Source: Times-Standard Terry Mattingly/Scripps Howard News Service KIEV — The apocalyptic visions begin just inside the doors of the Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum and many of them lead into the Book of Revelation. The final pages of Christian scripture are full of angels, trumpets, flames, thunder, lightning, earthquakes and catastrophes that shake heaven and earth. In this museum, the key is in the eighth chapter: “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.…
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Source: India Talkies New Delhi, Oct 20: A year after it began to preach from the confines of the Russian embassy in the capital, the Russian Orthodox Church of Russia formally introduced itself to the capital’s Christian fold with a brief ceremony this weekend. The Church, which does not have space to conduct services in the country, has moved the government to acquire land in the capital to build a shrine. The demand was taken up by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin, who was in India earlier this week with a large trade delegation, Manoj Kumar, a spokesperson…
Source: International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — The meningitis that Suma, 39, contracted during infancy left her mentally impaired and unable to walk. She spent the next 17 years of her life traveling from Gaza to different rehabilitation hospitals in Jerusalem and Bethlehem for vital medical care, physical and occupational therapy. With the uprising of 1987, her family’s access to these hospitals suddenly became more difficult and Suma’s future looked bleak. The Four Homes of Mercy in the biblical town of Bethany became Suma’s refuge. She was admitted in 1991 for round-the-clock care and rehabilitation, and has…
Source: Interfax Moscow, October 18, Interfax – The majority of Russians questioned in an opinion poll expressed support for a proposal to organize Orthodox Christian militias for the declared purpose of protecting holy sites. The idea was backed by 66% of respondents in a survey carried out by the All-Russia Center for Public Opinion Studies (VCIOM) last month. The initiative to form militias for patrolling city streets, put forward in August by the leader of the Holy Russia organization, had the widest support among respondents who support the ruling Yedinaya Rossia (United Russia) party – 71%, – among those are…
Source: St. Sergius Institute of Orthodox Theology / Volos Academy for Theological Studies As it is well known, in recent years efforts have been intensified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other Orthodox Churches to overcome obstacles and to convene the Great Orthodox Synod. While it is still an open question whether the Great Pan-Orthodox Council, awaited and planned for more than fifty years, will finally be organized in the near future or later, an exceptional conference on the themes likely to be debated at this Council will take place at the St Sergius Institute, Paris, on 18-20 October 2012. Organized…
Source: Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) RAMALLAH, October 17, 2012 (WAFA) – The Palestine Liberation Organization and France Wednesday signed an agreement to repair the roof of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. The 200.000 euors agreement was signed in the Muqata and in the presence of Palestinian and French officials. A presidential committee established on December 15, 2008 a special fund to repair the roof of the Church of Nativity in cooperation with the three Christian denominations that control the church – the Greek Orthodox, the Custodian of the Holy Land, and the Armenian Orthodox church. The Palestinian…
Source: Portal-Credo.Ru 1. With your permission, Mark, tell me, based solely on your personal experience, to what extent can the internal life of the church can be presented for public discussion? I do not mean the parish meetings and Council — the issue is specific to the press. Especially the Internet – with its almost instantaneous reaction. Do you personally have any criteria? St. Mark the Evangelist – not Mark Stokoe – said: “There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing secret that will not become known and come to light.” And St. Luke…
Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] The Holy Synod of Bishops met in plenary and closed sessions at the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America here October 9-11, 2012. According to Archpriest Eric G. Tosi, OCA Secretary, the following decisions were made by the members of the Holy Synod during their gathering, which was chaired by His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate, Locum Tenens of the Metropolitan See. The Holy Synod was briefed on the progress of various Synodal Commissions. In response to several clergy cases, it was noted that they cannot be…
Source: The Financial Times By Clive Cookson A scientific effort is under way to reveal and record palimpsests at the world’s oldest continuously operating library The Greek Orthodox monks of St Catherine’s monastery in Sinai have been accumulating manuscripts and books since the sixth century, making their library the world’s greatest repository of early medieval writing after the Vatican. The collection is even richer than it first appears, because many of the 3,300 ancient manuscripts contain hidden text and illustrations older than their visible contents – and a large scientific effort is under way to reveal and record them. The…
Source: AmericanCatholic.org By FRANCIS X. ROCCA VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the start of a special Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI called on Catholics to revive the “authentic spirit” of Vatican II by re-proposing the church’s ancient teachings to an increasingly Godless modern world. The pope spoke at a special Mass in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 11, half a century to the day after the opening ceremonies of Vatican II. About 400 bishops from around the world, including 15 of the 70 surviving members of the 1962-65…
Jim Koulogeorge, 1988 Jim Koulogeorge served as Orthodox Christian Laity’s first president. He had concerns regarding the concepts of accountability and oversight in matters of Church governance, based on events that occurred in 1987 within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. He approached Andy Kopan, a close friend and a respected scholar and churchman, to discuss his concerns. Jim then held an initial brainstorming meeting at his home at 4019 Crestwood Drive in Northbrook, Illinois. This meeting was followed by a second organizational meeting which was held at Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Glenview, Illinois. About thirty people from throughout…
Source: International Society for Orthodox Church Music [ISOCM] The Fifth International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, “Church Music and Icons: Windows to Heaven,” will be held at the University of Eastern Finland, in Joensuu, Finland, on 3 – 9 June 2013. The conference will take place at the School of Theology (Agora Building), Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland (Yliopistokatu 4, 80101 Joensuu). The conference programme will include a panel discussions, interdisciplinary contributions relating to iconography and hymnography, and an excursion to local Orthodox and Finnish locales. CALL FOR PAPERS It is expected that participants from around the world will gather…