Browsing: Orthodox News Top Stories

CHICAGO, IL [MW Diocese Communications] Last-minute registration is open for the fifth in the popular series of one-hour on-line webinars on reaching the unchurched, facilitated by Joseph Kormos, head of the Diocese of the Midwest’s Parish Development Ministry, and Archpriest Jonathan Ivanoff, will be held tonight—Wednesday, November 28, 2012—at 8:00 p.m. EDT. To register for the webinar, log on to http://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/666562520. Registrants will receive a confirmation e-mail with instructions for joining the webinar. PC-based attendees will need Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server, while Macintosh®-based attendees will require Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer. Mobile attendees will need iPhone®, iPad®,…

Source: Agenzia Fides Cairo (Agenzia Fides) – The meeting announced by the new Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II with a qualified Egyptian delegation of the Catholic Churches – which would have also provided the opportunity to agree on a common position before the emergency which the Country is crossing – has been postponed to December 11. A reason for postponing is due to the tension that reigns throughout Egypt and especially in the capital, after the constitutional decrees with which President Morsi has expanded his powers and have sparked violent protests against the government and also the headquarters of the…

Source: Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople On May 12, 2012, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, primus inter pares of the entire Orthodox Church, received the prestigious ‘Freedom Award’. The Four Freedoms Medals are presented to men and women whose achievements have demonstrated a commitment to those principles which President Roosevelt proclaimed in his historic speech to Congress on January 6, 1941, as essential to democracy: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear. In order to keep the legacy of President Franklin Roosevelt alive, the Roosevelt Institute honors outstanding citizens who have demonstrated a lifelong…

Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America On the first Sunday in December, Youth Equipped to Serve (YES) is inviting all parishes to participate in YES Awareness Day. A ministry of The Fellowship of Orthodox Christians United to Serve (FOCUS), YES provides opportunities for junior high and high school students to participate in formative weekends of service in cities around the United States. An upcoming YES weekend, sponsored by St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church of Pawtucket, RI, is scheduled for Friday, December 14, through Sunday, December 16, in Providence. Notes Director Katrina Bitar, “We would be so grateful if…

Source: Sofia News Agency Nearly 900 residents of the Bulgarian historical town of Batak have signed a petition asking interim Patriarch Kiril to stop services at the Sveta Nedeliya Church where the relics of the Batak martyrs are kept. They want the Church to return to its museum status and State ownership. The initiators further say they found in archives documents showing that as early as 1915 locals wanted the Church with the ossuary to be a museum. In a recent declaration, the Plovdiv Metropolitan Nikolay stated that services at the Saint Nedeliya Church “will go on forever, every day,…

Source: The Hindu To mark the centenary of the establishment of the Catholicate of the Malankara Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has announced Rs. 100-crore worth of charitable work to be carried out in the centenary year. The Catholicos, Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, who made the announcement at the launch of the centenary celebrations here on Sunday, said the work would include building houses for the homeless members of the church, meeting the wedding expenses of widows’ daughters, providing education assistance and health insurance for the poor and relief to farmers in debt. Aid would be given for the…

Source: Ekathimerini.com Signs that crisis has led to improved relations between two sides previously at odds Tectonic shifts in the political landscape caused by Greece’s economic meltdown have fomented a tacit alliance between Orthodox Church leaders and the secular left-wing SYRIZA party, analysts say. Poised to win the next parliamentary election, whenever that may take place, SYRIZA chief Alexis Tsipras appears keen to build bridges with the deeply conservative Church, which, controversially for some, remains one of the most influential institutions in the debt-hit country. In response to SYRIZA’s rise, analysts say, Archbishop Ieronymos wants to establish a platform for…

Source: The National Herald GAZA CITY. Palestinian mourners cry during the funeral of Salem Paul Sweliem in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. According to the family, the 52 years old Greek Orthodox Christian carpenter was killed when during an Israel Air Force strike on a high-rise building, in which Ramez Harb, a senior figure in Islamic Jihad’s military wing, was killed. Sweliem was in a car when the strike took place and he died on his way to the hospital from shrapnel wounds.

Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary YONKERS, NY [SVOTS Communications] Beginning January 15, 2013, Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary will offer an extension course for the public, “The Music and Faith of Arvo Pärt,” taught by Dr. Peter C. Bouteneff, associate professor of Systematic Theology. Arvo Pärt, whose works rank him as the third most performed composer globally, is an Orthodox Christian of Estonian nationality, and the course will intriguingly combine the study of music with the spirituality and dogma of the Orthodox Christian faith. “Arvo Pärt draws on his Orthodox Christian roots to compose music that seizes people of…

Source: Ekathimerini.com The Church of Greece and the Vatican are putting the final touches to an agreement for the joint promotion of religious tourism, the cleric leading the Greek side of the initiative said on Thursday. An initial agreement reached last week by Greek and Italian clerics foresees the mutual promotion of religious sites including churches and monasteries, Bishop Chrysostomos of Dodoni told a conference in Thessaloniki on Thursday. Several firms have expressed interest in working with the Synod’s office to produce CDs and DVDs introducing visitors to Greece’s religious sites, the bishop said. The agreement follows a similar pact…

Protocol Number 161/12 November 22, 2012 Thanksgiving Day  Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (I Thessalonians 5:18) To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The vibrant tradition of the Thanksgiving holiday in this country…

Source: The National Herald To the Editor: I have been following the news about Hurricane Sandy and all the people who have been suffering from damage from the storm. My family and I made a donation through the Red Cross, and I am happy that Greek-American groups like the Philoptochos and AHEPA have been helping, but I’m afraid that our community has not stepped up to the degree that it could or should. Maybe none of our societies and institutions are organized to react quickly, and maybe the Church and the above groups will make an impact over time, but…