Source: St. Louis Dispatch

On December 23, 2000, the St. Louis Dispatch reported that the bishops who head eight branches of Eastern Orthodoxy in North America issues a rare letter to their believers. The letter marked Christmas and talked about the modern relevance of their faith. "The 44-page document presents Orthodoxy's distinct understanding of Christian faith and offers a social critique of America that covers such problems as materialism, prejudice and abuse of the environment." The letter was issued by the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas, and it was endorsed by the primates of the Antiochan, Bulgarian, Carpo-Russian, Greek, Romanian, Serbian and Ukrainian denominations as well as the Russian-background Orthodox Church in America."