International

Middle East Orthodox Primates to meet again in Nicosia

The four Primates of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches in the Middle East will meet a second time in Nicosia in the near future in an effort to find a solution for the ecclesial issue of Ukraine. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria addressed for the first time the issue of granting autocephaly to Ukraine in…

Jun 25, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Elder Gervasios (Paraskevopoulos) of Patras proposed for canonization

Following the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Patras, Greece on Monday, His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras announced that he had proposed Elder Gervasios (Paraskevopoulos) for canonization, submitting a packet of relevant documents to the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s Synodal committee for canonizations. The announcement was met with the cheers and…

Jun 20, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

Bulgarian church to add Georgia to pilgrimage destination list, promoting religious tourism

The Bulgarian church will add Georgia to a list of pilgrimage destinations, including countries the local church advises its parish to visit, the Georgian parliament reports. The step will encourage religious tourism in Georgia and increase interest in Georgian holy sites, the parliament’s press office stated after the meeting of Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze…

Jun 19, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

Australia welcomes new Archbishop Makarios

The new Archbishop of Australia, Makarios, arrived in Sydney on Tuesday. The Assistant Bishops of the Holy Archdiocese, the clergy, the monastic fraternities, the pious people and representatives of state and political authorities welcomed the new Archbishop at the airport. Archbishop Makarios, clearly excited by the warm reception, thanked everyone, while stressing that he expects…

Jun 18, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

New Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain elected

The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate unanimously elected Metropolitan Nikitas of Dardanelles as the new Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain, succeeding Archbishop Gregorios who retired as of Wednesday June 12, 2019. Metropolitan Nikitas is the Director of the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkeley, California. Metropolitan Nikitas (Lulias) of Dardanelles, Exarch of All…

Jun 13, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Over 6,400 tourists visit Sümela monastery in two days

The Sümela Monastery has seen an influx of tourists during the Eid al-Fitr festival following a four-year-long comprehensive restoration and rock improvement project, Hürriyet reports. On the first day of the festival on June 4, a total of 1,990 tourists visited the picturesque monastery located in the Black Sea province of Trabzon. On the second day on June 5, another 4,418…

Jun 12, 2019Mihail Mere-Albe

The ‘Evyenios Voulgaris’ Scholarship Programme for Advanced Studies in Orthodox Spiritual Life and Theology

The Saint Maxim the Greek Institute, with the support of the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaidi, is introducing the ‘Evyenios Voulgaris’ Scholarship Programme. Evyenios Voulgaris (1716-1806) served as principal of the Athoniada School, which had been established by the Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi. In his day, he was the greatest and most important Greek…

Jun 10, 2019Sorin Ioniţe

Orthodox priest travels 5000+ km to bless monuments to Romanian Heroes in Russia

Fr. Ștefan Stanciu from the Ghencea district of Bucharest is currently in the midst of a trip to bless a number of grave monuments throughout Russia to Romanian WW2 prisoners of war who died in Soviet gulags. Together with the Romanian ambassador to Moscow, Vasile Soare, the priest will travel more than 5,000 km to…

Jun 10, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

New Orthodox Church to be built in Salt Lake City

The Church of the holy preeminent Apostles Peter and Paul in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is planned to be built by this winter in Salt Lake City, OrthoChristian reports. After a year and a half of searching for a suitable place, the parish was able to acquire a plot of land…

Jun 10, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Russian airports officially renamed in honor of Tsar Nicholas, St. Olga, others  

A number of Russian airports have been officially renamed in honor of famous historical Russian figures, including Royal Martyr Tsar Nicholas II and St. Olga the Equal-to-the-Apostles and others, orthochristian.com reports. 44 airports were officially renamed by a Presidential decree published on May 31. In particular, Murmansk international airport is now named in honor of…

Jun 3, 2019Iulian Dumitraşcu

Fr. Chad Hatfield to serve new five-year term as SVOTS President

The Board of Trustees of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) has appointed Archpriest Dr. Chad Hatfield as president of the Seminary for another five years. The Board, chaired by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), made the decision at its semi-annual meeting on Friday, May 17, 2019 SVOTS reports. The trustees in…

May 30, 2019Gheorghe Anghel