Source: Huffington Post DIAA HADID BEIRUT (AP) — In the midst of a conflict rife with sectarianism, a giant bronze statue of Jesus has gone up on a Syrian mountain, apparently under cover of a truce among three factions in the country’s civil war. Jesus stands, arms outstretched, on the Cherubim mountain, overlooking a route pilgrims took from Constantinople to Jerusalem in ancient times. The statue is 12.3 meters (40 feet) tall and stands on a base that brings its height to 32 meters (105 feet), organizers of the project estimate. That the statue made it to Syria and went…
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Source: The Christian Post BY STOYAN ZAIMOV, CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER An Eritrean Christian woman who was tortured in prison has revealed that her faith helped her get through the darkest of times, describing the experience as a “honeymoon with Jesus.” “When we visited Gabriella at home, she stood up from her seat to welcome us. We immediately saw how much weight she had lost in prison. We could see that she had suffered much. But despite the weakness, Gabrielle looked to us like a soldier who has returned from war victorious. Her joy was very visible and quite overwhelming. We asked…
Source: National Review Online By Nina Shea The Vatican news agency Fides reports today that two new mass graves containing a total of 30 bodies were found in Sadad, an ancient Christian town of some 15,000 people between Damascus and Homs, bringing to 45 the number of residents killed there by Islamist militias since October 21. Surviving relatives and friends uncovered the graves after government forces recently recaptured the town from rebels. Those killed were reported by the local Syriac Orthodox metropolitan, who presided over 30 of their funerals this week, to be Christian civilians, including women and children. A list of their…
Source: The National Herald Amb. Patrick N. Theros Special to The National Herald The Greek Orthodox populations of the Middle East have survived where others have virtually disappeared. Leading up to the Islamic conquest in the 7th century, the Orthodox represented perhaps ten percent of the total population of the then Eastern Roman (now known as the Byzantine) Empire’s provinces of Syria and about two percent in Egypt. The rest were heterodox (i.e., heretical) Christians, including Assyrians, Nestorians, Arians and Copts among others who fought the Empire and whom we persecuted in return. The Orthodox Christians recovered from the Persian…
St. Nicholas Church, Destroyed on 9/11, to Rebuild With Byzantine Design Source: The New York Times By DAVID W. DUNLAP A gleaming, monumental and unmistakable symbol of Orthodox Christianity would rise at the south end of the National September 11 Memorial under plans drawn up for the new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. The original St. Nicholas Church was crushed on Sept. 11, 2001, when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. Plans to replace it on the grounds of the new trade center, across Liberty Street from the memorial, have sputtered, stoppedand crept ahead in the intervening years. But no images of…
Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches opened on October 30, 2013 in Busan, Republic of Korea. Representing the Orthodox Church in America at the Assembly are His Grace, Bishop Alexander of Toledo; Professor Paul Meyendorff of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary; and Cindy Davis of the OCA Chancery. The OCA delegation will join the other Orthodox delegations in offering an Orthodox presence and witness at the Assembly. The OCA delegation is the only delegation representing Orthodoxy in North America. The other Orthodox delegations are the voices of the Orthodox patriarchates…
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…