Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos CONSTANTINOPLE – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a two-member Exarchy to Ukraine to pave the way and do all the necessary proceedings for the granting of Autocephaly status to that country’s Orthodox Church. The Patriarchate, via a press release, said that “It is announced that in the context of the decision to grant autocephalous status to the Orthodox Church in the Ukraine, it has named as representatives in Kiev Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the United States and Bishop Hilarion (Rudnyk) of Edmonton of the Western Eparchy of the…
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Source: Asia News by Vladimir Rozanskij The subject is the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and that of Macedonia. But uncertainties remain that the meeting will take place after contradictory signals from the Moscow Patriarchate. Moscow (AsiaNews) – The Orthodox world is waiting with bated breath for confirmation of the announced visit of the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill (Gundjaev) to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew (Archontonis), scheduled for August 31 in Istanbul. The meeting should clarify the question of the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which will be officially discussed at the Synod of the Church of…
Source: The National Herald By Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Russian hackers indicted by the U.S. special prosecutor last month have spent years trying to steal the private correspondence of some of the world’s most senior Orthodox Christian figures, The Associated Press has found, illustrating the high stakes as Kiev and Moscow wrestle over the religious future of Ukraine. The targets included top aides to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who often is described as the first among equals of the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christian leaders. The Constantinople-based patriarch is currently mulling whether to accept a Ukrainian bid to tear…
Source: Christianity Today Perplexed by America on Syria, Russian evangelicals and Middle East Christians debate if Moscow really cares. JAYSON CASPER War was swirling in Syria. Rebels were pressing. And Maan Bitar was the only hope for American help. “Because I am evangelical, everyone thinks I have channels of communication,” said the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Mhardeh. “Syrians believe the United States has the power to stop the conflict—if it wants to.” In the early years of the civil war, Bitar’s Orthodox neighbors were desperate to convince the US and its allies to end support of rebel forces.…
Source: Bloomberg Their religious roots, not their Communist experience, support authoritarianism and risk aversion. By Leonid Bershidsky Originally published on April 26, 2018 Eastern Orthodox Christianity has done more to shape certain ex-Communist countries than communism. It also, some say, made their people relatively unhappy and anti-capitalist. This theory got a lot of play in 1990s Russia but has now resurfaced in a fresh World Bank working paper.Its authors, former Bulgarian finance minister Simeon Djankov and Elena Nikolova of University College London, analyzed data from the World Values Survey and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Life in Transition Survey to study the correlation between religious background and attitudes. They…
Source: OrthoChristian.com Moscow – A cultural-historical tour designed to bring Russians and citizens of the Balkan regions together began in Serbia yesterday. The “Night Wolves” Russian Orthodox biker club is participating in the “Russian Balkans” tour, which includes visits to a number of Orthodox churches and monasteries, reports RIA-Novosti. The tour is open to all and will travel more than 1,200 miles throughout Serbia and Republika Srpska-Bosnia and Herzegovina until March 28. The bikers and the other participants will pass through dozens of settlements and visit Orthodox churches and monasteries, as well as objects of military glory associated with the history of…
Source: Observer.com By John R. Schindler Originally published on November 29, 2017 One of the more interesting aspects of Cold War 2.0 is the ideological struggle between the postmodern West and Russia—a struggle that most Westerners deny even exists. President Barack Obama, after Moscow seized Crimea in early 2014, pronounced that there was nothing big afoot: “After all, unlike the Soviet Union, Russia leads no bloc of nations, no global ideology.” Obama’s statement was wrong then, and it’s even more wrong now. As I’ve explained, there is an undeniable ideological struggle between Vladimir Putin’s neo-traditionalist Russia and the post-modern West—one that prominent Russians talk about all…
Source: The Washington Times By L. Todd Wood ANALYSIS/OPINION: Because of radical Islamic terrorism, your religious affiliation has become an existential issue across the globe. Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Jew can literally mean life or death, no matter what country you are in. Western nations are not excluded from this scourge. The curse threatens the very existence of nation-states as well. Israel is routinely threatened by Iran and others — because it is Jewish. If Israel were not Jewish, it would not be targeted for destruction. The religion of a nation can also unite and…
Source: The National Herald By Dennis Menos The emergence of the Russian Church has the largest and most prestigious Church in Eastern Orthodoxy, after seventy years of persecution by a brutal and atheist regime that killed thousands of its clergy and desecrated its places of worship, should be a matter of pride to the entire Orthodox world. This accomplishment of the Russian Church, however,is not without troubling questions concerning its future posture and policies. Could the Russian Church, many skeptics wonder, encouraged by its newly gained power and prestige attempt to compete with Constantinople for influence over the Eastern Christian…
Source: Voice of America ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA — The director of a museums’ association has urged the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church to recall its bid to take control of St. Petersburg’s landmark cathedral, a move that has inflamed public passions in Russia. Several hundred people rallied outside St. Isaac’s Cathedral earlier this month. The cathedral is technically a museum, and critics of the plan fear that its transfer from city authorities to the church may inhibit public access. Another protest is set for the weekend despite church officials seeking to assuage protests by vowing that access won’t be…
Source: Pravoslavie.ru Moscow, January 17, 2017 The St. Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church is calling upon all faithful to sensibly approach Theophany “bathing” in fonts, pools, creeks, and ponds, neither for sport nor for forgiveness of sins. “There is a belief that if you immerse yourself in a font, you will wash away all your sins. I hasten to disappoint you,” says Fr. Bogdan Polevoi of the Joy of All Who Sorrow podvoriye of the Holy Trinity-Zelenesk Monastery, “but this is absolutely not true. If you led an indecent life for a whole year, allowing yourself anything, and…
Source: Fox News MOSCOW – The Russian Orthodox Church is expanding its influence in what was once an officially godless state — and President Vladimir Putin appears eager to harness that resurgent power of faith to promote his own agenda. Long consigned to society’s margins in the Soviet era of “scientific atheism,” religious activists in today’s Russia can get theater performances banned and exhibitions closed. Their next target is to end state funding for abortion in a land where nearly half of all pregnancies end in termination. Putin has condemned recent attacks on art exhibitions and efforts to hound performers…