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…
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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…
Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary – Father Georges Florovsky Library In July of 2012, The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, chancellor/CEO of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS), received a letter from T. Alan Russell, Chairman of the Board for the Liberty Fund of Indianapolis, IN, informing him that Liberty’s Board of Trustees had selected St. Vladimir’s for a Book Placement. This award allowed SVOTS to select any of the books from the Liberty Fund’s catalog, facilitating a sizable donation to the Father Georges Florovsky Library at the Seminary. “I met Alan Russell at the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in…
Source: Orthodox Church in America WASHINGTON, DC [OCA] The Funeral of Laurie Paffhausen, the younger sister and only sibling of His Eminence, Metropolitan Jonah, will be celebrated at Saint Nicholas Cathedral here on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. The Divine Liturgy, followed by the Litia and interment at Rock Creek Cemetery, will be celebrated on Wednesday, November 21—the Great Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God in the Temple—at 10:00 a.m. Miss Paffhausen fell asleep in the Lord in hospital after a lengthy illness on Sunday morning, November 18. On behalf of the members of the…
Source: Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) a reliquary with a relic of St John, Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco, will be taken to 10 dioceses of Central Russia. The project is part of the international youth program “Spiritual Connection” and begins on November 16. The holy relics will be taken to the following cities: Ivanovo (November 16-18), Riazan (November 19-21), Tula (November 22-24), Kaluga (November 25-27), Briansk (November 28-30),…
Source: Reuters By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) – The Coptic Orthodox church staged a ceremony rich in ritual on Sunday to install its pope, Tawadros II, who Christians hope will guide them through the new, Islamist-led Egypt. The 60-year-old pope was picked on November 4 and the ceremony on Sunday filled with incense, elaborate robes and chanting marked his formal ascendance as the 118th leader of the church. Coptic Christians, whose church predates the arrival of Islam in Egypt, make up a tenth of Egypt’s 83 million people. Many fear their community, the biggest Christian group in the Middle East…
Source: Sofia News Agency The unity of the Holy Synod and of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the most important issue for Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria, according to Varna Metropolitan Kiril. Kiril made the statement Sunday in the Bulgarian capital during his very first mass as Sofia Metropolitan and interim Patriarch. “When opinions differ, each must be well-grounded. I hope that all metropolitans will attend the next meeting of the Holy Synod and that those who would be absent would provide excusable reasons for it. They have all made an oath to respond to the invitations of the Synod,” said…
Source: The Atlantic Backlash builds against a planned Orthodox church that’s backed and would be partly funded by the Kremlin. Orthodox cathedrals with their trademark golden onion domes are a familiar sight across Russia. And one may soon become part of Paris’s famed skyline, right near the Eiffel Tower. French President Francois Hollande has just weeks to decide on a controversial plan to build a massive Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center in downtown Paris on the banks of the Seine River, on a UNESCO-protected world heritage site. The project is staunchly opposed by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who has…
Members of New Jersey chapters of AHEPA, Philoptochos and GOYA gathered at St. George Greek Orthodox Church to assemble emergency clean-up buckets (left) and then distribute them (right) at Silverton Volunteer Fire Station for survivors of Superstorm Sandy. Cleaning supplies and other disaster relief items are still urgently needed by hundreds of families trying to make their damaged homes livable again. photo: Rada Tierney/IOCC Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — Two weeks after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the East Coast and obliterated entire neighborhoods along New York’s and New Jersey’s shorelines, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) remains on the ground supporting cleanup and recovery…
Source: Sofia News Agency by Milena Hristova Plagued by wrangling and greed, greatly discredited – this is what Bulgaria’s Orthodox church has come to be in recent years, leaving Christian believers nothing but disturbed. The disagreements between the clergy and the two churches in the country have been smouldering for years, but exploded beyond belief after the death of Patriarch Maxim. The battle among the different lobbies inside the official church, legitimized by the old political regime, erupted with a vengeance and even overshadowed their battle with the purported arch enemy – the alternative church set up in protest against…