped in white linen and is prepared for burial.

On GOOD FRIDAY EVENING, the Lamentations are sung during the Epitaphios Service, which symbolizes the burial of Christ.

On HOLY SATURDAY EVENING, the Easter Resurrection Service begins with Matins at 11 p.m. At midnight, the Church is completely darkened and the faithful wait in joyous expectation for the Bishop or priest to come forth carrying a white candle, chanting, "Come, Receive the Light, the Light of the Resurrection".  The "light" is passed to the congregation until the Church is aglow with candlelight. A procession of altar boys, choir, chanters and clergy joined by the people move outdoors where the Gospel proclaiming the Resurrection of Christ is read. The triumphant hymn, "Christos Anesti, Christ is Risen" is joyfully sung by the faithful. At the conclusion of the Resurrection Liturgy, red Easter eggs are distributed to the congregation, which symbolize the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On EASTER SUNDAY, the Vespers of AGAPE  (Love) is celebrated during which the Holy Gospel narrating the appearance of the Risen Lord to His disciples is read in several languages emphasizing the universality of the Gospel message. 

The Orthodox date for Easter is based on a decree of the First Ecumenical Council of the undivided Church at Nicaea, Asia Minor, held in 325 A.D.  According to this decree, the determination of the date of Easter is governed by a computation based on the vernal equinox and the phase of the moon. Therefore, Easter Sunday should fall on the Sunday, which follows the first full moon after the vernal equinox, according to the Julian Calendar, which was in use at that time. If the full moon happens to fall on a Sunday, Easter is observed the following Sunday.

Contact: Nikki Stephanopoulos 
212.570.3530

These are just some of the images from 2004 that were entered into the first International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) photo contest. The amateur photographs, taken by IOCC field staff in 12 offices around the world, were recently judged by a panel of Orthodox media professionals (listed below).
    
First place went to a photo of an Iraqi girl receiving a hygiene parcel at a kindergarten in Baghdad.
    
Second place went to a photo of young men working on a construction project completed in 2004. The young people, trained by IOCC as skilled laborers, were building a public health clinic in the West Bank village of Sarra. The photographer was Azzam Shabib, IOCC field engineer supervisor.
    
Third place went to a photo of children at a refugee shelter in Obrenovac, Serbia-Montenegro, receiving winter coats as part of a 2004 project supported by the Peja Stojakovic Children’s Foundation. The photo was taken by IOCC-Belgrade staff.
    
The winning photos are posted on the IOCC Web site. IOCC has 12 field offices from which it implements humanitarian programs in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
    
Founded in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA).
 
 
For media inquiries, please contact IOCC Communications Associate Stephen Huba at 1-877-803-4622 or shuba@iocc.org.

In 2005, Leadership 100 continued the $10 million multi-year commitment to the Scholarship in Excellence Program for Hellenic College/Holy Cross with a grant of $1.7 million and completed the $885,000 four-year Clergy Student Loan Program with a final $285,000 grant. Some 53 clergy were assisted with their student loan obligations in the course of the program. Also continued was the multi-year Retired Clergy in Need program with a grant of $15,600.
 
A grant of $100,000 for Family Ministry will fund the distribution of already produced material and will expand the ministry and outreach of this new department. His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios has declared 2005-2006 the “Year of the Family”.  The Family Roundtable was appointed in 2002 by Archbishop Demetrios to study and produce material, resources and assistance to the Orthodox Family. 

With another grant of $90,000, regional Metropolis conferences will be organized to focus on Parish Development and Stewardship, designed to assist the parish in local fund-raising techniques for Capital and Fundraising campaigns, Stewardship techniques and resources as well as highlight other Archdiocesan Ministries.

The Youth Department will receive $25,000 for the production of new resource and curriculum guides for Early Childhood, Hope, Joy and GOYA programs, while Home Missions will get $102,000 to continue to assist and expand Mission Parishes in the United States. 

The new Department of Outreach and Evangelism will receive $8,000 for a seminar and workshops on parish ministry for clergy and lay leadership in the areas of Ministry to the Family, Pastoral Issues facing the Parish, Building a Parish Leadership Team, Outreach and Evangelism in the Parish, Organized Leadership, a model of Change in the Parish and Educating Leadership.

In the area of Communications, $40,000 will go for the production and distribution of Illuminations - the Video Magazine of the Archdiocese.  The production was created by Leadership 100 in 2002 and was successful in presenting the National Church to the local Parishes across the United States.  The grant will allow the Archdiocese to highlight the Ministries of the Archdiocese as well as focus on certain institutions and events happening in 2005. Another $50,000 will go to Internet Ministries for Phase 2 of the Bulletin Builder Program, which provides enhancements to the current bulleting builder program that includes a National Calendaring system, adding Greek capabilities to the current system, and multiple layout options - as well as other user requested enhancements, while integrating the current system into the on-line chapel system.

The Department of Greek Education will receive $30,000 Greek Education to create a website for the Archdiocese Department of Greek Education, which will contain materials and practice tests for the Examination in Modern Greek, kindergarten curriculum in downloadable PDF form, communication with schools and teachers for the inclusion of lesson plans, teacher training materials, lessons and worksheets, materials on Modern Greek for adults, cultural materials and explorations (webquests, mini-courses), and student work and image libraries.

Leadership 100 grants also included $10,000 for a new Clergy Continuing Education program and $25,000 for the creation of an Archdiocese Annual Report that will include information about the Archdiocese, Clergy Laity Congress, financial reports and ministry highlights.  The report will be professionally produced and distributed to all parish members.

Contact: 
Rev. Fr. Dimitrios Antokas
Tel: (212) 570-3570, Fax: (212) 570-5260