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Ecumenical Patriarchate Presents Halki Summit VI in Istanbul, Türkiye

By Webmaster on August 30, 2024 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Along an aptly rain-soaked Golden Horn, this weekend the Ecumenical Patriarchate is presenting Halki Summit VI, entitled “Water: Spirit and Science,” in Istanbul, Türkiye. The Halki Summit, which celebrated its inaugural meeting in 2012, is a gathering organized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate for activists, scientists, journalists, business leaders, theologians, and academics to engage in environmentalist discussion and build interdisciplinary connections. This year’s Summit, co-sponsored by Hellenic Open University, addresses the scientific and spiritual dimensions of water as a vital resource of our planet and a fundamental symbol of Christian theological and sacramental practice. Attendees…

Archdeacon Alexandros Koutsis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, whose permit wasn’t renewed and he departed to Greece. Photo provided by Exapsalmos.g

Turkey Did Not Renew Residence and Work Permits of Clerics

By Webmaster on May 18, 2024 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – A matter has arisen with the Turkish authorities regarding the renewal of residence and work permits for clerics and other employees at the Ecumenical Patriarchate and parishes in Constantinople and elsewhere. Specifically, the Patriarch’s Archdeacon, Fr. Alexandros Koutsis, originally from Zakynthos, was forced to leave and has already returned to Greece, along with a cleric from Antalya and another from Smyrna. It is noted that residence and work permits in Turkey are renewed biennially. Information obtained by The National Herald indicates that this issue is part of Turkey’s general approach towards…

A still from a recently released video shows visitors rushing to take cover as fragments fall from the dome of Hagia Sophia. Credit: Daily Motion/BirGün

Video Shows Fragments Falling from the Dome of Hagia Sophia

By Webmaster on November 29, 2023 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Greek Reporter A video from 2022 that came to light recently shows fragments falling on visitors from the dome of Hagia Sophia, the former epicenter of Christian worship at Constantinople, today’s Istanbul. The footage released by the Turkish newspaper, BirGün, raises serious questions over the safety of the former Orthodox Christian cathedral, now a mosque. BirGün notably quoted officials as saying that “pieces are falling from the roof, due to the humidity created by the crowd, but no precautions are being taken”. The president of the Turkish Art History Association, Serif Yasar, argued for restoration of the monument as soon as…

Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

An Appeal for the Restoration of Hagia Sophia: A Call to Preserve the House of Wisdom

By Webmaster on July 30, 2023 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Greek City Times by GCT The Great Church of Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, is a living monument to the glory of our Orthodox Christian Faith and a visible symbol of all that is best in the worship and liturgy of our Church,” said Archbishop Elpidophoros of America in the Archepiscopal Encyclical on the Day of Mourning for Hagia Sophia. He added, “Its seizure and second conversion to use as a mosque, on July 24, 2020, is a day of mourning for all Orthodox Christian People, as well as for all people of religious conviction.” “Three years later, we continue to…

Ukraine’s oldest Orthodox Church seeks independence, while the Lavra monastery is at risk

By Webmaster on May 31, 2022 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Get Religion by Terry Mattingly This was a very important weekend in the history of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine and Russia — for those (including journalists) who believe that religious traditions and symbols matter as much as statements by government officials and headlines in Western media. At the center of the drama, of course, was the city of Kiev, as it is known in to Russians and many Ukrainians, and Kyiv, as it is known to many Ukrainians, as well as officials in the United States and the European Union. Here’s the quotation I keep thinking about, drawn…

International scientific conference on protection of environment and culture in Halki seminary

By Webmaster on August 30, 2021 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories, Uncategorized

Source: Orthodox Times On Sunday, September 5, 2021, with the blessing of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the international scientific conference “Ecumenical Initiative for the Protection of the Environment and Culture” will take place at the premises of Halki seminary. This conference is organized by the European Center for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments in collaboration with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other organizations. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will open formally the conference on the day before at Sismanogleio Palace.

Remember the Persecuted at Christmas

By Webmaster on December 16, 2020 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The Wall Street Journal Covid restrictions are mild compared with what many of the faithful endure. By Timothy Dolan and Toufic Baaklini For the first time in their lives, millions of Americans have been ordered by their government not to attend church. For millions of persecuted Christians across the globe, this is the only reality they know. The theme of persecution lies at the heart of the Christmas story. The Holy Family were forced to flee their native land due to state-sponsored oppression. As citizens of a global superpower whose lawmakers are responsive to their citizens, we are called to stand in…

Death of Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro & Other News

By Webmaster on October 30, 2020 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral (age 82) died this morning after receiving communion. On October 6, he had been hospitalized with the Covid virus, but had subsequently conquered the virus. He died from pneumomediastinum (air in the space between the two lungs), caused by the earlier inflammation of his lungs and oxygen therapy. The Serbian Church has lost a giant of a man. The following is his official biography: https://mitropolija.com/2020/10/30/zivotopis-mitropolita-crnogorsko-primorskog-amfilohija-1938-2020/ . The letter of condolence from Patriarch Kirill can be read in English at https://mospat.ru/en/2020/10/30/news187619/ . It is providential that the Metropolitan lived to see the election…

Historic Greek Orthodox Orphanage Building in Turkey Collapses

By Webmaster on September 23, 2020 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Pappas Post written by Gregory Pappas A historic 215,000-square foot wooden building on the island of Prinkipos (Büyükada in Turkish) off the coast of Istanbul has collapsed, according to photos posted on Twitter. The structure, which belonged to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, was the largest wooden building in Europe and second largest in the world. It served as an orphanage from 1903 to 1964, providing services to thousands of children, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s. The building had fallen into disrepair and needed millions of euros to refurbish. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew had requested time to transform the structure into a…

The Hagia Sophia Was a Cathedral, a Mosque and a Museum. It’s Converting Again.

By Webmaster on July 23, 2020 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: The New York Times Changing the secular space back into a religious one is a risk for the World Heritage Site. By The Editorial Board The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom. On Friday, after 86 years as a museum, the great Hagia Sophia in Istanbul will once again echo with Muslim prayers. To Turkish Islamists, the conversion marks the fulfillment of a long-held dream of restoring a symbol of Ottoman grandeur. For many others around the world, the change is a…

Istanbul native enthroned as archbishop of Greek Orthodox church in US

By Webmaster on June 24, 2019 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Hurriyet Daily News İpek Yezdani – NEW YORK The Greek Orthodox church of the United States, a far-flung denomination of 1.5 million members, has installed its first new leader in 20 years, and he is from Istanbul. Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, 51, a native of Istanbul, was enthroned as archbishop in an elaborate ceremony at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Manhattan on June 22. The event was attended about 1,000 people, including officials from Turkey, Greece, GreekCyprus and the United States. Among the attendees was Turkey’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Feridun Sinirlioğlu. Other attendees were the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, GreekForeign Minister…

US gets new archbishop from Istanbul’s Bakırköy

By Webmaster on June 14, 2019 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories, Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Hurriyet Daily News İpek Yezdani – ISTANBUL For the first time in history, a Turkish citizen has been chosen as the archbishop of the U.S. to lead the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, who was born and raised in the Bakırköy district of Istanbul, is chosen to lead all the Orthodox and Greek congregation in the U.S. A native of Istanbul, Lambriniadis had been serving as the principle of the closed Halki Seminary on Heybeliada, an island off Istanbul’s coast, and teaching as a professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. Lambriniadis said he was chosen by the council called “Holy Council’ (Synod) of the Greek Orthodox Church, which consisted of 12 members and…

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Browsing: Istanbul