Fired for that "Jewish twist in your ministry"

HALIFAX ”“ A Christian Orthodox priest in Nova Scotia was forcibly retired for delivering a sermon that honoured Judaism and Israel.

The head priest of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Church in Halifax, Father Vladimir Tobin, received a letter from Orthodox Church in America Archbishop Irénée, the archbishop of Ottawa and Canada, on Aug. 12, informing him that he is being forcibly retired due to the alleged "Jewish twist in your ministry.”

The phrase likely alludes to a sermon Father Tobin delivered that mentioned Israel and Judaism in favourable terms, asked for congregants to pray for Israel and reminding the congregation that Jesus was a Jew.