November, 2012 - Orthodox Christian Laity

Monthly Archives: November, 2012

Bulgaria’s Batak Wants Martyr Ossuary Reinstated as Museum

By Webmaster on November 26, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Sofia News Agency Nearly 900 residents of the Bulgarian historical town of Batak have signed a petition asking interim Patriarch Kiril to stop services at the Sveta Nedeliya Church where the relics of the Batak martyrs are kept. They want the Church to return to its museum status and State ownership. The initiators further say they found in archives documents showing that as early as 1915 locals wanted the Church with the ossuary to be a museum. In a recent declaration, the Plovdiv Metropolitan Nikolay stated that services at the Saint Nedeliya Church “will go on forever, every day,…

Church chalks out Rs. 100-crore charity works

By Webmaster on November 26, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The Hindu To mark the centenary of the establishment of the Catholicate of the Malankara Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has announced Rs. 100-crore worth of charitable work to be carried out in the centenary year. The Catholicos, Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, who made the announcement at the launch of the centenary celebrations here on Sunday, said the work would include building houses for the homeless members of the church, meeting the wedding expenses of widows’ daughters, providing education assistance and health insurance for the poor and relief to farmers in debt. Aid would be given for the…

Church, SYRIZA seek understanding

By Webmaster on November 24, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Ekathimerini.com Signs that crisis has led to improved relations between two sides previously at odds Tectonic shifts in the political landscape caused by Greece’s economic meltdown have fomented a tacit alliance between Orthodox Church leaders and the secular left-wing SYRIZA party, analysts say. Poised to win the next parliamentary election, whenever that may take place, SYRIZA chief Alexis Tsipras appears keen to build bridges with the deeply conservative Church, which, controversially for some, remains one of the most influential institutions in the debt-hit country. In response to SYRIZA’s rise, analysts say, Archbishop Ieronymos wants to establish a platform for…

The funeral of Salem Paul Sweliem in Gaza City

By Webmaster on November 23, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The National Herald GAZA CITY. Palestinian mourners cry during the funeral of Salem Paul Sweliem in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. According to the family, the 52 years old Greek Orthodox Christian carpenter was killed when during an Israel Air Force strike on a high-rise building, in which Ramez Harb, a senior figure in Islamic Jihad’s military wing, was killed. Sweliem was in a car when the strike took place and he died on his way to the hospital from shrapnel wounds.

St. Vladimir’s Seminary offers public evening course on Arvo Pärt

By Webmaster on November 22, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary YONKERS, NY [SVOTS Communications] Beginning January 15, 2013, Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary will offer an extension course for the public, “The Music and Faith of Arvo Pärt,” taught by Dr. Peter C. Bouteneff, associate professor of Systematic Theology. Arvo Pärt, whose works rank him as the third most performed composer globally, is an Orthodox Christian of Estonian nationality, and the course will intriguingly combine the study of music with the spirituality and dogma of the Orthodox Christian faith. “Arvo Pärt draws on his Orthodox Christian roots to compose music that seizes people of…

Church of Greece, Vatican join forces over tourism

By Webmaster on November 22, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Ekathimerini.com The Church of Greece and the Vatican are putting the final touches to an agreement for the joint promotion of religious tourism, the cleric leading the Greek side of the initiative said on Thursday. An initial agreement reached last week by Greek and Italian clerics foresees the mutual promotion of religious sites including churches and monasteries, Bishop Chrysostomos of Dodoni told a conference in Thessaloniki on Thursday. Several firms have expressed interest in working with the Synod’s office to produce CDs and DVDs introducing visitors to Greece’s religious sites, the bishop said. The agreement follows a similar pact…

Encyclical of Archbishop Demetrios for Thanksgiving Day 2012

By Webmaster on November 21, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Protocol Number 161/12 November 22, 2012 Thanksgiving Day Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (I Thessalonians 5:18) To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The vibrant tradition of the Thanksgiving holiday in this country…

An Important Challenge for Greek Orthodox Christianity

By Webmaster on November 21, 2012 Focused Study and Research Topics, Orthodox Christian Laity

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America – Office of Interfaith Marriage by Mr. Peter Kehayes In open pluralistic societies, intermarriages tend to become the rule, not the exception as growing majorities intermarry with the result that many religions are at a critical juncture in deciding how best to address a challenge which is at the heart of so many families and so critical to the religious community’s well being and growth. Among Greek Americans, the intermarriage rate is between 75 and 85%; with a projected attrition of communicants of greater than 60% over the next generation. America’s unique place in history…

Philanthropy is a Greek Word after All, Isn’t it?

By Webmaster on November 21, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The National Herald To the Editor: I have been following the news about Hurricane Sandy and all the people who have been suffering from damage from the storm. My family and I made a donation through the Red Cross, and I am happy that Greek-American groups like the Philoptochos and AHEPA have been helping, but I’m afraid that our community has not stepped up to the degree that it could or should. Maybe none of our societies and institutions are organized to react quickly, and maybe the Church and the above groups will make an impact over time, but…

St. Vladimir’s Seminary Library Receives Book Award from Liberty Fund

By Webmaster on November 20, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary – Father Georges Florovsky Library In July of 2012, The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, chancellor/CEO of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS), received a letter from T. Alan Russell, Chairman of the Board for the Liberty Fund of Indianapolis, IN, informing him that Liberty’s Board of Trustees had selected St. Vladimir’s for a Book Placement. This award allowed SVOTS to select any of the books from the Liberty Fund’s catalog, facilitating a sizable donation to the Father Georges Florovsky Library at the Seminary. “I met Alan Russell at the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in…

In Memoriam: Laurie Paffhausen, sister of Metropolitan Jonah – UPDATED

By Webmaster on November 20, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Orthodox Church in America WASHINGTON, DC [OCA] The Funeral of Laurie Paffhausen, the younger sister and only sibling of His Eminence, Metropolitan Jonah, will be celebrated at Saint Nicholas Cathedral here on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. The Divine Liturgy, followed by the Litia and interment at Rock Creek Cemetery, will be celebrated on Wednesday, November 21—the Great Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God in the Temple—at 10:00 a.m. Miss Paffhausen fell asleep in the Lord in hospital after a lengthy illness on Sunday morning, November 18. On behalf of the members of the…

The Relics of St John (Maximovich) Will Visit Ten Dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church

By Webmaster on November 19, 2012 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) a reliquary with a relic of St John, Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco, will be taken to 10 dioceses of Central Russia. The project is part of the international youth program “Spiritual Connection” and begins on November 16. The holy relics will be taken to the following cities: Ivanovo (November 16-18), Riazan (November 19-21), Tula (November 22-24), Kaluga (November 25-27), Briansk (November 28-30),…

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Monthly Archives: November, 2012