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…
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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.…
Source: India Talkies New Delhi, Oct 20: A year after it began to preach from the confines of the Russian embassy in the capital, the Russian Orthodox Church of Russia formally introduced itself to the capital’s Christian fold with a brief ceremony this weekend. The Church, which does not have space to conduct services in the country, has moved the government to acquire land in the capital to build a shrine. The demand was taken up by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin, who was in India earlier this week with a large trade delegation, Manoj Kumar, a spokesperson…
Source: International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — The meningitis that Suma, 39, contracted during infancy left her mentally impaired and unable to walk. She spent the next 17 years of her life traveling from Gaza to different rehabilitation hospitals in Jerusalem and Bethlehem for vital medical care, physical and occupational therapy. With the uprising of 1987, her family’s access to these hospitals suddenly became more difficult and Suma’s future looked bleak. The Four Homes of Mercy in the biblical town of Bethany became Suma’s refuge. She was admitted in 1991 for round-the-clock care and rehabilitation, and has…
Source: Interfax Moscow, October 18, Interfax – The majority of Russians questioned in an opinion poll expressed support for a proposal to organize Orthodox Christian militias for the declared purpose of protecting holy sites. The idea was backed by 66% of respondents in a survey carried out by the All-Russia Center for Public Opinion Studies (VCIOM) last month. The initiative to form militias for patrolling city streets, put forward in August by the leader of the Holy Russia organization, had the widest support among respondents who support the ruling Yedinaya Rossia (United Russia) party – 71%, – among those are…
Source: Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) RAMALLAH, October 17, 2012 (WAFA) – The Palestine Liberation Organization and France Wednesday signed an agreement to repair the roof of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. The 200.000 euors agreement was signed in the Muqata and in the presence of Palestinian and French officials. A presidential committee established on December 15, 2008 a special fund to repair the roof of the Church of Nativity in cooperation with the three Christian denominations that control the church – the Greek Orthodox, the Custodian of the Holy Land, and the Armenian Orthodox church. The Palestinian…
Source: The Financial Times By Clive Cookson A scientific effort is under way to reveal and record palimpsests at the world’s oldest continuously operating library The Greek Orthodox monks of St Catherine’s monastery in Sinai have been accumulating manuscripts and books since the sixth century, making their library the world’s greatest repository of early medieval writing after the Vatican. The collection is even richer than it first appears, because many of the 3,300 ancient manuscripts contain hidden text and illustrations older than their visible contents – and a large scientific effort is under way to reveal and record them. The…
Source: AmericanCatholic.org By FRANCIS X. ROCCA VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the start of a special Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI called on Catholics to revive the “authentic spirit” of Vatican II by re-proposing the church’s ancient teachings to an increasingly Godless modern world. The pope spoke at a special Mass in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 11, half a century to the day after the opening ceremonies of Vatican II. About 400 bishops from around the world, including 15 of the 70 surviving members of the 1962-65…
Source: International Society for Orthodox Church Music [ISOCM] The Fifth International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, “Church Music and Icons: Windows to Heaven,” will be held at the University of Eastern Finland, in Joensuu, Finland, on 3 – 9 June 2013. The conference will take place at the School of Theology (Agora Building), Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland (Yliopistokatu 4, 80101 Joensuu). The conference programme will include a panel discussions, interdisciplinary contributions relating to iconography and hymnography, and an excursion to local Orthodox and Finnish locales. CALL FOR PAPERS It is expected that participants from around the world will gather…
Source: Trend Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Turkey is closely monitoring increasing attacks of Israeli extremists against sacred sites of Muslims and Christians. Vandals damaged the door of St. George Romanian Orthodox church and tossed garbage at its entrance. A tiny fringe group of pro-settler extremists are suspected in the vandalism. They have conducted similar attacks on churches, mosques and Israeli army property. The statement said Turkey strongly condemns any attack against sacred sites belonging to any religion or belief. The statement also noted that Turkey has called on Israeli authorities to take effective measures to prevent…