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Source: WSHM Springfield, MA By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – The influential Serbian Orthodox Church appealed Saturday against a deal with Kosovo Albanians that would pave the way for Serbia’s European Union membership. The EU has given Serbia until Tuesday to say whether it would relinquish the control of northern of Kosovo – one of the most difficult issues dividing the former Serbian province – in exchange for the start of Serbia’s EU membership negotiations. Talks between Serbian and Kosovo officials on the issue broke down last week in Brussels and Serbian leaders have since been debating…

Source: FARS News Agency TEHRAN (FNA)- Palestinian residents organized a sit-in in front of the Red Cross encouraging detainees on hunger strike and in solidarity with the loss of detainee Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh. erusalem figures and families of detainees participated in the demonstration. Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna said that “we are in the heart of Jerusalem expressing solidarity with all our detainees, especially our Hebron people who lost detainee Maysara, the Palestinian Maan news agency reported. “This sit-in is to tell them that we don’t forget them and we reject Israeli brutality against detainees.” Thousands of mourners on Thursday attended…

Source: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary The Board of Trustees of Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, South Canaan, PA (www.stots.edu) announces a vacancy in the office of Dean, to be filled effective July 1, 2013. Applications, nominations, and expressions of interest for the position of Dean are now being accepted. Saint Tikhon’s Seminary is an institution of professional Orthodox Christian theological education, affiliated with the Orthodox Church in America, chartered by the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and nationally accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. St. Tikhon’s Seminary offers the…

Source: International Business Times By Palash R. Ghosh The president of Bulgaria has called on the nation to pray for peace, health and prosperity following a wave of suicides in the country believed to have been prompted by deepening poverty and resentment over state corruption. The Sofia News Agency reported that all churches of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church will conduct such prayers starting this Friday through Sunday. On Thursday, President Rosen Plevneliev met with leaders of the country’s various religious communities — including Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Evangelists, the Armenian Apostolic Church as well as the dominant Orthodox Church, to encourage an…

Source: Gazette Chicago Parishioners at St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church must worship elsewhere during repairs to the fire-damaged church at 733 S. Ashland Ave. Fr. Panteleimon Dalianis said that, for the first three Sundays after the fire, the church would hold services at the Chicago Marriott at the Medical District, 625 S. Ashland Ave., just north of the church. St. Basil’s is seeking another location in case it takes longer than three weeks to mend the damage. He added St. Basil’s definitely will repair its building, although the church needs donations for the work. More information can be found at…

Source: Orthodox Church in America Hieromonk David [Mahaffey], Chancellor and Administrator of the Diocese of Alaska, and Dr. Richard Dauenhauer recently met with State Representative Cathy Muñoz and State Senator Gary Stevens in Juneau, the state capital. During the meeting, the importance of preserving the state’s historic Russian Orthodox churches and buildings and the restoration work undertaken by ROSSIA (Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites In Alaska) were among the topics discussed. Father David and Dr. Dauenhauer also were introduced to the Legislative Assembly by Representative Muñoz at the opening of the Legislative Session. While in Juneau, Father David celebrated the Liturgy…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – Two priests of the Orthodox Church in America recently were deployed to Afghanistan to provide ministry to members of the US Armed Forces. Priest Paul Rivers, US Army, Chaplain (CPT), in the active duty component in Germany, and Priest George Hill, US Army, Chaplain (MAJ), in the active duty component in Fort Bragg, NC, have been deployed to Afghanistan with their units. In addition, Priest David Alexander, LT, CHC, of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, will be deployed to Afghanistan for the remainder of the lenten and Paschal…

Source: CBS News (CBS) BOSTON – Police are looking for the thieves who broke into a church a few miles from Boston and stole a safe, chalices, Bibles, and blessing crosses, CBS Boston reported. It happened sometime Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning at the Taxiacrche/Archangels Greek Orthodox Church in Watertown, Mass. Police say the thieves broke in the boiler room door in the basement, went up to the church office and ransacked it. They believe the initial motivation may have been the church’s 75 lb. safe, which was taken from the office, according to CBS Boston. Father Demetrios Tonias…

Source: The Guardian The latest addition to the Russian military arsenal takes the form of an airborne church complete with parachuting priests by Oliver Wainwright The Russian military unveiled an unlikely new weapon in its arsenal this month – an army of parachuting priests. The unit of chaplains, who have joined the Russian Airborne Force to train in parachute jumping and vehicle assembly, will operate out of flatpack churches that can be airlifted in to wherever soldiers may be stationed. The church could be mistaken for a standard-issue army cabin, taking the form of a khaki-coloured shed on wheels, were…

Monthly Newsletter from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary Email not displaying properly? View it in your browser. In the SVOTS-light April 2013 His Beatitude, Metropolitan TIKHON stands with newly ordained Priest Adam Horstman, his wife Patricia, and their children on the Feast of the Annunciation. (Photo: Leanne Parrott Photography) Our central focus at St. Vladimir’s is preparation for ministry. In March, we rejoiced in the ordination of three seminarians: Anoop Thomas to the Subdiaconate by His Grace Zachariah Mar Nicholovos, and Dns. Andre Paez of San Francisco, CA and Adam Horstman of Nicholasville, KY to the Holy Priesthood, by Archbishop Benjamin and Metropolitan Tikhon, respectively. Other seminarians…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – Registration is now open for “Faith in Action: Equipping the Saints for Worship, Learning and Service,” a parish ministries conference slated to be held on the campus of Marymount University, Arlington, VA July 10-13, 2013. Registration and/or additional information may be accessed here.  Those who wish to register by mail may download the registration form in PDF format. Sponsored by four departments of the Orthodox Church in America—Liturgical Music and Translations, Christian Education, Christian Service and Humanitarian Aid, and Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry—the conference will present practical and tested resources for parish-based ministries through…

Source: Democracy and Freedom Watch by DFWATCH STAFF Tbilisi, DFWatch – Illia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgian Orthodox Church, considers unacceptable to renew talks about adopting the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Archdeacon Mikael Botkoveli, patriarch’s secretary, told journalists at the Tbilisi airport before patriarch’s departure for Helsinki, Finland, for medical treatment. “Talks have been renewed about European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages which, in our opinion, is unacceptable because it will cause strengthening of separatist movements and will create new and very difficult problems for our country,” Mikael Botkoveli remarked. He said ratification of the document is unacceptable until…