International

Ecumenical Patriarch on Forum on Modern Slavery: Silence and passive acceptance of the present situation is no longer possible or acceptable

Opening address by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the Forum on Modern Slavery “Awareness, action, and impact”, Istanbul, January 7, 2019: Your Eminences and Excellencies, Dear representatives of the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey and of the Mufti of Istanbul, Dear friends, We welcome and embrace each of you with the blessings and…

Jan 11, 2019Iulian Dumitraşcu

Monks celebrate Christmas on snow-covered Mount Athos : Photo & Video

A few days before the feast of the Nativity of Christ, which Mount Athos celebrates according to the Old Calendar, namely on January 7, significant snowfall occurred. Karyes, the Athonite capital at an altitude of 1,150 feet, received over 2 feet of snow, while higher areas received over 3 feet. Two days before Christmas, the…

Jan 10, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Russian Church officially adds saints of Spain, Portugal to liturgical calendar

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church officially established the feast of the Synaxis of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Spanish and Portuguese Lands, adding 80 saints to its liturgical calendar, at its latest session in Moscow on December 28, reports the official Church site, cited by Orthochristian. The Assembly of Orthodox Hierarchs…

Jan 4, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

117 people baptized in Congo

117 people from Pointe Noire and Dolisie received the Mystery of Holy Baptism at the end of December last year, the Metropolitanate of Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon informs. On December 29, 2018, His Eminence Panteleimon, Metropolitan of Brazzaville and Gabon, arrived in Dolisie, where he celebrated the baptism of forty-five catechumens of all ages from the…

Jan 1, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch celebrates his 63th birthday

His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch celebrates on 01 January 2019 his 63th birthday. Patriarch John X of Antioch His Beatitude John X was born in 1955 in the city of Lattakia, Syria. His father Mounah Yazigi was from Lattakia, a teacher of the Arabic language. His mother Rosa Moussi is from Tripoli, Lebanon.…

Jan 1, 2019Sorin Ioniţe

Holy Synod of Georgian Orthodox Church meets in Tbilisi

On December 27 the session of the Holy Synod was conveyed in the Patriarchate of Georgia. The session was presided by His Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos – Patriarch of all Georgia. Amba-Alaverdian Metropolitan David was appointed as the secretary of the session, Georgian Orthodox Church reports. At the beginning the members of the Holy Synod…

Dec 31, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

VIDEO | Syrian Christian town where Jesus’ language remains in use celebrates Christmas

One of the places where Christmas was celebrated on Tuesday is Maaloula, a small town near Damascus, where residents still speak Aramaic, the language used by Jesus Christ. Maaloula is located in a mountainous area near the Syrian capital, where two ancient Christian monasteries also stand.  Some of the damage can still be seen…

Dec 27, 2018Iulian Dumitraşcu

Iraq officially makes Christmas Day a national holiday

The Iraqi Cabinet approved a law to mark Christmas Day, December 25, as an official holiday across the country “on the occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ,” according to a statement released by the Iraqi government, informs CNN. The Cabinet voted on an amendment to the national holidays law in the country that Christmas…

Dec 26, 2018Iulian Dumitraşcu

Pastoral Letter of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on the Nativity of the Lord 2018

Please find below the pastoral letter sent by the members of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord 2018. Pastoral Letter of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on the Nativity of the Lord 2018 “Today is coming about an unheard of mystery…

Dec 24, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch’s 2018 Christmas Message warns about new forms of nestorianism and monophysitism

In this year’s Christmas Message, His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew warns about contemporary ‘nestorianism’ understood as secularization and scientism, and a new form of ‘monophysitism’ represented by tendencies to demonize the body and natural man, by puritanism and the syndromes of “purity,” by fruitless introverted spirituality and various mysticisms. Patriarchal Proclamation of Christmas 2018 by…

Dec 21, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch John of Antioch: The peace of people, however, if not associated with the peace of God, is pure falsehood

Pastoral Letter of the Holy Nativity of Christ – 2018 By the Grace of God John X Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Antioch To my Brothers, the Hierarchs and Shepherds of the Holy Church of Antioch, My Beloved Spiritual Children throughout the Apostolic See “I hear the angels sing today in Bethlehem: “Glory to…

Dec 20, 2018Gheorghe Anghel