Browsing: Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary YONKERS, NY [SVOTS Communications]  Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Press, the publishing house of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, has launched a new series highlighting the history and spirituality of the ancient Coptic Orthodox Church. The first book in the “Coptic Studies Series,” titled, The Life of Repentance and Purity, was authored by His Holiness, Pope Shenouda III and is scheduled for release by December 2015.  His Grace, Anba Suriel [Guirgis], Bishop of the Coptic Diocese of Melbourne and Affiliated Regions, Australia, who studied at Saint Vladimir’s from 1998–1999, is Series Editor for the new line…

Source: The Times-Tribune The healing Myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon from Hawaii will be greeted by thousands when it arrives for the 111th annual Pilgrimage to St. Tikhon’s Monastery over the Memorial Day Weekend, May 22 to 25. “Hundreds of pilgrims from across the United States are scheduled to make the annual spiritual journey,” said monastery spokesman the Very Rev. John Kowalczyk. “This pilgrimage is the largest gathering of Orthodox Christians in America.” An estimated 5,000 people are expected. Events begin Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the monastery archway, led by Abbot Igumen Sergius,accompanied by the monastic brotherhood and seminary community. Vespers…

Source: InSerbia News BELGRADE – Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) is one the most successful “companies” in Serbia, and according to revenue is in third place, just behind NIS (Oil Industry of Serbia) and EPS (Electric Industry of Serbia), writes Serbian daily “Blic”. Of course, SPC is not registered as a company, but 40 dioceses annually collect about 140 million euros, according to a survey conducted by “Blic”. The Church is unaccountable for its financial statements, not even to the public. That is why, with the help of insiders in the top of the Patriarchate of the SPC, the daily tried…

Source: Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations (DECR) On May 2, 2015, Metropolitan Hilarion as presenter of the Church and the World TV program had as his guest the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Sergey Stepashin. Metropolitan Hilarion: Good afternoon, dear brothers and sisters. Christ is Risen! In these Paschal days, the mental eyes of many Orthodox faithful are directed to the Holy Land, the places where our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ lived on earth. Today we will speak about the Holy Land, the Middle East and Palestine with the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox…

Source: The Pappas Post BY GREGORY PAPPAS The St. Constantine Greek Orthodox Church in the western Turkish province of İzmir has reopened following renovations. A Divine Liturgy for first time in 93 years took place on May 11, 2015, with the participation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Bartholomew and Menemen Mayor Tahir Şahin reopened the church with a ceremony where they threw white doves and planted an olive tree in the garden as symbols of peace. Bartholomew, who performed the first liturgy in the historic church since the Turkish army stormed and burned the city in 1922, thanked the municipality…

Source: The Catholic World Report Vatican City, May 12, 2015 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a message sent Sunday to the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Francis said advances toward reconciliation are strengthened by the martyrs and that Christians must unite to confront shared global challenges. “Today more than ever we are united by the ecumenism of blood, which further encourages us on the path towards peace and reconciliation,” Pope Francis wrote May 10 to Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria. Like the Bishop of Rome, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria is known as “Pope” to his…

Source: Interfax Moscow, May 12, Interfax – President of the Cuban Council of State and Council of Ministers, Raul Castro, has invited Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to visit the republic. “It is a great pleasure for me to meet with you again. We always recall with pleasure your first visit to Cuba and we hope it will not be the last one,” the Cuban leader said at a meeting with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Patriarchal Chambers in Moscow. Patriarch Kirill has already been to Cuba, but that was before he became Patriarch,…

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Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry Awareness Sunday is almost here! This year the date is May 17, 2015. Please join in raising awareness and support of the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM), an Agency of the Assembly of Bishops, on this day. Jesus told His sheep: “I was in prison and you came to Me” (Matthew 25:36). Not all of us can go into the prisons directly, but we can all support those who do this work. What can you do? ·Volunteer to promote OCPM on May 17 in your parish, with the blessing…

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America WASHINGTON – The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia in the Nation’s Capital was consecrated yesterday, Sunday, May 10, 2015, with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America presiding and more than a thousand people in attendance. The Order of the Consecration began in the morning following the Orthros (Matins) with the procession of the holy relics that circled three times around the Church. The relics used for the Consecration were of the holy great martyr St. Barbara, the great martyr and healer, St. Panteleimon, and the holy child martyr St. Kyrikos. The Archbishop raised…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [DCE]  The Department of Christian Education of the Orthodox Church in America recently made available three activities for the approaching Great Feast of Pentecost. The activities are designed for grades four through six, seven and eight, and nine through twelve.  They are based on events and experiences recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, which relates the story of the early years of the Church during and after Pentecost. The activities also relate stories of saints, as well as more contemporary Orthodox Christians, to the lives of familiar figures in Acts, such as…

Source: The National Herald BY STEVE FRANGOS I first learned of Father Raphael Morgan in quite a roundabout manner. His fascinating personal journey and the legacy he has left to Eastern Orthodoxy across the planet is singular, to say the least. This is no simple tale. So, I will just begin with my discovery of this totally unique individual and then trace it all back to what has been reported on Morgan’s life and works. It was while in graduate school that I kept hearing about the book, East African Rebels: A Study of Some Independent Churches, by Frederick Burkewood…