Churches of the East: Lex Anteinternet: Looking for Constantinople and R...

Churches of the East: Lex Anteinternet: Looking for Constantinople and R...: Lex Anteinternet: Looking for Constantinople and Rome. :  Looking for Constantinople and Rome. Catholic, Orthodox theologians agree on first...

Blog Mirror: After 60 Years, Priests Who Hold Services In Yellowstone Told They Can’t Stay Overnight In Park

 

After 60 Years, Priests Who Hold Services In Yellowstone Told They Can’t Stay Overnight In Park

Churches of the East: Pope adds Coptic Orthodox martyrs to Catholic calendar

Churches of the East: Pope adds Coptic Orthodox martyrs to Catholic cale...: From the US Conference of Catholic Bishops: VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has continued his predecessors' serious commitment to ecu...

Lex Anteinternet: The 2023 Wyoming Legislative Session. Wyoming Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Lex Anteinternet: The 2023 Wyoming Legislative Session. End of the f...: HB262 would have you believe that religious rights need to be restored in Wyoming, when in fact its a prophylactic bill aimed at the fear they will be restricted.  It states:

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0262

Wyoming Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Washut, Burkhart, Crago, Harshman and Olsen and Senator(s) Biteman, Hutchings, Kolb and Salazar

A BILL

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AN ACT relating to religious freedom; creating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act; providing definitions; limiting specified governmental actions that burden religious freedom as specified; authorizing claims and defenses against governmental action that burden religious freedom as specified; providing exceptions; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.  W.S. 9‑25‑101 through 9‑25‑105 are created to read:

CHAPTER 25

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

ARTICLE 1

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RESTORATION ACT

9‑25‑101.  Religious Freedom Restoration Act; short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Wyoming Religious Freedom Restoration Act."

9‑25‑102.  Definitions.

(a)  As used in this act:

(i)  "Burden" means any action that intentionally either directly or indirectly constrains, inhibits, curtails or denies the exercise of religion by government action, including any person acting under the color of state law where the action is intended for that purpose, including, but not limited to:

(A)  Withholding of benefits;

(B)  Assessing criminal, civil or administrative penalties;

(C)  Exclusion from governmental programs; or

(D)  Denial of access to governmental facilities.

(ii)  "Exercise of religion" means the practice or observance of religion, including an act or refusal to act, that is substantially motivated by a sincerely held religious belief, whether or not compelled by or central to a system of religious belief;

(iii)  "Government" means any department, agency, division, board, bureau, commission, council, authority, employee, official or other entity of this state or a political subdivision of this state, or a person acting under color of state law;

(iv)  "Person" means any natural person, association, partnership, corporation, religious institution or other legal entity;

(v)  "This act" means W.S. 9‑25‑201 through 9‑25‑205.

9‑25‑103.  Limitation on government action; exception.

(a)  Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, government action, including action by any person acting under color of state law, shall not:

(i)  Burden a person's right to the exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability;

(ii)  Burden a person's right to the exercise of religion more restrictively than comparable secular conduct because of any economic need or benefit;

(iii)  Burden a person's right to the exercise of religion more restrictively than any secular conduct of reasonably comparable risk.

(b)  Government may substantially burden a person's right to the exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to that person's exercise of religion in that particular instance is:

(i)  Essential to further a compelling government interest; and

(ii)  The least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

9‑25‑104.  Claims.

A person whose exercise of religion has been burdened in violation of this act may have a claim in a court of competent jurisdiction and may obtain appropriate relief.

9‑25‑105.  Provisions to be liberally construed.

Nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize acts of licentiousness or practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the state or its laws which protect the health and safety of the public.

Section 2.  This act is effective July 1, 2023.

Lex Anteinternet: Today is Christmas on the Julian Calendar.

Lex Anteinternet: Today is Christmas on the Julian Calendar.: 

Today is Christmas on the Julian Calendar.

So, as a result, it's the day which the Orthodox who follow the Julian calendar, which is not all of them, celebrate Christmas.

Emblem of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

In Ukraine, where the majority of Christians are in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which obtained autocephalous status on December 15, 2018, Metropolitan Epiphany, its head will lead a service in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery for the first time since 1685.  In that following year, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church fell under Moscow's authority. The Metropolitanate of Kyiv actually became an ordinary diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate in 1722 

This year, however, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church gave its members the option of celebrating Christmas on December 25, which became a widely discussed topic in Ukraine itself, where celebration of a civil Christmas on December 25 had already become widespread. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, an Easter Rite Catholic Church which is the largest Eastern Rite church in the world, apparently already did.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church's having obtained autocephalous status has been an odd backdrop to the war.  The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest Eastern Orthodox Church in the world, and it has been one of the primary opponents to reunion with Rome.  The relationship between the various Orthodox Churches is complicated on a legal basis, but generally the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is regarded as being the  primus inter pares between the various autocephalous church's heads, although sometimes the Pope is also referred to in that fashion.  He is regarded, generally, as having the power to accord autocephalous status, which at least from the outside is problematic as it would seem to suggest that he has a sort of superior authority which the Eastern Orthodox otherwise reject as to the Pope, even though they recognized early in their history.  Anyhow, the granting of autocephalous status by the Ecumenical Patriarch was fiercely resisted by Moscow, and it has lead to a round of schisms.  Moscow continues to deny that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is autocephalous, and one of the claims of Russians in the war is that they are defending Orthodoxy.

As for the United States, about 1,200,000 Americans are reported as being in an Eastern Orthodox Church.  At least in Wyoming, most of the Eastern Orthodox Churches are Greek Orthodox, although they often have Russian Orthodox members and may be served by Priests who are from another branch of Orthodoxy.  Gillette has an Antiochean Orthodox Church, which represents a congregation which converted from Protestant fundamentalism following an intense study of the early church.