Unlike most Western pre-schism Orthodox saints, St. Patrick the Enlightener of Ireland left us a description of his conversion and apostolic labours in his own words. They are known as his “Confessions”.    *1. I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of …

In a democracy social policy should be decided by the people, not by the judiciary, as has happened in the United States this week. The Age Newspaper – 1 July 2015 Senator Eric Abetz It is disappointingly predictable that the media in Australia is obsessed by a slim majority activist US Supreme Court decision. At the same time there have been …

By Andreas C Chrysafis June, 2015 (No 76) © In a true Democracy no government, parliament or president, politicians or political parties have the legitimacy to make constitutional changes to alter the basic fabric of the nation without the overwhelming consent of the people. Under an ungodly pressure imposed on Greece by the IMF EU-Troika lenders, the Tsipras government has …

On Friday, five justices affirmed LGBT Americans’ Constitutional right to wed. The other four foreshadowed the major conflicts over religious freedom that are about to begin. For a long time, supporters of gay marriage in the U.S. were in the minority. As early as last year, that started changing, and now, a solid majority of Americans support same-sex unions. As …

Yesterday’s decision by five US Supreme Court judges completed the undemocratic march to redefining marriage in America, the Australian Christian Lobby said today. “Australians should be thankful that our High Court has not resorted to divisive undemocratic judicial activism on marriage,” ACL Managing Director Lyle Shelton said. “If Australian activists for redefining marriage believe in democratic principles they will take …

In Hans Christian Andersen’s short tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes, it took a young boy to say what everyone knew but was too afraid to say. In the Biblical story of David and Goliath, it took a boy with courage to stand before a giant. David was armed with nothing but a sling and five smooth stones. These two morality …

Dear Friends of Saint George Taybeh, I have survived the Israeli security check one more time in safely returning to the village.  My prayer is for peace and stability so that I may organize the Taybeh Oktoberfest, September 19 & 20, 2015 in accordance with our non-violent action. In a brief conversation with the Mayor of Taybeh, Mr. Nadim Barakat, I was surprised …

Australians support the right of a child to have a mother and a father over the right of same-sex couples to get married, an opinion poll indicates. The Galaxy poll of 1200 Australians, commissioned by the Australian Marriage Forum, found three out of four respondents agreed society should try to ensure children are raised by their own mother and father. …

Rodney Croome’s ongoing attempt to censor children’s access to information about marriage is further evidence of the extreme intolerance of his political agenda to redefine marriage and the family. “Anyone who values the freedom of Australians to believe and publicly speak about our current definition of marriage should be very concerned about attempts to redefine in it legislation,” Australian Christian …

The Roman Catholic Church in Sydney has launched an attack on corporations that publicly support same sex marriage. It called advertising drives by corporations for marriage equality “cashed-up, activist-driven media campaigns” and made veiled threats about the church’s purchasing power. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney business manager Michael Digges wrote to at least some of the companies that supported marriage …