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Basil El-Dabh Coptic Orthodox Church anticipates a return to stability for the country Source: Daily News – Egypt After a preliminary survey of damage inflicted in sectarian violence, an estimated cost of EGP 190m will be required for restoration, said head of the Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II. The committee consisted of members of the Church and the military’s Engineering Authority. The estimate was presented to the Engineering Authority, according to the pontiff during a telephone interview on the Christian Al-Karma satellite channel. Pope Tawadros added that the authority was working with the Church to implement a plan to…

Source: ABC News SKOPJE, Macedonia October 26, 2013 (AP) The Macedonian Orthodox Church has banned it clergy from using Facebook to protect against abuse and “new phenomena of confessions and intimate conversations with young people,” local media report. Reports on Saturday said the Holy Synod, the executive body of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, took the decision after one bishop’s complaint. Local media say the decision has already created tensions between older church dignitaries who do not use the Internet and are hostile to it, and younger clergy and even bishops who make use of social media. Nearly two-thirds of Macedonia’s…

Source: Vatican Insider Defending Middle Eastern Christians has become a strategic asset for Putin and is in perfect harmony with the Patriarchate of Moscow’s mission GIANNI VALENTE ROME The Kremlin is about to consider granting citizenship to about 50 thousand Syrian Christians in the region of Qualamun after they issued a collective request to Moscow’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In statements issued in the past few days, the spokesmen for President Putin and the Ministry confirmed that the request is being examined by the highest Russian authorities. “This is the first time since Christ’s birth that we, the Christians of…

Source: The Moscow Times A bronze statue of Jesus Christ, taller than the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, has appeared in war-torn Syria. The statue, titled “I Have Come to Save the World” was apparently the brainchild of Yury Gavrilov, a 49-year-old Muscovite who runs an organization in London called the St. Paul and St. George Foundation. The project was backed by both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government, which takes an active interest in Syria, as seen in recent events. Russia also has a navy base on Syria’s Mediterranean sea coast. Despite the statue’s Russian connection, it was cast in Armenia and made by an Armenian…

Source: The Republic TERRY MATTINGLY – Scripps Howard News Service It happens all the time: Church leaders stand at podiums and urge members of their flocks to go and share their faith, striving to win new converts. These speeches rarely make news, because they are not unusual. But something unusual happened earlier this month in Brookline, Mass. “You will surely agree that our mission … is to lead our brothers and sisters — both inside and outside the church — to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” said the featured speaker. “This is becoming more and more difficult because many…

Source: Metropolitan DC Orthodox Christian Mission & Outreach Committee Walk to Unite D.C. Metropolitan Orthodox Christians Raised Money for Local and International Charities  On Saturday, October 19, 2013, 184 Christians from 24 Orthodox churches around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and beyond converged on the National Mall for the inaugural Monumental Missions Walk. Sponsored by the Metropolitan D.C. Orthodox Christian Mission and Outreach Committee, the first annual Monumental Missions Walk was a three-mile long spiritual stroll past some of the Nation’s most important landmarks. At each designated monument along the route, small groups of participants learned about the historical significance of…

Source: BBC News Three people, including a girl aged eight, died when gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a wedding party outside a Coptic Christian church in Cairo. At least nine others were wounded in the attack in Giza, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Egypt’s Coptic Christian community has been targeted by some Islamists who accuse the Church of backing the army’s overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in July. The unidentified attackers fired indiscriminately as people left the church. A man and a girl were killed outside the church and a woman died on her way…

Source: Notes on Arab Orthodoxy Like any news, this should be taken with a shaker of salt, but it’s consistent with a lot of what was said during the last few days of the negotiations to acheive the release of the Lebanese Shi’ite pilgrims kidnapped last year in Azaz, on the Turkish-Syrian border. The Arabic original can be read here.  What Prevented Metropolitans Yazigi and Ibrahim from Returning with the Lebanese Captives? by Maher el-Khatib Despite the great joy that spread over all regions of Lebanon at the return home of those kidnapped in the Syrian city of Azaz, following the considerable efforts…

Source: Silouan This post has been around the Internet for several years. Originally posted by Steve Lammert, It’s a description of one Orthodox Christian’s approach to how to handle the evening of October 31. Every year, on Hallowe’en, I sit on the front porch of my house with a bowl of candy, a box of beeswax candles, and a large icon for the Feast of All Saints. Every child who comes to the house gets a piece of candy, and may also light a candle and place it before the icon. Very few kids (even the jaded teenagers) turn down the…

Source: Orthodox Church in America YONKERS, NY [SVOTS Communications] – During the weekend of October 11–13, 2013, members of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM) met at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary here for their bi-annual meeting, which included activities centered around the theme “The Christian Missionary Call: Local, National, and International.” Besides students from Saint Vladimir’s, seminarians from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA; Christ the Saviour Seminary, Johnstown, PA; and Holy Trinity Seminary, Jordanville, NY participated. Their weekend included a trip to the Orthodox Church in America Chancery, Syosset, NY, where Archivist Alexis Liberovsky hosted a fascinating tour…

By Maria Korologou On October 15th, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople called on the monks of Mount Athos to stay away from financial investments and to completely devote themselves to their mission. The Ecumenical Patriarch, who is on Mount Athos since Tuesday the 15th in order to officiate the celebrations for the centenary of the integration of Mount Athos to Greece, was very clear in his speech to the monks. Patriarch Bartholomew appeared to be well aware of what is happening in Mount Athos’s society, and he talked about the unfavorable conditions there, due to the general crisis of the Greek state. During the Divine Liturgy,…

Source: Orthodox Church in America YONKERS, NY [SVOTS Communications]- The Dean and Chancellor/CEO of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary here—Archpriest Dr. John Behr and Archpriest Dr. Chad Hatfield—signed an agreement with Saints Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Post-Graduate Studies in Moscow, laying the foundation for the establishment of the “Saint Philaret of Moscow Russian House of Studies” at Saint Vladimir’s. The cooperative statement was signed at the culmination of the Dean and Chancellor’s visit to Russia October 7–14, 2013.  The Russian House of Studies, a part of the seminary’s International Houses of Studies program, will welcome the exchange of teachers and…