Source: RIA Novosti DAMASCUS, May 14 (RIA Novosti) Tags: Bashar al-Assad, Syria, Damascus Christians living in conflict-torn Syria are afraid that their community would fall victim of religious extremism if President Bashar al-Assad regime collapses and Islamists come to power. “I am afraid that we will suffer bad times,” a member of Damascus’s Christian community, who identified himself as Jorge, told RIA Novosti. A full-fledged civil war will break out in Syria if Assad’s enemies and their western supporters continue efforts to topple the president, he continued. “If the regime falls…, Islamists will come to power,” Jorge said, adding that…
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Source: The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church After years of persecution, harassment, arrests and imprisonments, His Beatitude the Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje kyr Dr. John, pan-Orthodoxly renowned and recognized canonical Prelate of the ancient Ohrid Archbishopric, was sentenced yesterday, May 11th, to two and a half years in prison under false charges of alleged fraud and embezzlement, the result of a politically motivated and staged pseudotrial of a Stalinist-type, organized upon the blatant request of the schismatic organization calling itself “The Macedonian Orthodox Church”. He was sentenced solely because of His unwavering commitment…
Source: Orthodox Church in America RIVES JUNCTION, MI [OCA] Holy Dormition of the Mother of God here provided the setting for the Spring Session of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America May 7-10, 2012. In addition to reviewing a variety of matters affecting the life of the Church, the hierarchs participated in the daily cycle of services at the monastery, including the Divine Liturgy, which provided an essential spiritual dimension to their undertakings. They also visited the Ascension of the Lord Monastery, Clinton, MI, and the Vatra, the headquarters of the OCA’s Romanian Episcopate, Grass…
Since much of the work of the Assembly of Bishops falls within the purview of its thirteen committees, the success of these committees is essential for the success of the Assembly as a whole. Therefore, the Secretariat’s Coordinator for Committees, Bishop Maxim, is organizing a face-to-face meeting of the Assembly’s thirteen committee chairmen, scheduled to meet on May 30. The chairmen will gather for the day at the Metropolia Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, where they will be hosted by Archbishop Antony, who currently serves as the Assembly’s Treasurer and the chairman of the Committee for…
Source: Associated Press/Huffington Post | Lynn Berry MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin took the oath of office in a brief but regal Kremlin ceremony on Monday, while on the streets outside thousands of helmeted riot police prevented hundreds of demonstrators from protesting his return to the presidency. Putin, 59, has ruled Russia since 2000, first as president and then during the past four years as prime minister. The new, now six-year term will keep him in power until 2018, with the option of running for a fourth term. “I consider service to the fatherland and our nation to be the meaning…
V. Rev. Archimandrite D. Stavroforos Mamaies[/caption]Source: The National Herald | Theo Karantsalis Father Stavroforos Mamaies, of Miami’s Saint Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral, caught church members by surprise on Sunday, April 30, when he abruptly announced he was leaving. “If I have offended anyone, I ask for your forgiveness,” said Mamaies, who has headed the Miami church since 1997. Two weeks ago, during holy week, a letter went out to parishioners alerting them that the “cathedral is on the verge of dire financial straits.” “We owe a combined total of $265,000 to the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid payroll taxes, Miami-Dade…
Source: The National Herald | Evan C. Lambrou To the Editor: Kudos to Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) for hosting a town hall meeting in Astoria on April 22nd, and for helping to make Patrick Foye, the new executive director of the Port Authority of NY & NJ, accessible to the Greek-American community. Rep. Maloney is offering precisely the type of support Greek-Americans need and deserve from public officials. Mr. Foye also demonstrated proper sensitivity, and it is a welcome change. His statements that reconstruction of St. Nicholas Church in Lower Manhattan is on track – in stark contrast to the…
Source: The National Herald My fable begins with four babies being born to four families, all Orthodox. Two live on one block, the others one block over. In fact, two were born on the same day, in the same hospital (this last part is true). Yet all four will be baptized in separate parishes and live their whole lives without ever taking Holy Communion together. Strangers at the Chalice. They will attend each other’s birthday parties; the same schools, sports teams, videogame groups, and school bands. They’ll double-date (or triple or quadruple date) and attend Homecoming and Prom dances together.…
Source: Orthodox Church in America ROSSFORD, OH [OCA] His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, and the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America will consecrate Archimandrite Alexander [Golitzin] to the episcopacy at Saint George Cathedral here Saturday, May 5, 2012. On October 4, 2011, the members of the Holy Synod canonically elected Archimandrite Alexander to the vacant See of Toledo and the OCA’s Bulgarian Diocese. The election followed a year-long search on the part of the diocese, during which a number of candidates to fill the See proclaimed vacant upon the repose of His Eminence, the…
Source: Pravolavie This summer, Father Vladimir and Matushka Suzanne Aleandro of Christ the Savior Church in Southbury, Connecticut, will head back to Kenya for their fourth mission trip with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC). Father says he and Matushka’s work with the people of Turkana has deepened their faith and expanded their horizons. “I grew up in an Italian household,” explains Father Vladimir. “My grandmother couldn’t read or write, but she could pray and I grew up watching her pray for missionaries who were all around the world. This stayed with me.” In 1991, Father founded Christ the Savior…
Source: Greek Orthodox Observer Looking across our vast nation, we can say that our Orthodox Church has seen incremental growth, especially in the developing urban areas. On the other hand, we realize that some of the smaller parishes of our Archdiocese are either not growing or are losing numbers of parishioners. For example, the once-thriving Holy Trinity parish in Grand Island, Nebraska, is no longer in existence. While it is an exception, unfortunately, Holy Trinity is not unique. In regard to those parishes which are not increasing in membership, there has been very little, if any, outreach by the Church,…
Source: Orthodox Church in America UNALASKA, AK [OCA] Graffiti sprayed on the historic Holy Ascension of Our Lord Cathedral here in late April 2012 has “sparked outrage,” reported the Alaska Dispatch. While the words “Dutch” and “Duncha,” written in a childish scrawl in gray spray paint, were quickly removed, the painful emotions among parishioners and other local residents lingers. “I was very upset and hurt,” Vince Tutiakoff, parish committee president, told Dispatch reporters. “This is the first time in all my years that someone has ever desecrated the church.” He and four other men removed the graffiti. The stately Russian-Colonial…