Source: DECR Communications English translation by Katherine Ilachinski On March 16, 2012, a group of journalists accredited in Russia, the People’s Republic of China media (“Xinhua” news agency, China Central Television, China Radio International, China’s news agency, newspaper “People’s Daily”, “Guangming Daily”, “Economic Daily”, “Wen Wei Po”) visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra . The trip was organized by the Russian-Chinese Business Council and the Department for External Church Relations of Moscow Patriarchate, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Embassy of China in Russia. In the city administration the Chinese journalists were welcomed…
Browsing: Russian Orthodox Church
Source: Interfax MOSCOW. Jan 3 (Interfax) – The construction of a Russian Orthodox culture and religious center in Paris will soon be started, Russian presidential property manager Vladimir Kozhin said. “A contract has already been signed with the company Bouygues, which will build the center. The work with the drawings is under way now. The construction itself will begin after the New Year’s,” Kozhin said in an interview with Interfax. A project presented by Manuel Yanovski’s Society of Architects and Developers (SADE, France) and Moscow-based Arch Group won the tender for building the Orthodox center in Paris. The project will…
Source: Journal of Church and State | Rev. Dr. Daniel Payne Introduction Upon the recent death of Patriarch Alexey II of Moscow and All Russia, Sergei Lavrov, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry (RFM), stated, “It is impossible to overestimate the contribution of the Primate of the Church to strengthening the positions of our Fatherland in the world and enhancing the international prestige of Russia.”1 First and foremost, the signing of the 2007 Act of Canonical Communion of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) signaled “a new stage in [the Russian Foreign Ministry’s] efforts…
Source: New York Times | Sophia Kishkovsky MOSCOW — Among the thousands of Russian voices raised against the Kremlin this month after parliamentary elections widely dismissed as fraudulent, perhaps the most surprising was that of Patriarch Kirill I, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, who defended popular protests as a “lawful negative reaction” to corruption. Always a reliable pillar of support for the government of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin and his United Russia Party, the powerful Orthodox Church has been noticeably — to some, shockingly — critical of the elections. Arguably the only major national institution outside the…
Source: Pravoslavie Last week the court ruled to arrest Archimandrite Ephrem, abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos, in connection with a large-scale investigation into real estate deals between the Monastery and the Greek State initiated in 2008. On weekend the police came to the Vatopedi Monastery to arrest Fr. Ephrem. After medical doctors had examined the abbot, it was decided to leave him in the Monastery for health reasons. It was reported on Tuesday, however, that Fr Ephrem was arrested and taken away from Mr. Athos. Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations,…
Source: Interfax Moscow, December 12, Interfax – The Russian Orthodox Church urges not to allow civil confrontations in Russia as the part of society is not conformed with results of votes counting at the parliamentary elections. “We can’t but express satisfaction that rallies in Russian cities are generally peaceful, in frames of law. No matter how political positions vary, the most important thing today is to keep civil peace and statehood, not to allow new 1905, 1917, 1991 or 1993,” head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told an Interfax-Religion correspondent. The priest urges…
Source: Interfax Moscow, November 28, Interfax – About 285 thousand people venerated the Belt of the Holy Virgin during its stay in the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Headquarters for its stay in the capital told Interfax-Religion. Tens of thousands of believers stand in the line to the church. Average time of waiting for access to the church is 24 hours. Not only Muscovites, but people from regions came to venerate the shrine. 691 buses with pilgrims have arrived at the cathedral for the time of the shrine’s stay since November 19. Today, there are 133 buses where…
On 2 November 2011, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR), visited the St. Petersburg Theological Academy with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and at the invitation of Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, and discussed the upcoming Great and Holy Council. Metropolitan Hilarion met with the members of the Academic Board, faculty and students of the Academy. Attending the meeting were Archbishop Ionafan of Tulchin and Bratslav and Bishop Amvrosiy of Gatchina, rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and Seminary. Metropolitan Hilarion…