International

1,500-year-old mosaic depicting Jesus feeding the 5,000 with five loaves of bread is uncovered at a church near the Sea of Galilee

A 1,500-year-old mosaic depicting Jesus’s feeding of the five thousand has been unearthed during an excavation of an ancient city near the Sea of Galilee, Daily Mail reports. The discovery of the so-called Burnt Church in Hippos, northern Israel, has enthralled archaeologists who have spent the summer combing it for historical evidence. A fire destroyed…

Sep 29, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

50,000 march to end abortion in Slovakia

50,000 Slovaks gathered in the European country’s capital of Bratislava this weekend to call for an end to legal abortion, Life Site reports. The predominantly-Catholic country currently allows abortions for any reason up to 12 weeks, and abortions deemed to be health-related up to 24 weeks. There were 10,082 abortions reported in 2017, compared with 57,969 births.…

Sep 25, 2019Sorin Ioniţe

First Orthodox school in Bulgaria opens for elementary students

A joyful event marked the first day of school in Lovech, Bulgaria last Monday, as the Orthodox Church opened its first school in the country. The moleben for the beginning of the school year with the blessing of water at Seven Saints Elementary School was celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech, reports predanie.bg, cited…

Sep 25, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America: Archbishop Elpidophoros Convenes First Ever Monastic Assembly

Archbishop Elpidophoros convened the first ever Monastic Assembly of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in the US to promote the value and importance of monasticism in the Orthodox Christian tradition and the spiritual life of the faithful. The abbots and abbesses of 18 monasteries attended the Assembly, which took place at the Holy Monastery of Saint…

Sep 23, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

Patriarch Bartholomew: Divine Eucharist and Monasticism are “eschatological antibodies” that defended the Church from secularization

To the Most Reverend Archbishop of America Elpidophoros, most-honorable Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, beloved brother in the Holy Spirit and co-celebrant of our modesty, grace to your eminence and peace from God. Every attempt to promote Orthodox spiritual culture is a good and admirable work. Monasticism is a most precious component of…

Sep 23, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

Georgian Patriarch Ilia II receives new PM Giorgi Gakharia

One week after officially taking over as Georgia’s new Prime Minister, Giorgi Gakharia met with the Georgian Patriarch Ilia II at the Patriarchate in Tbilisi. His Beatitude Patriarch Ilia blessed the PM and wished him success in the new post, the administration of the government of Georgia wrote on Sunday, Sept. 15, as reported by…

Sep 22, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Bartholomew meets with Pope Francis

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople met with Pope Francis on Tuesday, Vatican News reports. The meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch was held in “a fraternal atmosphere”, according to a communiqué from the Holy See Press Office. Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople also had lunch together at the Casa Santa Marta with…

Sep 19, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

The Biblical town of Emmaus, which is linked to Jesus’ resurrection and the Ark of the Covenant, may have been found

Archaeologists in Israel may have discovered the Biblical town of Emmaus, which is linked to Jesus’ resurrection and the Ark of the Covenant, Fox News channel reports. Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a 2,200-year-old fortification at Kiriath-Jearim, a hill on the outskirts of Abu Ghosh, a village near Jerusalem. The fortification dates back to…

Sep 17, 2019Iulian Dumitraşcu

The Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria addresses sorcery on its agenda

The Alexandrian Church’s position on modern forms of slavery and on the struggle of refugees -migrants for a better life, dealing with the issue of sorcery in the African countries, applications of modern technology on the African continent today, the clergy fund, as well as ecological issues and the use of the media in the…

Sep 17, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

JWG explore common efforts on migration, peace building

The Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (WCC) met in Lyon, France for its annual plenary session from 2-5 September. The group released a communique focusing on migration and peacebuilding, outlining areas for theological reflection and cooperation. “The participants highlighted the political contexts in India, China,…

Sep 13, 2019Iulian Dumitraşcu

Metropolitan Nathanael, in Archpastoral Encyclical, calls for living as doers of mercy

Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago called for becoming doers of mercy to guide individual lifestyles, blending a biting critique of the tendency to interpret the mercy of God in extreme ways with a plea for pursuing mercy as a way of life to be authentically human. The vision that Metropolitan Nathanael outlined in a 13-page archpastoral…

Sep 12, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu