Dear friends, I’m closing down the blog until sometime after Christmas. There will be no new posts until then, and all comments will be held in moderation until then.

Have a wonderful remainder of the Nativity Fast, or Advent Season, and a glorious Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ!

If you find yourself under comment moderation, it’s because you’ve violated my comment policy.*

If, after being under moderation for a time, you find yourself completely banned from commenting, it’s because you’ve continued to violate my comment policy, even after a generous probation period.

If you’d like to know exactly why you’ve been put under moderation, or banned, you can e-mail me privately at eirenikonblog (at) me (dot) com.

* If you’ve posted more than five links (until now, the default has been two links), you’ll get caught in the spam filter.

… since I last updated my blogroll. Any interesting blogs I should be linking to?

[Update: It seems that my blogroll's disappeared somehow. Hmm.]

[Update: Ah, it's back!]

Just a reminder that as blog owner I reserve the right to delete or edit comments that I deem to be inappropriate (foul, ad hominem, mean-spirited, provocative, etc.). I’ve been very forbearing about this over the past months and the comments coming from certain individuals (who have been warned several times) have not improved. I will not allow our valuable discussions here, toward greater mutual understanding between Eastern and Western Christendom, to be derailed by trollish behavior.

Yes, indeed, your blog owner is quite biased, and this blog has a very specific purpose: “Towards Orthodox-Catholic Reconciliation.” This does not mean that I want the blog to become an “echo chamber”: I continue to welcome comments from both Orthodox and Catholics who tend to have a more hardline anti-ecumenical attitude, as long as these views are expressed in a polite and charitable manner. In fact, the discussions here really depend on people voicing many different viewpoints!

If you make such comments, all your comments will be moderated, and if you keep sending such comments for me to moderate, you’ll be banned, full stop.

If you have any questions about my comment policy, or about any other aspect of the blog, you can contact me privately at eirenikonblog (at) me (dot) com.

Gentle readers, I will be out of town all next week and will not be able to look after the blog. I have some interesting articles to post when I return: one by a Dominican scholar on East/West polarization, and another by some fellow called Ratzinger on the Immaculate Conception.

Deo volente, this blog may be getting a new lease on life, hopefully as a group blog with several new contributors. Stay tuned …

… for the inactivity of Eirenikon. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve been able to devote any time to this blog. For the past couple of months, I have had to devote almost all my free time to family, work, and travel. And I am not sure that I will be able to devote any time to the blog in the next couple of months. So, while Eirenikon isn’t quite dead (yet), it will be in hibernation for a little while longer. Thank you for your patience!

I’m thinking about taking a bit of a retreat from the blogosphere. You may not see new posts for a little while. I will, of course, continue to read and moderate, if need be, the comboxes.

First, forgive me for being such a stickler, but I have this little pet peeve about off-topic comments. Each combox exists solely for the purpose of discussing the actual blog post to which the combox is attached.

Second, let’s watch the tone of the comments we leave. Definitely, no ad hominems. Let’s also watch the sarcasm.

Finally, if you are new to this blog, please take a look at my post on Church Nomenclature. Or, if you have been posting here a while, it might not hurt to refresh your memory. This is not about thought control but about basic Christian charity and fruitful, substantive discussion.

Posting will be sparse to non-existent. A blessed Holy Week and Pascha to Orthodox readers, and a blessed remainder of Eastertide to Western Christian readers.