Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America From the Department of Sacred Music For the second year, the Archdiocese Department of Sacred Music has entered into its audition season for the National Antiochian Orthodox Choir of North America. It is the Department’s vision that this auditioned choir will sing specially selected Orthodox hymns that require significant preparation and rehearsal. The Choir’s first public performance will be hosted by St. George Orthodox Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Penn. on Sunday, July 14 at 6:00 p.m. The concert will be the culmination of a series of rehearsals to be held at the 2024 Summer Sacred Music Institute (SMI) on July 10-14 at the Antiochian Village. “I am so very excited at…
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Source: Orthodox Times On the afternoon of May 30, 2024, the Third Meeting of the XVIII Plenary Session of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Lutheran World Federation concluded successfully at the centuries-old Patriarchal Monastery of Saint George in Old Cairo. The session ended with messages from the Co-Presidents of the Commission, Metropolitan Kyrillos of Krini, a Professor at the University of Athens, and Lutheran Bishop John Schneider. They read statements from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Dr. Anne Burghardt, Secretary General of the World Lutheran Federation, addressing the Orthodox and Lutheran participants, including…
Source: Orthodox Times The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has decided to sever communion with specific hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. This decision follows the recent co-liturgy of Bulgarian hierarchs with Ukrainian Metropolitans in Constantinople. Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk presented a detailed report on this matter, highlighting the participation of Bulgarian hierarchs in a co-liturgy with the Ecumenical Patriarch and Metropolitans of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine at the Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Valoukli. The event was initially reported in an exclusive article by orthodoxtimes.com, emphasizing the arrival and significance of the Bulgarian and Ukrainian hierarchs’ co-liturgy. During…
Source: Orthodox Church in America St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) and St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (STOTS) have concluded their respective 2024 commencement exercises. The commencement of the Class of 2024 at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary took place on Saturday, May 18, 2024. That morning, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon presided at the celebration of the hierarchical Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating with His Beatitude were His Grace Bishop Nikodhim of Boston and the Albanian Archdiocese and His Grace Bishop Benedict of Hartford and New England. During the Divine Liturgy, 2nd year seminarian Justin Taylor was ordained to the holy diaconate. The commencement exercises began with a prayer of thanksgiving…
Source: Orthodox Times On the eve of Mid-Pentecost, May 29, the Agia Sophia Cathedral in Warsaw hosted a solemn Divine Liturgy. Presiding over the service was Archbishop Sawa of Warsaw and Metropolitan of All Poland, with Archbishop Gregory of Bielsk delivering the homily. In his address, Metropolitan Sawa emphasized the divine purpose of humanity, created by God to partake in the Kingdom of Heaven and to perpetually glorify the Lord. He acknowledged the presence of evil in today’s world and underscored the responsibility of every Christian to spread the Easter joy of the Resurrection to those around them. Metropolitan Sawa…
Source: American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America JOHNSTOWN PA, [Diocesan Chancery] — Calling all servers and brothers of the Altar! We want you to join us at Christ the Saviour Seminary for the annual Altar Boy’s Retreat from June 30 – July 3! We have a bunch of great stuff planned, so get fired up! Speaking of which, that will help you with our theme of being “On Fire with the Spirit!” Keep the fire and excitement as we go to Windber, to a monastery, and to a Pirates game! Parents can register online by following this link. Cost for…
Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – On Saturday, May 18, the 82nd graduation ceremonies of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and of Hellenic College took place at the Maliotis Cultural Center, attended by Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, Metropolitan Methodios of Boston, Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, Bishops Joachim of Amissos and Antonios of Synada, and the Consul General of Greece in Boston, Symeon Tegos. Eleven students graduated from Hellenic College, receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees, and thirteen graduated from the School of Theology, receiving Master of Divinity degrees. Several others received theological degrees intended…
Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – At the recent session of the Synod of the Phanar, which convened on May 17 and 18, the issue of the Semi-Autonomous Church of Crete was briefly addressed. According to a letter dated April 23, 2024, revealed by The National Herald, the Church of Crete communicated to Patriarch Bartholomew that he should refrain from intervening in the affairs of the monasteries on the island. Specifically, the matter was brought up during the reading of correspondence amid other letters on different subjects. Today, we reveal that when the letter from the Church…
Source: Orthodox Church in America SPRINGFIELD, VA [OCA] The canonization of a human being is the ultimate proof of God’s love: He cares for us so much that he enables us to live a life filled with His light, and to shine that light out to the world. Not every person achieves this, of course, but those who do can be canonized by the Church and called saints. On Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 1:00 PM (EST) the Clergy Wives Advisory Group will offer a Zoom retreat entitled “The Road to the Canonization of Blessed Matushka Olga of Alaska.” We will…
Source: Orthodox Church in America YONKERS, NY [OCA] St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) announces the retirement of the Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield as SVOTS President and Rector of Three Hierarchs Chapel, effective July 1, 2024. His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, along with the Board of Trustees, received and accepted a request for retirement from Fr. Hatfield on Friday, May 17 at the 2024 Spring Semi-Annual Meeting of the Board of Trustees. During his seventeen-year tenure at SVOTS, as Chancellor and then President, Fr. Hatfield oversaw significant developments at…
Source: The National Herald TORONTO – The Patriarchal Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy is in its 26th year of operation. Through the years 63 young men have graduated and thirty have been ordained and serve in the churches of Canada. In 2024 four young men graduated, and two of them have already been married and ordained priests. The graduation ceremony took place at the Metropolitan Center of the Archdiocese and Theodore Papadatos, a senior official of CIBC, was the Master of Ceremonies. There were more than five hundred attendees. The event took place on May 11 and had a rich program,…
Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – A matter has arisen with the Turkish authorities regarding the renewal of residence and work permits for clerics and other employees at the Ecumenical Patriarchate and parishes in Constantinople and elsewhere. Specifically, the Patriarch’s Archdeacon, Fr. Alexandros Koutsis, originally from Zakynthos, was forced to leave and has already returned to Greece, along with a cleric from Antalya and another from Smyrna. It is noted that residence and work permits in Turkey are renewed biennially. Information obtained by The National Herald indicates that this issue is part of Turkey’s general approach towards…