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Source: Armenpress YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. From January 24­31, the 12th meeting of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches was held in Rome, Italy. The theme of the Theological Dialogue referred to the Ecclesiastical councils, entitled “Historical Development of Ecclesiastical Councils and Theology”. The Information Services of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin informed “Armenpress” that attending the Joint Commission from the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church were, His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America; His Grace Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, Primate…

Source: St. Phoebe Center for the History of the Deaconess The Tradition of the Female Deacon in the Eastern Churches PowerPoint Presentation by Valerie Karras, ThD, PhD and Caren Stayer, PhD All Conference documents and audio/visual resources are available by CLICKING HERE. [subscribe2]

Source: The National Herald BY CONSTANTINE S. SIRIGOS NEW YORK – Archimandrite Vasileios, former Abbot of the Iveron Monastery of Mouth Athos, was the keynote speaker at the annual celebration of Greek letters on the occasion of the Feast Day of the Three Hierarchs presented by the Archdiocese of America. Guests were welcomed to the nave of Holy Trinity by the Dean of the Cathedral, Fr. John Vlahos after a performance of the Archdiocesan Byzantine Choir. Archbishop Demetrios offered closing remarks. The feast day of the three fathers of the Orthodox Church, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian…

Source: Pravoslavie.ru Tbilisi, January 27, 2015 In Georgia many believers are rejoicing at the miracles occurring from the myrrh-streaming icon of Blessed Gabriel, “the Fool-for-Christ”, that belongs to a family in Tbilisi. Numerous people have been healed from this icon, as relates the “Postscript” program on the Rustavi 2TV channel. The icon of St. Gabriel First began streaming myrrh seven months ago. It was shown to Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II who confirmed this. Over the last two months, twelve more icons and photographs of elder Gabriel began shedding myrrh in the family which possesses this relic. And in January another, a…

Source: Blogs.goarch.org One of the cornerstones of Orthodox Christianity is its reverence for the great Fathers of the Church who were not only exemplars of holiness but were also the greatest intellectuals of their age.  The writings of men like St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. Maximos the Confessor have been and will always remain essential guides to Orthodox Christian living and Orthodox Christian faith. Thus it is alarming that so many Orthodox clerics and monks in recent years have made public statements that reflect a “fundamentalist” approach to the Church Fathers.  And unless leaders of…

Source: First Things by Timothy George It has been nearly ten years since Jaroslav Pelikan died and a full twenty-five since he completedThe Christian Tradition, his five-volume, 2,100-page history of “what the church of Jesus Christ believes, teaches, and confesses on the basis of the Word of God.” Who was Jaroslav Pelikan, and why does his work remain so important for serious Christian scholarship today? …. Read the full article here [subscribe2]

Source: Reuters MOSCOW (Reuters) – The head of Russia’s influential Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, said on Sunday cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were “childish” compared to offences it had dished out to Christians. Charlie Hebdo has regularly offended Muslims, Christians and others with its irreverent cartoons. Gunmen killed 12 people at the Paris office of the weekly this month saying they were avenging the Prophet Mohammad, whom the magazine had depicted in cartoons in defiance of a ban in Islam on representing its founder. Kirill, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir…

Source: Christian Today Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill called on Thursday for a deep cut in the “horrifyingly high” number of abortions, which he linked to a Western rejection of moral norms. “The idea of absolutely prioritising the value of free choice and of rejecting the priority of moral norms has become a slowly exploding bomb for Western civilisation,” he said in a speech to lawmakers. “If we could just cut in half the number of abortions, there would be steady and powerful demographic growth.” Russia’s population has been declining since the mid-1990s, hit by falling birth rates and life expectancy…

Source: Religion & Ethics Newsweekly Halki Seminary Once the world’s leading Eastern Orthodox seminary, Halki was closed by the Turkish government 43 years ago. The US and religious freedom activists want it reopened. But Turkish officials have long said that won’t happen until Greece improves conditions for Turkish minorities living there.  Transcript of Video KIM LAWTON (@KimLawtonRandE), correspondent: The Theological School of Halki was once the world’s leading Eastern Orthodox seminary. But it was closed by the Turkish government in 1971. More than 43 years later, the US government and many faith-based activists around the world are still waging a campaign to…

Source: Eurasianet Patriarch Filaret heads the Kyiv Patriarchate, the branch of Ukrainian Orthodoxy that is loyal to President Petro Poroshenko’s administration. He recently sat down with EurasiaNet.org to discuss religious affairs in Ukraine and how the ongoing conflict between Kyiv and Moscow is extending into the spiritual sphere. In 1991, after Ukraine gained independence, then-Metropolitan Filaret Denysenko led a different kind of independence movement. At that time, he was the highest-ranking cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and he believed Orthodox bishoprics in Ukraine should secede from the Moscow Patriarchate and form an independent church entity. Though the…

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA has designated February 8, 2015 as Orthodox Scout Sunday. The Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting is an official agency of the Assembly of Bishops. Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ: On Sunday, February 8, 2015, Scouts all over the United States will celebrate National Scout Sunday. Scout Sunday is an annual event among all faiths which recognize the good work that is done by Scouts in our religious communities. The observance of Scout Sunday tradition was started years ago to make people…

Source: MercatorNet by Michael Cook But some of the region’s bishops urge Christians to work with Muslims for free and tolerant society.  The Middle East is losing its ancient Christian heritage. When Iraq was invaded in 2003, 1.5 million Christians were living there. Now the figure is 400,000 and falling. The savagery of the Islamic State has accelerated the Christian exodus. Mosul, about 400 kilometres to the north of Baghdad, was captured by IS in June last year. Ten years ago it had about 60,000 Christians. Now there are none. IS gave them an ultimatum: conversion or death. For the first…