Saturday, March 27, 2010

So where are the Orthodox works of charity?

That's a question often asked of Orthodox (especially by Catholics). Of course in the United States we are relatively few in numbers and only beginning to deal with our scandalous jurisdictionalism. And in many parts of the world the Orthodox Church is either under the thumb of hostile governments (i.e. most of the Middle East) where Christian charity is severely restricted, or recovering from long periods of persecution (most of Eastern Europe). That said where the Church has been allowed to operate without interference from hostile entities these works are visible. And we can pray that one day we may see something similar here in N. America.

In Greece the church now operates and maintains:

- 20 nurseries and kindergartens
- 84 homes for the elderly
- 13 hospitals for the chronically ill
- 30 different institutions
- 8 institutions for people with disabilities
- 54 camping areas
- 33 youth institutions
- 10 hospital clinics
- 6 hostels
- 36 orphanages/boarding schools
- 195 soup kitchens
- 44 schools of iconography
- 136 schools teaching Byzantine and European music
- 47 different schools
- 35 blood banks
- 1 home for the blind
- 13 school dormitories
- 7 mental health institutions

Source.

2 comments:

David said...

I see plenty of Charity in the church, just wish I saw more evangelism.

Tom (St. Louis) said...

AMEN!! to that David.