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Source: International Business Times By Gabriele Barbati JERUSALEM — Every Christian knows the holiest places in Christendom are in Jerusalem. The holiest of all, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, was erected in 325, over the site where it is believed Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. Yet, few know that it is a Muslim who opens and closes the only door to this holiest of Christian sites. In fact, it’s two Muslims: one man from the Joudeh family and another man from the Nuseibeh family, two Jerusalem Palestinian clans who have been the custodians of the…

Source: The Record ROME — In his most significant break with tradition yet, Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of two young women at a juvenile detention centre — a surprising departure from church rules that restrict the Holy Thursday ritual to men. No pope has ever washed the feet of a woman before, and Francis’ gesture sparked a debate among some conservatives and liturgical purists, who lamented he had set a “questionable example.” Liberals welcomed the move as a sign of greater inclusiveness in the church. Speaking to the young offenders, including Muslims and Orthodox Christians, Francis said…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY – On March 27-28, 2013, several leaders of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship [OCF], the official campus ministry agency of theAssembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, met at the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America here. Jennifer Nahas, OCF Executive Director. met with His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, Archpriests John Jillions and Eric G. Tosi, and OCA Youth Director Andrew Boyd on March 27.  She spoke of OCF’s growth on the grassroots level, the challenges brought about by growth, current and future programs, and ways the OCA can specifically aid in OCF’s…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA]- Currently available from the Orthodox Christian Network is a six-week series of audio presentations on the Sundays of Great Lent by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon.  The weekly broadcasts may be accessed at www.myocn.net/index.php/201303284469/Come-Receive-the-Light/Personal-Journey-to-Orthodoxy.html. In related news, Ancient Faith Radio recently posted audio files of the “Holy Conversation” symposium held in White River Junction, VT March 1-2, 2013.  The files are accessible atancientfaith.com/specials/holy_conversation_marriage_and_sexuality. Hosted by the Orthodox Church in America’s Diocese of New England with the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Nikon, this “Holy Conversation” is a result of the work of the Contemporary Issues Implementation Team.  [See related…

Source: The Huffington Post By Meredith Bennett-Smith After decades of speculation, new research suggests that the Shroud of Turin, one of the Catholic Church’s holiest relics, may be the real deal. Believed by some to have been Jesus’ burial cloth, the Shroud has been the subject of much research. The latest battery of experiments led experts to conclude the cloth may have come from the first century A.D., making it old enough to have been used to bury Jesus Christ Giulio Fanti, a professor of mechanical and thermal measurement at the University of Padua, announced the findings in a book that hit shelves Wednesday in…

Source: The Telegraph By Damian Thompson There’s a quaint Anglican concept of the universal Church known as the “branch theory”. This claims that there are three main branches to apostolic Christianity: Roman, Orthodox and Anglican. It’s much favoured by Church of England clerics who aren’t very keen on “Romans”, as they call Catholics, and convey their anti-Papist sentiment in pro-Orthodox code, forever banging on about the riches of Byzantine spirituality, the mystical power of icons, etc. Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, is an example of this breed. What these pro-Orthodox Anglicans don’t stress is that ordaining women priests was just…

Source: Al Moutran by Archbishop PETER (Reprinted from: The Orthodox Church Newspaper, April-May 1994 ) There is among the Orthodox a very widespread belief that the Christian celebration of Easter must necessarily come after the Jewish Passover. This chronological order is considered imperative and bears a symbolic meaning, as it is believed to have been decreed by the First Ecumenical Council held at Nicea in 325. This belief is stated and reaffirmed in the 12th century by the Byzantine canonist Zonaras. Another famous canonist of the later Middle Ages, Matthew Blastaris, in summing up the opinions of his time on…

Source: Pravoslavie.ru His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia On March 23, 2013, the eve of the first Sunday of Great Lent—the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia lead the Vigil service at Sretensky Stavropegic Monastery in Moscow. At the end of the service, abbot of the monastery Archimandrite Tikhon thanked His Holiness for finding the opportunity to celebrate this important service with them, and also for his Patriarchal support and blessing upon the monastery’s plans to build a new church dedicated to the New Martyrs of Russia, which…

Source: Catholic World News Three days after Pope Francis received a Marian icon as a gift from Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Pope gave the icon as a gift to Pope Emeritus Benedict. Metropolitan Hilarion, the Russian Orthodox Church’s chief ecumenical officer, presented the icon of Our Lady, Support of the Humble, along with a book, to Pope Francis during a March 20 audience; Pope Francis in turn presented the icon to the Pope Emeritus on March 23. Pope Francis told his predecessor that when he had received the icon, and been told that it…

Source:  France 24 (AFP) Cyprus’s wealthy Orthodox Church stands to lose more than 100 million euros in the bailout deal reached with international creditors early Monday, its leader Archbishop Chrysostomos said. “The capital owned by the Church, which was over 100 million euros, has been lost,” the archbishop told reporters. “There will be many difficulties, some will lose their jobs, the hungry will be multiplied and the Church has to take care of people,” he added. The church has substantial shareholdings on the island, including in the banks at the centre of the drastic financial sector cuts imposed by the…

Source: Orthodox Church in America [Washington DC] His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, delivered the homily at the celebration of Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers at Saints Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church here on Sunday evening, March 24, 2013. Clergy and faithful from parishes across the US capital region attended the service, marking the restoration of icons to their proper use in the Church’s liturgy in AD 842. Despite the teaching about icons defined at the Seventh Ecumenical Council of AD 787, the iconoclasts—those who denounced the use and veneration of icons as “idolatry”—renewed their attacks. Following the death of Emperor Theophilus, the last…

Source: Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia The second Wednesday of Great Lent this year, March 14/27, will mark the 246th anniversary of the falling asleep in the Lord of the ever-memorable Colonel Philip Ludwell III, of Williamsburg, VA, the first documented convert to Orthodoxy in the Americas. Last year, the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, gave his blessing for panihidas to be held for Colonel Ludwell on the anniversary of his repose, and it is hoped that even more parishes will do so this year, following…