The theme of this issue of PRAXIS is a timely focus on “Sacred Childhood” following the designation of 2017 as the Year of Protection of the Sacredness of Childhood by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. In his proclamation on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, he affirms the need for this emphasis and our calling to “respect the identity and sacredness of childhood”:
In light of the global refugee crisis that especially affects the rights of children; in light of the plague of child mortality, hunger and child labor, child abuse and psychological violence, as well as the dangers of altering children’s souls through their uncontrolled exposure to the influence of contemporary electronic means of communication and their subjection to consumerism, we declare 2017 as the Year of the Protection of the Sacredness of Childhood, inviting everyone to recognize and respect the rights and integrity of children. (Patriarchal Proclamation of Christmas 2016)
In This Issue
FEATURES
Then and Now: Early Christianity’s Radical Reshaping of Childhood
Jennifer Haddad Mosher
“Let the Little Children Come to Me”: Children as Teachers in the New Testament
Dr. Bruce N. Beck
The Child and the Church
Rev. Fr. Vasileios Thermos
Family Offices: Teaching Children to Love Being Sons and Daughters
Vigen Guroian
The Protection of Children: An Orthodox Perspective on Foster Care
Vasie-Leigh Andriotis
National Philoptochos Society Children’s Medical Fund
Barbara Pasalis
Caring for Adolescent Mental Health: Guidelines for the Parish
Angeliki Constantine
SERIES & ARTICLES
Taking the Next Step in Youth Safety
Steven Christoforou
Discovering Life by Facing Death
Kevin Allen
What Parents Can Do to Prevent and Detect Child Abuse
Jeanette Aydalette
Fatherhood: A Time of Joy and Wonder
Rev. Fr. Timothy Pavlatos
BOOK REVIEWS:
The Liturgy of Death: Four Previously Unpublished Talks – Fr. Alexander Schmemann
Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Anton C. Vrame
Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction is Hijacking Our Kids – and How to Break the Trance – Nicholas Kardaras
Reviewed by Sarah Parro
FROM THE DIRECTOR:
The Sacredness of Childhood
Rev. Dr. Anton C. Vrame
For information on obtaining back issues of PRAXIS or becoming a subscriber, contact the Department of Religious Education by phone at (646) 519–6300 or by email at [email protected].