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Bishops Remain Missing After Capture In Syria

By Webmaster on May 7, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories, Uncategorized

Source: National Public Radio Click here to Listen to the Story – All Things Considered (3 min 50 sec) TRANSCRIPT ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: As Orthodox Christians around the world celebrated Easter this week, the Orthodox communities in Syria and neighboring Lebanon postponed festivities. Instead, they gathered in churches to pray for the safe return of two bishops kidnapped outside the Syrian city of Aleppo last month. While the Syrian opposition and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad continue to trade blame for the abduction, the bishop’s whereabouts remains a mystery. NPR’s Susannah George has our story from Beirut. SUSANNAH GEORGE, BYLINE: On the…

Holy Fire Lights Orthodox Easter In Jerusalem’s Church Of The Holy Sepulchre (VIDEO) (PHOTOS)

By Webmaster on May 5, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Huffington Post In this stunning video, Orthodox Christians welcome the Holy Fire, a miracle that Orthodox Christians believe occurs every year on the evening before Easter Sunday. Close to 10,000 people crowded the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, believed to be the location of Jesus’ burial and resurrection. Since the 9th century, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Holy Fire ceremony with a belief that a mysterious ‘blue fire’ lights a candle held by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem. According to RT.com, the light is then shared with other clergy leaders and then spread to waiting worshipers who claim that…

PRESIDENT OBAMA ISSUES STATEMENT FOR ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS AROUND THE WORLD

By Webmaster on May 4, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

NEW YORK – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is pleased to announce the receipt of a very significant message and greeting from the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the First Lady Michelle Obama, on the occasion of Orthodox Pascha (Easter). In his message, the President makes reference to the ordeals facing Orthodox Christians in the Middle East and North Africa and reaffirms his commitment to religious freedom as a universal human right. The Statement of the President follows: THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 4, 2013 Statement by the…

Cremation under debate in Greece

By Webmaster on May 1, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Southeast European Times The Greek Orthodox Church refuses to allow the practice, but analysts said the church should be more compassionate. By Andy Dabilis for Southeast European Times in Athens The refusal of the Greek Orthodox Church to allow cremation has sparked a debate in the country. With urban cemeteries filling so fast that bodies are dug up after three years and put in ossuaries so plots can be reused, Greece gave approval for cremation in 2006. Although Athens gave licensing authority to local governments, no one has been able to get past opposition from the powerful church. “Cremation…

Settlers Burn Greek Orthodox Church Land In Jerusalem

By Webmaster on April 29, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: International Middle East Media Center by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC News Sunday evening April 28, 2013, a group of extremist Israeli settlers burnt a land that belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church in Wadi Hilweh, in Silwan town, in occupied East Jerusalem. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center reported that dozens of extremist Israeli settlers and soldiers gathered in the area, and that the armed settlers went on to burn the church land. On Saturday, three Palestinians, member of the Al-Maghribi family, in Sheikh Jarrah, were injured after the settlers burnt the family’s land near their home, and the fire…

Calm the Bomb! Learning to Lead Under Pressure [Reflections on the Boston Marathon Bombing]

By Webmaster on April 29, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Oinos Consulting by Fr. Frank Marangos, D. Min., Ed. D. “I have learnt through bitter experience the supreme lesson to conserve my anger. As heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so, anger controlled can be transmuted into a power that can move the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi The deadly percussion of two homemade bombs shook the finish line of the Boston Marathon on our nation’s April 15th celebration of Patriots’ Day. Fragments retrieved from the anniversary of the first skirmish in America’s war for independence suggest that the malevolent devices were each constructed from a six-litre pressure-cooker packed with gunpowder, a…

The Historical Development of Holy Week Services In Orthodoxy

By Webmaster on April 28, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Preachers Institute The Paschal fast of Holy Week1 is the most ancient part of the Great Fast.2 It is already well attested by the second century, in conjunction with the rites of Christian initiation through baptism. At first spanning one or two days, the fast lengthened to four and then to a full six already by the third century. With the conversion of Constantine, the ensuing flood of people desiring to enter the Faith and imperial interest in holy places, the fourth century witnessed tremendous development in ritual for Holy Week. This evolutionary process continued in the middle ages and shows…

Palm Sunday: Is there a ray of hope for Christians in the Middle East?

By Webmaster on April 28, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Albawaba Sunday is the Orthodox Palm Sunday, celebrating when Jesus returned to the city of Jerusalem. The day is known as Shaa’nineh in Arabic and is one of most important dates in the Orthodox religious calendar. The event enables families to come together celebrate mass, and the day is traditionally a familiar affair and an excuse to cook up a good feast and is well celebrated across the Levant nations of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and beyond. Palm Sunday also starts the Holy Week, the run up to Easter. The Middle East though, long associated with Muslims, has…

Pope appeals for release of Syrian bishops

By Webmaster on April 28, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Aljazeera The appeal comes after a Christian group retracted its claim that the clerics had been freed. Pope Francis has called for the release of two Syrian bishops kidnapped by gunmen near Aleppo, after a Christian group appeared to retract its claim that the clerics had been freed. Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yaziji and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim were kidnapped on Monday by armed men en route from the Turkish border. Speaking to an audience of around 100,000 at the Vatican on Wednesday, Francis said there were “contradictory reports” about the fate of the bishops and asked…

Reflections on Trauma and the Boston Marathon

By Webmaster on April 27, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Orthodox Christian Fellowship by Jennifer Nahas, OCF Executive Director OCF, IOCC and the GOA Metropolis of Boston held an open discussion for young adults and college students about the recent events in Boston. Bishop John and OCF board member and IOCC first responder, Fr Peter Preble led the discussion; they were joined by Fr. Patrick Tishel, and other local clergy and chaplains. OCF students were at the finish line and along the route at the time of the bombs went off. Many passed by the exact location of the bombs. Some saw suffering they had to come to terms…

Pressure mounts to release kidnapped Syrian bishops

By Webmaster on April 27, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Russia Today The Organization of Islamic Cooperation joined in on Saturday calling for the “unconditional” release of two Christian bishops held captive in Syria. This follows similar statements from the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches. Ekmeledin Ihsanoglu, the OIC secretary general, condemned the kidnapping of Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Bishop, Boulos Yaziji, and the Syrian Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim. The two were abducted last Monday by armed men while they were travelling to Aleppo from a town on the Turkish border where they were carrying out “humanitarian work.” The OIC statement urged for their “immediate and unconditional release because such…

HM Queen Maria’s Mortal Remains to be Repatriated to Serbia on April 29th

By Webmaster on April 27, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The Sacramento Bee By Royal Family of Serbia [BELGRADE, Serbia] His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander together with his family would like to inform the public that the process of exhumation and repatriation of his grandmother Queen Maria’s remains is in the last stage thanks to the gracious permission of Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II, Dean of Windsor, Anglican Church, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. HM Queen Maria’s remains will be transferred from the Royal Burial Ground in Frogmore, Windsor Castle, to the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in London on…

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Browsing: Orthodox News