Source: CBS News [NICOSIA, CYPRUS] The head of Cyprus’ influential Orthodox church, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, says he will put the church’s assets at the country’s disposal to help pull it out of a financial crisis, after lawmakers rejected a plan to seize up to 10 percent of people’s bank deposits to secure an international bailout. Speaking after meeting President Nicos Anastasiades Wednesday, Chrysostomos said the church was willing to mortgage its assets to invest in government bonds. The church has considerable wealth, including property, stakes in a bank and a brewery. Tuesday’s rejection of the deposit tax has left the…
Browsing: Orthodox Church
Source: The Sofia Globe Bulgarian Orthodox Church Patriarch Neofit is to lead a “prayer for the reconciliation of the Bulgarian people” on March 10 in response to the current turbulent social, political and economic situation facing the country, the Holy Synod said. Neofit was elected Patriarch on February 24, taking office amid a series of nationwide protests and political upheaval as Bulgaria heads for early national parliamentary elections on May 12. Of Bulgaria’s population of 7.3 million, according to the February 2011 census, 76 per cent declared themselves to be Orthodox Christians. The Holy Synod said that all “Orthodox Christians…
Source: Virtueonline The Time Is Now by Fr. Victor E. Novak Special to Virtueonline ONE HOLY CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH For the first millennium of Christianity there was only one Church. Denominationalism as we know it today did not exist. The Church was one. No matter where a Christian lived, whether in Jerusalem, Antioch, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, Gaul, Britain, Ireland, Russia, Africa, or anywhere else, everyone belonged to the same Church and believed the same thing. The Church was known as the “Catholic” Church, and we find that word in use to describe the Church as early as AD…
Source: RIA Novosti MOSCOW, January 19 (RIA Novosti) – More than 82,000 Moscow residents bathed in icy cold water to mark the Epiphany early Saturday, as air temperature in the Russian capital stood at minus 13 degrees Celsius (+ 8.6 Fahrenheit), a spokesman for the Emergency Ministry’s Moscow branch said Saturday. Epiphany, also known as Theophany, is one of the Great Feasts, marking the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River and the beginning of his ministry. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the holiday on January 19, in line with the Julian calendar. Honoring an…
Source: MYSTAGOGY By Professor Ioannes Fountoulis On January 6th our Church celebrates the great despotic feast of “Theophany” or “Epiphany” or “Holy Lights”. The forefeast begins the day after New Years, January 2nd. In this preparatory period is found the “Sunday Before the Lights”. This fits into the functional forefeast preparation. In the Gospel reading from the Divine Liturgy on this Sunday we hear: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” from the prologue of the Gospel of Mark, who narrates the appearance of John the Forerunner in the Jordan desert, preaching and prophesying about…
Source: Orthodox Church in America WASHINGTON, DC [OCA] On Friday, January 25, 2013—the eve of the enthronement of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon at Saint Nicholas Cathedral here—Orthodox Christians from across the country will gather in the US capital for the annual March for Life. The members of the Orthodox Church in America’s Holy Synod of Bishops will join Metropolitan Tikhon, students from Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA and Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Crestwood, NY, and clergy and faithful from the region and beyond for the march. According to Archpriest John Kowalczyk, a pro-life activist and co-founder of the Orthodox presence…
Source: Zenit Prelates Release Joint Statement on Revisions to Legislation WASHINGTON, D.C., December 28, 2012 (Zenit.org). The U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Department of Communications and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America issued the following statement in support of the Federal Trade Commission’s revisions to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that were announced on December 20. “We applaud the Federal Trade Commission and Chairman Jon Leibowitz for these important steps to keep children safe in the ever-evolving digital world,” said Helen Osman, Secretary of Communications for the USCCB. “The Commission is to be especially commended for…
Source: The Wall Street Journal By Andrey Ostroukh The head of the Orthodox Church in Russia, the country famous for its penchant for expensive cars and an unsafe driving culture, called on his clergy to choose their vehicles “with modesty” and not to drink “holy sacraments” before driving. The Russian Orthodox Church has been marred by scandals in 2012, some of which were vehicle-related. Social networks, popular with the Russian opposition and the country’s politically active middle class, have been inundated with photos of the clergy’s expensive cars. In August, a monk identified as Ilya crashed into road workers in…
Source: The National Herald by Theodore Kalmoukos CONSTANTINOPLE – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is attempting to inaugurate a new path and new dynamics of rapprochement and reconciliation with the Roman Catholic Church in conjunction with the Theological Dialogue working towards the Eucharistic Union of the Churches. In his speech to the Delegation of the Church of Rome headed by Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, at the Thronal Feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the feast day of St. Andrew the First Called Apostle, on the patriarch said on November 30 that “the uniqueness of…
Source: The St. Petersburg Times MOSCOW — Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday pledged his support for the Russian Orthodox Church, promising to re-establish the close ties that bound religious and military officials before the October Revolution in 1917. “We will continue to support the Russian Orthodox Church with renewed energy and, most importantly, restore those traditions that existed under the Russian [pre-revolutionary] government,” Shoigu said at a meeting with Patriarch Kirill, the country’s top Orthodox Church official, RIA-Novosti reported. Shoigu, who was installed as defense minister in early November after his predecessor was ousted amid a corruption scandal, worked…
Source: Daily News & Analysis (DNA) The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Bombay Diocese) is set to celebrate the 1960th year of the advent of Christianity in India. Besides, it is celebrating the establishment of the Orthodox Church’s base in India 100 years ago. Orthodox Church is among the three prominent branches of Christianity, besides Catholic and Protestant churches. “While we too believe in Mother Mary, we only state that Jesus Christ was free of all sin,” said His Graceness Geevarghese Mar Coorlios, Metropolitan, Diocese of Bombay. Coorlios said the celebration will be held at St Mary’s School ground in Vashi…
Source: Russia Today The majority of Russians would be happy to see churchmen run for posts in government bodies. However, far fewer citizens are actually ready to vote for priests, a poll has revealed. Some 43 per cent of Russians believe that clerics can take part in elections since they have the same rights as all other citizens, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) revealed. At the same time, 38 per cent of Russians insist that priests should do their own business and not interfere with politics, cites Izvestia daily. Those who oppose the idea are adamant that the…