Encyclical on the Abrogation of “Roe vs. Wade”

Details: By Metropolitan Demetrius of America; Created on Tuesday, 28 June 2022 22:16

[PDF]

Beloved clergy and faithful of our Holy Metropolis,

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.

In the Book of the Holy Prophet Jonah, we read that, in response to words of the Prophet of God, “the

people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them

even to the least of them … And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented

of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.” (Jonah 3: 5, 10)

In September 2020, the faithful of our God-protected Metropolis undertook a special three-day fast of

repentance––a τριήμερον––in response to my hierarchical appeal, for God to protect our Church, our

Families, and our Nation and to turn away and dispel the wrath stirred up against us and our neighbors, on

account of our many sins.

The next day after the fast of repentance, our Lord provided for the future overturning of the infamous “Roe

vs. Wade” decision with the nomination and subsequent appointment of another pro-life justice to the

Supreme Court of the United States of America.

On June 11/24, 2022, on the feast of the Mother of God “Axion Esti”, the Supreme Court finally abrogated

the fifty-year legal precedent that had permitted the murder of tens of millions of innocent infants over the

decades.

The overturning of the abomination that was “Roe vs. Wade” is an event of great significance. For us, this

is not a political matter, but rather a spiritual one. Abortion is murder. To enable it is to be an accomplice

to murder. To endorse it is to endorse the murder of innocents––to the extent that being “pro-choice” is

entirely incompatible with being an Orthodox Christian. The abrogation of the decision that permitted and

sanctioned abortion throughout the country is a victory for truth, goodness, and justice.

But more importantly, it is a demonstration of divine intervention. At a time when our liberties are

increasingly hemmed in by the forces of technocratic despotism and, more broadly, when the mystery of

iniquity is at work without check, who could have predicted that religious liberty and the principles of God’s

law would be upheld in worldly courts?

Ordinary Orthodox Christians do not have access to the halls of secular power to have an audience with the

Supreme Court of the United States or to influence policy and legislation. The pious, however, do have

access to the Master of all, Who guides history and provides for our salvation. They do not trust in the sons

of men, for, indeed, in them there is no salvation. Rather they commend their whole life and hope unto

God alone; and our Master, when He sees the genuine fruits of repentance, hears the prayers of His people

and grants them their requests which are unto salvation. Accordingly, the recent decision to overturn

demonstrates the power of repentance and prayer to draw God’s mercy and to confound the plans of the

evil one. For this reason, I often tell the faithful to never underestimate the power of prayer.

Throughout sacred history, whenever the people of God repented, after facing destruction on account of

their sins, God showed them mercy and delivered them from righteous chastisement. In the lives of the

saints, we see how God, in response to prayer and repentance, overturned the plots of the evil one. So too

in our own time, we see the schemes of the demons overturned and undone, and from this we have a firm

hope that His mercy will prevail. In this we find great solace, for God is with us.

Let us, therefore, continue our repentance and give thanks unto the Lord so that He continue to help us in

the struggle to overcome altogether the great evil of abortion. St. Isaac the Syrian teaches that gratitude from

the receiver incites the Giver to bestow gifts greater than before. In gratitude to our Lord for His manifest

benefaction and mercy, let all the parishes in our God-protected Holy Metropolis chant a Doxology of

Thanksgiving after Divine Liturgy this Sunday, June 12/26, 2022.

Lastly, let us continue to repent, for the days are evil. The evil one will never cease to fight the Church. But

let us remember: if God is with us, who can be against us?

Your fervent suppliant before God,

+ Metropolitan Demetrius of America

Orthodox Awareness

Why Do We Follow the Old Orthodox Calendar?

Why do we follow the Old Orthodox Calendar?

a Because based on it, the First Ecumenical Council established the Paschal Canon and appointed that the feast of Holy Pascha may fall anywhere from March 22nd until April 25th, while with the New (Papal) Calendar it can fall as late at May 8th.

b The Gregorian (Papal) Calendar has been condemned by three Pan-Orthodox Councils under Patriarch Jeremiah Tranos (1583, 1587, 1589) Read more...

Missions

Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Mission, Tucson, Arizona

Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church is a beautiful mission parish near downtown Tucson, a city in southern Arizona. It was started in 1997 by Father John Bockman, who was a missionary Priest formerly serving missions in Tennessee and Massachusetts since 1990. Father John served the faithful in Tucson and the surrounding area in his home Chapel until his repose in November of 2000. His wife, Presbytera Valerie, continued to make her home Chapel available for the mission, with clergy from Saint Nectarios Orthodox Church in Seattle and His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Toronto (then of Portland), visiting to provide the Divine Services.

Youth

2023 Youth Conference

Please join us for the 2023 youth conference in Chicago, IL! To learn more, visit the home page or visit the conference website.

Ask A Priest

Morning and Evening Prayers

Q. Are the prayers in the blue prayer book [A Prayerbook for Orthodox Christians by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery —ed.] compulsory for everyone? I mean their morning prayers and the service of Small Compline. My confessor gave me a special rule but wasn’t clear about whether this replaced the book prayers or was in addition to them. Read more...

Menu