Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] Prayers for the 17th All-American Council and the Election of the New Metropolitan of All American and Canada were issued by the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America here during the second week of September 2012. These petitions have also been approved by the Holy Synod of Bishops and are to be included in the Litany of Fervent Supplication at all Divine Services, beginning immediately. PRAYERS FOR THE 17TH ALL-AMERICAN COUNCIL AND THE ELECTION OF THE METROPOLITAN OF ALL AMERICA AND CANADA Furthermore we pray You, O Lord our Almighty and…
Browsing: Orthodox News
Source: The National Herald MAGGIE MICHAEL,Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Christians gathered Friday in front of a Cairo cathedral holding signs denouncing a film that mocked the Prophet Muhammad amid fears that Muslims will take out their anger on Egypt’s minority community. The country’s 8 million Coptic Christians were already feeling increasingly cornered amid the rise to power of hard-line Islamists in Egypt following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. Now U.S. authorities have identified a self-described Coptic Christian living in California as the key figure behind the inflammatory film, and the community at home fears it will bear the brunt…
Source: Reuters By Edmund Blair Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church will choose a new pope on December 2, after Pope Shenouda who led the church for four decades died in March and left many Christians worrying about their rights under an Islamist-led government. Many Christians, who make up about tenth of Egypt’s 83 million people, are concerned by the rise of Islamists who swept to power in parliamentary and presidential elections. President Mohamed Mursi has insisted he will be a leader for the whole nation, but some Christians fear a creeping imposition of conservative religious codes on society. Egypt’s state news…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese NEW YORK – His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, was invited by President Barack Obama to deliver the invocation at the official opening of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Archbishop Demetrios, being unable to personally attend, asked Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit to represent him and deliver the invocation on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Tuesday Sept. 4, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte.
Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] Registration forms and related materials for the 17th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America, slated to convene at Holy Trinity Church, Parma, OH on Tuesday, November 13, 2012, are now available in this PDF document, which includes a wealth of information on various aspects of the Council. [See related story at http://oca.org/news/headline-news/17th-all-american-council-to-be-held-o… ]. “Per the Statute of the Orthodox Church in America, parishes will need to elect new delegates,” said Archpriest Eric G. Tosi, OCA Secretary. “Registration forms, as per normal procedures for an All-American Council, must be completed and…
Source: Times of India KOCHI: The Jacobite Syrian Church, which traces its origins to Saint Peter, is ordaining widows and divorcees as nuns. Conventionally, across various church denominations, only unmarried women are admitted to the fold as nuns. Around 250 nuns are part of the church, which follows Orthodox traditions, and the outreach may increase that number. The church runs 10 convents in Kerala and with plans to set up a string of hospitals and educational institutions, authorities feel it could do with more hands. “Widows, divorcees and the disabled can get trained and become nuns,” says Father Varghese Kallappara,…
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk
Source: Russian Orthodox Church Department of External Church Relations On August 25, 2012, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, led the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at Fort Ross, the place of the first Russian settlement in California. The liturgy was celebrated in the open, next to the reconstructed Russian Church of the Holy Trinity. Among His Eminence’s concelebrants were Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Outside Russia, Archbishop Justinian…
Source: Orthodox Church in America For many years, His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, has issued a statement on the protection of the environment in conjunction with his annual message marking the beginning of the ecclesiastical year on September 1. “Our God, who created the universe and formed the earth as a perfect dwelling place for humanity, granted us the commandment and possibility to increase, multiply and fulfill creation, with dominion over all animals and plants,” writes His All-Holiness in this year’s message. “The world that surrounds us was thus offered to us as a gift by our Creator as an…
Yoga is growing in popularity in Georgia, particularly among Georgians who have traveled abroad - or those who are seeking help with back pain. But the growing interest has also provoked some concern from Georgian Orthodox priests, who think the practice could lead churchgoers astray
Source: Eurasianet | Molly Corso A growing number of Georgians are turning to yoga to shake off the stress of daily life. But their quest for inner calm and smaller waists is generating hostility from the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church. Over the past two years, yoga has gone from a largely unknown Eastern tradition to a popular fitness routine in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Georgian National Yoga Federation President Giorgi Berdzenishvili, a passionate practitioner for the past 15 years, called the trend a “dynamic” process that started under former Soviet leader Mikheil Gorbachev’s glasnost’ policies in the late 1980s. During…
Bishop Matthias
Source: Chicago Tribune The local bishop of the Orthodox Church in America has been placed on administrative leave amid allegations of “inappropriate” behavior with a woman. The action comes more than a month after the church’s national leader, from Chicago, was forced to resign. In a letter to parishioners, Bishop Matthias, 63, denied the accusations, which he said came to light in a formal complaint submitted to the church last week. “The allegations are that I made unwelcome written and spoken comments to a woman that she regarded as an inappropriate crossing of personal boundaries and an abuse of my…
Source: Orthodox Church in America BALTIMORE, MD [IOCC] Temporary shelters like this tent encampment located on a former nine-hole golf course in Port-au-Prince offered little protection against the torrential rains and wind brought on by Tropical Storm Isaac this past weekend. Two and a half years after the devastating earthquake, nearly 400,000 Haitians still live in makeshift shelters like these. Photo: Paul Jeffrey/IOCC Tropical storm Isaac’s unleashing of wind and water on Haiti on Saturday, August 25, 2012, Saturday left more than two dozen people dead, washed away precious food crops, and destroyed the tents that still house hundreds of…
Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır, Turkey
Source: PanARMENIAN.Net The bell-tower of Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır, Turkey, is set to return to use after a 97-year interval, with a new bell made in Russia, Hurriyet Daily News reported. As part of repair and restoration work at the Surp Giragos Church a new bell was made in Moscow, and has been delivered to Diyarbakır. The bronze bell weighs 100 kilograms, and will ring from the bell-tower beginning at its reopening ceremony on November 4. The church’s bell-tower was demolished during the years of Genocide, on the grounds that it was “higher than the minarets in the…