Source: Religion News Service Initial reports that the centuries-old St. Catherine’s Monastery would be closed were denied, but Orthodox leaders remain concerned that the monastery’s new status will interfere with the monks’ lives. By David I. Klein ISTANBUL (RNS) — As news filtered out of Egypt on Thursday (May 29) that a court ruling had called for nationalizing an ancient Orthodox Christian Monastery in the Sinai Desert and the eviction of its monks to make way for a museum, disbelief turned to outrage, from the Middle East to Greece, where politicians blasted the decision. St. Catherine’s Monastery, which is inhabited…
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Source: Orthodox Church in America SPRINGFIELD, VA [OCA] The services celebrating the canonization of Matushka Olga Michael of Kwethluk, AK, will take place June 19 -22, 2025, in Kwethluk and Anchorage, AK. In November 2023, Matushka Olga was numbered among the saints by act of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, making her the first North American woman and the first Yup’ik person to be glorified as a saint in the Orthodox Church. His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon will preside over the canonization services, concelebrating with other hierarchs and clergy of the Orthodox Church in America as well as delegations from other…
Source: Orthodox Youth and Young Adult Ministries CLICK HERE to view the PDF that includes a link to the full story.
Source: Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate held the first-ever Pilgrimage of Discovery (POD) Alumni Retreat on May 16-18, 2025, in Chicago. The event was organized by the Pilgrimage of Discovery Alumni Leadership Network (ALN), a branch of the Archon Youth Participation Activities Engagement Committee, to bring together as many of the 21 young adults that participated in the first two Archon POD programs in 2023 and 2024. Funded by the Archons, the POD is a religious and educational journey through Constantinople awarded to Orthodox Christian young adults across America who went through a rigorous…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Huffington Ecumenical Institute at HCHC Brookline, MA – May 2025 — The Huffington Ecumenical Institute (HEI) at Hellenic College Holy Cross is pleased to announce two compelling and engaging online courses for Fall 2025. 1. For the Life of the World: Toward an Orthodox Social Ethos This groundbreaking course invites students to engage with the document entitled For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church (FLOW), a landmark document of the Ecumenical Patriarchate that provides general parameters for an Orthodox Christian engagement with the modern world. Addressing issues…
Source: Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Dear Brother Archons and Friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, I’m writing to you today more as a father and a grandfather than as National Commander. Last Saturday, May 17, our dear brother Archon Michael Psaros, the world-renowned philanthropist and recipient of the 2022 Nicholas J. Bouras Award for Extraordinary Archon Stewardship, gave an extraordinary and memorable commencement speech at his beloved alma mater, Georgetown University. Archon Mike’s speech is a brief (only thirteen minutes) masterpiece of wisdom and practical life guidance. He offers THE roadmap to success, prioritizing family, faith, and…
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Source: Orthodox Christian Network Orthodox Evangelism with Fr. Nephon Tsimalis This past month, something remarkable happened in Hatfield, England: nearly 200 people were received into the Orthodox Church in a single day at the Twelve Apostles Church—one of the largest events of its kind in the country’s history. The moment was the culmination of months of catechism, community-building, and spiritual preparation through the Discover Orthodoxy program, an initiative that continues to draw people from all walks of life into the fullness of the faith. Today, we’re taking a closer look at what made this event so significant—and what it…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America The Orthodox Observer’s Dr. Claire Koen recently spoke with Dr. Symeon Paschalidis, the director of the Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies to discuss a new edition of St. Cyprian’s De Unitate Ecclesiae. In addition to directing the Institute, Dr. Paschalidis is professor of Patristics and Hagiography in the Faculty of Social Theology and Christian Culture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Dr. Paschalidis has published ten monographs, multiple peer-revied articles and book chapters, and is currently working on an edited volume on the Patriarchs of Constantinople, as well as his own monograph on manuscripts dealing with…
Source: Orthodox Christianity Remembering the Disaster, reverence for the labors, a call to repentance Priest Vyacheslav Inyushkin The tragedy at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986, changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people—those who found themselves in the affected areas and those who eliminated the consequences of the explosion at the nuclear reactor of the fourth power unit. According to official data, over 77,220 square miles were exposed to radioactive contamination, seventy percent of which were on the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. The most polluted areas were the northern parts of the Kiev…
Source: REMIX Israeli police and military prevented Christians from participating in religious ceremonies on Easter Sunday. Faithful, including the papal nuncio, were blocked from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in East Jerusalem, reports Do Rzeczy. Israeli police set up checkpoints on roads leading to the church in the Old City, with many worshipers refused entry, including Papal Nuncio Adolfo Tito Yllana. Since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, obtaining the necessary permit to travel to Jerusalem has become almost impossible. While it was reported that the papal nuncio was eventually allowed through, the account Catholic Arena had posted…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA On April 9, the Riigikogu (the Estonian Parliament) passed on the third and final reading the “Amendments to the Churches and Congregations Act” (Bill 570 SE) by a vote of 60 to 13. https://www.riigikogu.ee/en/press-releases/plenary-assembly/the-riigikogu-adopted-amendments-to-the-churches-and-congregations-act/ The version of the Bill that was passed on April 9 is the same as the version that was submitted to the plenary session of the Riigikogu by its Legal Affair Committee for the third reading. I discussed this version in my newsletter of 30 March 2025. I have attached again this version (including a Google English translation of the entire Bill)…