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.
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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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),…
Source: Orthodox Church in America WASHINGTON, DC [OCA] On Sunday, November 18, 2012, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, presided at the Divine Liturgy at Saint Nicholas Cathedral here for the first time since his election as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America and Archbishop of Washington, DC at the 17th All-American Council. At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, the cathedral community presented to Metropolitan Tikhon relics of Saints Tikhon of Moscow—November 18 marked the 94th anniversary of his election as Patriarch of Moscow—Nicholas of Myra, and John Chrysostom. Metropolitan Tikhon was elected on November 13, the feastday of Saint…
Source: Reuters By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) – The Coptic Orthodox church staged a ceremony rich in ritual on Sunday to install its pope, Tawadros II, who Christians hope will guide them through the new, Islamist-led Egypt. The 60-year-old pope was picked on November 4 and the ceremony on Sunday filled with incense, elaborate robes and chanting marked his formal ascendance as the 118th leader of the church. Coptic Christians, whose church predates the arrival of Islam in Egypt, make up a tenth of Egypt’s 83 million people. Many fear their community, the biggest Christian group in the Middle East…
Source: Sofia News Agency The unity of the Holy Synod and of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the most important issue for Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria, according to Varna Metropolitan Kiril. Kiril made the statement Sunday in the Bulgarian capital during his very first mass as Sofia Metropolitan and interim Patriarch. “When opinions differ, each must be well-grounded. I hope that all metropolitans will attend the next meeting of the Holy Synod and that those who would be absent would provide excusable reasons for it. They have all made an oath to respond to the invitations of the Synod,” said…