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Source: Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (October 13-14, 2012) It is a sincere privilege to be invited by the Prime Ministry Office of Public Diplomacy and the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research to address this 1st Istanbul World Forum held under the distinguished auspices of and officially opened by His Excellency Prime Minister Erdogan. Moreover, it is a personal pleasure to participate in this esteemed panel on the critical subject of “Religion and Social Justice.” The world of faith can certainly prove a powerful ally in efforts to address issues of social justice. For religion provides a unique…

Source: The Washington Post By Associated Press, Published: October 31 PRISTINA, Kosovo — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton toured a Serbian Orthodox church in Kosovo Wednesday as she pressed America’s close ally to step up its minority outreach while trying to convince ethnic Serbs that they have a home in Europe’s youngest nation. At the St. Nicholas Church in Kosovo’s capital, a site of anti-Serb riots eight years ago, Clinton greeted members of the Serb minority who’ve returned to Kosovo after years abroad despite continued interethnic tensions. In Pristina, she also joined the European Union’s foreign policy…

RT Source: USA Today By Irina Titova, AP KIRISHI, Russia: A box in which parents can leave their babies anonymously without any legal risk opened Wednesday in a town in northwestern Russia – part of an effort that activists hope will save many young lives. The baby box in Kirishi, an industrial town 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of St. Petersburg, is the tenth such facility in Russia. Experts think that’s just a fraction of what is needed. “Even if only one child is saved that way it will be worth it,” said Tatiana Sobolevskya, deputy chief of the maternity department…

Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America His Eminence Metropolitan Philip has tasked the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America (AOWNA) with a new fundraising project for 2012-2013, “The Antiochian Village Tornado Relief Fund.” Between 2010 and 2012, the AOWNA women in chapters across the U.S. and Canada raised over $315,000 for the Convent of St. Thekla at the Village, and will now turn their attention towards another project to benefit the Archdiocese’s “Holy Mountain.” In the late afternoon of June 1, 2012, a tornado with winds of 110 mph cut a wide swath through the Village grounds…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] At least 13 clergy delegates from the Diocese of Alaska and four from the Diocese of Mexico will be joining the 600-plus individuals already registered for the 17th All-American Council at Holy Trinity Church, Parma, OH on Tuesday, November 13, 2012. Recently, an appeal to raise funds to assist clergy from these dioceses with travel expenses was posted on the web site of the Orthodox Church in America at the recommendation of Hieromonk David [Mahaffey] and Archpriest John Reeves to the Metropolitan Council. The appeal goal was to raise $15,000.00. [See related…

Source: Agenzia Fides Damascus (Agenzia Fides) – The body of the Greek-Orthodox priest Fr. Fadi Jamil Haddad, pastor of the church of St. Elias in Qatana, was found today in the Jaramana neighborhood (north of Damascus) not far from the place where he was kidnapped, on October 19, by unidentified armed group (see Fides 24/10/2012). This was confirmed to Fides by Fr. Haddad’s Greek-Orthodox confrere, who asked for anonymity. “His body was horribly tortured and his eyes gouged out,” he told Fides. “It is a purely terrorist act. Fr. Haddad is a martyr of our church.” With regards to the…

Source: Catholic World News (CWN) The annual US dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox churches took place on October 15 and 16 in White Plains, NY. The Oriental Orthodox churches, which are distinct from the Eastern Orthodox churches, ceased communion with the Holy See following the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451. The dialogue, co-chaired by Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany and Metropolitan Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim of the Syriac Orthodox Church, focused on ministry to immigrants and the plight of Middle Eastern Christian. Related Stories Concern For Immigrants, Middle East Christians Focus Of Catholic Dialogue With Oriental…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] On Tuesday, October 23, 2012, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America released a Pastoral Letter marking the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Expressing concern for human trafficking and related issues today, the members of the Holy Synod note that, “as the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation draws near, Orthodox Christians in the United States understand that our freedom in Christ compels us to come closer to the world that we are to serve, protect, heal and transfigure. The Church cannot ignore God’s…

Source: The Washington Post By Associated Press, Published: October 23 BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s highest court has upheld the conviction of a top Orthodox cleric that he secretly served as an informant for the country’s communist-era Securitate police. The 83-year-old Archbishop Pimen was found guilty by a government council of serving as an informant sent by the church and the Securitate to spy on fellow clergy and members of Romania’s expatriate community in the United States in the 1970s. Before the allegations emerged in 2007, he was considered one of the luminaries of the church and had hosted Romania’s former…

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Originally posted on October 20, 2012 NEW YORK – The Governor of the State of New York Andrew Cuomo, announced yesterday at the Archdiocesan Council meeting, that the final agreement on the rebuilding of St. Nicholas was signed the day before, Oct. 18, 2012 and that the Port Authority would begin construction immediately hoping to complete the foundation in a year and then turn the site over to the Church. Governor Cuomo made the announcement during the joint luncheon of the Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the National Philoptochos…

Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America On Tuesday, October 16, 2012, His Beatitude IGNATIUS IV, Patriarch of Antioch and all The East arrived in the United States for a short stay which included several official functions. He was met at the airport by His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and a contingent of over 30 clergy and laity. His motorcade was escorted by officers from the Passaic County Sherriff’s Department to the Archdiocese Headquarters in Englewood, New Jersey where His Beatitude resided during his stay in this area. On Thursday…

Source: Times-Standard Terry Mattingly/Scripps Howard News Service KIEV — The apocalyptic visions begin just inside the doors of the Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum and many of them lead into the Book of Revelation. The final pages of Christian scripture are full of angels, trumpets, flames, thunder, lightning, earthquakes and catastrophes that shake heaven and earth. In this museum, the key is in the eighth chapter: “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.…